Painless

Season 5, Episode 12, Aired
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Episode Summary

House and his team deal with a man living in constant pain. Meanwhile, Thirteen receives treatment by Foreman while taking part in his clinical trial on Huntington's Disease, and Cuddy tries to balance her hospital duties with her new baby.
7.1
out of 10
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Fan Episode Reviews (19)

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  • I agree with some of the other reviewers.. why is this score so much lower than the rest?

    8.6
    "Great"
    By JaCkKbAuEr2424, May 15, 2011 Report Abuse
    I know this isn't the best episode of House ever, but why does it deserve such a low score compared to the others? From a 8.8 to a 7.4? Doesn't make sense to me..

    That being said, this episode sort of reinforced my idea of this season, which is that a lot of the cases are less interesting than the personal stuff going on in the characters' lives. Not to say that the personal stuff is good material, but the cases feel ripped off from previous seasons.. with the Joy to the World episode, Foreman being described as House, the case involving the chubbier girl being teased all the time.. it just felt rehashed. And this episode was basically the opposite of the episode of the girl who could feel no pain, except much less interesting.

    However, House was on point once again. He seems to save the show when it starts to lose focus. Kutner also is an interesting character, although Taub and Thirteen leave something to be desired. If they could've just started getting Chase and Cameron involved in the show much earlier on than this, I would've been happier. It's too bad. Either way, the episode wasn't nearly as bad as the score indicates. It was a pleasant enough episode that was just a little average.moreless

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    2 0

  • Not as bad as the scores suggests...

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By DonStants2, Jul 27, 2009 Report Abuse
    I am a little at loss to see why the score is so low in this episode. The case was quite sad and disturbing, but also quite emotional- a family trying to deal with their family in pain. Taub's questioning of them was interesting. I didn't like the son trying to help him die- that was slightly overdone. The wifes emotions, however, were good.

    Meanwhile, Cuddy tries to deal with being a single mum- she does so quite well but fails to live up to her own high standard- fitting perfectly with her character. Allowing Cameron to be boss at the end was interesting character development, and gives a good chance for an interesting story arch.

    I wish they included Cameron more this episode- what a **** comment to Thirteen! Meoooow! She brought him the case, and it would have been more interesting to see why, and to see her try to teach him life lessons.

    The episode also makes it clear that House's leg has gotten worse, and that he is worried about the day his pills stop working- he took far too many in this episode. The sideplot with plumber was quite amusing- it was funny seeing House outwitted at his own game, but it didn't really seem relevant to the plotline, apart from it gave the interesting diagnosis at the end.

    Meanwhile, Foreman tries to get with Thirteen. I think Thirteen's suited for the relationship, whereas Foreman seems a little flat. Nevertheless, it was a great twist to find out shes on the placebo.

    Overall, this episode was brilliant in parts and flat in others- not as bad as the score on TV.com suggests, however.moreless

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    0 0

  • Cuddy takes some time to bond with her new daughter

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By vicky24c, May 22, 2009 Report Abuse
    In this episode of House, the following happens. When a wife and her son return home to pick up hockey stick, they find their husband/father in the garage trying to kill himself. His name is Jeff. The case of Jeff is soon brought to House by Cameron. He is suffering with pain all over his body. Cuddy has named her foster daughter, who she later hopes to adopt, Rachel. Soon Jeff's son starts experiencing symptoms like his father. But House soon realises that the son is faking it, so that his father can try to kill himself. Cuddy has a home inspection, which she passes and so she can continue to look after Rachel as her foster mother.
    After a few miss-diagnoses Jeff is finally diagnosed with Epilepsy. We learn that on the drug trail, 13 is on the placebo and not the real drug. At the end of the episode, Cuddy goes to see Cameron. She asks her to take over her job for a while, whilst she stays at home with the baby for a little while longer.moreless

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    0 0

  • Cuddy deals with her new baby, House deals with a patient in constant pain that keeps trying to kill himself, and Foreman works a little too hard to get Thirteen to pay attention to him.moreless

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By OrSoIThought, Jan 24, 2009 Report Abuse
    Overall, I would consider this episode to be a good filler episode to connect this episode to the rest of the season. It wasn't terribly exciting or original. In fact, I found it quite forgettable. Cuddy's struggles with changing her life to fit the new baby were expected. Hopefully, she'll find some balance in the next couple of episodes and the baby will take a backseat. I like the fact that the character has achieved a goal she has been desperate for for some time, but the story drags on a little and gets in the way of other subplots.

