House

The plot puzzles me because if the painter's brain sees the woman as distorted, then his painting would have to look like the woman in order for his brain to see the same distorted image when viewing the painting. And no one viewing the painting would have any idea what's going on in the artist's head. And he wouldn't get punched on the nose and end up in Dr. House's care. And then we'd have no story for this episode. I recall that el Greco's skinny portraits were attributed to some sort of mental aberration like this, also. But I think el Greco deliberately painted people skinny, just as Alberto Giacometti sculpted skinny figures.

This episode was just really great and I like how this season isn't a roller coaster ride with a bunch of fillers. The plot actually develops gradually. I was loving the Lucas/Cuddy interaction. Cuddy reveals to of liked Lucas in the end. House being on the cheerleading team was hysterical. The case was so interesting to me in my opinion. Seriously, what is wrong with this guy? So we've definitely got some classic House here. Turns out it was the drug trials the whole time. Taub revealing to his wife that he cheated on her after she bought him a car! Wow. Lucas digging stuff up from the team was interesting too. Great episode. (but it sort of left the Lucas & Cuddy relationship in the air after this episode)

I know I won't be popular for saying this, but I find Lucas really entertaining! I wish they kept him longer- I like the bond he has with House, and especially the competive element as he seems interested in Cuddy!



The plot itself was a good one- the failed painter and the idea what love is. The format is pretty much the same as earlier episodes- there is a good patient plotline with one of the members of the team realising something about their own lives- in this case, Taub ponders over his mariage, seemingly admitting his affair at the end. It was interesting how House seemingly began to care about him after originally screwing with him.



On the downside- there was little interactions with the old cast members- I do miss them from time to time, and this was the first episode, ever, without Wilson! I was hoping they would continue with a theme but he seemed written out in this one!



Overall a good, solid, filler episode- keeping a strong start to Season 5.

In this episode of House, the following happens. The team work on the case of a struggling artist, whose art seems to suggest that he has a brain tumour, although this turns out not to be the case. Tests are run, and no tumour is found. House soon learns from the painter, that he is currently on 3 drug trails. This they believe is causing his problems. Throughout the episode we see that the P.I. from the previous episode, is still working with House. We see that the P.I. has a crush on Cuddy and even gives her a bunch of roses. The artist attacks 13 and so she punches him in order to defend herself. The team soon learn that he has something similar to a hairball in his lower abdomen, due to the medical trials he was on. They perform an operation and the ball is removed.

Great episode. The medical case is very interesting and it also shows the important problem of drugs trials. The new character, the private ivestigator Lucas is amazing and it will bring more funny and great episodes. Especially for his interest in Cuddy. Again the study of people reactions is at the center and again House is right (like always). Anyway many things are changing and House might realize that going on with all his investigations and experiments on relationships and people would lead to complications and problems. But also more interesting challanges. Waiting for Wilson to come back, Lucas is the right character for new intrigued stories with House and Cuddy. Very nice episode. Lovely the end when Lucas and House play piano and guitar together.

House and the team take on the case of a struggling artist who has been painting bizarre portraits. His undiagnosed illness is distorting his perception, threatening to undermine his career, his relationships and everything else in his life. The team soon finds out that he hasn't sold anything lately and is on three separate drug trials to pay the bills. House must unlock the puzzle of which drugs are causing which symptoms before it's too late. Meanwhile, House continues to have private investigator Lucas Douglas dig up dirt on everyone on his team, including Taub who is having trouble in his marriage.

House is getting more and more wicked and less genious. Sure, he has always been mean, but there has also always been a reasonable excuse with a well thought out House-like answer. Now he's just mean for no apparent reason.



What strikes me the most however is how he's becoming less of a genious and more of a simple doctor trying out weird treatments. Please put Sherlock back, and give him back his Watson. This episode is not a mystery to be solved with a couple of character developments - it's just another hospital drama series episode with the writers trying to explain to the audience how hard it can be to work in the medical business. If I wanted that I could watch ER or any other bleh-like hospital series.



Give House hes godlike mind back and let him use it to solve mysteries and not just to make Taub feeling bad about himself for no reason. Less personal drama, more mysteries. Less "I need to get to know myself" and more "I am always right - just wait and see".

