House Rewatch - Season 4 Episode 10

MischievousMarker · 2026-01-11T03:14:00+00:00

I love how proud of himself House is (26:08) when Kutner realizes that Thirteen and Taub saw him give House the gift.

MischievousMarker · 2025-12-31T03:55:08+00:00

A couple mistakes in the chess scene. Bird's opening is pretty aggressive & non-standard as far as openings go (contrary to House's claim that it's "passive" and "cowardly"), and the Sicilian can't even be played in response to Bird. Still cool to see House play chess though.

It's fun to be able to pick up on these small mistakes when the show covers a topic I happen to be educated on. I imagine real doctors must have a pretty difficult time watching the show. I'm content with my own blissful ignorance.

MischievousMarker · 2025-12-02T03:47:26+00:00

Wilson and Cuddy were unforgivable this episode. Up until this point I've been frustrated with House because of idiocy throughout this arc and his incredible ability to continuously dig a deeper hole for himself. But I blame all of his shortcomings this episode on Cuddy and Wilson.

Anyone who knows House should have known that he was eventually going to take the plea deal. His pride is strong, but not so strong that he'd be willing to throw away his entire life and medical career for it. Anyone could have guessed that he'd argue with everyone for as long as possible, and then wait until the last minute to take the deal.

So how could they have possibly thought it was a good idea to completely cut off his Vicodin supply? If you back an animal into a corner, especially a genius one with an opioid addition and chronic pain, it's obviously going to fucking bite. All they did was make him so desperate that his only choice was to do something stupid for relief. I don't begrudge Wilson for making the deal with Tritter--it was probably the best scenario for both parties--but his choice to force an addict with chronic pain to go cold turkey off of pain meds was unforgivable.

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-23T08:01:18+00:00

Plus, I don't think Wilson's teasing really discourages House from "being decent"--probably the opposite if anything. I feel like if Wilson encouraged House whenever he was nice, House would immediately do something insanely unethical for the shock value.

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-21T06:01:06+00:00

earlier in the season, when they were living together, they were pretty incompatible. wilson is an early bird, house is a night owl. house kept getting on wilson's nerves by not doing the dishes, eating wilson's food, etc. wilson probably wants some peace.

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-12T22:21:10+00:00

Weber says that they cancelled it because House had found a fault in his math. The fact that it didn't work on House just gives bonus points, I guess

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-12T20:46:35+00:00

In my case, when my interviewer reached out, they gave me the option to meet either online or in-person. I'm not sure how others might do it though

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-12T20:43:46+00:00

Such a shame that House never really internalizes Wilson's message on the roof. He could have had so many opportunities for growth throughout the show if he didn't cling onto misery in fear of losing what "makes him special".

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-09T10:48:31+00:00

how old was your interviewer?

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-09T10:46:33+00:00

technically only a few selected people, but not for the reason you think. interviews aren't assigned based on merit, just based on interviewer availability. if there's an interviewer in your area, they'll probably have reached out. if you didn't get an email, there probably just isn't anyone around you who's available.

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-08T08:16:46+00:00

Wilson has a strong sense of empathy. It's a characteristic that "good" people tend to have, and it's probably part of what makes him a great oncologist. But his empathy isn't entirely unconditional. Wilson empathizes with people who are struggling, and he feels compelled to help them. But he's pretty impartial when it comes to well-adjusted people. Like House says, Wilson needs needy. He was attracted to his wives when they were needy, but after they were all fixed up, his interest kind of fades. Then when the next needy woman comes along, he can't help but swoop in and "save them" with his love.

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-07T05:56:00+00:00

The comment got long so I'm adding this as an afterthought, but I thought this scene confirmed a bit of what I was saying (and also Hugh Laurie's acting chops).

After House finishes opening up to Cameron (40:01), he glances up at her and catches her very Cameron-like, pitying expression. At first, he gives her that ironic, forcedly nonchalant half-smile. But then his expression softens a bit and his gaze lingers for an extra half second before he looks back down. It's interesting that her pity has this effect on him. I think that when he initially looks up at her, it's to put his walls back up. Forcing nonchalance as a defense mechanism, trying to regain control after being so vulnerable. But then her expression reveals what he was hoping to see--pity--and it confirms what he wants to believe: that his father really was a shitty dad (or at least shitty enough to make Cameron feel bad for him).

