House - Anatomy of a Relationship: "A Pox On Our House" 7x07

House – Anatomy of a Relationship
An Episodic Examination Of Huddy In Love
"A Pox On Our House" 7x07

Well, it appears as though the Honeymoon is over. In last week’s episode House decided to lie to Cuddy and fake some tests results in order to save his dying patient. House assumed that Cuddy would realize that he was lying to her as an employee and not as a boyfriend. Well, you know what happens when you assume: you make an ass out of u and me. Yet, the thing is in this episode I can’t figure out who’s being the bigger ass: House or Cuddy.

The story revolves around the possibility that a young girl has contracted smallpox after coming in open wound contact with a jar she unearthed from a 200-year-old Dutch slave ship. After the vacation she comes down with postules that looked nothing like the acne she’s used too and the family brings her to Princeton Plainsboro. The team rules out smallpox at the beginning but not before the Center for Disease Control (CDC) gets wind of the possible outbreak and swoops into PPTH, locking the place down as it waits for blood results for confirmation. House is unconvinced that it’s smallpox, especially after the dad comes down with similar, but also new symptoms. In an effort to save yet another patient, House throws caution to the wind and enters the sealed room of the father, exposing himself to whatever the dying man has. Borda, the doctor from the CDC, refuses to allow House’s team to treat for any other possible diseases while they wait for the blood work. House is kept locked in with the father as Borda is sure he now too is infected with smallpox. Because of Borda’s lack of willingness to find and treat alternative diagnoses, the father dies before Masters finally figures out what it is (Rickkettsialpox) and House proves it by again throwing caution to wind and exposing his bare hands in order to examine the body, ultimately finding physical proof of Master’s correct diagnosis. Borda admits he was wrong and orders treatment for the girl. House will not die this episode.

Cuddy discovered about House’s deceit in the last episode and has been stewing on it since. House volunteers to work at the clinic and is told to “Get outa here,” by Cuddy when he tries to strike up a conversation with her. She’s pissed. Now, last week I had a few people upset about my opinion on Cuddy’s actions and attitude. But I stick by what I said. She is definitely trying to manipulate House into changing. She and House agreed to separate their work and love relationships, but the obvious deception from House has made Cuddy rethink this position. House is unmoved. He tells her it was just business. House did what House does. He manipulates the truth and/or lies in order to achieve his goals. Cuddy, however, has taken this personal. “You don’t get to lie to me about anything!” she tells him after he explains his reasoning. It was at this point that I became confused as to who was being the bigger jerk. Cuddy was clearly being hypocritical because she’s now admitting that she does in fact want House to change. Then again, House didn’t apologize for lying or even for obviously hurting her. In fact, he doesn’t even understand what he did was wrong (in Cuddy’s eyes.) He’s in a committed relationship now and he’s got to know that sometimes you have to suck it up. He surely had to swallow his pride while he was with Stacy. He knows that friendships and relationships are about give and take. But he refuses to give. I guess, he kinda never had to. He maintains it was all business. He has no reason to apologize and is totally confused about Cuddy’s insistence on changing his modus operandi on how he runs his department and his professional life. He’s got good reason, because it has always worked for Cuddy in the past. (For further discussion on this check out my last entry for House 7x06 “Office Politics.” http://www.spoilertv.com/2010/11/house-anatomy-of-relationship-office.html ) The point is this: neither is willing to adapt. I guess House didn’t catch that episode of Animal Kingdom, only the mating one.

So, these two are now at a standstill, each refusing to give in to the other. They don’t realize that a middle ground could and should be reached. Cuddy sees that House is not even aware of a need to change and she thinks the relationship is doomed. She reacts the same way the mom of the patient does when she hears the smallpox diagnosis, “How can I not panic with this information.” Cuddy is panicking and she’s shutting out House. She’s got her tunnel vision going on and the end of her tunnel holds nothing but heartache and disappointment.

