House - Anantomy of a Relationship "Family Practice" 7.11

Anatomy of a Relationship
An Episodic Examination of Huddy in Love

“Family Practice” – 7.11

I’m beginning this post of by saying, “WOW! What a great episode!” This season has been awesome so far. Oh sure, not every episode has been perfect but this whole Huddy relationship is giving the writers all sorts of great avenues to travel down and my bags are already in the car!

Okay on to this episode. This episode was called “Family Practice,” as it dealt with the fact that family, and other intimate relationships, require a constant state of practice to keep it running well. We never have any relationship perfect because people grow and adjust and then the relationship needs to grow and adjust as well. I mean, just because Shaq has hit MVP status he still shows up to practices because he knows his skills will deteriorate without constant work. And as we see in the teaser, the name also suggests that Cuddy and her family need a lot more practice at being a family.

We see Arlene give more verbal abuse to Cuddy and this time it’s emphasized all the more contrasted to the close relationship she has with her other daughter, Julia. It seems to be all insults for Cuddy and all praise for Julia. Arlene tells Julia things she never tells Cuddy. The final blow is when Arlene admits to Cuddy that while she loves both her daughters equally, she likes Julia more. Ouch. Cuddy’s mom is really a piece of work.

Taub, who has begun divorce proceedings with his wife, is trying to now figure out who he is since his sense of family has been shattered. We learn more about his amazing fellow past, where he was class president and repaired cleft palates in foreign countries. He is now just a peon for a egomaniac and broke. Also, his soon-to-be-ex family member/brother-in-law after feeling like he’s been sold out, shatters the poor man’s nose. Taub has had a rough season so far.

Even Masters is having a rough go this episode as she struggles with figuring out how she fits into the House family of dysfunction. She has tried to bond and create relationships with everyone and keeps getting turned out. And don’t even get me started right now with how poorly House is treating her. I’ll touch on that later, but seriously, any time House and her are alone, I cringe and want to crawl into the tv and put my arms protectively around Martha M. Masters. House is downright Machiavellian with the poor girl.

But since my particular slant on House is all about Huddy I’d like to propose another title for this episode: “How Huddy Got Their Groove Back.” In my humble opinion, because this is my posting, I think this episode finally marked the all important event of Cuddy and House getting back into their original roles at the hospital while still effectively maintaining their intimate relationship. Let me explain.

In the past 10 episodes our two heroes have had, shall we say, issues with how to interact with each other at work. I get the feeling that when they are away from the hospital they have no problem with each other. Sure, they have the typical relationship issues, but they recognize those as just that and figure out a way to deal with it. Since they haven’t had a truly personal relationship outside of work before both realize they are still working those issues out and since they are committed to this relationship they’re going to make the effort. This is new territory they are exploring together.

I was able to sit in on a conference call with Lisa Edelstein last month and although I didn’t get my turn to ask my Amazing Question of InsightTM I did get to listen in on some other great questions and Ms. Edelstein’s great answers. She said this about where she thought the relationship was heading, “I think, they’re two very complicated people who really want to be together, whether they can or not is another thing, but they’re going to try as hard as they can.”

House and Cuddy want to make this work and seem to be in it for that long haul, which they have succeeded at out of the office. Oh, sure, there have been some bumps along the way…and some sedatives and dog training, but it seems to be succeeding. It’s been entirely different, however, at the office. This is the place where they had a well-established relationship already, with well-established roles. It’s at the hospital where they’ve had to work the hardest. There is a definite structure to how the two interact at work and it was based on the selfish desire to get what one wants any way possible, which is definitely against every piece of relationship advice ever given. So they’ve had problems.

I won’t go over it all again, but House and Cuddy are still figuring out just how to deal with things at work when this episode begins. We all remember the issues of Episodes 7.06, 7.07 and 7.08. If you don’t check out my other posts. Episodes 7.09 and 7.10 gave us almost no interactions at work for Huddy. We saw only the personal side of things. This episode, however, is nothing but interactions at work.

When Cuddy’s mom has irregular heart patterns while out shopping Cuddy brings her to PPTH. House hides. Cuddy finds him in the morgue with his team. House refuses to treat Arlene. “You know all that ethics stuff I don’t give a crap about? Suddenly makes sense. If you’re emotionally invested you cannot make rational decisions. You know this would be a disaster.” Even Taub and Masters nod in agreement. Then Cuddy pulls out the “She’s my mother,” card and House doesn’t have a chance. House has effectively separated personal and professional for himself, but knows Cuddy can’t. He accepts his fate. Relunctantly.

Things seem fine when House finds a viable problem, treats it and Arlene gets better. Unfortunately, House later pisses Arlene off and he’s thrown off the case. This doesn’t seem to be an issue until Arlene’s condition worsens and Cuddy demands that House remain on the case behind the scenes. This too backfires and soon we have Cuddy sneaking in different medicine and changing IV bags and Chase signing out different meds and Cameron…I mean Masters, telling on everyone. It becomes a train wreck. And Arlene continues to decline.

