House - Anatomy of a Relationship "The Dig" 7.18

Anatomy of a Relationship
An Episodic Examination of Huddy in Love
“The Dig” 7.18

Wow, this is another fine mess the powers that be have gotten me into. The whole premise of my blog is to analyze and examine the path of House’s and Cuddy’s relationship. And it was going swell. Then TPTB broke Huddy up. Okay, I said, by their own admission House and Cuddy are still in love, so my blog doesn’t have to change. I can focus on what the relationship becomes. But THEN, TPTB give me a whole episode without either Huddy or Cuddy. Come on, people, I’ve got mouths to feed. Do you really intend to take my job away from me? Okay, so I don’t get paid, but still the sentiment is the same. Whew. Got that off my chest. Now on to create a posting out of almost nothing.

Fortunately, however, David Shore doesn’t ever throw away an episode. He is the king when it comes to leaving little bread crumbs so that the audience can find its way to the final reveal. And as loyal House fans, we all know that the interactions, characters and relationships in each House episode somehow relate to or show insight on our main hero, Dr. Gregory House. Is i with that knowledge that I examined this episode. Having watched it through the first time and realizing that I’d have very little new Huddy developments, I decided to watch it again and try to find clues and meanings that might lead us to figuring out where this season is heading.

In this episode the patient of the week is a volleyball coach/high school teacher who is coughing up blood. Through the process of diagnosing him we discover that he is married to a hoarder and agoraphobe. They both suffer from a lung infection brought on by the unkempt state of their home (read- the home is a stinking pit of decaying food and animal feces…oh, and used q-tips. Yuck.) However, we learn that the wife, Anita, has kept a secret from hubby Brian. They haven’t actually been battling infertility. She’s had three miscarriages but lied to him because she was afraid he would leave her. “What have I ever done to make you afraid of that?” Brian asks as he tries to remember the last time he could walk into his bedroom or not have to shove Vicks Vapor Rub up his nose in his own home. When the wife doesn’t get better with the same treatment that cures the husband 13 figures out she has an additional disease. Hooray for 13.

Also in this episode we get to dive into the life of Chris Taub and his return to his philandering ways. Except this time one of his floozies is his ex-wife. They both agree that there is something seriously wrong with them. Foreman, doing his best Wilson impression, tries to guide Taub through possible consequences of this selfish behavior. Seriously, I’m going to start referring to Foreman and Taub and Hilson 2.0. Really. In fact, did you see Taub try to steal some fries off Foreman’s plate during a DDX? Anyway, Foreman lets Taub know that by treating his wife as another fling among his current flings shows he doesn’t love her enough to let her move on. Taub tries to talk to his wife, but apparently she likes the fling-y aspect of their new relationship too so it’s a mute point.

The final relationship we see in the episode is the one between House and his newly released jailbait, 13. Full disclosure: I like 13. Sometimes. When she is part of the ensemble and working with the team I really like the character. I did get annoyed when [H]ouse suddenly seemed to become [T]hirteen, but if they fix that aspect then I’m all for her. Unfortunately, it seems as though I’m going to have to wait an episode or two before she becomes a part of the ensemble again. Sigh. House picks 13 up outside the New Jersey Correctional Facility. She has just served six months for “excessive prescribing.” House doesn’t buy it and wants to know the real reason. He also needs her combustion engine expertise in building a winning spud gun for a competition. Huh? Okay, anyway she agrees to come along and help because well, she’s got nothing better to do. That’s about what I figured. I think too that whatever she did still preoccupies her and she’d rather avoid real life for a bit longer. There are actually some sweet moments in House’s and 13’s interactions. 13 learns that House was dating Cuddy and is still hurt by their breakup. House learns that 13 actually euthanized her older brother, who was dying of Huntington’s Disease. 13 learns that House can show emotions but not in the way normal people do when he offers to kill her if her Huntington’s gets too advanced for her to do it. House learns that there may be one other person in the world that feels as alone and messed up as he does.

So how do these relationships shed light on House and more specifically on Huddy? We only get three mentions of the fine Dr. Cuddy. The first is when 13 asks why House didn’t just ask Cuddy’s weird boyfriend to find out why she was in prison and House informs 13 that until a couple of weeks ago he was Cuddy’s weird boyfriend. It endears me a bit to 13 that she was also creeped out by that Lucas guy. The second mention was when 13 attacked House for not showing any emotion or making any attempt to connect with her after she reveals the deed she’s done. 13 pokes House hard with that sharp stick when she tells him “It’s no wonder Cuddy broke up with you.” Ouch. The last mention of Cuddy is when House regretfully tells 13 that he doesn’t always get his way and that he and Cuddy would be celebrating their one year anniversary that day. And that’s it. Hmmmm. We can see that House is still not liking the fact that he’s not with Cuddy and still loves her and misses her very much. His feelings for her have not changed.

