Carrot Sticks with Dip

[readingrat]

 I'll admit it freely and without shame: I liked 'Carrot or Stick'. The main theme, the question of whether learning can take place without negative reinforcement, is one that interests me privately and professionally. Add to that angst-free House-Cuddy interaction and some excellent comic stuff by Hugh Laurie (one needn't be a slash fan to enjoy him licking hot sauce off the caterpillar's tail) and this episode goes down as one that I can watch again without provoking ulcers.

The Theme: Need we be cruel to be kind?

This was the question around which the entire episode hinged. Throughout it we see different types of positive and negative reinforcement being given to persons who, for some reason or other, are deemed needy of a special educational effort. It is not only the methods that are up for debate; the motivation of each of the 'educators' involved are vastly different and for the most part anything but pure and altruistic.

There's the drill sergeant Driscoll whose methods are probably the most controversial. His motives for the most part, however, seem pure. He professes an interest in the boys he maltreats, hoping that the rigours he subjects them to will turn them into law-abiding citizens. There's just a small snag in his argumentation: the youth he tortures the most is first, not a criminal, and secondly, not any boy, but his unacknowledged son. If he were truly deploying boot camp methods only for the good of juvenile delinquents, how does he justify his treatment of his son? What about his alleged rate of success? Even assuming that his methods work with the other lads, in the case of his son they seem to be doing just the opposite; the boy has graduated from minor shoplifting (not sure whether I got that right, to be honest - that guy mumbled too much for my taste) to car theft.

House uses the same method: he fully believes in behavioural training (which is basically what the boot camp does), with the difference that he uses positive reinforcement in the form of gratification as a motivator instead of negative feedback. The method works. Obviously. Blinded by our social mores Wilson doesn't quite get the point: Rachel isn't a dog - if she were, she'd be treated better. We grant our dogs immediate gratification, but we expect our children to perform on the basis of intrinsic motivation or long-term gratification in the form of such doubtful incentives as 'good grades' or even longer-term gratification in the form of jobs, income and status. The problem with his method is that one would have to use it to train every single desirable aspect of a person's behaviour; a person's attitude can't be changed by it. 

At the other end of the spectrum we have two women try to make their point by convincing their 'objects' of the necessity of changing their behaviour. There's Masters, who plays the naive ingenue whose belief in the innate good in mankind is shattered because sixteen or so years of messed-up childhood can't be righted by a single deed of kindness. Seriously, if one short talk could change people from petty criminals to pillars of society, I wouldn't bother raising my children. I'd just let them run wild and give them a short pep talk when they come of age. I'm not sure what the idea behind her unconvincing act was, but she's probably just being set up for a major fall, a fall that is to be made credible by totally moronic behaviour in previous episodes. A pity; she struck me as logically fairly competent in her first episodes.

Then there's the woman slighted by Chase at the wedding, who wants to change Chase by showing up the negative consequences of his behaviour. Her motivation is murky: revenge. 
 
How successful is each method? House's success is self-evident: Rachel does well after her training sessions with him. The drill sergeant attests to the success of his method - as opposed to juvenile prison.  Whether it is successful as compared to Masters's preferred treatment of kindness-cum-logic is left open, especially since Masters hasn't the stamina to continue on her road after minor setbacks. As for Chase's prankster, we'd need to observe Chase for some time to see whether her punishments have led to a change in his attitude. But even if Chase turned over a new leaf, it would not be clear whether the pranks altered his attitude or the realisation that he hurt two people's feelings and ended up having sex with a minor.

So in the end the debate is as open as it was before. That shouldn't come as a surprise - if there were an all-inclusive answer to the question of how to deal with troublesome  contemporaries someone other than a Fox TV show would have found it by now. What irritated me somewhat was the distraction routine at the end of the show: we avoid answering the question whether extreme discipline is helpful or harmful by opening a totally different can of worms, the one about the responsibilities of fatherhood.

