House Recap: “The Jerk”

Title: The Jerk
Original Airdate: May 15, 2007
GMMR Recapper: LaLa

“The Jerk” certainly is a very apt title for this episode of House, isn’t it?  I mean, not only do we get the most evil teenage patient of all time (a nasty little piece of work named Nate), but we also have House doing really jerky things to Foreman.  The worst was the stunt he pulled at the end, where instead of finally telling Foreman that he wants him to stay, House instead makes Foreman stay up all night doing pointless tests.  I’m not quite sure what that was about: was House trying to further demonstrate to Foreman that he wasn’t ready to be on his own because he was still blindly following House’s orders?  Or was he just trying to stick it to Foreman because he’s mad that Foreman’s leaving?  Personally, I’m inclined to think it a little of Column A and a little of Column B – but I could be wrong.  What did you all think of that, oh faithful readers?

I have to say, one thing I did find highly amusing about this episode was it’s sly, self-referential, bogus “Aha” moments that each character kept having.  See, as you’ve probably noticed, at the end of almost every episode House always has a little “Aha” moment-of-realization-close-up where he finally figures out what the mystery disease is – in fact, he had one in this episode when Chase was banging the chess piece on the table at the end.  So I thought it was really awesome of the writers to write in a House “Aha” moment for all of the supporting characters whenever they thought they had figured out who secretly cancelled Foreman’s interview.  And of course, the fact that their epiphanies turned out to be false was even more awesome – especially given the fact that House himself had orchestrated the whole thing by lying about it in the first place.  Classic.

I also loved the fact that Chase was the one who cleverly figured out House’s whole devious, “jerky” game and confronted him in the end.  I was hoping for someone to say, “Well played, sir” at some point during that scene, but I’ll settle instead for House’s backhanded complement of Chase: “Sometimes I forget why I hired you.”  Nice.  Here’s hoping that Chase gets more clever moments like that in the future – and also, that they develop his character more.  Yes, it’s adorable that he keeps asking Cameron out on Tuesdays – even when he’s annoyed with her, and can only manage a reluctant “I like you” through his teeth.  But still, I’d love to learn more about his backstory, and where he came from – like, why did he quit pursuing the Priesthood, for instance?  I for one would like to know.

So, the finale is in two weeks (Doh!) – what are your predictions?  Will Foreman really leave the hospital?  Will stupid Cameron finally get over herself and give into Chase’s undying love?  Will Cuddy finally relent and give into House’s undying obsession for her?  And will Wilson manage to make it through the whole episode without getting humiliated by House at some point?  Let me know what you think!

LaLa is a writer who currently resides in LaLa Land, aka Los Angeles.  LaLa also likes to sing.  LaLa also knows some lawyers in a law office.  LaLa is also prone to making bad jokes, like this one.  And of course, LaLa also loves her some quality television shows with quality actors on them, like House… and The Office… and Lost… and, well, pretty much any smartly written show that doesn’t include a fat guy with a hot skinny wife or the words “two and a half men” in the title.