House is again right. Cuddy and House fight and yell at each other over the course of treatment. Cuddy is becoming a wreck because each time something goes wrong, as it does in every House episode, Arlene verbally abuses Cuddy for it. We see Cuddy begin to shrink up and shiver like a scolded puppy. She’s been hacked apart by her mother her whole life, but she’s always felt competent and in charge at her own hospital. Now, her status at PPTH is under attack. Cuddy has already fought this fight when she announced to Human Resources that she and House were dating. Now her own mother is knocking her back, stealing her confidence. Arlene pretty much banishes House and Cuddy from her room and demands to leave Cuddy’s hospital.

And this is where Huddy gets their groove back. Cuddy returns to her office to find House waiting for her where in no uncertain terms House lays it out for Cuddy. He has watched his strong woman wither away to a shell of her former “take on the world” self and he’s pissed off. He has had enough of watching Arlene pummel his girlfriend. House tells Cuddy she has allowed herself to become a doormat when it comes to her mom. She doesn’t ever stand up for herself and now because of it her mother will die. Cuddy is bewildered that House is taking Cuddy’s maternal abuse so personal and is riding her about it. So House explains, “She leaves she dies. One day, maybe a week from now, maybe a year from now, you’ll wake up and decide that the man sleeping next to you killed your mother.” House is taking this personal. House is looking out for himself. He always does. But House is also thinking of how her actions now will affect THEIR future and he doesn’t want that to happen. The light bulb in Cuddy’s head pops on as House demands, “Get me my patient back.”
It was an awesome scene! House knows Cuddy better than anyone. House saw first hand the consequences of Arlene’s abuse. He probably also understood better than anyone what verbal abuse from a parent can do to a kid. Both Cuddy and House became who they are because they had to prove something to their parents, but House has been able to release himself from the hold his father had over him. Cuddy still suffers from the tight grip of her mother.

In the interview last month with Ms. Edelstein, she was asked what she thought House and Cuddy got out of this relationship. Ms. Edelstein said, “I think there’s a great history there and as you get older that is a really important thing to have with somebody. A sense of time having passed and problems having been conquered, truths having been faced, that really has enormous value. I think for him, she is someone he trusts; he knows that she wants the best for him. He knows that she’ll tell him when things have gone too far and then he decides for himself whether he wants to listen. But, she’s definitely someone he trusts. For her, I think it’s his intelligence and his brilliance that really excite her. Getting attention from a man like that is not an easy thing to achieve, and having achieved it, I think there’s kind of a rush of excitement. Whether or not he is ultimately someone she can trust is I think something he still has to prove.”

I think at the end of this episode, House’s actions create some of that trust that Cuddy is searching for. When things were spiraling down around her, House came in and told her when things went too far. He showed he wants what’s best for her. He helped her find her backbone and go out and do the job that has to be done. He helps her remember why she’s the boss of an entire hospital. All the side-stepping around her boyfriend and her mother had made her forget.

When Cuddy goes out in the rain and stops the ambulance from leaving, throws her sister out and lays it all out for Arlene I cheered! I finally saw the Cuddy of the first few seasons. I saw the Cuddy who stood up to the insurance company and held out for 12%. And all because her boyfriend knew exactly what to say to get her groove back. House has been doing that for a long time you know; yelling at her, demanding her to take charge, but he backed off once their lives intertwined so intimately. When he sees how badly Cuddy has withdrawn he’s finally done with being nice. It worked.

In the scene where House has his Final Epiphany and saves Arlene’s life, Cuddy looks up at him with love and awe and appreciation….and trust. I think at that moment both of them realize they have a better chance at making this relationship work then they previously thought. Finally, the two figured out the best way to deal with each other at work: the same way they’ve been dealing with each other at work for the past six-plus years. Except now, they get to go home together. Personal relationships have their privileges.

We see just how much House cares about and understands the situation when he later puts Masters in charge of policing him. House knows Cuddy will now do all she can to protect him again, but this time the hospital board will see it as her protecting her boyfriend, not her best doctor. House wants to protect her from what may happen. He is willing to put up with Master’s higher than thou lectures on morality and ethics in order to keep Cuddy and her professional reputation safe. This scene is proof that people can change when given the right motivation.

In the great final scene, we see more motivated change. Arlene hardly complains at all and although she can’t express her gratitude, pride and love to Cuddy verbally, she lovingly and firmly grasps her oldest daughter’s hand. Both women understand and appreciate the nonverbal communication which passes between them. Cuddy has not only regained her self-confidence she’s also earned her mother’s respect. And I think Cuddy finds them both equally rewarding.




Thanks for reading. I’m looking forward to an entire February of episodes. I am especially looking forward to Episode 15. The press alone on that episode makes me do a little happy dance here in my living room. Should be amazing.