Another boring ep…I'm not expecting anything anymore, but I'm still watching and reviewing…Good old House would say, "Force of habit? Do I need a better reason?.."



The medical story once again gave nothing – the real medicine is quite boring and repetitive ,but we agreed long ago to let all kind of stretches to create more drama ..Apparently it is not enough to create the real one – I didn't emphasize not to the patient ,nor his "hot" girlfriend. And how come btw he's been producing those face-distorted paintings every other month for 6 months and nobody noticed? I'm guessing ,his girlfriend wasn't that much interested in his art after all – didn't even take a look at them…



But that's all little things…The big one is that as much as I tried to find at least House's lines interesting – I couldn't. It feels like there are everything what suppose to be there :the wit, the sarcasm,the irony, but somehow they are not – like, as if our "talentless" POTW would try to make a "sequel" of Rembrandt's painting .IMO the only character who has a hint of DS "touch" now is PI..but again , character's like House's can't be created by numbers – Lucas feels "unbaked" ,yes funny in his visual simplicity and kind of adorable teddy-bear, but not deep and wholesome enough as much as they try him to be.Well, I guess that spin off will work somehow anyway –worse things do…



What else is there? The new team (even though I like both male actors ) does have even less writing wise – the whole spying on all of them and Taub's personal storyline wasn't interesting too. What did it suppose to give us really? To make us think if telling the "darkest" truth always right ? But we've been there many times and then it was written coherently ,leaving those three dots at the end ,but still we knew what moral positions any of the characters took and what are options there…. now it's feels like some TV news in my "not the sharpest chopstick .." neighbor interpretation – maybe the guy killed someone or he was killed ,but it's one awsome news…So sad.The best thing on House used to be it's close to perfect writing - now it feels lost..:roll:



I also found the "House was a cheerleader in college" storyline absolutely unreliable knowing the character –he wanted to impress the girl ,he'd became the captain of the lacrosse team not some idiotic figure with a (was she intentionally made Cuddy-like? ) girls legs around his neck…Not to mention even HL himself (who's young "spot light" picture they used in very badly done photoshop) doesn't look any cheerledery…Such a stupid idea and for what exactly ? To show us House has "soft, "sensitive" inner side"? That young House we heard about on "Who's Your Daddy?" That youth-story was believable – this one ,sorry, not at all…



One more quote comes to mind thinking of how the show is progressing and my addictions still makes me watch it," We are condemned to useless labor." Of coarse it was "original-Dante" ,but House used to quote him a bit ,so I say it still counts as House's quote.;)

House has been a consistent show, always pumping out great episodes. However even some of the greatest series must have an episode that just doesn't reach the standards of the other episodes. Adverse Events is just one of those episodes. This is not to say that this is a bad episode and like every episode of House, it is worth watching. However, it doesn't reach the standards that I have expected from my favorite show. The "medical mystery" as it were revolves around an artist who paints a distorted painting of a nude woman. However, he thought that it looked just fine and when the husband of the nude woman saw the picture he was not pleased to say the least. The diagnosis is not very exiting but I don't hold this against the episode. Most of the episodes of House are made or broken in the side stories and and character development. While there are exceptions(See the diagnosis from Season 2 episode 13 - Skin Deep) this is the case for most episodes.



In this episode there were 2 main side stories. One revolved around Lucas(The Private Investigator) and the other around Taub.



I am beginning to like Lucas more and more. He is incredibly smart and witty much like House and while he is not quite as arrogant he make a nice "sidekick" for House. Lucas' relationship with Cuddy makes him a very intriguing character for future episodes. However his relationship with House will never reach will never reach the level of the relationship with House and Wilson because of the fact that Wilson was combative yet friendly with House.



Taub on the other hand is probably the my least favorite character of any of the permanent characters in the show. Its just that his personal life doesn't excite me very much and his input on the show is negligible. He could get more interesting in the future but for now he is not. His side story in this episode which was supposed to be important in the episode falls short of what I expect from this series.



While this show is not bad, it is not great. It is hovering around above average to good. The noticeable absence of Wilson hurts this episode. I really hope that they are not writing him off. the duet at the end of the episode was a really great way to end a good but not great episode.

A pretty boring episode. Wait, a boring House episode?! Well, it seems the times they are a changing...

