House, MD. 6x01-02: "Broken" - Discussion and Spoilers

[sidious618]

Well that was perfect. I could watch a whole season of this. Andre Braugher was fantastic and the therapy scenes with him and House were some of the best scenes of the show. The real capper, though, was House sitting down with him in his father's hospital room along with Alvie going for his medicine at the end. House inspired someone.

But I will be incredibly pissed if House just goes back to normal. That'd be a real kick in the balls and absolutely shitty and insulting writing because it would make this episode, and the end of last season, utterly pointless. House can still be acerbic and rude, that'll never change, but he does need to be better mentally. The writers cannot just go and ignore this episode.

I'll tell you, though, what also hit me was that I didn't miss the team at all. Not one bit. I really couldn't give a shit about them and I couldn't muster up any excitment when I saw them in the preview. The only person I missed was Wilson.

 

[Trekker4747]

Really, House could just go back to his Season 1 ways that'd be fine. Watch how he is in Season one and then how he is in even Season 2 and there's a marked difference.

 

[sidious618]

Really, House could just go back to his Season 1 ways that'd be fine. Watch how he is in Season one and then how he is in even Season 2 and there's a marked difference.

Yes, there is. Returning to the drugs at the start of season three made him really hate himself.

 

[IndyJones]

Great episode. I only wish my Fox affiliate had cut off the episode in the middle of a sentence to promo their news.

 

[nx1701g]

I just wanted to say that I finally figured out my favorite scene: House in the hospital room with the Psych's dad and him. It showed that House was starting to break his pattern.

What I found interesting about that scene was that it showed how little Nolan knew about House. Nolan assumed that House was playing one of his mind games, when House was ruminating on Nolan's past, when House was simply being his usual self. What Nolan took as House's emotional brutality was House's unflinching honesty.

I'm kinda hoping that we see him again every so often. House needs more friends than just Wilson.

 

[Samurai8472]

Episodes like these where the main character has gone away and by the end of the episode is back to familiar ground irk me.

It's like Picard as Locutus. He only spent two episodes as Locutus. How cool would it have been if it were 6 episodes.

I suppose if House started working at the psych ward the show would turn into "Mental"

 

[Agent Richard07]

House needs more friends than just Wilson.

There was that Pretending-to-be-a-Doctor guy. Whatever happened to him?

 

[Arrqh]

Episodes like these where the main character has gone away and by the end of the episode is back to familiar ground irk me.

It's like Picard as Locutus. He only spent two episodes as Locutus. How cool would it have been if it were 6 episodes.

I was expecting to feel the same, but I think what they did is preferable. Instead of them bouncing back and forth between House at the asylum and the rest of the characters at the hospital, or trying to shoehorn the two things together they just spend 2 solid hours on the former... which is really the same amount of content we'd get on it over 6 episodes if the other characters were involved.

Besides, the problem with Locutus was that it was back to the status quo two episodes later after a little mud fighting. I haven't read any spoilers, but based on the preview for the rest of the season alone, it looks like things aren't going to instantly get back to normal.

 

[Caliburn24]

I echo the popular sentiment in wishing House was staying at Mayfield for another few episodes at least. Good episode despite that.

I would have loved if Amber made an appearance on the bus with House at the end.

 

[Trubinator]

That was an excellent episode, but the ending truly shows FOX has no balls. They really should have made his personality change stick and made a season-long arc out of it to end the series on a good note. Now we're back to case-of-the-week shit, I see...

 

[thestrangequark]

I would have loved if Amber made an appearance on the bus with House at the end.

I don't think that would've been a good idea, it would have invalidated the entire point of the episode. However, I was disappointed that she did not make an appearance earlier.

Overall I though it was a very good episode, but I did miss the opportunity to see just a bit more CTB and Kumar tormenting House -- Laurie and Anne Dudek are great together, and the three of them would have been tremendous fun, at least for just a little while.

That sex scene with Franka Potente was pretty intense. With the music and the way it was shot, it was very "Solaris-like", for lack of a better term. It was a kind of mood we've never seen on the show before.

I agree, that was a sexy and intellectually/emotionally intense sex scene!

It's interesting that House was allowd so much stubble but also has his head buzzed...

The reasoning seemed pretty clear to me: he's sexy that way. Duh.

I also reiterate that it makes little sense to put somone with strong depression/anti-social issues int he same ward with people who've got serious, deep, mental problems that range from catatonia, disabling claustrophobia and other severe mental problems.

It's realistic. It may not seem ideal, but it's how it often works (or doesn't work, for that matter). Not much about psychiatric facilities is ideal.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I echo the popular sentiment in wishing House was staying at Mayfield for another few episodes at least. Good episode despite that.

