Image Credit: Adam Taylor/FOXHugh Laurie stepped behind the camera for last night’s House, but that was hardly the only departure for the episode: Shocking returns! A crazyass lockdown that gave everyone a mini-Breakfast Club story! A moment of emotional decency from House, and an actual flicker of an interesting human being from Thirteen! Everything was upside-down and backwards in “Lockdown.” And I kind of loved it. This was the best episode in months.
The big shock: Cameron was back, but just long enough to show off her extreme blondness and serve Chase with divorce papers. Poor Chase, still getting strung along by the overly righteous Cameron. Of course the former lovebirds got locked in together when a newborn baby mysteriously disappeared somewhere within the hospital, and Cuddy called for a Code Grounding, where everyone had to just stay put. It’s been done to death on hospital shows before, but usually it’s a matter of quarantine and not kidnapping; Cuddy’s superserious “we’re in lockdown” just screamed Kerri Weaver to me.
Taub and Foreman were stuck in the hospital’s archives, amid all the patient and personnel files that had yet to be digitized. Escandolo! Reading each other’s files wasn’t all that revealing — Foreman has an inferiority complex? No kidding? — but the doofuses decided to get inside House’s head by gobbling down some pilfered Vicodin. Their shenanigans quickly devolved into a scene from Thirteen, with the two fancy doctors whose hands are worth millions punching each other in the face. Just make out, you two!
House’s lock-in buddy was David Strathairn, playing, er, Deathbed R. Murrow, a guy inches from death who had, once upon a time, asked House to take his case. House had declined lo those many months ago, and he acted shockingly snippy about it — yeah, we know, House is a grade-A bastard, but DRM was hours from death. Was snark really the way to go? Mercifully, he softened a bit over the course of the ordeal, eventually confiding in the patient that “”I like being alone. At least I convince myself I’m better off that way. Then I met someone, in a psychiatric hospital of all places. She changed me, and then she left.” Whoa! For a second, I really thought House was talking about Stacy. Instead, it was his more recent heartbreak, and I’m still struggling to see how exactly she changed him. Still, it was an unusually candid moment for our always-guarded antihero, made possible only because he knew DRM was definitely about to die. House convinced him to reach out to his estranged daughter, which he did, and then Deathbed took House up on his offer of a gently fatal dose of morphine. It was sad, yes, but also matter-of-fact.
Our last locked-in duo was Wilson and Thirteen, who proved to be more fun together than I could have imagined. The unthinkable happened on this episode: Thirteen was fun and interesting! She was humorous, and open, and had multiple facial expressions, and wasn’t a robo-grouch sent here to distract us with impressive cheekbones. I guess Wilson really can bring out the best in everyone. The two played a round of truth or dare, which Thirteen filled with lies and Wilson filled with endearing stammers. He revealed that he’d just started sort of seeing his first ex-wife again (which a lot of us knew already [spoilers]), and he dared Thirteen to flash Taub. (Asking her to flash him seemed exploitative, natch. Awww.) I want these two to become buddies — Thirteen is sort of House-Lite; mysterious, sarcastic, and unpredictable, but without the emotional abuse and drug problems. (And with better hair.)
Chase and Cameron’s denouement went for the ultra-obvious: She doesn’t know if she ever loved him because she’s so broken inside, etc, but they had some fun times, didn’t they, so let’s have some muscular farewell sex, okay. So they did! If you have seen any show ever, you saw this coming a mile away. It was nice to see them all cuddly I guess, but I just wanted to grab a bullhorn and shout “get some therapy you two!” Get some therapy for reals, though. Help helps!
Cuddy solved the Great Missing Baby Caper with a one-two punch of diagnostic acumen (“hey, nurse lady is having a weird kind of seizure!”) and outrageous micromanagement (“hey, I know how many laundry carts there usually are right here“). Ah, happy endings. Like Thirteen flashing Taub on her way out.
The Latin phrase engraved on the building, “omnes te moriturum amant,” apparently means “everyone loves you on your deathbed.”Did you love “Lockdown” on its deathbed, PopWatchers?
I also enjoyed this episode.
However, everything you said about Thirteeen in this episode (about being interesting and humorous and not being a robo-grouch), I would apply to Foreman even more. (Except for the impressive cheekbones.) He is a MUCH bigger killjoy and it was nice to see him loosen up for the first time since pretty much ever. The fact that it took drugs for him to loosent up isn’t encouraging, but I’ll take it.
