Monday, February 04, 2008

House, "Frozen" open thread

While I watchd last night's "House," between my euphoria over the improbable Giants win, the chills from my fever and a bout of insomnia no doubt tied to both things, I'm barely aware of what happened. But feel free to talk about Mira Sorvino's feet, Kutner finally showing hints of a personality, and the identity of Wilson's girlfriend.

43 comments:

Unknown said...

Due to my Tivo tap-dancing after the game and trying not to miss the Mad Men reruns, I just saw a sliver of Wilson's new girlfriend...was it Anne Dudek, aka the Mean B*tch who was the last one cut from the competition?

Otherwise, pretty nifty episode I thought. Also kudos to Mira Sorvino for a great, and amazingly vanity-free performance.

Anonymous said...

LOVED the "kinder, gentler" House with feelings for his patient, and his colleagues' stunned realizations of this.

Anonymous said...

Yep, tuckpendleton, that was Cutthroat Bitch.

It was a great ep, especially with House showing genuine concern for Frozen Psych. I loved that she gave back everything he threw her way, too.

Chris Littmann said...

FOX can go ahead and just go to hell. I only got the first 35 minutes of the episode thanks to the Super Bowl overrun. Now I'm waiting for the rest of the episode to show up on Hulu.

Anonymous said...

House is one of those shows that I always enjoy but don't watch regularly. I have no idea why. This episode was exceptional. I loved the chemistry between Sorvino and Laurie (were they really playing off of each other or acting to a blue screen?). I loved the cable subplot. Loved the shout out to Tuesday nights on Fox:

"You'll just have to be happy with network television."

"That'll be fine on Tuesdays."

Great episode to follow the Super Bowl.

Alan Sepinwall said...

Sorvin says that Laurie showed up to feed her his lines just so they could get the chemistry right. The guy is just too good to be true, isn't he?

Anonymous said...

Crap, I missed it entirely. Does anyone know of a re-broadcast date?

Michael said...

I loved the episode. The only thing i was wondering about is why everyone was treating the psych as a total idiot, but she DID have to get through medical school. I couldn't help but feel like talking her through inflating her lung was done just for the benefit of the audience.

Unknown said...

Anon: Chris Littman mentions Hulu.com as a place you can see the re-broadcast.

Michael: even though Sorvino's character had to go through med school, she certainly doesn't practice sticking people in the chest with needles on a daily basis. So they were talking her through it. At least that's my take. Plus, I would imagine that if you're in a scary situation, the more info you have, the better.

Thanks, dez. Hope we see her more. She was my fave of the contestants.

K J Gillenwater said...

I would hope most people would realize that a sports game never ends on time. I padded my HOUSE TiVO setup with an extra 90 minutes just in case.

This was a really good ep. I was blown away by the Cutthroat Bitch appearance. Good for "Bob"! I really liked Amber and was glad to see her back for a meaty role. So much better than as a member of the 'team.'

Mira did a great job. Wish she'd do that more often. I'm really hoping she comes back for a long-term guest appearance once her character is back from the South Pole.

And very cool that they could do something new b/c they couldn't really do all the tests and full physical like they would in the hospital. Here's to hoping House gets trapped in some winter storm somewhere and has to do the same. I liked that format.

Anonymous said...

While the show in the post-Super Bowl slot has never started at the scheduled 10:00 time, and we've learned to account for that, WNYW made it worse with a local post-game broadcast we weren't expecting. Fine if you're watching at home, but not if you were out.

K J Gillenwater said...

Oh, Mark B, that sucks! Yes, no way to account for that. :-P

Mo Ryan said...

Terrific episode, in so many ways. I totally didn't guess that Wilson would be with CB, but it was swell to see the return of Anne Dudek. Hope she's back for a while if House restarts production any time soon.

It really is a testament to these two actors that they had such palpable chemistry --despite the characters being so far apart. How classy that Laurie showed up on "her" set to feed her lines.

Wonder what would happen if she did ever turn up in person at the hospital. House would probably just shut her down with endless quips, embarrassed at the transparency of his attraction for the webcam version of her.

I died laughing when he played Let's Get it On during her "medical" striptease. Heelarious.

Great writing all around.

