(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

Slowly catching up!

Sam's Three Things About House 4.15: Barenaked Ladies!

1. I totally thought the Mystery Woman was going to be House himself; she had that Mona Lisa* look about her and personally I think it would have been a much better episodic story -- though not necessarily better for the arc, I admit -- if he had been trying to diagnose himself dying from an injury received in the crash.

* It is a popular, if now more-or-less debunked, conjecture that the Mona Lisa was a self-portrait.

2. Goddamn, you guys, Robert Sean Leonard acted his ass off in the final scene where House is trying to tell him that Amber is dying.

3. Those of you who mentioned your inner feminists screaming in anger at the end of S4, I see what you mean now. Cuddy stripping on the bus was pretty offputting; it's hard to enjoy an admittedly great body if you're cringing at the AWKWARD OH GOD AWKWARD of the scene's setup and execution. It is potentially consistent with House's character that he objectifies women and that even his most deeply sexual fantasies involve medical diagnostic criteria, but that was pretty unnecessary. The binding scene is an example of Doing It Right; subtle and fully-clothed intellectual eroticism, mingled with the conversation House had with Amber as he was treating her. The stripping was just Awkwardly Doing It Wrong. There's a difference between a character objectifying a woman and an entire show doing it.

3a. I just want to stick Wilson and House in an MRI lab forever and watch them riff at each other. Wilson and House in the MRI lab is never not funny, especially because for some reason they're always lit green.

Comments

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

I decided to stay sane by focusing on the fact that House couldn't complete the mental striptease because he was more interested in Cuddy-helping-the-diagnosis in the end. And on the fact that overall it was a pretty great episode - the direction of the bus crash was amazing, even by the cinematic standards we've come to expect from our high-end TV shows.

[clodia-risa.livejournal.com]

What you said.

[happi-feet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I only started watching the show because it had RSL in it. I had no idea who Hugh Laurie was at the time, though now I'd watch it for him, as well. I've loved RSL ever since Dead Poets. I cried like a freakin' baby at that movie.

[tinitinytina.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that Cuddy scene was awkward as heck, even to someone who hasn't watched all the House episodes.

By the way, the first time I watched House, I kept thinking that Robert Sean Leonard looked EXACTLY like someone else. But it's still nagging me and I still have no idea.

And no, it's not Keanu Reeves. Any ideas?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Uh. Well, he's been in a lot of movies?

[tinitinytina.livejournal.com]

I've looked at his IMDB list, and the only one I've seen is Much Ado. Oh well. It'll come to me someday.

[kit-maxel.livejournal.com]

My dad has a friend (oddly enough, named Sam) who looks just like Robert Sean Leonard.

[keestone.livejournal.com]

Christian Bale? I've always thought they had somewhat similar features.

[infinite-beauty.livejournal.com]

Hillary Swank?
I kept thinking he looked like her in Dead Poet's Society

[the-glow-worm.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I didn't even read that. I just wanted you to know that there is an EFFING FANDOMSECRET (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomsecrets/224896.html#cutid1) ABOUT YOU. How do you feel about being internet famous?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

LOL, well, not to sound like a total egomaniac, but it's not the first time. It's always a bit startling, but it's nice, too -- everyone likes to be liked, after all. :)

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

3a. I just want to stick Wilson and House in an MRI lab forever and watch them riff at each other. Wilson and House in the MRI lab is never not funny, especially because for some reason they're always lit green.

*lol* Agreed.

"House? This is God."

[(Anonymous)]

If you did lock them in the MRI lab forever:
(a) which would be the first to say "Wanna have sex?" and
(b) how long would they be there before (a) got asked?

Inquiringly,

TSS

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I think that would depend on 1. whether they knew they were going to be there a while and 2. whether you can calculate time in nanoseconds accurately enough to measure.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Hee! True indeed. (I'd guess House would be the first to say it; he tends to speak what's on his mind without restraint...)

[blairprovence.livejournal.com]

I think the striptease scene could have been effective if we had, say, an establishing shot of the pole and the outfit, and then House catching the clothes, with closeups on Cuddy's face. It would have been a good callback to the episode's opening scene, and it would have shown that House's subconscious is interested in seeing Cuddy naked, even if his conscious mind denies it. Shown that way it would be the character objectifying women but not the show. Unfortunately, the way it was shot made it look like Skinemax porn.

I know Lisa Edelstein gave interviews where she was game for it, and she was smokin', no question, but I found it uncomfortable to watch, even by myself.

When the show was initially broadcast I thought the use they made of Amber in the finale was brilliant - but this season I just find myself wishing she was still on the show. I'm still ambivalent about Cameron, and I just don't like Thirteen. As a woman it bothers me to only like one female character on an ensemble show. Even if it shouldn't.

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

It bugs me, too. I was mad they only had one decent female candidate among all the Numbers, and then I was mad they didn't hire her, and while she was used brilliantly afterward...well, now we're stuck with Thirteen. Who's getting better and all, but Anne Dudek is a far superior actress.

[aura218.livejournal.com]

re: 3: You are so gay, I masturbate to that scene.

[meran-flash.livejournal.com]

I can forgive dream sequence stripteases if the women are still allowed to be strong and worthwhile in their actions in, you know, reality. If you want to talk about Epic Fail regarding that... well, wait until you get to s5.

But oh god, if you want to talk about RSL acting his ass off, what until you get to the next episode...

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I like the strip tease scene BECAUSE it was so awkward. It was supposed to be.

Its awkwardness made it not OMGMISOGYNYFROTHFROTHFROTH.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

That's the thing, though, I don't think it was intentionally awkward. Not until she stopped stripping, anyhow. I mean, it came off really hideously, but I think FOX said "Sex it up a bit, all this braining is making our viewers get headaches."

[skiferous.livejournal.com]

'I think it would have been a much better episodic story... if he had been trying to diagnose himself'
You're right, that would be really interesting!
Please write it? I would try myself, but there's no way in hell I'd be able to pull it off...