House: A One Woman Show

Last week, I was excited at the prospect of a House episode focusing solely on Lisa Cuddy – Dean of Medicine and hospital administrator extraordinaire. But unfortunately, things fell flat and it’s not because Cuddy doesn’t have an interesting life. Far from it! Every second of every day is jam packed with mommy duties and appeasing her employees.

That’s just it, though – we watch House for the medical mysteries and his ingenuity to diagnose patients. Cuddy has very little patient interactions and her work is far more technical thus making our viewing experience a little boring.

Cuddy’s biggest problem this episode has to do with renegotiating a contract with an insurance company. Cuddy demands 12% reimbursements, but the insurance company is stuck at four percent and doesn’t budge. The medical board is drastically unhappy with Cuddy threatening to terminate the contract with the company and potentially lose the hospital thousands of patients. If she fails to reach a deal, Cuddy will be fired.

Even though Cuddy may very well be losing her job in less than 24 hours, there’s still plenty of other work to be done and worries clouding her thoughts. They include:

1)      Keeping tabs on her sick daughter, Rachel

2)      Firing a pharmacy technician who has been ordering double the amount of ephedrine necessary and stealing the extra drugs for a meth lab

3)      Refusing to give a man a prescription for breast milk as treatment for cancer

4)      Refusing to allow House to diagnose a patient by infecting him with malaria

5)      A former patient suing the hospital for reattaching his thumb after sawing it off

6)      Dealing with fighting and unhappy surgeons

It’s clear things are stressful and hectic in Cuddy’s life and she’s at her breaking point. But Cuddy proves that sometimes the right thing to do isn’t always the easiest. Sometimes it pays off, though. I won’t spoil the ending and divulge how everything wraps up, but let me just say it was a little bit too perfect, almost like a fairy tale, and those sorts of endings annoy me.

One last thing: Am I the only one wondering how House always knows, without fail, where to find Cuddy? Did he implant her with a tracking device or something? It’s a little eerie how he always shows up where she is.

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Cuddy’s House by Cameron Cubbison.

Season 6, Episode 13: 5 to 9 (originally aired February 8, 2010)

For more on House, click here.

Mondays 8/7c on FOX

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and IMDbPro