So now it's not only a whole change of regime in the cast, but 2 new writers and a new director in charge of this ep... It seems the producers of this show have all fallen in love with the idea of total changes no matter what. And while I'm all for changes, there should be somehow still a connection to the original show, me thinks.

But anyway, it seems the new writers and directors did their homework; they got all the basic House principles right there, but had a rough time with getting the special spirit of the show. Something seems to be missing, and it's not the missing in action characters - not at all.

Actually, the nice part of this episode was that it was Cameron and Wilson free. It seems to give House the show and character a new dynamic. Even if it's for a short while, and we all know Wilson is coming back soon - it's very refreshing to see how House copes without him around.



But what does all this worth if the case is not only so utterly boring but also so very repetitive? - last week we've had an ex-blind(!) architect, who saw the world as uglier then it is, then ended up seeing "things as they are". Now we have a painter who sees the world in a distorted way, and his girl friend tells him "when I look at you I see you"... makes one wonder what's the plan for next week? The optometrist who can't read the vision charts maybe?

This boring story, with the quite boring actor who makes it hard to care if he lives or dies, leads to a totally boring diagnostic procedure while at the background we have to deal with the even more boring 13's car interest loan, Taub/wife story, Kutner with that weird Guinness record and Foreman doing whatever he's doing and again referred to as the one in charge for some odd reason, and of course, the unavoidable Chase as yet again the genius surgeon with the longest hair in the world, who can operate on anyone anytime... I haven't yawned this much in a while.



The PI guy, who seems like a refreshing addition in the last episode, is now becoming and example for how just too much of what could be a good thing is actually not that good. And if anyone is seriously still planning on him for spinoff - then at least do it asap before he gives House another detailed credit check on his team members and/or another creepy conversation with Cuddy. This whole thing turns out so silly it's just beyond words.



At least Cuddy got some attention and screen time through him, yet in such an awkward creepy way which serves no purpose at all, other then making us look at the House as a cheerleader (?!) horror photo, I guess. How does that stupidity combines with the House we know from earlier episodes is yet another mystery. Are we back at 3rd grade yet? Seriously, how more silly can this show turn?



At least House looks really good and he seems to be having fun with all the silly PI equipment and spy games (so much for missing his "soul mate").

And then there's Taub, who despite the boring wife story at least got to figure out the case along with House. Nice.

Now why did that so called hairball turned out to look like a huge piece of undigested fruit that was somehow swallowed completely is really another mystery - which made it even harder to laugh at Chase saying "that is why I don't let Cameron buy a cat".



And then we're back at cliché land, where telling the truth frees one from all troubles known to mankind. That was a suitable lullaby to end this weak episode, where even Lucas and House playing together didn't save the day - too little, too late.

The opening scene in this episode was a great tease for what was to come. Brandon, a painter, finished a painting of a nude woman only to be socked in the face when her husband complained about the painting's depiction. For some reason, the woman's face was horribly disfigured and Brandon couldn't understand what he did wrong.

In the past, it was fairly routine for the team to search the patient's home, place of business, etc, but I've noticed that to happen less often with the introduction of Taub, Kutner, and Thirteen. In this week's case, it was necessary due to the likelihood a toxin or some sort of contaminant was responsible for the patient's state of health.



Lucas, House's private investigator, was back for his second appearance, filling House in on some new secrets he has uncovered. Most were more of the financial variety: Thirteen paying for a 3-year gym membership and only going twice, paying 12% interest on a car loan, Kutner crawling several miles to break a record, and Taub's wife has been keeping a secret bank account with nearly $100,000 in it.



The secret bank account was clearly the juiciest secret, despite Taub's initial denial. He claimed he knew of the account but he clearly didn't and confronted his wife about it. Taub looked like an idiot when his wife revealed she had been putting away money for a car for him.



House really worked Taub over in this episode. Even if Taub knew of the account, he may not have asked about it, if it weren't for House's constant poking and prodding. The same could be said for Taub, at the end of the episode, telling his wife that they needed to talk about something big, presumably his infidelity.



Lucas (Michael Weston) and House (Hugh Laurie)

The big medical mystery looked as though it would be solved rather quickly, but it didn't take long for Brandon's symptoms to change and begin seizing. Though it took quite a while to figure out what was wrong, it was worth the wait.



