House: 6x18 "Knightfall" - Discussion and Spoilers
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House even takes his ibuprofen dry.
As soon as I saw that the teaser was concealing the Ren-faire nature of the situation, doing nothing to reveal that it wasn't really medieval times (American accents aside), I guessed that it would end with the patient-of-the-week collapsing and people pulling out their cell phones to call 911. The only thing I guessed wrong was that I thought there'd be a whole bunch of them.
The patient's problems were a bit convoluted this week, because most of the theories turned out to be part of the problem. He had poison ivy, and he had hemlock poisoning, and he was a steroid abuser. A bit too many things wrong with him at once. And the whole "He's also a witch" thing was never addressed or placed in the context of the rest of his personality, so it felt kind of random.
I was wondering if the redness of his eyes was done using scleral contact lenses (which are really big and hard to get in and out and probably would've left his eyes pretty red for real), or if it was done digitally. These days, I'd think the latter approach would be easier.
Speaking of eyes, I liked Thirteen in a surgical mask. It really brings out those stunning eyes of hers. And I liked seeing this romantic side of her character. Her attempts to play matchmaker were kind of sweet.
Nice to see House being nice and jerky at the same time. He was being a jerk in an attempt to be nice to Wilson, to look out for him, and ultimately he decided just to set aside being a controlling manipulator and give Sam and Wilson a chance. He backed down. I'm glad that sometimes this show still remembers that he's really changed.
The patient's problems were a bit convoluted this week, because most of the theories turned out to be part of the problem. He had poison ivy, and he had hemlock poisoning, and he was a steroid abuser. A bit too many things wrong with him at once. And the whole "He's also a witch" thing was never addressed or placed in the context of the rest of his personality, so it felt kind of random.
I was wondering if the redness of his eyes was done using scleral contact lenses (which are really big and hard to get in and out and probably would've left his eyes pretty red for real), or if it was done digitally. These days, I'd think the latter approach would be easier.
Speaking of eyes, I liked Thirteen in a surgical mask. It really brings out those stunning eyes of hers. And I liked seeing this romantic side of her character. Her attempts to play matchmaker were kind of sweet.
Nice to see House being nice and jerky at the same time. He was being a jerk in an attempt to be nice to Wilson, to look out for him, and ultimately he decided just to set aside being a controlling manipulator and give Sam and Wilson a chance. He backed down. I'm glad that sometimes this show still remembers that he's really changed.
Thirteen does have stunning eyes and wearing the mask really did bring them out, her in the Renfaire costume was really nice too. 
I though the "side detail" of him being Wiccan/having the Necronomicon seemed out of nowhere and as Christopher said didn't really figure into the final solution or into his condition at all, really. When the friend was denying the hemlock I was suspecting the girlfriend/fiancee was posioning POTW in a convolouted way of making herself "feel better" for going for the wrong guy... or something. As has been the norm this season the "B-Plot" involving House and Wilson was far more interesting and was good to see them re-introduce House's culinary skills he developed at the begining of this season when he made dinner for Wilson and the ex-wife. Also loved the scene between House and the ex when Wilson went to the bathroom.
The scene with Wilson and the Ex actualy enjoying the Transvestite's company, in contrast to House's plan, was great.
Also a nice use of Lucas this episode, showing that House still has a "level" of friendship with him. Decent... ish use of Cuddy this episode.
Overall I'd say it was a good episode, also interesting to see the ibuprophen isn't working well on House's leg anymore (Who'd figure that OTC medication wouldn't work for a large portion of missing thigh muscle indefinetl) be interesting to see if they get House back on viccodin or some other prescription pain killer.
I though the "side detail" of him being Wiccan/having the Necronomicon seemed out of nowhere and as Christopher said didn't really figure into the final solution or into his condition at all, really. When the friend was denying the hemlock I was suspecting the girlfriend/fiancee was posioning POTW in a convolouted way of making herself "feel better" for going for the wrong guy... or something. As has been the norm this season the "B-Plot" involving House and Wilson was far more interesting and was good to see them re-introduce House's culinary skills he developed at the begining of this season when he made dinner for Wilson and the ex-wife. Also loved the scene between House and the ex when Wilson went to the bathroom.
The scene with Wilson and the Ex actualy enjoying the Transvestite's company, in contrast to House's plan, was great.
Also a nice use of Lucas this episode, showing that House still has a "level" of friendship with him. Decent... ish use of Cuddy this episode.
