[H]ouse 8x09: Better Half

Original Air Date: 23 January 2012

Storyline: An Alzheimer's patient visits Princeton Plainsboro as part of a hospital sanctioned drug trial, but when he inexplicably suffers from violent vomiting and an increasingly explosive temper, the team begins to unravel a deeper marriage conflict between the patient and his dutiful wife. Meanwhile, House and Foreman butt heads, and Wilson treats a patient who claims to be in a chaste marriage. Best Quote:

Wilson: Two people are happy, and your natural impulse is to destroy it.
House: How do you know she's happy? Did she tell you?
Wilson: No, chirping birds flew out of her butt carrying a banner.

Review: "Better to have schtupped and lost than never to have schtupped at all." Crudely true and this just became my quote of the day. Or of the year. I'm still deciding on that one, plus it's only January. 

The ability of coughing up great fun quotes is just one of the many many reasons why I love Greg House. Another one, revealed in this episode, is that he knows Portuguese, my favorite language on earth, and the sexiest. Give me a man who speaks it and I don't care if he's good looking. But I'm digressing again and it may not be as fun for you as it is for me.
I was greatly entertained by this week's episode, one that saw House mess with Foreman openly, something I admit I've been wanting to happen ever since the beginning of this season. I'm one of those who doesn't like Foreman's new role and if House can screw things up for him, I will savor every second of it, just like I have during the "Better Half" hour. As Foreman himself put it, he never does anything without having an agenda behind it and this time it was getting his boss to approve an early removal of his ankle monitor. And just like that, the mind games and sticky cards - some of which quite immature and racist ("Cuddy dark will waste his afternoon chasing conspiracy theories." comes to mind) - did their magic and House is free to roam the lands and do what he does best, without anyone having any kind of control on him.
The confrontation between House and Foreman started as the new Dean of Medicine decided to sit in on a case to replace Taub, who had some time off (and didn't you all miss Taub? I know I did.). And if we're talking about the case of the week, the patient - Brazilian! - had Alzheimer's and had developed Reye's syndrome for taking too many Aspirin. What was interesting about him was not his condition and not even his Portuguese blabbering, but his wife, the young woman who gave up everything in her life in order to support her sick husband, one she had known for only about a year before the disease developed. 
Sacrifice is a theme that this series has explored thoroughly throughout its eight season run and one that is usually very well presented. And not to forget that it's usually connected to the guys' personal lives - the most recent debate being between the two divorcees, Adams and Chase, on the concept of "in sickness and in health"; on this one, I am leaning towards Chase's opinion, that of proving that you love your family by not forcing them to put up with you should you be incapable of taking care of yourself. Being a burden is not only humiliating, but makes the caregivers end up hating you.
Of sacrifice spoke the minor care of the week as well; and despite this being less a medical provocation and more a happiness debate between House and Wilson, the issue was almost the same, even if at a smaller scale: a couple married for ten years and both declaring to be asexual, though the wife was just sacrificing sex because she wanted to spend her life next to her husband, whose libido was affected by a tumor. Of course, the fun part was watching Wilson trying to prove to his friend that happiness is something that can exist independently of such trivial aspects like sex, but I will redirect your attention to the quote with which I started this review and tell you that I don't believe in chaste love outside a convent.
Before I go to sleep, let me just quickly go over the highlights of the episode: Park's number; House's cards and the names he gave Foreman; Wilson engaging House to check out his asexual patient, knowing he would take the bite, and the banter between the two; lighting up the cigars with the $100 bill and smoking them inside the hospital. Plus, a question: did anyone else think Chase called Cameron before hearing his sister answering?[H]ouse 8x08: Perils of Paranoia Back to Season 8