I was actually looking forward to this episode. I came home and my mom said it was really good. I was all excited.

But, meh. It was okay.



It started out better than it ended. I wasn't sure until I read others' comments, but I was annoyed by how the episode seemed to be about how we have to feel OH SO SORRY FOR CUDDY HER JOB IS SO HARD. Boohoo. As a result of being manipulated, I wound up...not feeling sorry for her, at all, really. Especially when no one in the hospital respects her because she favorites House and they think she's sleeping with him...and she just lets it go. Meh. I don't hate Cuddy again, but this killed the high I had before this episode.

I also disliked how everything went right for Cuddy at the last minute, which just removes what's interesting about her job. In earlier seasons, I was fascinated with the dilemmas Cuddy had to deal with episode-to-episode while House ran around like a mad man. I liked seeing the repercussions of House's actions on her and the hospital, but less so when they are all magically solved at the end of the day. Also not sure I like that Lucas kind of saved the day; it pings my squick about her lack of agency the writers tend to go for.

Either the mole was a dirty lying liar or TPTB are retreating rapidly from Cuddy/Lucas. No proposal scene, and they seemed to be trying to make people hate Lucas more. (I don't hate Lucas, though...) Sigh. Well, if they write him out, I'm okay long as they don't make him start beating Cuddy or something else melodramatic and OOC.

The good:

The "you bitch" refrain. People seriously didn't get this--I even saw complaints about Lucas saying it to Cuddy...AS A JOKE. Regardless of whether she's good at her job or not, Cuddy gets called a bitch all day because she's a woman in a high position of power. I liked how every time we heard someone call her a bitch, it was in a different tone: the psycho thief calls her a bitch negatively, Lucas says it jokingly, and the insurance guy says it with a tone respect. Though I shouldn't be surprised TPTB cranked out something like that. There was a similar commentary with Amber being the Cut-Throat Bitch and her embracing the title. But then and now, apparently the point was ~to subtle~

There was no Huddy. House and Cuddy interacted, yeah, but the scenes weren't shippy. There were no anvils or forced sexual tension. It reminded me of how I felt about House and Cameron's scenes in S4--that the relationship is much stronger when it's not all about OMGGENERICSEXUALTENSION. The writers have to, you know, actually come up with something semi-original then.

So, it was an okay episode. S6 hasn't disappointed me yet (and I'm not getting into the handwringing about upcoming storylines until I actually see them).

I am even more annoyed that TPTB pushed "5 to 9" so much harder than "Wilson," when it was the inferior episode. Oh well.

*sigh* Three weeks until the next episode. (Fortunately, I just finished a House/Wilson/Amber fic that just needs editing, which is the starting point for a whole fic!verse.)