House: 7x09: "Larger Than Life" - Discussion and Spoilers

[Agent Richard07]

A few quick points...

- A decent hour.

- I had the chicken pox when I was 14 in 1990. There was no mandatory vaccine and this thread is the first I'm hearing of one.

- I'd rather see Amber Tamblyn be made a regular than have Olivia Wilde come back.

- I didn't recognize Matthew Lillard right away.

- All that drama for chicken pox?

- Nice ending with House at home in front of the tube where he wants to be.

 

[Trekker4747]

- I had the chicken pox when I was 14 in 1990. There was no mandatory vaccine and this thread is the first I'm hearing of one.

Yeah and, from my understanding, a lot of people offer resistance to the Chicken Pox vaccine. Seeing the Chicken Pox as a harmless disease that's a "right of passage" for childhood. Sure the disease can be a bit more dangerous when you're older so it should be used then. But I'd rather not live in a world where a grade-school never gets to experience a slightly annoying disease.

- I'd rather see Amber Tamblyn be made a regular than have Olivia Wilde come back.

3M bugs me. She's too goody-two-shoes and annoying. I thought this would be interesting dynamic with House but it's not working. And it's obvious the wardrobe people hate her as she wears the most silly outfits ever. Olivia Wilde is at least hot. So I can't wait until she comes back.

- All that drama for chicken pox?

Chicken Pox can be very dangerous in adults.

- Nice ending with House at home in front of the tube where he wants to be.

Yeah I liked that too. As much as he loves Cuddy and loves (platonically) Wilson he just needed a "night off" without hanging out with either of them.

Great line: Cuddy: "We average our misery." A simple statement for a relationship if I've ever seen one.

 

[Christopher]

are you trying to say there's no such thing as an emotional affair?

I'm trying to say that only a self-centered, controlling jerk would try to forbid his wife from having online friendships with other people, regardless of their sex. I'm saying I know from the advice of professional counselors that a man attempting to forbid his partner from having an outside social life is a warning sign of a potentially abusive relationship. I'm saying it's ridiculous in this day and age to jump to the conclusion that any interaction between a man and a woman has to be an "affair" rather than simply a friendship. Taub and Thirteen are friends, but he's never thought of that platonic friendship as being a betrayal of his wife. So it's an unfair double standard to get all paranoid and accusatory with his wife the moment he discovers she has a friend who happens to have a Y chromosome, especially when that friend lives thousands of miles away.

And I'm saying that it's missing the point of the whole episode to define this as Mrs. Taub being in the wrong and Taub punishing her for it. What happened was exactly the opposite: He realized he was being a jerk, that she was turning to this other guy for emotional support because he was unable to make her happy anymore, and that the healthy response -- the way to "be better," as the billboard caption urged -- was to put her needs above his own, to let her go rather than clinging to her and forcing her into misery because he was too afraid to live without her.

 

[Trekker4747]

are you trying to say there's no such thing as an emotional affair?

I'm trying to say that only a self-centered, controlling jerk would try to forbid his wife from having online friendships with other people, regardless of their sex. I'm saying I know from the advice of professional counselors that a man attempting to forbid his partner from having an outside social life is a warning sign of a potentially abusive relationship. I'm saying it's ridiculous in this day and age to jump to the conclusion that any interaction between a man and a woman has to be an "affair" rather than simply a friendship. Taub and Thirteen are friends, but he's never thought of that platonic friendship as being a betrayal of his wife. So it's an unfair double standard to get all paranoid and accusatory with his wife the moment he discovers she has a friend who happens to have a Y chromosome, especially when that friend lives thousands of miles away.

But it was more than a friendship the wife was having with the on-line man. She was confiding in him, sharing problems with him and even getting so sexually driven by it she had to get a nooner from Taub to satisfy herself.

That's not a platonic friendship. She was emotionally cheating on Taub with this online man.

Note the scene in the clinic room where she says she was having a bad day, confided on Mr. Online and solved a problem she was having with him, not even wanting to talk to Taub about what it is. That is what bugged him. She wasn't being a wife to him by working with him and confiding in him to solve problems. And, as I said, she was getting sexually aroused by the online guy. That's worlds different than a simple friendship.

