Episode Discussion Post 8x19 "The C-Word"

[menolly_au]

The C-Word is an 8th season episode of House which first aired on April 30, 2012. When the team takes on the case of Emily, a six-year-old girl who has numerous preexisting health problems, they must work with her mother Elizabeth, who is a doctor who specializes in her daughter's condition. The team must also deal with the battles raging between

Comments

[menolly_au]

Okay, so the whole scenario doesn't make a lot of sense, but wow - talk about a pure dose of hurt/comfort :) 'You have everything you need right here', giving Wilson the last of his Vicodin, Wilson begging House not to take him to hospital, House helping Wilson up and to the bathroom, 'it really does suck to be you - at least I don't have cancer', the scene at the elevator. All excellent stuff.

Of course, now we know the whole ordeal was for nothing - which really does suck. Still, what a powerful episode!

I almost think they could have abandoned the POTW storyline - although maybe that would have made the House-Wilson storyline too drawn out, not sure.

[sassyjumper]

talk about a pure dose of hurt/comfort :)

Yeah, this was pretty much a Sick!Wilson fic adapted to the small screen. :)

[yarroway]

I have not had a chance to rewatch, but this episode is pretty much burned into my brain. In true [H]ouse style they had to add a dose of misdirected anger and make it all be for nothing, which darkens the hurt/comfort aspect. Also, I suspect the medicine in this one is particularly bad (chemo causes hallucinations? IF that happened wouldn't it signal some sort of underlying brain damage?). Still, I do not care. This is House at his sweetest and Wilson at his most raw and undefended. There were so many wonderful moments in this one. Menolly has already mentioned several awesome ones, so I'll bring up the scenes at the end. That whole sequence makes me LOL every time.

[discofunction]

This is House at his sweetest and Wilson at his most raw and undefended

Yes!
It's a wonderful episode!

[yarroway]

It really is!

[cuddyclothes]

I lost it when Wilson told House he had cancer, and this episode turned me inside out. Here's my review:

http://cuddyclothes.livejournal.com/180794.html

Also, does anybody remember how absolutely beautiful Wilson looked in the last scene? OMG.

I looked for a screencap but couldn't find one. Where does one find House screencaps, anyway?

[yarroway]

Thanks for the link.

I loved the ending sequence, but I'm a sucker for any kind of hurt/comfort and I prefer healing laughter to healing cocks.

[sassyjumper]

Yes, I do. Of course, I thought he didn't look half-bad during Couch Chemo -- but I'm a sucker for messy hair and hoodies.

[sassyjumper]

The Couch Chemo was so unrealistic, and Wilson's whole reaction to stage 2 thymoma made me wonder if he really did train in "oncolgy" (or whatever the misspelling was on his diploma ;) )

Howevuh, the House/Wilson stuff here was great, so I can overlook the bad medicine. Plus, Wilson's recklessness here shows a House-like side of him: He's willing to take absurd risks sometimes. House tends to take crazy risks out of intellectual curiosity or a need to push boundaries (though not always). When Wilson does, it's coming from an emotional overreaction (from someone who usually keeps his emotions under pretty tight control).

I loved House giving Wilson the last of his Vicodin -- including the fact that this was partly House's own fault (since he had the brilliant idea of dosing them both with the morphine). It rang true to me -- because yes, House is going to be an imperfect caretaker.

[menolly_au]

I wondered when I was rewatching this whether Wilson has seen and treated so much cancer that somehow he just has a 'feel' for which are going to be treatable and which aren't? I mean, he may be wrong, but something has got into his head that the normal courses of treatment aren't going to work. Or maybe, given his angry outburst to House later on, he thinks he just has such bad karma that the worst is inevitably going to happen to him.

It was interesting that House didn't have a stockpile of Vicodin in the apartment as he normally does - maybe he's been more circumspect because of being on parole from prison, or not willing to forge Wilson's signature and test their friendship.

[sassyjumper]

Or maybe, given his angry outburst to House later on, he thinks he just has such bad karma that the worst is inevitably going to happen to him.

I do think that can partly explain his actions here. Looking at the guy's history, I can't blame him for being a bit pessimistic. :/ But he was definitely acting from his gut/emotions rather than his rational mind.

[taiga13]

In Birthmarks House said that Wilson always needs to be prepared for the worst and that's part of why he chose oncology. He doesn't wonder if half his patients will die, he KNOWS they will.
I remember people talking about how dumb it was for Wilson to choose a treatment that's more dangerous than the cancer, but I remember House saying it was JUST AS likely to kill him as the cancer. Which they also said in this episode was a 25% chance. I'm not saying that what Wilson did wasn't absurd and very bad medicine, it was, just putting it in that perspective.
I think what I loved most, besides the tender caretaking, was House actually respecting Wilson's wishes. That's HUGE for him.