    I enjoy the little drama between Thirteen and Foreman. Its fun and lighthearted and despite both characters being standoffish and a little unpleasant in their relationships overall, it could prove to be a very fun storyline. I'm still wondering how anything can work out for this character while she has Huntington's disease. There is no cure and without the writers creating a cure for the purposes of the show, she's pretty much doomed. As is any romance between her and Foreman, despite the fact that it takes away from how depressing her character has become.

    The plot involving the man in constant pain was the highlight of the show. Although, the family gave up a little too quickly. I suppose this was for drama's sake, but when they all of a sudden started promoting the guy's cause to off himself in the name of ending the pain, they quickly became annoying. Although, props to the writers for getting the guy's son to help him out in one such attempt. It had a great "slap in the face" effect. Very cool. The answer was, as usual, simple in its complexity and just plain brilliant. And House, as usual, was a pain to anyone who gave him the time of day. Overall, decent, but not my favorite and hopefully not a foreshadowing for the rest of the season.moreless

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    9 11

  • PAINLESS

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Demien-, Jan 24, 2009 Report Abuse
    It was nice episode,I liked it,but what the hell is going on betwen Caddy and House?....they should be togeteher but I think it's producer's new trick,they want us to worrie and whatch with excitment :-s....yeah it's good for their wallets but bad for our brains....and also I want to say that it would be great if Cameron and Chase were in more episodes....I like House's obssesion...who knows what kind of obsession is that but I like it....he is like a detective...drug abuser he uses too much Vicodinus....but damn his leg looks awful but I would like too see it close ;)moreless

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    8 5
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Whenever Cuddy talks about her appointment with DYFS (Division of Youth and Family Services), she calls it D-Y-F-S, pronouncing each letter of the acronym. The administrator of a New Jersey hospital, or anyone else that deals with that state agency, would refer to it as "Dye-fiss," as if the letters spell an actual name. Edit
    • Trivia: House has a rubber duck next to his bath. Edit
    • It is clear that the baby Cuddy is holding throughout most of the episode is a doll. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • International Airdates: Latin America: February 26, 2009 on Universal Channel Denmark: June 6, 2009 on Kanal 4 The Netherlands: September 3, 2009 on SBS6 Germany: September 22, 2009 on RTL Poland: October 8, 2009 on TVP2 Slovakia: November 3, 2009 on STV1 Czech Republic: November 23, 2009 on TV Nova Sweden: February 16, 2010 on TV4 Edit
    • Music: I Still Care For You (Ray LaMontagne) Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Kutner: Okay, so if you were being burned at the stake, and someone handed you a gun, what would you do? Taub: I'd shoot the people with the torches. Edit
    • Dr. Foreman: So, making out okay, meal's too intimate? Thirteen: I don't wanna kiss you again, either. Edit
    • Dr. Cuddy: House, I've got a DYFS home visit on Friday. House: And I've got a W-H-O-R-E visit on… Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • House: Either I need a new watch, or Mowgli is cutting into your beauty sleep. Referencing the boy from Rudyard Kipling's In the Rukh (1893) and later The Jungle Book. Mowgli is raised by wolves in the jungle and soon uses his superior human abilities to master his environment. Most famously, Kipling's story was adapted into an animated movie by Disney in 1967. Edit
    • House: Left them all back on Krypton. Referencing the home planet of the comic book character Superman, who first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 30, 1938) and was created by Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster. He was launched from Krypton by his father Jor-El as the planet blew up due to a natural cataclysm and was rocketed to Earth where he became Superman, the super-powered Man of Steel. Edit

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