 

[Chaos Descending]

are you trying to say there's no such thing as an emotional affair?

I'm trying to say that only a self-centered, controlling jerk would try to forbid his wife from having online friendships with other people, regardless of their sex. I'm saying I know from the advice of professional counselors that a man attempting to forbid his partner from having an outside social life is a warning sign of a potentially abusive relationship. I'm saying it's ridiculous in this day and age to jump to the conclusion that any interaction between a man and a woman has to be an "affair" rather than simply a friendship. Taub and Thirteen are friends, but he's never thought of that platonic friendship as being a betrayal of his wife. So it's an unfair double standard to get all paranoid and accusatory with his wife the moment he discovers she has a friend who happens to have a Y chromosome, especially when that friend lives thousands of miles away.

And I'm saying that it's missing the point of the whole episode to define this as Mrs. Taub being in the wrong and Taub punishing her for it. What happened was exactly the opposite: He realized he was being a jerk, that she was turning to this other guy for emotional support because he was unable to make her happy anymore, and that the healthy response -- the way to "be better," as the billboard caption urged -- was to put her needs above his own, to let her go rather than clinging to her and forcing her into misery because he was too afraid to live without her.

I can't believe how thoroughly you're missing the mark on this issue.

It's kind of jarring.

 

[The Fatman]

are you trying to say there's no such thing as an emotional affair?

I'm trying to say that only a self-centered, controlling jerk would try to forbid his wife from having online friendships with other people, regardless of their sex. I'm saying I know from the advice of professional counselors that a man attempting to forbid his partner from having an outside social life is a warning sign of a potentially abusive relationship. I'm saying it's ridiculous in this day and age to jump to the conclusion that any interaction between a man and a woman has to be an "affair" rather than simply a friendship. Taub and Thirteen are friends, but he's never thought of that platonic friendship as being a betrayal of his wife. So it's an unfair double standard to get all paranoid and accusatory with his wife the moment he discovers she has a friend who happens to have a Y chromosome, especially when that friend lives thousands of miles away.

But it was more than a friendship the wife was having with the on-line man. She was confiding in him, sharing problems with him and even getting so sexually driven by it she had to get a nooner from Taub to satisfy herself.

That's not a platonic friendship. She was emotionally cheating on Taub with this online man.

Note the scene in the clinic room where she says she was having a bad day, confided on Mr. Online and solved a problem she was having with him, not even wanting to talk to Taub about what it is. That is what bugged him. She wasn't being a wife to him by working with him and confiding in him to solve problems. And, as I said, she was getting sexually aroused by the online guy. That's worlds different than a simple friendship.

Amen, brother. You nailed it.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Pretty good episode. It's hard for this show to steer itself completely off-track. The Taub storyline was definitely the highlight of the episode.

 

[Captain Shaw]

In the UK I think the only people who get a vaccine are health workers who have not had chicken pox.
In fact most parents want their children to get it while their still young so they don't end up in hospital when they are a adult, some people even have pox party's.
I loved house drugging the bitch of a mum.

 

[Christopher]

Note the scene in the clinic room where she says she was having a bad day, confided on Mr. Online and solved a problem she was having with him, not even wanting to talk to Taub about what it is. That is what bugged him. She wasn't being a wife to him by working with him and confiding in him to solve problems. And, as I said, she was getting sexually aroused by the online guy. That's worlds different than a simple friendship.

She didn't talk to Taub because he didn't make himself available to her emotionally. He wasn't being a proper husband to her, which left her with no other refuge. And as I said, that's what Taub realized at the end of the episode. That's why he decided on a divorce, even though he couldn't imagine how he could survive without her -- not because he resented her actions and wanted to punish her, but because he realized he was making her unhappy and needed to let her go for her own sake, even if it destroyed him. Taub himself realized that their problems were HIS fault, not hers, and he made the single most selfless, loving act of his marriage by setting her free.

 

[CorporalClegg]

The POTW was pretty meh, but Bergen lived up to her brilliance. And the scene at Cuddy's house had me in stitches.

 

[Kestra]

None of the Hindu people I know get vaccinations.

I'm sorry, what? I actually don't watch House so maybe I'm missing something, but in RL Hindu people do get vaccinations. Probably not all, but every one that I know does!

