Tuesday, April 10, 2012

House: Bum Hockey Player & A Fake Kid

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I know that we're trying to wrap-up this drama in the next 1/3 of a season, but do we have to avoid all multiple-episode storylines at this point? Did Duncan have to have all of his appearances here only? Did Park need to fight with her mother, be reluctant to live with a male, move in with Chase, and move back home in the time it takes the team to diagnose and treat a single patient? Are we not going to bother examining Adams' character at all anymore? Did Foreman suddenly receive approval from everyone? Because it had been clear that he was close to getting canned... I guess we'll deal with that later? And where is Dominika? Okay, I'll stop complaining and give you the scoop...

House "Gut Check" (S08E16): Two hockey players get into a fight and one begins coughing up blood. The next symptom is swollen breast tissue, so Taub suspects steroids.[always a safe guess with professional athletes.] After searching the locker room with Chase, Park suspects mono. Neither of these are the culprit, and once Taub finds the patient crying, he wonders if it's depression. [House in the MRI machine to mess with Taub was funny!] We learn that the hockey "player" was a great child athlete, but his skills never caught up to his size, so he basically just acts as "an enforcer" now, meaning he's had lots of concussions, among other ailments. The patient suffers paralysis, begins to get better, then has worse paralysis. A positive test for botulism throws things off more, but it ends up being two conditions - one was mono, tho! [so the mono test was wrong earlier? or they didn't do one?]  

Wilson has been kept up at night by a neighbor's baby so he is sleeping in his office. He realizes that he probably won't get to experience fatherhood at the rate he's going, so house decides to have a little fun with him. House tells Wilson that, eleven years ago, one of his girlfriends called and told House that Wilson was the father of her baby. House chose not to pass on the news directly, but brings it up now. [at first I couldn't figure out why Wilson wasn't more angry with house for keeping such a big thing from him for so long!] Wilson calls Beth, and it seems that his son wants to meet him, so they have lunch at a diner. [a neutral location is great and all, but what eleven-year-old in Princeton is going to diners alone??] Duncan takes a liking to Wilson and asks to hang out that evening, so Wilson changes his plans to have dinner with his son. ["I'll text you." so much has changed since I was eleven!] The two make personal pizzas for dinner, but Wilson is afraid that the kid would rather have peanut butter. Turns out, he shares Wilson's love for prosciutto and goat cheese! [and this is where I decide that House must have set this up.] The kid is excited about the prospect of having grandparents in his life, now, and even hugs Wilson and says "I love you" when leaving the car. [all Wilson has done is bought the kid dinner, made some pizza, and got him a handheld video game system that he already had... nothing special... how does that earn love?] The next appearance of Duncan has the kid claiming that his other is ready to move to Costa Rica to open a bird sanctuary, so, of course, Duncan asks Wilson if he could stay with him instead. Wilson agrees, as long as it's okay with Beth. [Wilson. we know that you're a softy, but don't you think you're taking on a little much?] Wilson tells House that he doesn't know what he's doing, and House brings in Wendel, a professional child actor with a recurring spot on a soap, who has been acting as Duncan. [how horrific! poor Wilson! (even though I saw it coming...) the Australian accent thing was funny! can you imagine Chase's reactions?]

Cr: Jordin Althaus/FOX
Park has been in a fight with her mother so she sleeps in her car. [are we reiterating that Park has no friends?] Chase has a spare bedroom and offers it to her, but she finds opposite-sex housemates to be an odd idea. [maybe not ideal, but certainly not odd. It's still 2012 American, Park!] She does go with it, though her grandmother is soon visiting regularly to play cribbage with Chase. Park tells House that she moved in with Chase. [hilarious thought process on not knowing the future so maybe Chase and Park will hook up.] Well, Park isn't thrilled that she didn't actually get away from her family, so she moves back home anyway. [booooooring!]
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