The opening with Cuddy and Wilson was funny, but I found myself not caring about the cases or characters at all. Cameron and Cuddy are both v. pretty. That's about all I got. Yes there were some witty lines, but I was not engaged at all.
[I also didn't recognize Clare Kramer at all.]
I really liked Wilson's "No you don't" to House's "I know what the pains of middle-age feel like."
Chase is the one willing to cut open the guy's head? That was weird.
The wife's "He's already dead" response to Cameron's "The test to do this is very risky. He could die." was very disturbing.
Cuddy: Your motives affect your judgement.
House: The first time in [#] years I have no opiates in my body and now you question my judgement?
Cuddy: Twenty-four times a year you come storming into my office spouting that you can help someone. Except you never say those words. You say something like, "His pancreas is going to explode because his brain is on fire!" You come in with medicine. You use reason, not platitudes.
Of course House is right about the cortisol -- because it's a tv show, so we do get to have the protagonist to wrap everything up with a neat little bow as the hour draws to a close, which annoys me a little bit -- and that final solution [unlike everything else House had done to the guy all episode] wouldn't have harmed him at all, so there was no reason for Cuddy not to try it.
Though hi, atrophied muscles, much? Hadn't it been like 6 years? He should barely be able to move his hand, nevermind stand up.
Wilson: He got lucky, that's all that happened. Telling him no was a good thing because he won’t get lucky, he'll kill someone. Just because he was right doesn't mean he wasn't wrong.
Cuddy: I see him every day. I can't just....
Wilson: Everybody lies.
The first episode of House I ever saw was 1.07 "Fidelity," whose sledgehammered message of "Everybody lies" was way too cynical for me to handle (which I think is saying a lot). However, its usage at the end of this episode was almost comforting to me. (Honesty is a huge Issue for me, but I'm also a pragmatist, so those are sometimes in tension.)