No Chase. Not that I missed him. In fact they could have excised the baby cottages from the ep entirely and I wouldn't have missed them much. Except for Kuttner's attempts to grow a spine -- that was pretty funny.

jcpbmg said...

I feel like we totally should have seen this coming. I mean when I think back there were so many hints, and yet I would have never guessed it was CTB.

This revelation alone made the episode Super Bowl worthy

Anonymous said...

OMG, her feet were humongous!

If the acting doesn't work out for her she can take her Oscar to Cypress Gardens for the barefoot waterskiing shows.

Mac said...

Lame nitpicking... If it's winter in Princeton (as it was, there was snow in an establishing shot) that means it's summer in the Antarctic, so it should be the time of year when people can get in and out.

But CTB's return means I'm all full of love anyway, so who cares?

K J Gillenwater said...

Okay, showing you the geek I am, I did a little Google search on weather in the Antarctic. Oddly enough, the coldest average temps were in the summer months...June & July. Also, the most snow happens in July & August and blowing snow & blizzards happen most often in these 2 months as well.

Guess they did their homework.

Anonymous said...

Yeah but this episode takes place in December/January in both hemispheres so...

And does anyone know how many episodes of house are left?

Mrglass said...

This may be the funniest episode of House, ever. When he started playing that cheesy song during the exam it was almost too much, I was laughing for the next minute.

"And does anyone know how many episodes of house are left?"

Just one, airing this Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

I think Tuesday is the last pre-strike episode.

We were cheering when CTB made her reappearance. I had guessed it was 13, so it was a total surprise. Best season of House ever.

I set my DVR to record an extra hour. Turned out to need much of it. It helped that we were holding a Super Bowl party.

They didn't really fire Cameron, did they?

Mrglass said...

"And very cool that they could do something new b/c they couldn't really do all the tests and full physical like they would in the hospital. Here's to hoping House gets trapped in some winter storm somewhere and has to do the same. I liked that format."

There are at least three episodes where House was out of the hospital: when he was stuck in an airport with Stacey, when he was on a plane with Cuddy, and when he got "drafted" by the CIA. But each time there was a second patient, at Princeton.

I wish they could do one episode completely outside of the teaching hospital, with House alone or maybe helped by just Wilson.

Anonymous said...

All I know is that when I find a screencap of House leering into the iSight during the physical, that sucker is SO my new wallpaper.

SMM said...

That was a great episode, but they shouldn't have had it both ways with her -- either she's unprepared to practice clinical medicine, or she's the only doctor in an Antarctic station, fixing slashed arteries.

Mrglass said...

"That was a great episode, but they shouldn't have had it both ways with her -- either she's unprepared to practice clinical medicine, or she's the only doctor in an Antarctic station, fixing slashed arteries."

House was mocking her, but she seemed to be a competent doctor. Of course she had problems performing surgery on herself, apart from that what did she do wrong?

Bruce Reid said...

Mac: "Lame nitpicking... If it's winter in Princeton (as it was, there was snow in an establishing shot) that means it's summer in the Antarctic, so it should be the time of year when people can get in and out."

The isolation was due to a windstorm, which can happen any time of the year. Besides, there has been at least one emergency plane flight in winter.

I generally don't care for guest stars who can unwrap all the mysteries a main character keeps hidden from his colleagues, but between the writing and Sorvino's performance I didn't mind it here at all. Though my favorite bit was actually a nice insight about Wilson; that his friendship with House doesn't indicate the latter is nicer than people think, but that Wilson is meaner.

So earlier this year we all worried about the arrival of Michael Michelle and she turned into a two-episode red herring; then we groaned about Dudek's leaving and she's brought back. Seems the showrunners are better at playing us than I thought.

Excellent all around, I thought. As mrglass points out, they've shaken up the formula with this format enough it's become formulaic on its own, but it's still an entertaining change of pace.

Anonymous said...

So we have Fox showing us the dangers of wind power with the accident right at the beginning?

What's next? A show that helps to rationalize torture?

Byron Hauck said...

Here's an unsolicited theory:

Could the reason the cottages are still around, seemingly pointlessly, be that Hugh is tired of his role and planning on leaving the show (or stepping back to a lighter role) at the end of the season? Generally, we'd expect to hear about this kind of news by now, but who really knows in this strike year?