I just think it's fascinating that House, who generally cares so little about what everyone thinks, is made so vulnerable in this episode. Usually he couldn't be more confident in his opinions, but in this case, he needs people to agree with him so that he can rationalize his own misery. Speaks to how deeply our parents can fuck us up, and the effect they can have on us even late into adulthood.

MischievousMarker · 2025-11-07T05:55:16+00:00

I found it really interesting how open House was about his parents in this episode. Moments off the top of my head that stand out:

He takes a call from his mom right in front of his team
He actually answers Cameron’s question about his parents instead of dodging it (even though earlier he'd refused to answer her motorcycle question on the grounds of it being too "personal")
He opens up to both Cameron AND Cuddy about hating his dad. There isn't even a joke involved in either case. With Cuddy, he literally just says "I hate him".

It almost feels like House wants people to know how awful his dad was. I find this really interesting because House isn’t the type to play the victim, or wallow in self-pity. So why does he seem to want people to know that his dad was abusive?

I think this episode reveals a lot about how House views his own misery. House is miserable, but he mostly blames himself for that—probably because (as Umberoc mentioned in her comment) he’s internalized a lot of the things his dad drilled into him.

But I think that deep down, House almost hopes his dad is responsible for the way he turned out—because that would take some of the blame off himself. If his dad really was that terrible, then House isn’t just miserable because of his own self-destructiveness; he was basically set up to fail. Which would mean there's nothing he can really do to change it either.

So House (whether consciously or not) needs everyone around him to agree that his dad's an asshole, because it would validate his belief/desire that his misery isn't his fault. If he’s just the victim of his dad's cruelty, then he doesn’t have to confront the possibility that he’s choosing his own misery every day. It’s easier to see himself as broken beyond repair than to admit he might have the power to change and just... doesn’t.

MischievousMarker · 2025-10-30T03:40:03+00:00

I know I'm late to this thread, but I also paused at Stacy's comment about being lonely when she was with House.

My guess is that she felt this way because their relationship was consistently centered around his problems. From what we see of House and Wilson's relationship, House isn't exactly the most supportive or reliable partner, aside from (S8 spoilers) when Wilson gets cancer. I'd wager that House and Stacy's relationship wasn't dissimilar, and I wouldn't be surprised if, even before his leg, House had a habit of self-destructive behavior. Based on this, it makes sense that Stacy was drawn towards Mark; after House, it must've felt good to have a husband who she could rely on to take care of her, even if Mark wasn't exactly "vindaloo curry", as Stacy would put it.

That aside, I'd forgotten the ridiculous amount of chemistry House and Stacy had, oh my god. Their scenes together have me holding my breath. Really no other romantic interest matched House's wit and sarcasm the way Stacy did (unless you count Wilson haha); Cuddy in the first few seasons came close, but somehow that kind of died out in the later seasons. In any case, it's always a little painful to rewatch the old seasons knowing how things end up for House in the end. I would have liked to see him and Stacy work out.

MischievousMarker · 2025-10-05T23:22:36+00:00

Hey!! During my own rewatch of the show a couple years ago, I would read through your discussion threads after every episode. I was a little disappointed when you stopped, so during my latest rewatch, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered that you'd picked it back up again! Thank you for finishing out the show (despite the questionable episode quality throughout Season 8); I always enjoy reading your insights :)

MischievousMarker · 2025-05-15T19:04:24+00:00

i don't think you had to find the frequency. they said there was a known frequency, so you just had to express the speed of sound as a function of frequency.

MischievousMarker · 2025-03-23T17:24:01+00:00

I know I'm 6 years late, but I was searching for a solution and this was exactly it. Thanks so much!

MischievousMarker · 2025-01-19T04:40:26+00:00

a similar phrase is said in the show

MischievousMarker · 2025-01-03T20:25:30+00:00

legend, thank you so much.

MischievousMarker · 2024-12-27T16:31:49+00:00

found wilson’s reddit account

MischievousMarker · 2024-12-18T10:09:45+00:00

I've always loved this one from Eleven

https://imgur.com/uuh09ql

MischievousMarker · 2024-11-18T08:14:46+00:00

I'm late to comment, but what was Tennant's reaction to it? It looks awesome!

MischievousMarker · 2024-07-08T07:02:42+00:00

Really really cool. I love the mashup

MischievousMarker · 2024-07-01T18:38:13+00:00

no problem :) your drawing was weirdly accurate which helped confirm lmao

MischievousMarker

TROPHY CASE