This episode had Foreman's walls come down a little as he bonded with a patient, which was neat since he's so stoic. House and Cuddy's fight du jour was fun too, a debate about what makes one disability "worse" than another, the loss of function or the suffering it causes. I like it when House's pain is shown as a real problem not just an excuse to make the character lash out at everyone. It was sad to see the patient choose to throw away his talents and passions (& I think his girlfriend?) to indulge people who don't want what's best for him. Sad but realistic- I'm sure it happens all the time, sigh. And another fun tidbit was the gang's usual diagnostic BnE taking a very awkward turn when they hit the wrong house.
The zany health crisis featured actually is possible, believe it or not! A fan site says there was a documented death of this back in 1941. And a quick google shows the human body cannot digest wood at all, so it really does seem to be plausible. Amazing.
On the downside, the ep had some eye rolling stuff. Someone's already mentioned that to most anyone, swallowing a toothpick then having stabbing pain in the belly would be readily self diagnosed. So on to a different nitpick: At one point House barges into a mega invasive surgery and not only does he dive in without scrubbing (though of course he did glove up), he had been using a hand wheeled chair all day, clumsily at first but then adventurously, so his sleeves and forearms would have been exposed to more germs than usual. Plus not only did he not mask up, he spoke, enthusiastically and at great length, while standing right over this poor patient's wide open gut, mouth humidity spewing, ugh. Yet somehow the patient doesn't die of infection from all this foolishness, suuure.
But in this my second go through of this series, after first seeing it as it was released, I am finding it a lot more enjoyable if instead of seeing it as a mystery show I see it as a comedy. All the little ironies, little burns, little absurdities, the fact it stars a comedian... are we so sure it wasn't meant to be comedy? Why did I think it was a drama the first time I saw it? And in that light the shark jumping moments get a belly laugh instead of the scoffing "But that's stupid!" that so often gets forced out of you if you take it seriously. Try it, the perspective change may enhance your enjoyment too!
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