Also, I think the show might work as an ER-style medical ensemble show. We have our original three cottages, the present three cottages, Cuddy, Wilson, and now potentially CTB. That's nine characters--plenty to keep things interesting.

I'd be disappointed, but I'd probably still watch, especially if Laurie were just in a lesser role. And why else would Chase and Cameron still be around if they're not going to have an expanded role someday?

Anonymous said...

They didn't really fire Cameron, did they?

I could have sworn that Cuddy was just trying to manipulate House with that bit of info.

Unknown said...

Cheesy? Marvin Gaye?

afoglia said...

Mo Ryan wrote, "In fact they could have excised the baby cottages from the ep entirely and I wouldn't have missed them much."

They pretty much did. I don't think they proposed any diagnoses till the very end. Interesting that Foreman knew not to go with them to spy on Cameron. Another sign of House's trust and respect for him. Foreman's like the postdoc on a research group.

Very interesting look from Sorvino at the end when she was getting hugged. Was she wanting to tell House she was sorry?

Mo Ryan also wrote, "Wonder what would happen if she did ever turn up in person at the hospital. House would probably just shut her down with endless quips, embarrassed at the transparency of his attraction for the webcam version of her."

I don't know if he'd be embarrassed, but he'd definitely shoot her down. The only reason he felt so open towards her was because she was so far away. If she was in the hospital, he probably would have just gotten frustrated. I would have liked it if they spent more time building Sorvino's character up before establishing House's crush.

I'm just glad Cutthroat Bitch is back!

Anonymous said...

For those who missed it, USA Network has the rerun scheduled for February 15.

Anonymous said...

"OMG, her feet were humongous!"

Which explains why Quentin Tarantino used to date her.

Anonymous said...

Interesting that Foreman knew not to go with them to spy on Cameron.

I thought that Foreman doesn't work for House anymore, so he doesn't have to answer to his whims.

jcpbmg said...

Which explains why Quentin Tarantino used to date her.

HA, but probably so true

Anonymous said...

Thanks, sr! I should have thought to check out USA.

My husband refuses to watch TV shows online.

Anonymous said...

Not only did I pad my tivo to keep recording House for an extra hour, I set it to record the three shows that came on after House, just to make sure I got all of it! Thank goodness I did, too.

Even the small bit parts that the cottage had in this episode bored me. They really need to amp those characters up if they want them to be interesting at all.

So surprised to see CTB as Wilson's girlfriend. That should make for an interesting dynamic, and at the same time makes me think that we'll be seeing more Wilson in the upcoming episodes, which is always a good thing.

With more Wilson, less cottages, and House showing both his softer and lecherous sides, this was darn near a perfect episode.

Anonymous said...

Also according to the FOX website FROZEN will rerun this Friday at 9pm.

Pamela Jaye said...

this Friday? not next Friday? the people on my list screwed up, then.
Iwas just going to say that Fox was kind, but not as kind as ABC when Grey's sufferef from post superbowl cutoff syndrome (it amused me that even Shonda didn't get to see the end) and they reran the show the same week (forget which day. i was thrilled, but I'd been vigilant and got it all anyway)

Karen said...

Bruce Reid, I agree that one of the most revealing lines of the night was about the House/Wilson friendship meaning Wilson was meaner than we thought.

Maybe that accounts for his attraction to Cutthroat Bitch (not to mention his serial divorces). But I guess the show is making that link explicit next week, eh?

Alan Sepinwall said...

Which explains why Quentin Tarantino used to date her.

Funniest comment on this blog in a long time, Jimmy. Very nice.

CarolMR said...

Just read that "Frozen" was the highest-rated HOUSE since the show began.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's a little confusing actually. On the HOUSE section of the FOX website it says:

"FROZEN" REPEAT
Double-dose of House on Friday night, with "Failure to Communicate" at 8/7c and then the post-Super Bowl episode at 9/8c!

It doesn't have a date, just says Friday. But then what they have listed in the "schedule" section of the FOX website doesn't jibe with that. Maybe their website just sucks.

CarolMR said...

"Frozen" will be repeated on Friday, 2/15.