House

This week's episode of House just plugs along like normal - a confusing case, a blown diagnosis, maybe a little extra holiday spirit but nothing that out of the ordinary - until suddenly, in the final 15 minutes, it takes one big honkin' emotional turn. Maybe I should have seen it coming, but I was pretty surprised by all the twists this episode took, and it sets up some pretty interesting stuff for when House returns in 2009. Want to chat about it? Just read more. Major developments first: Cuddy's getting her baby! And in a most unusual way, for a number of reasons: It's she, not House, who finally diagnoses their teenage patient; the baby's supposed to be dead but instead has been kept alive by a couple of squatters; and now she's going to become at least the foster parent - and at best the adoptive mother - of the daughter of a patient who really resonated with her. The story took a lot of turns to get to that resolution, and I'm not sure I really believe all of them (The baby's alive? The squatters don't put up more of a fight? The patient's parents don't want to raise the baby?), but it's sweet and emotional and a good holiday tale � especially with House's "Merry Christmas, Cuddy" at the end. I wonder if this baby will also be named Joy? While all of this is going on, House takes Wilson up on a challenge to be nice � kind, even. So he goes to the clinic, full of "if you can't be nice, why be a doctor?" speeches. The woman with the inhaler is an instant classic, but House's response to the question about whether a woman can get pregnant from sitting on a toilet seat really made me giggle: "There would need to be another guy sitting between you and the toilet seat - but yes, absolutely." Also, House fakes a virgin birth (to Bitsie Tulloch of Quarterlife!) rather than have to tell his patient's fiance that she cheated on him, which is apparently how you do "nice," House-style. Foreman, meanwhile, keeps doing very House-ian things while insisting he's not like House, and this episode's case in point is the way he's treating the patients in his clinical trial - like numbers and data points rather than people. It's what he's been trained to do, but he ultimately lets his human side show through. Even while apologizing to Janet, he's not exactly the picture of warmth, but Foreman does care (at least a little) or he never would have gone after her at all. And then Foreman and Thirteen kiss! I buy their chemistry at least a little bit, but that still seemed sudden. Read Full Recap

Episode Specific SPOILERS At a private school recital, an evil blond teen with excessive makeup pressures her chubby classmate to announce how lame their teacher is while they're on stage. Even though this stinks of a set-up, the girl does it. Her vision gets all blurry and she spreads a little holiday cheer in vomit form. Merry Christmas, folks! Chase and Kutner round up a group of the prank-ee's classmates to find out if they poisoned her. Standing in a surgical observation room, the blond purveyor of wickedness cracks jokes about Natalie's weight while texting her cronies. Liver failure is, like, so hilarious, isn't it? ...more

Interesting episode with a lot going on. Everything from virgin births, two staff getting together to new babies. Up to now I felt that there was still some tension between Wilson and House but everything now seems to be back to normal, if there is any such thing as normal when dealing with House. This episode makes me wonder if there ever will be anything between House and Cutty, they seem to be back to the old way of insulting each other.