8.11 - Nobody's Fault

[menolly_au]

My thoughts on 8.11 Nobody's Fault. Contains spoilers for that episode but nothing beyond that.

I really enjoyed this episode! Yes, there were faults in the logic and reality of it, and it used a lot of the standard television 'very special episode' tropes but I was thoroughly gripped from beginning to end and Hugh Laurie put in a superb performance (as did the rest of the cast). many of the other episodes this season I've been bored and watching the clock but I couldn't look away from this one.

I do think that the episode title (and the final conclusion) that is was 'nobody's fault' is correct. At the most it was a failure of procedure, if the patient was at risk of a psychotic episode maybe he should have been restrained. Even if Chase hadn't gone in there with a scalpel the patient could have still harmed himself or others.

I was a bit disappointed in Chase that he didn't accept House's sincere apology, it seemed at odds with his attitude the rest of the episode (and his acceptance and understanding of House). The Chase/House interaction was great. And it was noticeable that each time House was shown as 'not caring' about Chase he'd already done what he could before turning back to the patient (and immediately dropped the patient DDX when Chase announced he couldn't feel his legs, and Chase had to settle him down and remind him to be objective)

I don't believe Chase's actions are House's fault - we all make our own choices and it was his choice to defy his boss, he could not have predicted the results.

It is in character of House to accept that blame though, just as he accepted the blame Foreman put on him when Foreman believed he was turning into House, and the blame for Amber's death (and possibly Kutner's as well). The theme of self punishment continues, House seemed to be almost looking to be sent back to prison (while at the same being scared of it) with his outburst at the end. I hope that Wilson is there next episode to support House.

And House, for all how everyone tells him he is a lousy human being, once again put his patient above everything else that was happening - continuing to work on the case when the other doctors abandoned the guy. He also jeopardizes his freedom for him (by walking out on the interrogation). He gives everything to his patients at great personal cost. Yes, he and other people would say it's because of the Puzzle not the Patient but the end result is the same for the patient. Saving Nick in Twenty Vicodins cost him thirty days in solitary and another ten months on his sentence. I wish sometimes he could get some in-show recognition for that as well as the bad things he does. 

Anyway, I loved it, what did you all think?

Comments

[damigella-314.livejournal.com]

Okay, you convinced me. I'll be watching this, if nothing else because I think this is IC House. The asshole who's not sugartalking to his patients, but who's willing to put everything at stake, including himself, to save them.

Thanks for the encouraging review, and let's hope that Wilson will provide TLC.

[lit-luminary.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of this.

The spin I took for my post-ep (look for that in an hour or so; it's in final editing) is that Chase didn't accept House's apology because he didn't feel House had anything to apologize for: House wasn't the attacker and didn't put him in the position that caused him to be attacked. Lack of verbal assurance on those facts is attributable to physical and emotional exhaustion: he didn't have the resources right then to hold himself upright, focus on getting uncooperative legs to move, and deal with what he saw as unfounded guilt.

Anything else, as you said, is not consistent with his general attitude toward House throughout.

[yarroway.livejournal.com]

There was a lot to like here. :) This is my second favorite episode of the season, after Transplant (which had the advantage of lots of Wilson and HW stuff).

I especially liked the part at the end where House berates Cofield, and the way he persisted with the case and dropped everything to save the patient.

It's ironic that House is investigated and potentially blamed for the stabbing but not for any of the many actual parole violations this year. I'm not sure I can handle the juxtaposition of House's laugh-track worthy attempt to electrocute Foreman last week with the Holy Inquisition over a psychotic patient's violent episode this week.

It's very strange the way tptb handle blame. The two other time House was blamed by others in a major way were when Chase's dad died and the committee punished House, and when Amber died. In neither case was what happened House's fault, but the the episodes dealing with the situation were written as if it were. Yet it's not like House doesn't do the wrong or illegal or unethical thing sometimes--even a lot of the time.

I think that the flip side of nobody's fault is everybody's fault. Everyone made mistakes here. The episode pointed out the ways Foreman screwed up. Chase decided to do the procedure. He didn't sedate the patient first. A little sedative might have kept potw calm and averted the crisis. As a side note, I wonder if Chase was subconsciously attempting to get hurt. He tackled the patient instead of getting help, which would have been far more effective.

It was also interesting that Chase removed his lab coat and tucked in his tie before entering the room. If he were concerned about getting his clothes dirty I'd think he would have just buttoned the coat over them, whereas tucking the tie in would make it a little harder for the potw to grab it. Was Chase anticipating that the patient might get violent, and if so why didn't he take additional steps to protect everyone? Probably I'm reading too much into this.

Anyway, Adams brought in a syringe, which also makes a really good weapon and which set the patient off, and she didn't stop Chase or argue against doing the procedure. When the crisis occurred she just stood there, not helping Chase, not grabbing the patient, and after a few seconds she called the code out as if the whole hospital would magically hear her instead of using the intercom to get help. If Cofield were looking for someone to blame for Chase's injuries IMO it would be her.

House knew the potw was possibly having a steroid reaction and increased the dose without adding any antipsychotics. Also, I agreed with Cofield that House creates an environment that makes people miserable and fosters distrust, conflict, and going against instructions. This has good consequences and bad ones. He's indirectly responsible for both. I agree it would be nice if House ever got any credit for the good he does.