Overall I'd say it was a good episode, also interesting to see the ibuprophen isn't working well on House's leg anymore (Who'd figure that OTC medication wouldn't work for a large portion of missing thigh muscle indefinetl) be interesting to see if they get House back on viccodin or some other prescription pain killer.
It led to House's deduction that he was suffering from lead poisoning due to alchemy, which was yet another blind alley.
Honestly, I was disappointed that it wasn't an attempted murder. When House found the hemlock in the Apothecary Shoppe, I thought that was a nice twist, as I can't remember the last time House had a POTW who was also an attempted murder victim. Then the hemlock turned out to be yet another blind alley. :-/
This episode had a lot of red herrings, didn't it? More than usual, it seemed.
The expression on her face when House lowered the boom on her was priceless. The fact that she was able to set that aside at the end and try and have a productive conversation with House was a nice touch.
Last time I recall the POTW being the victim of poisioning was in Season, I think, 3 where the POTW's wife was poisioning him with, I think, gold or copper on to his meals and House revealed it with his own 'alchemy' by holding her hand, his laced with some chemical that caused the [gold] residue on her hands to turn purple.
Which is exactly the problem. It was nothing more than a story gimmick to pad the plot, and the episode never bothered to explain how it fit in with the patient's character. It felt totally disconnected from everything else that we were shown about "Sir" William, and there wasn't a single line of dialogue where William talked about his interest in witchcraft (which is not the same thing as being Wiccan, by the way) or where anyone asked him about it. It was arbitrarily connected to him as a patient, but it was completely disconnected from him as a character, and that made it even more pointless and sloppy. This is supposed to be a character-driven show, and the medical and related stuff should contribute something to the character exploration, both of the regulars and the guest patients.
Do people think the ibuprofen is really ibuprofen?
House to this point has been pretty "genuine" with Wilson and Cuddy that he's not back on viccodin, and the pain he's experiencing would seem to support that.
It looked to me like the bottle he opened at the end of the episode still had the plastic seal around the cap, so I'm assuming its genuine. Or at least, that bottle was.
When it comes to medical shows, or even actual footage of surgical procedures, I'm not very squeamish at all. I usually think it's pretty neat to watch and I don't usually get grossed out... unless it's something to do with eyes. I could barely look at the screen when House started tossing that cow eye around
When it comes to medical shows, or even actual footage of surgical procedures, I'm not very squeamish at all. I usually think it's pretty neat to watch and I don't usually get grossed out... unless it's something to do with eyes. I could barely look at the screen when House started tossing that cow eye around
The one with the wife poisoning her husband with gold was in Season 2. I know because it's the only season I have on DVD.
I agree that the House/Wilson/Sam storyline was better than the POTW, but I've found that that's par for the course on this show. Also, the sight of House popping back the pills in his hand brings up memories of him on vicodin, though I don't suspect him of replacing the ibuprofen. That really was a plastic seal on the bottle at the end. Is it possible he'll get addicted to it instead?
I agree that the House/Wilson/Sam storyline was better than the POTW, but I've found that that's par for the course on this show. Also, the sight of House popping back the pills in his hand brings up memories of him on vicodin, though I don't suspect him of replacing the ibuprofen. That really was a plastic seal on the bottle at the end. Is it possible he'll get addicted to it instead?
I found this one average. I enjoyed the House / Wilson stuff, and it was nice to see Cynthia Watros (from Lost) as Wilson's ex-wife, but the patient storyline was pretty terrible. I think the main problem with the patient storyline was that his character was just not believable, in motivation or actions or ... anything really. The guy was a cartoon character. And all the details of the ren faire were a little "off", like when Law and Order tries to write about the internet and uses all the right buzzwords but puts them in the wrong order.
He was opening a brand new sealed bottle of it at the end, so, yes.
Reaffirmed IMO also by the fact that his leg pain is really bothering him again, cause he isn't on prescription meds, they also made the point he is more cranky and off his game, so yes, i think it really is ibuprofen
Makes me think they may have a storyline with him wanting to go back to the vicodin
^^^ Well, druggies, alkies, and other assorted types of addicts do often relapse, so it wouldn't be unrealistic.
If nothing else, he did seem to be taking an awful lot of ibuprofen, probably beyond the maximum recommended dosage. If so, he's putting himself at increased risk of gastric bleeding, heart attack, or stroke.
Although true, it's not unusual for doctors to instruct patients to take very high doses of ibuprofen for chronic conditions on an indefinite basis.
My wife's mother had been taking 2400 mg per day (4 OTC 200 mg pills 3x per day) and she was recently advised to up that dosage to SIX 200 mg pills 3x per day.