I eye her suspiciously too, because, as you said, it would take one crazy stunt on House's part to get Cuddy into overdrive. For someone who lives her life by the 'middle ground' policy, it's ironic how easily she can swing to extremes. Which is possibly why she clings to the middle ground theory even more.

I've reached a bad point lately about it, mostly fandom and how it's been affecting me. The anxiety is just...ridiculous, and it's been hard for me to watch the show, because all I can think about is fandom's reaction and how it will make me facepalm to infinity. But when I really look at the show, just the show, or maybe with a level-headed sane person like yourself, I realize that it's okay. Things are okay.

You know, I've felt this way too. There was a time when I would go to the boards and communities in search for discussion (I thrive on it), only to find that they're full of people who hate *everything* (except maybe scenes with Wilson in them) and everyone, who don't get the simplest of jokes (why watch this show, then?) and need to be explained *everything* and have warped definitions for everything.... Then I realised that this was crazy, and I needed sane people to hang out with. That's why I collect sane people on my flist and cling to them like crazy. I still go to the communities and boards, because sane people *do* post on them, and I cannot resist a good discussion - but I always take them with a pinch of salt. And when someone particularly strange (there are so many of them!) says something moronic, I tell myself things like, 'Yeah, well, this is not season one so suck it. Also your avatar is ugly.' You'll be amazed how well this has worked for me. *g*