And yet, House is right. Bad things happen because bad things happen. Rationally, House knows this, but I'm not sure how much he believes it in his heart. He also knows that he screwed up, and so he feels guilty. IMO he's right on both counts.

[petitecuriosity.livejournal.com]

It was also interesting that Chase removed his lab coat and tucked in his tie before entering the room. If he were concerned about getting his clothes dirty I'd think he would have just buttoned the coat over them, whereas tucking the tie in would make it a little harder for the potw to grab it. Was Chase anticipating that the patient might get violent, and if so why didn't he take additional steps to protect everyone?

I kind of got the impression as well that Chase had done it on purpose, and the preparations you pointed out are good indications. I forgot exactly what he said to Colfied, but I think it was when he said (and again, I can't recall the exact wording), that he thought that Adams' diagnosis was right. It appeared to me as though he was purposefully keeping his expression vapid, as if he wanted this to appear as though he'd made a misjudgement, and not as though he'd done it on purpose. (Although, I could be reading too much into it.)

[alternatealto.livejournal.com]

I read somewhere or other that this was Greg Yaitanes' last episode directing for [H]ouse. If that's true, I can't say I'm sorry, because I don't care for his directorial style. In this episode in particular, it felt like getting hit in the head with a series of sledgehammer blows. The contrast with "Three Stories" is a really good one -- in that episode, the director stayed out of the way of the story. Here, it was like Yaitanes thought the audience wouldn't notice things unless he jumped up and down and screamed about them. [H]ouse does better with subtlety, because usually the acting is more than enough to carry things, and Yaitanes never has seemed to understand that.

I agree with all the points you've made about the things the episode reveals about the characters, especially about the House/Chase dynamic. They've opened the door for some good storytelling in future episodes, and I hope they can use it. (Although, Chase's comment in the lead-in to next week puzzled me a little: he needs to "get away" from House? He just had a whole year away from the man while House was in prison! Did he spend all that time in suspended animation or something?)

You're also right that this episode showed very clearly how House comes at all his relationships from the opposite direction of anyone else. And Chase has worked with him long enough to get that about him, explaining to Colfield that the so-called DDX in Chase's recovery area wasn't about the patient, it was House's excuse to come and do what everyone else was doing: hover over Chase. (Insofar as House is capable of hovering.)

One of the great things about the acting in this episode was that I walked away with the feeling that while Colfield certaily doesn't like House personally, he did come to see why his team are so loyal to him. and to agree with it to a certain extent. In a way, House's final outburst just confirmed his character to Colfield -- House really does live by his convictions, even when they can damage him personally.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Hmm, yeah, it didn't come across that way to me, he seemed angry, it confused me after the rest of the episode. I think we'll have to see if in conjunction with the next episode for the whole picture.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I can handle the juxtaposition of House's laugh-track worthy attempt to electrocute Foreman last week with the Holy Inquisition over a psychotic patient's violent episode this week

Yes, I do wish they'd go for a stronger case to investigate, this really wasn't House's fault that I could see. There certainly could be an investigation over his conduct with his team - in the real world he could never get away with abusing them like he does - but the stabbing wasn't really a result of that IMO.

The narrative of the show does have a tendency to blame House for just about everything that occurs, he certainly wasn't culpable in The Mistake, and Ambers case was a sequence of events which had an outcome he could never have forseen.

I thought the lab coat/tie thing might have been a question of hygiene? So he didn't have those bits flapping around near an open wound?

Adams was useless I agree, but I think she just froze up in shock which does happen. I thought it was odd how the fracas went on for so long before Taub and anyone else noticed, there was a lot of screaming and shouting and crashing but it took them ages to get involved.

As far as 'practical jokes' go on this show the orange hair was nothing, this is the show that had Cuddy set a tripwire for House after all.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Although, Chase's comment in the lead-in to next week puzzled me a little: he needs to "get away" from House? He just had a whole year away from the man while House was in prison! Did he spend all that time in suspended animation or something?

He 'went surfing' apparently, the guy deliberately waited for House to come back so he could work with him again. I think he's copping out if he tries to blame any of his life choices on House - it was his decision to murder Diabla, and his decision never to deal with that in his life.

I'm a bit over everyone on the show blaming House for whatever happens to them. I liked how they had Chase accepting that House did care about him, and what happened wasn't his 'fault' and then the last scene with House & Chase confused me because they seemed to reverse that.

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

I had to work last night and didn't see the episode yet, but I will just note, here, that historically when people on this show run away from House, what they're really doing is running away from something about themselves that they don't want to deal with or accept.

Cameron did it, Foreman did it, Taub did it, Wilson's done it more than once. I guess it's Chase's turn.

[(Anonymous)]

I got the impression Cofield dropped the case against House to protect Foreman.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Well, according to House he was about to suspend House but changed his mind when the wife came in. House said that he had House's 'parole form' in his folder meaning he was going to revoke House's parole. Which makes no sense because Cofield has absolutely no authority to do anything about HOuse's parole I wouldn't think. But that's the logic the show used.

[(Anonymous)]

We missed our Wilson - don't care for Chase!