 

[DimesDan]

I don't normally comment on House although I really do like it. I thought it was a good episode, it got me thinking, would I have jumped onto a railway track to save someone and how pissed off would I have been if I had and no other soul had even considered it.

As for Taub and his Wife, I whole heartedly agree with what Trekker is saying, Christopher, as someone else has pointed out, you are way way off the mark.

 

[Jax]

Good episode and like usual the cases are not the hallmark of the show but the character interaction. Cuddy's mum it a total BITCH played very well by Candice though seeing her with such hair after 5 years on Boston Legal looking well old was weird

Taub maybe a total ass when it comes to his wife but he was right to end it, there marriage was a total sham because he couldn't stay faithful and his wife thought it was ok to be emotionally in love with someone and using her husband as an human swipe card for sex to pretend she was sleeping with her online friend.

 

[Agent Richard07]

3M bugs me. She's too goody-two-shoes and annoying. I thought this would be interesting dynamic with House but it's not working.

I'm surprised that he's not ragging on her as much as he could. But otherwise, I don't notice any problem with their dynamic.

And it's obvious the wardrobe people hate her as she wears the most silly outfits ever.

I don't notice what she wears, but I did like her colorful off-the-wall outfit in that pic I posted a while back. That sort of choice in attire adds a little something to her character.

Olivia Wilde is at least hot. So I can't wait until she comes back.

And Tamblyn's character is cute and has that slightly repressed sexual component which I'm glad they brought up. She's appealing in that sort of way.

It's funny that they finally put Olivia Wilde's name in the opening credits and now she's gone off to do movies. And it does look like she has a budding movie career going and doesn't need House. I'll stand by my original comment... I'd rather have Amber Tamblyn onboard.

 

[Saul]

That's ridiculous. He was a friend.

Show of hands for people who got this excuse or gave this excuse before?

Online relationships. If she is happily married why does she need to go online to find "male" friends. There are other places to meet friends.
Studies show that people feel a connection with strangers they meet on the interenet if they exchange 4 or more e-mails per day. Building up a familiarity with that person and developing a closer relationship through that openess can lead to something more. At the very least it's putting themself in a position where something might grow out of that innocence. Sex and love realtionships do develope from friendships. Add in the factor that the woman was cheated on and it makes it all the easier for her to justify having a fling.

 

[Velocity]

None of the Hindu people I know get vaccinations.

I'm sorry, what? I actually don't watch House so maybe I'm missing something, but in RL Hindu people do get vaccinations. Probably not all, but every one that I know does!

Not the people I worked with---in a Real Life hospital, I might add.

 

[Kestra]

None of the Hindu people I know get vaccinations.

I'm sorry, what? I actually don't watch House so maybe I'm missing something, but in RL Hindu people do get vaccinations. Probably not all, but every one that I know does!

Not the people I worked with---in a Real Life hospital, I might add.

That seems so completely bizarre to me. Is this some sort of regional thing? Did they give any reasons for not getting vaccinations?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Good episode, although mostly for the C-Plot of Candice Bergen as Cuddy's super crazy mom. Every scene she was in left me in stitches. I hope we see her again.

As for Taub, I found myself understanding where he was coming from but I still sad he decided to break up the marriage (even if it made sense for both of them). I'm not sure how it happened, but I think Taub has become favorite Docling, both past and present.

 

[Velocity]

I'm sorry, what? I actually don't watch House so maybe I'm missing something, but in RL Hindu people do get vaccinations. Probably not all, but every one that I know does!

Not the people I worked with---in a Real Life hospital, I might add.

That seems so completely bizarre to me. Is this some sort of regional thing? Did they give any reasons for not getting vaccinations?

I asked Lakshmi about it once (her kids went to the same school that mine did), and she alluded that it had something to do with her religion but we didn't get into it.

 

[Kestra]

Not the people I worked with---in a Real Life hospital, I might add.

That seems so completely bizarre to me. Is this some sort of regional thing? Did they give any reasons for not getting vaccinations?

I asked Lakshmi about it once (her kids went to the same school that mine did), and she alluded that it had something to do with her religion but we didn't get into it.

Well as a Hindu myself, I'm going to contradict her and say that vaccination don't go against our religion at all!