What bread crumbs were left for us in the story of the patient and his wife? The team thought was a saint to stay with his wife. He lived in those deplorable conditions because he loved her so much. He did this because his wife’s condition allowed him the chance to look at things differently. And every now and again he would see traces of the woman he married. The wife definitely lied to her husband about his pregnancies. She was so fearful that it would be the final straw she withheld that information. This woman was so traumatized by the miscarriages and subsequent lies that she began holding onto everything for fear of losing it all. Well, the wife clearly represents House. House has experienced something traumatic (I’m still betting on abuse as a child) that makes him hold onto his emotions and stunted his ability to connect with anyone. He has done this for so long he doesn’t even know always what to do in certain situations. And when he does react it’s not in the obvious way. For example, in “Joy” when he goes to comfort Cuddy the raw pain he encounters and begins to associate with leads him not to condolenscences or words of comfort but to a passionate kiss , which started this whole thing and lead to more pain. Not a very encouraging endorsement of giving in to your emotions. In this episode, his encounter with 13 as she confesses again grips him with uncertainty on what to do. Finally, he conveys the support and approval 13 was seeking when he tells her he’ll kill her if she wants him to when she’s overcome by the Huntington’s Disease. Sure, it’s weird. But that’s the way House figured out to emotionally connect with 13. 13 understands this and accepts it.

When I watched that scene again a thought popped into my brain. Now, some of you may read the next paragraph and tell me that I really need to get out of the house more often but here it goes. What if House taking the vicodin in order to be there for Cuddy during her surgery was just another warped way of showing his love for her and trying to emotionally connect with her. Follow. House had been sober a long time. He certainly knew what could happen if he took vicodin again, even one pill. He willingly checked himself into rehab because of his fear that the vicodin, and its resulting hallucinations, would take away his one big thing: his intellect. I think that House, who was completely unable to be there physically and emotionally for Cuddy during this tough time, decided the risk of possible relapse was worth it in order for him to be the man Cuddy needed at that time. Yes? When he told Cuddy it was just that one time, I think he really meant it. He really wanted it to be just that one time. Hmmmm. Cuddy didn’t understand this and rejected it.

The patient stays with his wife and continues to be a support to her even after everything. I know this relates to people in House’s life, i.e. Wilson and now 13, who continue to support House and put up with all his baggage.

In the story of Taub and his wife, I’m not 100% sure of the implications. I feel safe in assuming that Taub has a similar lack of attachment that is evident in House. Taub is a philanderer. Just because he was married didn’t change that habit. House isn’t a philanderer but his remained somewhat detached in his relationship with Cuddy. He was beginning to show signs of connecting with her before he realized that he was messing diagnoses up and before Cuddy had her medical drama. House seems to know what should or needs to be done to connect with someone else but he seems unable to do so. He wants to. He just can’t. I was intrigued by the comment Rachel told Taub. She said they tried to do this the right way and it didn’t work. This messed-up fling they’ve begun is actually bringing them closer together. I wonder how that relates to Huddy. In the beginning, Cuddy accepted House for who he was, warts and all. But then she began to try to change him, maybe trying to create a more “normal” relationship with him. She realized she had certain expectations of what a relationship should be and House wasn’t meeting those expectations. She thought that doing it the right way was the best way. Maybe she’s wrong, too. Neither House nor Cuddy has ever been drawn to normal social rules. Why start now?

In his dealings with 13, House shows the audience that he does HAVE emotions. He does have empathy. He allows 13 to sob at night without a single snarky comment. He has been in that same situation, no doubt, and understands what 13 is feeling. He just can’t convey that knowledge into actions. Give the man a rare disease and he’ll figure it out and cure it in three days but trying to figure out how to convey his empathy and show deep emotion is beyond him. He’s great at anger or sarcasm but happiness and comfort confound him.

Predictions for the rest of the season: I think House is going to make another play for Cuddy. He knows his inability to emotionally connect enough to people to endure all aspects of a relationship is what killed his chances with Cuddy. I hope he tries to make the changes, but in House’s case it will most likely be “adaptations.” And it will definitely be in a very Houseian way. The half-empty part of my brain tells me, however, that his efforts to adapt will lead to big trouble. There’s been such a underlying theme of abuse and death recently. Also, the only real emotion House is readily able to show is anger. I just have a bad feeling about the next four shows. And now with no renewal for season 8 on the horizon…..yeah. I need to find my happy place.

Thanks for reading. I am curious about your thoughts of what the end of Season 7 may bring. See you next week.