My biggest complaint with "Adverse Events" was a very quick scene between Breckin Meyer and Olivia Wilde. Meyer's character was supposed to be dealing with a sudden hormone problem, which made him make an advance on Thirteen, pulling her into bed with him. It was poorly executed... they had to speed up the camera for crying out loud. It reminds me of the old Westerns where the cameras were sped up to make the horses look like they running faster and increase the excitement for the viewer. It all just looks silly and poorly done. Meyer's not the biggest guy around, but surely they could have choreographed something that would have worked.



While Lucas was providing information to House about his team, he was also making a move on Cuddy. Lucas is a rather charming fellow, though it could be easily conceived as creepy, given his profession and method for obtaining information. He chose to gather innocent data on Cuddy by having a brief date with her, in exchange for something juicy on House. I wish we could see Cuddy go on more dates, whether it's with Lucas or someone else. Lisa Edelstein has a terrific smile. It's a shame it comes out so rarely.

I loved this episode, House is at his best. Cynical (he push Taub to confess his past affair to his wife, and it's likely he succeeded) and at the same time suffering Wilson's absence, he tries to find a different kind of friendship in the P.I. Lucas, but it's not the same, 'cause Lucas is similar to House in many ways and very different from Wilson. Anyway Lucas is a very interesting characer, and episode after episode, he's revealing attitudes very similar to House's. At the same time, the fact that House (or the hospital) pays for his services, makes House feel that friendship is not involved, this time. But in fact it is.

A quite alright episode. I didn't really like the story line all that much. It didn't catch my interest. However, I did like the way they incorporate the new guy, the PI. I miss Wilson and I thought I would hate the new one, but I actually think he's not so bad. Especially the end with him and House was good. They were bonding, and it showed that their is life after Wilson.



The Taub story, not that good. Or maybe I just didn't get it. What does he have to tell his wife? Do we, the viewers know? Just seemed stupid to me. Maybe just too many storylines this time.



All in all though, a good episode, that I gave an 8.

As House is having a his Duty-Dance with Death(Wilson) he is starting to get his own war with a private investigator he is paying.



Now the concept that he is paying him to screw with him is something that really screws up the storyline. Although I personally think there is more going on then what meets the eye. Which is why this episode remains high.



The storyline of the episode is quite interesting. Taub has some long overdue character development. While Kutner is starting to require some attention which he hasn't been getting.



House feels alot more like Season 1. Although the problem is they fail to make episodes focus on all the characters like they managed in Season 2 and some of Season 3.



The Private Investigator and House together are quite entertaining. Alot more chemistry then expected. Also Wilson being gone was quite a relief. Wilson obviously needs more time and bringing him back is nothing to rush too.



I like how fresh Season 5 is. But hopefully they will add some more interesting characters. I personally would like to see Cameron and Chase alot more. Also maybe some more interesting story arcs.

This episode was a bit of a disappointment to be honest. There were good bits... but parts of the episode was just plain boring.



I disliked the whole Taub storyline. I never found Taub a particularly interesting character and so I have no interest in finding out about his marital problems. I don't mind House needling him.. but this time it just wasn't fun.



The whole PI thing is also getting old. It was okay this episode.. but I hope they conclude his bit soon.



The whole Huddy bit seemed interesting at first.. but I got the feeling it was more getting dirt on Cuddy and less of any relationship development.



House was giving Thirteen a really bad time on the episode. I wonder how long it will be till she reacts. I also wonder why Kutner is getting away scot free so far. Maybe its his turn next episode? I hope not.



I am disappointed to see no Clinic duty so far. I wonder why they are giving Chase and Cameron names in the Credits when they hardly appear in the episodes at all. Whats up with that?