In the teaser, the Dutch ship is being fired upon in order to keep it from coming to shore. They have been told by a doctor sent from the mainland that they must wait for a diagnosis before they can land. Thinking it’s smallpox, the port authorities are keeping the stricken ship at a safe distance. After the doctor leaves, the ship’s captain decides to just toss the infected slaves over and sail into the harbor. He’s convinced the slaves have smallpox and he tries to get close to land so his crew, who’s not yet infected, can jump to safety. He sees no alternative. As he does this, a cannonball rips through the side of the ship, sending everyone, sick and well, to the ocean floor. This parallels the situation in the present, as Dr. Borda, from the CDC, refuses to let House’s team continue to diagnose the patient. He’s certain it’s smallpox and has complete tunnel vision to other options. The girl worsens and the father contracts the disease and both hover near death, but Dr. Borda won’t budge. Because of this, the father dies; another waste of life due to too small of a focus.

These metaphors explain Cuddy’s thinking. She sees no other end to their relationship now that she knows House will continue to lie to her on the work level. She can’t rework her brain to keep things separate, like House can. I can’t help but think she’s using this latest conflict as a reason to speed faster towards the end of the tunnel. And again, I think to myself, Cuddy is smarter than this. She’s more self-confident than this. She knows House and how his mind works better than anyone. How does she expect him to be able to completely rearrange his thought process and reasoning now that they are sleeping together? I hate to admit it, but I totally agreed with Sam in this episode when she told Wilson, “She’s expecting House not to lie?! If she’s using the relationship as a rationale to try to change things….” Sam explains that no, it’s not okay for her and Wilson to lie to each other but they have a different relationship; a better one. “Lying was never a part of it (Wilson’s and Sam’s relationship). Theirs is built on it.” Yes, House needs to adapt and rework some things, but Cuddy also has to realize it’s going to take longer than the two months they have been together.

When House gets locked in the isolation room and death seems imminent, Cuddy’s heart softens. She tries to use the fact that House’s lack of respect for authority has gotten him in trouble again. He tries to use his possible death to convince Cuddy that what he did wasn’t all that bad. In a short, but touching seen, they sit across from each other, the glass of the isolation room dividing them. She softly asks if he has a fever yet. He responds, “No. I assume when it does come you’ll see the pettiness of being mad at me for lying.” She tells him to shut up and they share a loving smile. We see the reason these two love each other. They get each other. I loved that short, sweet scene. It also showed us a lot about their relationship. In “Three Stories” when House is talking to the class of med students he explains to them a basic principle: everyone lies. But he explains further that the magical thing of telling someone that they’re dying “tends to focus their priorities. You find out what matters to them. What they’re willing to die for. What they’re willing to lie for.” Cuddy and House each define their focus in that scene and it’s the same thing: House. Cuddy shows concern for House and teases him to ease the worry. She doesn’t want to die. House shows concern for himself: he wants out of the doghouse Cuddy has put him in. He wants Cuddy to admit he is right. Even without staring down death House is willing to die and lie for his patients because he wants to be right. This is nothing personal towards Cuddy. This is not a calculated attack on Cuddy’s authority or a show of lack of respect for her on either a personal or professional level. This is just House. From day one.

When the threat of death is removed, Cuddy returns to her cold behavior. House again tries to just get past the event by lightly joking with Cuddy. She’s not amused. House tells her that when he was dying she was willing to admit that the white lie between coworkers wasn’t a big deal. She agrees. But he isn’t dying anymore. She’s again staring down that dark tunnel. She walks out, leaving him standing in her office. The matter remains unresolved. The puzzle is unsolved. It seems as though Cuddy has given up and is just sending the ship to the shore, hoping to get close enough to jump out and save her life.

The two need to sit down and honestly talk this all out, but neither is willing to come around to the other’s side of the table. Cuddy feels she is totally in the right. House feels he is totally in the right. Both House and Cuddy need to start adapting to the situation. House had better soon see that although Cuddy has said she doesn’t want him to change, she won’t be able to be with him if he doesn’t. And Cuddy needs to realize that if she does expect him to change he certainly can’t do it overnight. At the end of the episode, Wilson and Sam discuss their experience with the young cancer patient they were locked in with. Wilson tells Sam that she was good with her (the patient.) “Only after being bad,” Sam replies. Wilson smiles and says reassuringly, “It takes practice.” And that, my friends, is what relationships are all about. I mean, if serious relationships were easy everyone would be doing it….

Thanks again for reading. I’m anxious to see what is resolved next week. The holiday season will soon be upon us and that means a total lack of House episodes. I will be writing another Fanisode for this holiday House break. If you’d like a taste of what a Fanisode is check out my other one from the summer break at: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5995796/1/Its_bAbout_b_bTime_b .