Ding dong, the Witch is gone!

[swatkat]

Ding dong, the Witch is gone!



Please remind me it's very, very bad to read episode reactions before watching the episode itself, okay? In my defence, the dl was taking hours and then Castle distracted me. And meanwhile, some of the responses made me brace myself for something along the lines of One Day, One Room (and I wouldn't be surprised, after the terrible editing in the previous episode—we are approaching the mid-season arc; I fear the mid-season arc), and… the episode was surprisingly okay. I mean, not exactly Three Stories, but not One Day, One Room, or even the previous episode (which had its moments). Perhaps the combination of self-righteous!Cameron and Thirteen was too much for fandom to handle? But it's okay, fandom, one of them is gone now, and the show is back to two female regulars who never interact with each other, just like Season One, isn't that nice? So what if the show fails the Bedchel test in every episode? The witch is gone! Now if only they'd give Thirteen the early death she deserves and put Cuddy where she belongs, that is, behind her desk, showing her face once every episode to say 'bad House, no cookie', before House proves how wrong she is and how awesome he is…

In case you were wondering, yes, I am being sarcastic. I am annoyed that once againTPTB took a 'creative decision' to write out a female character for the noble cause of furthering Manpain (ref. House's Head/Wilson's Heart; or, for that matter, Games, where they had to do that ridiculous Cuddy Ex Machina thing because obviously there couldn't be TWO WOMEN on House's team, it would destroy the rhythm of the universe. And two women who actually get along? Gasp!). If they wanted to cut down on the bloated cast, they should have done so two seasons ago instead leaving the actors hanging in there.

I am, in a way, happy for Cameron, because while I think her sanctimoniousness with the pornstar was uncalled for (as was Chase's), and that she is placing far more blame on House than House perhaps deserves—but House played games with the patient's life, in this very episode, so that he could have his team back. House learnt about the Dibala incident and said, 'Better murder then misdiagnosis'—flippant, yes, but also callous, even if the patient in question was a genocidal tyrant. Foreman did react, and earned a few points in my book for that, but in my less charitable moments I wonder if he was less interested in the actual act of murder and more in covering his own (and Chase's) ass. And Chase, Chase killed a patient. Chase sat in a (fictional) hospital in a developed country and took advantage of the system to 'save' a (fictional) African country from a genocidal tyrant, because the 'helpless' people of the country—symbolized by the clinic patient who tried, and failed, to kill Dibala—obviously could not and therefore needed saving. He did all of this without questioning whether or not Dibala's death would bring about further instability in Dibala's country, whether the 'moderates' are indeed 'moderate', whether Dibala's supporters would be out on the streets the next day, killing innocent citizens for revenge. And then he fucking justified himself to the priest (who would not absolve him), and again justified himself in this episode: 'I'm either a murderer, or the guy who stopped a mass-murderer, but I did it, me. Even it destroys me, I'd do it again today.' Because evidently, if you say something loudly and emphatically, it automatically makes you a brave, uncompromising soul, standing up for truth, justice, freedom and a hard-boiled egg. And, I don't know, perhaps I am being naïve here, but that deserves some outrage from someone, even if it is Cameron with her somewhat confused moral compass.

Ah, but you say—she brought up murder first, didn't she? She 'put the idea in his head' (I quote a fellow fan). She was self-righteous and she preached, as always, 'put the idea in his ickle head', and when she was called on it by Dibala himself, she took her stand and did what she was supposed to do: her job. And Chase? Chase did exactly what Dibala said:

'In my world, there are dangers and bloodshed and death, and that makes you a man, and men make choices.'

'Whatever it takes to protect my country.'

The wording is not incidental. Taking a stand and making the hard choice, doing whatever it takes makes you a Man, and Chase acted like the manly man that he is killed Dibala. And, of course, even if it destroys him, he'd do it again today. He is Iron Man. With Manpain.

I will miss Cameron and her ethical waffling. Because no matter how naïve/confused she was and no matter how hypocritical she may have been on occasion, at least she brought the issues up. Who else cares?



Ignore it. It's bound to go away.




That said, there was a lot of posturing going on in this episode. From Chase: 'I DID IT, AND I'D DO IT AGAIN.' From Cameron: 'I FORGIVE YOU, YES TOTALLY, WE'LL GET PAST THIS TOGETHER IF WE MAKE A FRESH START AND ANYWAY I BLAME HOUSE MORE SO WE'RE ALL RIGHT, REALLY.' From House: 'I AM FINE. I AM BETTER THAN FINE. I AM AWESOME. SO WHAT IF MY PROTÉGÉ JUST BROKE UP WITH ME BECAUSE SHE THINKS I'M TOXIC AND SO WHAT IF CUDDY WON'T DATE ME? I AM AWESOME.'

Except it doesn't work that way, as both House and Cameron found out, and Chase undoubtedly will. Cameron thought ignoring the fact that she was disgusted and horrified by Chase's actions and pretending they were fine would make it go away, but House dangling the patient before Taub and Thirteen like a game brought her back to reality. House thought ignoring Cuddy and literally walking away would make the problem go away, but then being abandoned by Cameron (Wilson is right—he does read these things as abandonment) brought him back to reality.





Etc.:

* Cameron placing the blame on House is yet another instance of people in his life blaming him for all their problems. Wilson and Cuddy do it very frequently. And the ironic thing is, he is always at least partly responsible for their problems. However, since House is making an effort to act differently in this season, it will be interesting to see how he copes with it.

* That said, the way he needled Chase and Cameron was absolutely vile. Yes, it's entirely possible that they wouldn't have made it even if they left PPTH and tried to make a fresh start—both Chase and Cameron were posturing and pretending they were fine. But that's for them to find out, not House. I'm pleased, however, that it didn't entirely go according to plan, because Cameron left. House falls back on his old tricks very comfortably, and a setback like this is all too necessary.

* Cuddy. Just, how is she so awesome?

* Wilson's smile after his scene with Cuddy.

* Foreman's :( after Chase and Cameron announce that they're leaving.

* Lucas' scenes with Cuddy were adorable. Lucas' scene with Chase were disturbing, to say the least. I wonder where they're going with this.

* House using this as an excuse to watch pr0n.

* Taub!

* Thirteen being exceedingly hot.



[finally posted here!]