Tuesday, May 18, 2010

House : Help Me


And the end is here. What must be one of the best seasons of House ever in my opinion is finally coming to an end. Wrapping up with just 21 episodes, the finale is undeniably better than last season's, but I still think the finale of season 4 is the best of them all. In this episode, House faces his inner demons, and finally realises why he can never be happy. We are given an insight into why House became such a nasty person, and how he actually regretted keeping his leg instead of cutting it off because it made his life hell. It left him alone, unwanted and unloved.

"To Lisa and Lucas. Here's to a new chapter. Best, Greg."

House finally gives Cuddy the presnet he's been meaning to give her all along; her great grandfather's book. She became really awkward when she accepted it, but House thinks that it's because she was surprised he knew about their moving in together. It was actually something a lot bigger, but House would only find out about it later, because Cuddy could not bring herself to tell him just then. Instead, she tells him about a crane accident and sends House to the scene.


Arriving at the scene, House proceeds to rob a broken vending machine, but is interrupted by the sound of someone banging on the pipe. He realises that there's someone buried in the rubble and informs the rescue team, but they couldn't find anything. In the end, House decides to look for himself, and moves aside some of the rubble before crawling in. He emerges into an open space, and finds the source of the sound he heard. It was a woman, with her legs trapped underneath the weight of the entire building.


House leaves the patient underground, even though she begs him not to, and goes to bother Cuddy, questioning her about her awkwardness when receiving his gift. Cuddy finally admits that she was surprised because she initially thought that House gave her an 'engagement' present. House is stunned, and disappointed. Returning underground, he chats with the woman, and she makes him promise not to amputate her leg, whatever happens. House promises, to screw with Cuddy.

After two hours, when the possibility of Crush Syndrome became more and more persistent, Cuddy tries to encourage the patient to cooperate by letting them amputate, but she refuses, telling them that House had promised her. She leaves them, and House tries to use an oxygen pump to lift up the rubble on top of her, with the help of a search and rescue worker. However, the building collapses further, injuring House. The patient is still trapped, but now she has a collapsed lung.

Cuddy chides House for disagreing with her, saying that he was not acting in the best interests of the patient just because she told him that she was marrying Lucas. House argues, but Cuddy shuts him up when she tells him that she's done with him. Feeling remorseful, House crawls back down the tunnel to the woman and for the very first time, tells the story of why he became a cranky cripple.


A few years back, House had a blood blot in his leg, and had to have his leg amputated. Being House, he refused, telling them to perform a risky operation on him instead. It almost killed him, but it worked partly. He had his leg, but it will be in constant pain forever because the doctor cut out a lot of the muscles in it. Because of the incident, House became who he is today, nasty, angry, and alone. House admits that he regretted his decision back then, and he would have rather lost his leg than to lose himself. He begs the patient to not make the same mistake and she finally complies. 

I find this scene to be one of the best throughout this season, because it shows House as a vulnerable man, just like all of us. He finally realises the reason for his unhappiness, and it wasn't through therapy, but through reflection. All his friends are moving on, both Cuddy and Wilson are with the ones they love, leaving him with no more friends. House is truly alone, and this makes him reminisce on his past mistakes, and what made him who he is today.


After amputating the patient's leg, House gets into the ambulance transporting her to te hospital, tgether with her husband and a paramedic. Halfway there, she seizes, because of a fat embolism trapped in her bloodstream. Unable to do anything, House could only watch in despair as she suffocates to death. Wehn the ambulance arrives, Foreman opens he door, to find all three of them sitting silently inside. The woman was already dead. House then realises that even though he had done everything right, he cannot save everyone. He blames himself for her death, even though there was nothing he could do.



Back at the hospital, Thirteen had arrived late for work, but she assures Taub that everything was fine. However, later he finds her in House's office, with a letter in her hand. She tells Taub that she's asking for some time off, which she clearly needs. This means that something is seriously wrong with Thirteen, but she refuses to tell anyone about it. Is her disease finally hitting her full force?


House returns to his house, broken and remorseful, hating himself and his past. He walks to the bathroom, smashes the mirror and behind it, there's a secret stash of Vicodin. House reaches for the bottles and slumps down to the floor, on top of bits of broken mirror, but he appears not to notice. House sighs, before unscrewing the cap and pouring out two pills onto the palm of his hand. Just as he was about to swallow the pills, House notices that he isn't alone. Cuddy was there.


Cuddy tells House that she called of the engagement. Even though she really wanted to move on with her life, deep inside, she still loves House. And she doesn't know why. House doesn't either, telling her that he's 'the most screwed-up person in the world'. She clearly doesn't mind, and they kiss.This scene was so clearly reminiscent of the last season that I initially thought House was hallucinating again. But apparently he wasn't because h hadn't taken the pills yet. He drops the Vicodin on the ground, and takes Cuddy into his arms.

Looks like House finally got a happy ending, but how long will it last? Will he change for the better, because now he has a reason for happiness again? Well, we'll see next year, in the seventh season of House.

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