Seriously.. a "private investigator" to replace Wilson.. And who cares about 'Taulb'??? or whatever his name is.. Who cares about his marriage??!.. I know they are trying to foucus on how House manipulats people.. and how much he enjoys it.. but.. it just isnt working like before.. :(



It took me a whole day to get through this episode.. I LOVED this show before the end of season 3.. I don't want to stop watching.. :( so, I will give them another chance… I hope the story line gets better soon… :(



The only good thing in this episode is that we got to see more Cuddy.. I just Love her... :)

There's been a gaping void since Wilson's departure that even PI Lucas can't seem to fill. House has been more detached than usual and resorts to finding information about his staff to amuse himself. Perhaps the most lowly deed is retaining Lucas just so House can have someone to hang out with. The patient was a moderately interseting artist who supports himself through being a medical guinne pig, who may be having an adverse reaction to one of the drugs. The one bright spot in the episode was the character developement we see in Taub. House's prodding into his seemingly troubled marriage prompts Taub to decide whether or not to tell his wife about his affair. Another amusing thing was Lucas's competition with House for Cuddy's affections. My only complaint was not finding out a jiucy tidbit from House's past. The doctored photo of House playing Lacrosse cheerleader to impress a girl in college (Cuddy perhaps) was a romantic stretch for someone who isn't a romantic at heart. Let us pray that Wilson will make a swift return to the show and closes the gape that makes watching this entertaining show a painful experience.

No Cameron or Wilson and a quick surgery with Chase. Shore was worried about the show becoming formulaic but I think it is even more so now, especially since I don't care about any of the characters anymore (except House). The storyline with Taub was interesting but everything else was just bleh. The PI is interesting and I like him but it seems like he is the only person that is going to leave so I can't wait. His scenes with Cuddy are funny because he is so awkward. And I guess all this Huddy crap is going to be brought on by House being jealous of Cuddy and the PI.

What can I say? Thw episodes to this show just keep getting better/ Season 5 is off to a really great start. I liked how we got to see more into Taub's personal life. We finally get to meet his wife. Hopefully we can learn some more about the rest of the team in the coming weeks. I'm really liking the interaction between House and Lucas it's like what House and Wilson used to have. Speaking of Wilson when I saw that he wasn't in this episode I thought maybe they wrote him out of the show but I see that he will be back next week for what looks like an amazing episode. My favorite scene in this episode has to be House and Lucas both playing music with eachother at the end.

So.. this episode was much weaker than last weeks episode as it was back to the usual rhythm - there is a case, it is something totally weird (and it was) and the whole time House tries to mess around with people he works with. Sometimes it is funny, sometimes it is not. I really liked that this episode had more about Taub char. We know little of 13.. but that's all. Now they opened that up for us.



Also the private investigator and Cuddy was something new and it worked. And the end, both the P.I. and House playing together.. it was worth it...

Glad to see more of Taub, he's the only one of the new fellows I find convincing. I was a little disappointed that there was no House/Wilson interaction, but I understand the need to draw that out more. I also would've liked to have gotten a little more dirt on House himself from the PI. In an episode focused on secrets and character development, it would've been nice to find out something better than he did something stupid to impress a girl. Paying someone to hang out with you is just too pathetic for House, too, so hopefully they'll nix that soon. Well acted, as usual (with the exception of Olivia Wilde, who was as dull and unbelievable as usual), well written, well directed. Overall, an excellent episode!

There were many layers to Adverse Effects. There was an artist who is sick and has an odd assortment of symptoms.



House is putting his nose into everyone's business. This was Taub's week. We see his wife and a window into his personal life.



And the music at the end was great. ---------------------- SPOILER ALERT ------------------------



The PI has the hots for Cuddy. He seems to throw down the gauntlet to House about who's first. I see Huddy in our future.



I cannot believe anyone could be so stupid to be on THREE clinical trials at once. The artist is lucky he is not dead.



And the hairball? That was really disgusting.

Ever since the premier the show has stepped up the character development and conflict between House and his fellows. It has made the show more interesting, but I think the the whole creative team is trying too hard to stir up the conflict because they know it will get more people watching. I could be wrong, but that's what I see.



Just as the "Dying Changes Everything" episode was very number 13 centric and gave us some character development with her, we get a fairly Taub centric episode tonight. Honestly, I thought everything we learned about him this episode was kinda weak. The writers had to come up with something to make his character more interesting, but I think it kinda failed. I'm sorry if you're a fan of his character, but out of him, Kutner and Thirteen, he's the least interesting. Peter Jacobson is a terrific actor and he is making the best of his character.



This episode's medical case didn't disappoint. The team has to race to figure out why an Artist's symptoms come and go. It was very interesting with a truly disgusting visual at the end. Breckin Meyer gave a great performance as the Artist.



Check out my reviews of other TV shows @ www.extremecritic.com