I don't need to see the rest of the inmates, err, patients, but I want to see Andre Braugher again.

I would have loved if Amber made an appearance on the bus with House at the end.

The shot composition, with the camera pullback, gave me the feeling that we were going to see her. And you do, briefly, see the right arm of someone sitting next to House.

I don't know if she was supposed to be there, and they cropped her out, or if she wasn't supposed to be there, and I'm just imagining things. I do agree that seeing Amber would, to some extent, negate everything House had just gone through.

 

[Archangel]

Well that was perfect. I could watch a whole season of this. Andre Braugher was fantastic and the therapy scenes with him and House were some of the best scenes of the show. The real capper, though, was House sitting down with him in his father's hospital room along with Alvie going for his medicine at the end. House inspired someone.

But I will be incredibly pissed if House just goes back to normal. That'd be a real kick in the balls and absolutely shitty and insulting writing because it would make this episode, and the end of last season, utterly pointless. House can still be acerbic and rude, that'll never change, but he does need to be better mentally. The writers cannot just go and ignore this episode.

I'll tell you, though, what also hit me was that I didn't miss the team at all. Not one bit. I really couldn't give a shit about them and I couldn't muster up any excitment when I saw them in the preview. The only person I missed was Wilson.

I completely agree. Look, I love House, but even if the show has to end after this season I want to see lasting changes from this. If a show can't grow it needs to die, and seriously...with the exception of swapping out the doclings, most any episode in S1-5 can be swapped with any other episode and no one would likely notice (excluding the painful arc stories). Put in simpler terms....going back to status quo would be lame on an unparalleled level.

 

[Archangel]

I just wanted to say that I finally figured out my favorite scene: House in the hospital room with the Psych's dad and him. It showed that House was starting to break his pattern.

What I found interesting about that scene was that it showed how little Nolan knew about House. Nolan assumed that House was playing one of his mind games, when House was ruminating on Nolan's past, when House was simply being his usual self. What Nolan took as House's emotional brutality was House's unflinching honesty.

I'm kinda hoping that we see him again every so often. House needs more friends than just Wilson.

I hope they were setting that up. Based on House's deductions, it sounds like Nolan needs House only slightly less than House needs Nolan.

 

[gh4chiefs]

I'm wondering if this episode really wouldn't have worked better as a series finale. How much can you change House and it still be the same show? And if he goes back to being the same old House then what was the point of this episode?

 

[Scout101]

That's an interesting thought, maybe it WOULD have been better as the series finale 'arc'? He goes through all this crap, changes for the better, and maybe it ends with either him and Wilson actually doing something friendly without the subtext of games, or him giving a legitimate shot at asking out Cuddy...

With it as the premiere, it's going to be tough to keep the 'new' House viable very long, before falling back into the routine, which is part of what makes the character fun to watch.

 

[Iasius]

With it as the premiere, it's going to be tough to keep the 'new' House viable very long, before falling back into the routine, which is part of what makes the character fun to watch.

For a couple episodes at least, I think it might be fun watching the others try to adjust to a changed House. I do agree that this would've served very well as a series finale. But I think there's room for more stories.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Look, I love House, but even if the show has to end after this season I want to see lasting changes from this. If a show can't grow it needs to die, and seriously...with the exception of swapping out the doclings, most any episode in S1-5 can be swapped with any other episode and no one would likely notice (excluding the painful arc stories). Put in simpler terms....going back to status quo would be lame on an unparalleled level.

I'm of the opposite opinion. I think the show works best when it sticks to the formula established in the first season. The show doesn't need high drama, all it needs is Hugh Laurie's Dr. House and the mystery of the week. We want to see House and we want to see him win. That's a big part of the appeal. It loses a lot of that when they try to throw in too much drama.

How much can you change House and it still be the same show? And if he goes back to being the same old House then what was the point of this episode?

I think they found a good middle ground. He won't be "fixed", and he won't be going back to his old ways either. He'll be trying to improve and it looks like they'll be milking that for fun and laughs. How long that can last remains to be seen.

Note: I hate it when I type up a reply, hit the send button and lose everyting because the sponsor page pops up.

 

[Islander]

I'm wondering if this episode really wouldn't have worked better as a series finale. How much can you change House and it still be the same show? And if he goes back to being the same old House then what was the point of this episode?

I agree. The episode itself was good but being a season opening breaks the dramatic flow of the whole serie for me. That's why I voted average. It's true that it looks like he's going back like he was at the beginning but that's a bit pointless and goes against the evolution of the character. But as a serie finale, I would have voted beyond excelent.

 

[gh4chiefs]

My DVR decided to stop recording before the episode was completely over. The last thing I saw was House on the bus, leaving the institution. Obviously I missed the previews, but did anything of significance happen on the bus or shortly thereafter?