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House Season 8 Episode 4

Risky Business

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AIRED: Oct 31, 2011

7.8

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Episode Summary

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House attempts to negotiate with a wealthy patient who is planning to relocate his labor force to China. Meanwhile, Foreman chairs Park's disciplinary hearing, while Adams assesses her own ethics when she learns of their patient's relocation plans.

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Fan Episode Reviews (6)

Too clever by far...

6.5

By Mike_Schmidt, Dec 05, 2011

I suppose that this program is built on the conciet of "special knowledge" that supposedly House has in Spades... as well as wittisisms/bluntness to keep those in place that don't fall to his infallible sardonic logic... however...

... simply put - I used to enjoy this program and now don't- it has even outlived it's own hubris... post it's devolvement into a not-so-complex hospital soap orbiting a good premise - it seems to have aquired the symptoms of a toxic accumulation of benzyl alcohol.. Gasping Syndrome; seriously that aside is worth a program in itself - see? it can still be done... but seriously this is the end of the SLC (Series Life Cycle) ... DNRmoreless
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a bit boring

7.0

By greysncis2010, Nov 16, 2011

Dry humor, long boring conversation and not interesting medical case. I almost didn't finish tonight's episode. The only scenario that was funny and not boring is when the ortho guy retaliated for all the pranks that House did and is still doing to force them to get out of his former office. I hope the next set of episodes will be much better. Hoping for Chase and Taub's return because the two doctors of House (Adams and Park) are boring. I think it's not them - maybe it's the material they have to work with and the substandard directing.moreless
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It's interesting, considering how easy it was for House to get back so much of what he lost after last season, that the season took as long as it did to get his department funded.moreless

7.5

By colten97, Nov 16, 2011

At the start of "Risky Business," House has his office back, but not completely, and he's got a team, but not a full one—and they aren't even both working for him. Dr. Park, aka "Dr. Velma," has been temporarily shifted to House's staff, and Dr. Pretty Doctor doesn't, so far as I can tell, even have a real position. She just keeps showing up, and hey, this hospital can't function unless we have some kind of surrogate Cameron hanging around. I'd honestly be fine with just accepting that this is just how it's going to work, much the same as I accept House continues to have employment because the show requires he has employment. And yet, here we are, four episodes in, and he's still trying to manipulate patients to get enough money to make everything "normal" again. I suppose I should be appreciative that the series is willing to even pretend it has to deal with my suspension of disbelief.

By the end of "Business," life is well on its way to being back to what it used to be. House, through a series of stratagems I only somewhat understood, finally gets the money he needs on his own terms, and we're promised the return of Chase and Taub next week. Whoever had "episode five" in the pool, please collect your winnings. Really, though, we've already settled into the rut we call home. House is playing games with his team, games that we're not even sure are games right up until it works out so that House isn't a complete creep, but then, maybe if things had gone even slightly differently... Who knows. It's a storytelling style the series has used for years now, because it's the easiest way to appear as through you're telling smart stories without actually, really, telling smart stories. House's bet with Dr. Velma that she'd be fired led to a lot of questioning about whether or not House would really go this far, but of course he would and of course he wouldn't. He's basically got Schrodinger's Morality: His behavior has to have the full potential for good or evil right up until the end.

That can make for good drama, but at this point, it just makes for a muddle. The most compelling moment in tonight's episode, for my money, is when Velma goes to Wilson and asks him for help dealing with House. For once, he flat out explains the situation in a way that gives us clear parameters. House has rules, and he considers his honor to be on the line. Of course, Wilson has to make a move to confuse things by throwing in a counter bet to try and save Velma's job, and of course, we all suspect that House isn't really going to get her fired because he doesn't like change in his life. But at least that conversation felt direct about the situation. It felt like we were being given a structure for House's behavior, as opposed to him just doing whatever the writers think will freak us out. Like nearly hitting the guy in room next to him? That's silly, and worse than that, it's "edgy" silly. As in, ooo, maybe House isn't really as sane as he seems to be. Maybe House is half out of his mind, and he'll crack up and run a car through another building. I'd really like a minimum of unpleasantness from this series now, but throughout "Risky," there were signs of possible dark times ahead.

I suppose I should mention this week's patient, a businessman played by Michael Nouri. This episode takes the bold position of doing as much as it can to make us sympathize with a rich man about to screw over his employees to save what he thinks needs saving. It's an odd choice, and there's some drama between Nouri and his daughter about the move to China, but it doesn't really register. I think I'm taking too much after House at this point, since I care as little about the PotW as he seems to. Remember when the puzzle was the thing? Remember when he would do anything to make sure that his patient got the best treatment, not for their sake, but because House took every disease as a personal affront? The show still sort of remembers this. Every once in a while, we'll get an episode where House risks everything to save someone, but most of the time now, he's bored. He's more invested tonight in making sure Nouri gets better to save his own ass.

