A Very Merry Christmas?!

[magz19]

Okay, so the whole scene at the end of the episode when House is/has taken all of the pills and washed it down with all the alcohol... did anyone else think that that was a suicide attempt? Either deliberately or not

Comments

[empressaurelius]

It's hard to say, but I think it was intentional. :( Thank God he vomitted, or it might've worked.

[delphinapterus]

I also think it was a suicide attempt, mainly due to the phone call. House doesn't like his parents, and I got the impression that he tries to have as little contact as possible with them, so phoning them on Christmas was interesting. What really make it click for me was that House didn't sound like he was actually wishing them Merry Christmas, it sounded more like he was remembering a few good things about being with his parents at Christmas, and wanted to have one last good memory that was untainted by all the crap happening to him - so that obviously ruled out anything with Wilson, Cuddy or the ducklings, which left his parents.

[synekdokee]

I don't think it was a suicide attempt. House is a doctor, if he really had wanted to kill himself, he would've known how to do it without fucking it up. He was "fine" when Wilson got there, meaning, even if Wilson hadn't come (and I just don't see House relying on Wilson coming), he would've been fine anyway. And Wilson saw that and fucked off, angry.

but after he realized how many pills he'd taken, it's like he was saying, "Oh well, too late now... nothing I can do about it." He then forcefully downed the rest of his drink before he could second guess his actions.

I disagree. House isn't the type to give up, and anyway... I don't think there were that many pills. No, I don't see it as an accidental suicide either. As an MD, he would've know that he hadn't taken enough to kill himself. He was desperate and he feared the pain that would follow after the pills wore off, and he only had two left. So why not knock himself out, avoid the pain for a little while at least.

he never called anyone for help. Not an ambulance, Wilson, no one

[karmadownurgun]

He was desperate and he feared the pain that would follow after the pills wore off, and he only had two left. So why not knock himself out, avoid the pain for a little while at least.

That also kind of goes with the theme that's been presistent during this story arc; that House is an addict. House knew that the amount of pills he took wouldn't kill him, at most make him sick. So he wanted to live off that high for as long as he could. It's typical drug addict behavior. Once they get their fix, they down it all in one go for the highest high they can get. This is really the first time they've shown House doing exact drug addict behavior.

[synekdokee]

Exactly. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks House doesn't want to die!

[karmadownurgun]

Yah. House is definitely not the type to kill himself. Fighter till the end and all. His fight to keep his leg was proof of that.

I think the fact he called his mom lead a lot of people to that conclusion of suicide. Really, I think he was calling out of remorse. He downed a whole bottle of painkillers. House isn't stupid. He knows doing that was a dumb thing to do and I think by calling his mom he was seeking some sort of comfort. That she would take his side and tell him things would be all right. Having her not answer, kind of showed that he truly was on his own about this.

[bardicsidhe]

After a brief search to find the name of the medication House took from Mr. Zebalusky (I knew it was Oxy-something, and Wikipedia turned up Oxycodone as a painkiller (and if this isn't right, would someone with TiVo please correct me? I didn't tape it.). I went and looked up the effects of Oxycodone when mixed with alcohol, and found the following page detailing the risks.

"Avoid alcohol while taking oxycodone. Alcohol will greatly increase the drowsiness and dizziness caused by oxycodone and could be dangerous."

I doubt that House accidentally mixed the two, having looked through all of the material I could find. He's developed a high resistance to Vicodin, not to mention psychological dependence (which is also detailed as a risk of taking Vicodin for long periods), and so it may be that the Oxycodone just wasn't 'doing it' for him. So, he may have tried to boost its effectiveness or at least put himself in a pain-free stupor. The man's mind never stops working, I swear, so I think that even in the low he may have hit, he'd be

[bardicsidhe]

Also saw the above note that he was down to the last few pills - which I'd forgotten. Like Stella said - maybe he was trying to prolong the effects, since it was a stolen bottle, and he went through hell just to get those this episode.

[kiara99]

House is a doctor and he knows what he can and can't do with pills. I think he made it look like a suicide attempt, just to take the deal. House is a proud man and after telling everybody to stick the deal where the sun don't shine...
Just a thought ^_^