Also, Deathbed R. Murrow = brilliant! “Good night, and good lu…(flatline)”
Thirteen’s done her share of drugs. Remember the episode when she picked up the girl at a club and then the girl started to die? Plenty of drugs there, as I recall.
Forgive me but who was House talking about from therapy?
It was Lydia – the lady visiting her sister-in-law …They got intimate in the supply closet..
Oh! I forgot about her. I could not figure out who he was talking about.
…probably not a good sign for a character who allegedly had a profound effect on House.
Thanks yorky! I could not remember who he was talking about!
he went to see her after he got out, but she had kids and turned him away…. I always hoped she would come back into it somehow…
I don´t remember who Lydia was. It was like a WTF moment. I didn´t know who he was talking about.
Blah. The script just wasn’t snappy enough. And no, not even Wilson made Thirteen interesting. And it seemed like only two people were even looking for the missing baby.
I found it mostly dull. Everything feels so directionless at the moment, and for a character drama that’s fatal. After broken I was excited – it really seemed like House had changed. But no. Of course he hasn’t.
I agree, this wa the best episode in months! Enjoyed the break from the patient of the week, and all the fun character stuff going on.
Oh Weaver, I miss you!
Why was it so dark?
Another bad episode in a thoroughly subpar season. I watch “House” for three reasons:
(1) Hugh Laurie
(2) medical mysteries
(3) House’s snarky comments and humor
All three have been MIA for large parts of this season. I am bored to death with Cameron and Chase. Foreman is a grouchy killjoy, and they can’t find anything for Taub and Thirteen to do. In addition, the coyness about House and Cuddy is predictable and eye-rolling by this point. Only the Wilson-House relationship is still well done.
This is a MYSTERY show, just with diseases, not murderers. The writers appear to have forgotten that. I don’t want to see House in rehab. I don’t want to see a day from Wilson’s point of view, or Cuddy’s. I don’t care about bland Chase’s ethical dilemmas. In short, I don’t want “Princeton Plainsboro Soap Opera.” I want my medical mystery show back! If I don’t get it soon, I’m outta here.
Wake up, writers! You are destroying a great show! I don’t care if it was formulaic–mysteries are ALWAYS formulaic. If Law and Order, CSI, NCIS, Bones, etc. can do the same thing for as many seasons as they want, then House can too. Get back to diagnosing!!! Or rename the show as a soap opera and be done with it.
this.
I loved this one and totally agree about Thirteen. This is the first time I’ve actually liked her character. Also agree that House was overly-snarky to the dying patient “it’s below my pay grade” sounded to snobbish for House. I could see him saying it was too boring or routine but that sounded really elitist, which I don’t associate with House.
I’m sorry, are we watching the same show? House isn’t elitist? Since when?
OK, he’s an intellectual elitist, but the mention of “pay-grade” sounded like was a class snob. Just struck me as off.
The “below my pay-grade” comment was in reference to the man’s boring diagnosis. Which is pretty much the joke every time House is sifting through potential cases.
I was bored and turned it off half-way through. The Chase/Cameron stuff just made me cringe.
I have been a House follower since the beginning but this season has put me to sleep. The premiere was outstanding, but now I can’t make it through a hole episode.
David Strathairn is such a great actor, he took a fairly standard hospital drama character – dying old man wanting to reconnect with a loved one – and filled him with a humanity that seemed fresh and real.
Exactly. I thought the other stories were idiotic and ate up screen time that could have been better spent watching him.
I have always liked Thirteen. She’s awesome.
I loved 75% of this episode – House, Taub/Foreman on dope and 13 making Wilson do bad things were all great, but I had about enough of Cameron and Chase BS by about the second of what seemed like 27 scenes between them. Enough already. But more annoying than that was the stupid baby caper. So the answer in the end is that the housekeeping person had a day of seizures and ACCIDENTALLY seized a baby and stuffed it in a towel cart? And then left extra towels in the mother’s room? WHAT?
seemed far fetched… I have never stayed in a hospital where there are towels in the bathroom anyway.. it is not a hotel
Yorky, Good pick-up! I worked 11 years in ICU and you don’t have towels because if they are touched once by medically dirty hands they are contaminated. So a nurse carries as many are needed in a room and nothing is “stored.”
It was as if it was “Oh we forgot about the missing baby! Let’s make up a quick reason!” and as a neurological practitioner I’ve NEVER seen an eliptiform seizure picked up that way…unless Cuddy can “see” EEG waves coming out of someone’s head!
I agree–the way they worked it out did not make any sense. I was thinking the little brother had put his new sister in the laundry cart.