You could make something out of this. Like, House is bored because he's been doing this so long, and he doesn't really have anything else in his life, and the medical mysteries are no longer doing it for him. But I'm not convinced the show is playing this angle. Each week, it plays more like going through the checklist for what they've decided makes a passable House episode. PotW with bizarre symptoms, preferably someone with a back-story that can be explained in a few sentences? Check. Mind games with the staff? Check. Fighting with authority, and sort of holding his own, despite offenses that would force any sane person to fire him? Check. Wilson? Check. It's okay for what it is. I'm docking this one a few points because I was bored for big chunks of it, House's funding struggles were far too stupid, and the Dr. Velma story was a complete non-starter. To the good, I enjoyed Wilson as always, and the scene at the end with Dr. Pretty Doctor destroying a lot of medical equipment with a baseball bat, while not exactly plausible, was entertaining.moreless
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Not as bad as this season has been. .

5.0

By ActiveSparkles, Nov 16, 2011

Actually did not hate this episode as much as I had expected to. Medical mystery was fairly interesting, had some fun interaction between house and his team and did not get too bogged down in the usual banal exchanges between House and Wilson.

Having said that, House spent the entire episode being right and getting his own way. He is starting to annoy me in the same way a spoilt child on the bus does, and without anyone else for me to invest anything in (I honestly could not care less about park, and find myself caring little for the other girl who's name I forget)

Looks as thought we will soon have Chase and Taub back, which means we will soon be bogged down in their melodrama sideplots! hooray. I am starting to think that this show could do with a complete overhaul. New hospital, new team and new problems. Each week feels like it is treading water just doing enough to get through to the next episode.moreless
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Ok. Which is a let down.

6.0

By bonobobananas, Nov 16, 2011

Sadly I think House is on it's last legs (sorry).

The new characters have been introduced from scratch hence I don't care about them. I never liked Foreman's character: Wilson has been almost completely sidelined and is now more of an eyebrow raising caricature.

Time to put the show to bed I think, the only interesting episodes in the past couple of series have been with House completely out of the hospital: in prison and much more impressively in the Psychiatric Institution.

This episode was actually an ok timefiller but it should be more than that. As I said, time to bring this to a close before it turns to utter pants.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Hugh Laurie	Dr. Gregory House
Omar Epps	Dr. Eric Foreman
Robert Sean Leonard	Dr. James Wilson
Odette Annable	Dr. Jessica Adams
Charlyne Yi	Dr. Chi Park

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Michael Nouri	Thad Barton	Guest Star
Alexie Gilmore	Ainsley Barton	Guest Star
Ben Lemon	Dr. Andrews	Guest Star
Bobbin Bergstrom	Nurse	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Hugh Laurie and guest star Jade Carter o...

© 2011 Fox Broadcasting Company
Odette Annable and Hugh Laurie on House ...

© 2011 Fox Broadcasting Company
Omar Epps on House from "Risky Business".

© 2011 Fox Broadcasting Company
Hugh Laurie on House from "Risky Business".

© 2011 Fox Broadcasting Company

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (5)
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- House: You're late.
  Dr. Adams: Considering I don't work here, arguably, I'm early.
  House: Pearl earrings? Knee-length dress. That's not a very shameful walk of shame.
  Dr. Adams: I was at a job interview.
  House: I hope it went terribly.
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- Dr. Adams: Thad Barton? We only help rich white guys?
  House: I am an equal opportunity exploiter. I only help those who can help myself.
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- House: Oh, you guys are going to love doctors Chase and Taub. Keep your Nazi sentiments quiet around the little one.
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- House: Loyalty to real estate is stupid, because loyalty is stupid.
  Dr. Park: First patriotism, now loyalty. You hate ice cream, too?
  House: French vanilla, yeah.
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- Dr. Adams: I could do $5,000.
  House: Really? No backsies?
  Dr. Adams: If.... you double your clinic hours. six a week. I've seen how you disrespect those patients.
  House: So you want twice as many of them disrespected?
  Dr. Adams: Spend more hours with them, you'll treat them more humanely.
  House: And this time a land war in Russia will be a good idea.
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NOTES (2)
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- Music: Morning Has Broken (Cat Stevens)
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- International Airdates:
  Canada: October 31, 2011 on Global
  UK: November 3, 2011 on Sky1
  Israel: January 25, 2012 on HOT3
  Germany: March 27, 2012 on RTL
  Sweden: September 25, 2012 on TV4
  Czech Republic: December 17, 2012 on TV Nova
  The Netherlands: January 10, 2013 on SBS6
  Slovakia: January 29, 2013 on STV1
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- House: You were late the other day 'cause you were having breakfast with Grammy Addams or Cousin Itt.
  Referencing two members of the creepy clan later known as the Addams Family. They began with a 1938 New Yorker cartoon, whose characters frequently reappeared (and evolved) over the next several decades. In 1964, the cartoon was made into a live-action TV series. Cancelled in 1966, the series went into syndication. It was later remade (twice) as a TV cartoon series and was the subject of two theatrical movies and one direct-to-video release.
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