Tonight's Episode

[nightdog_barks]

Is it so wrong that I wanted Psycho!Valerie to STAY PSYCHO?

Wow. Fascinating episode. So many layers of lies and pretense and meddling all around. Valerie and Wibberly. And are TPTB turning Hadley into Cameron? She was awfully involved in Valerie's personal life, trying to get her husband and sister to see how terrible she was. I mean, okay, she's a psychopath, but everyone's acting like that's a bad thing!

... um.

Hey, how about next episode! That was a POSSUM in the bathtub!

Heh.



Dinner time, back in a bit.

Comments

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Hadley was seriously annoying me. Strains of the stuff that used to annoy me about Cameron until they let her grow up and cut that crap out (most of the time).

I had kind of wished she'd stay psychopathic, too.

Eh, who knows how much better she'll get? She's feeling something but she's still a total bitch to her poor husband, so ...

[euclase.livejournal.com]

Oh good, you called it a possum, too. :D

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Heh, and I forgot to mention the Wilson-stumbling-through-Spanish part, and House telling the guy Wilson was compensating for his sexual inadequacy.

Heh heh heh.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

*g*

I could have called it an opossum, but we always just call 'em possums. Good God but they're ugly little varmints.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Eh, I didn't mind Thirteen's involvement since, from a story telling side, she's a character who canonically wants to dismiss her feelings and deny her past (right down to preferring a random number to her own name) and even her emotions involving Foreman. So from that perspective, having her be the one dealing with the patient's lies and obfuscations makes sense.

(Of course I'm not on the Thirteen must die bandwagon, so ...)

I did think the lies and how they're tied up with emotions and those complications really worked well -- and both Taub and House made me laugh out loud. Taub, obviously, through the secret and House's "working" right along with the carriage return. (Both jokes even fit with the lying theme.)

And both possum and massive prank wars? Oh yeah, it's on.

(My prediction is that the sprinkler system is a two-fold strike to eliminate the ugly orange couch.)

[aries-ascendant.livejournal.com]

I think she's still a psychopath and was messing with Hadley. I don't have a motive of why she ditched the husband, but psycopaths don't strike me as people who need/crave stability.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

The psychopath said earlier that she could fake everything except tears, so the fact that she was crying at the end meant she could feel something. Only thing is, she doesn't know what she feels -- so she may actually hate her husband and think him pathetic, she may not. Feelings are -- as House would tell us all -- scary things.

[aries-ascendant.livejournal.com]

I didn't really take her seriously when she said that. I thought she was just mocking Hadley. I might have to watch that scene again...

Tears really aren't that hard to fake. I can do them without feeling anything. (Not a psychopath. Just curious) Someone with a serious arsenal of emotional manipulatory weaponry should be able to master them easily.

ETA: To be fair, sometimes fake-crying does result in a yawning episode instead...

[warmdarkwoman.livejournal.com]

You're not alone. I wanted her to stay psycho, too. Not everyone is able to be redeemed. (And I hope that TPTB aren't foreshadowing like anvils with that quick redemption of Little Miss Fuck Y'all.)

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Yep, totally agree on the use of Thirteen as a story-telling device. And I'm not on the Thirteen-must-die bandwagon either. *g*

What I objected to was her insertion of her own self into the patient's relationships with her ... relations. I understand why the writers needed to do it, but I thought it was terribly unprofessional.

Of course, this IS House. Heh.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

She was so much more interesting as a psychopath! And that would have been an intriguing point if she hadn't been redeemed.

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

Really? I can cry like a little kid when properly moved, but I've never been able to fake tears. Short of waving a slice of onion under my face, I have no idea how I'd go about it.

ETA that something else I found interesting was that it was after Valerie began to have emotions again that she started really sounding like House. She may have regained her ability to feel, on some level, but it sure didn't make her Little Miss Sunshine.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

I wondered about that too, but I think as far as the writers wanted, she really was cured. I definitely think some fanficcers could take that last scene with Valerie and run with it to some very dark places.

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

Yes, but who, exactly, could do such a thing? I'm trying to remember if I've seen anyone who was really adept at writing psychos, and ...

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

I think if I concentrated hard enough on some terribly sad memory, I could make myself cry. And then be fine afterwards. I'm not sure where the "fake" line would be drawn ...

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

*shifty eyes*

[aries-ascendant.livejournal.com]

You have to commit. Make your eyes wide and when they start to water, squint a bit like you're trying to stop an ugly cry. Then do the chin/bottom lip tremble and take a few shuddering indrawn breaths. When you release the breath, try to discreetly exhale up, into your eyes. They'll water more. Once it starts, it just goes...

But like I said, sometimes it just makes me yawn instead. Like tonight. It's really frustrating because I said I could do it, and now I'm having trouble. :/

[perspi.livejournal.com]

I AM VERY EXCITED TO SEE THIS EPPY, YO.

(Although the Mr is far more excited about 24, and given that I am *also* quite excited about 24, that is what we ended up watching tonight. So. Tomorrow night, it's House.)

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

I can do that, but a. it's real emotion involved and b. it therefore takes a good long while to get myself into that state; not to mention c. I can't always do it. Which leads to d. this would be utterly useless as a tactic to manipulate someone else, as I usually see fake tears described.

I'm sure plenty of people can do it, but I don't think I have a single friend or family member who is capable of and/or has used this tactic.

I should -- I do, actually -- count myself blessed for that.

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

I have never been able to cope with 24. ZOMG TEH NONSTOP DRAMAZ!!!11! It's more than my emotions can handle.

[perspi.livejournal.com]

The Mr and I both have to be careful not to start an episode too late in the evening--it *does* get one going! Although sometimes we laugh about the ZOMG NONSTOP DRAMAZ!!!LLL!!11!! Because sometimes it is so *deliciously* over the top. And CRAZY. Like the season that Jack was being tortured and killed the guy WITH HIS TEETH. Seriously, Jack was TIED TO A CHAIR and then he BIT THE GUY IN THE NECK.

The Mr and I were kind of giggling over that one.

EDITED TO ADD: This most recent season is actually shaping up to be pretty good. Not quite so over-the-top with the threats! to! Innocent! Lives! as some past seasons.

...yet.

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine invented a certain character for whom I could find KILLED GUY WITH HIS TEETH pretty believable.

I could also believe it for Tommy from Goodfellas, I think. Heh.

In general, though ... nah.

[perspi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we both were like, WHUT. OK, NO. Heh.

This is now my wind-down time. I love me some House, but it doesn't key me up to make me want to run around the house shouting "WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?" like 24 does. *g*

So hi, thanks for helping me relax again. :)

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

She's feeling something but she's still a total bitch to her poor husband, so ...

Or she felt guilty so she said rude things to her husband on purpose so he'd leave her and find someone who really loves him. Setting him free.

[aries-ascendant.livejournal.com]

You probably do have friends and family that are capable of it; they're just good people and choose not to use the tactic. It's a dirty trick and emotionally abusive if you also target other emotional vulnerabilities.

I see it the same way as arguing or interacting with someone who is weaker or smaller than you. Just because you can toss someone around like a rag doll, doesn't mean you're going to or that it would even occur to you.

[takes-a-fairy.livejournal.com]

Was just cleaning out my messages and JUST NOW realize I missed House this past Monday. LOL...I guess I have been out of it! Wow!

And I agree, possums are ugly little varmints. Nasty rodents of unusual size and gross-dom.

Imagine my consternation years ago when I was greeted by four of them in my bathroom cabinet where the toilet paper dispenser is when I had to use the bathroom at 1 a.m.! Talk about waking up fast! Yowza!