The Second Theme: Fatherhood

Kinda old, that one. We find out that being someone's biological father is of no worth unless one is prepared to live up to the consequences. Sergeant Driscoll is clearly not intended to be anyone's role model as a father. Then there's House, caring sufficiently about Rachel - not his child, not even in an emotional-connective sort of way - to see to her well-being. At least, that's how Wilson sees it. I suppose it is possible, at a stretch, but not even a newbie to the pre-school scene could believe that attending a pre-school that purports to be able to test two-year-olds' cognitive skills, yet can't devise parent-proof tests, can be conducive to a child's well-being. To the mother's, maybe, so perhaps he's doing it to keep Cuddy happy, as he asserts at the beginning. The problem here is that Cuddy is nowhere as fussed about this as House believes she'll be. She's remarkably relaxed at not getting Rachel into this coveted pre-school, a lot more relaxed than I'd be if I'd actually put time and effort into it. Her need for support and comfort is so minimal that House takes that hurdle with ease.

My take on this is that House is happy. Happy, relaxed, good-humoured, you name it. As a result he doesn't make road-kill of Masters when she accuses him of cruelty in a manner that would make my boss go apoplectic. He lets Chase take care of his private affairs on work time, only teases him minimally and gives him sound paternal advice (yeah, definitely some father-son stuff there). And the same mellow mood makes him want to do something nice for Cuddy although there's no dire necessity, no dearth of sex even if he doesn't succeed. We're seeing House on a domestic high; after the comparative angst of the pre-Christmas episodes we've been given two episodes that show him at remarkable ease with Cuddy, supportive and affectionate, and even getting into family life. The power games of the fall episodes are forgotten, the mind games are back, they're partners in crime and at the kitchen sink.

Have they changed? I don't think that's meant to be the point here. We got a lot of (artificial) angst before Christmas so that the relative calm in the relationship that we witnessed during 'Larger than Life' and 'Carrot or Stick' should contrast all the sharper with the angst before and the angst to follow. If we hadn't been treated to the entire ridiculousness of babysitting, conflicts about lying, etc. we'd put this cross-section of partnership bliss down as 'normal' for House and Cuddy - Season 3 or so with a kiss or two thrown in for good measure. Happy!House is not a good sign - it's a sign that we're in for very stormy seas again. I'm not all that happy at the prospect: while 'Now What?' was too sappy for my taste (sorry, I don't need to witness huddy sex, scar kissing or naked!House) I found the House-Cuddy interaction in 'Larger than Life' totally acceptable - mind games, manipulation, old-couple feeling. I could have done without the focus on Cuddy's family, but I was fine with the rest. 

What's not to like?

This episode had some lovely stuff

• Wilson going, 'Crap, crap."
• House arranging the animals in X-rated poses
• House licking hot sauce off the caterpillar
• Chase's face, oh whenever. But particularly when he realises he had sex with a minor.
• Taub's dry comments (so much better than during the last episode), especially when he informs Chase that his suffering is lightened by Chase's mishap.
• Masters's 'You're a whore', 'A dumb whore'. (I agree.)
• 'I'm your father!' (I'll bet that in front of thousands of TV screens millions of voices did passable imitations of Darth Vader in reply.)
• The sentimental moment at the end. (Yes, after that darn babysitting episode I needed closure, even if it was fluffy.)

There was also some god-awful stuff, Masters heading my personal list, the scene with the clinic patient coming a close second (House chatting about his private life with a clinic patient???), but I'm going to ignore that for now. Enough sorrow coming our way in two weeks, so I'm going to be really positive now.

If this was too fluffy for you, check out my rant on the House/Rachel/Cuddy relationship.

Oh my, I wrote practically nothing on the medical mystery. There was a medical mystery? Sorry, I missed that when I watched the episode. 

Comments

[barefootpuddles.livejournal.com]

(House chatting about his private life with a clinic patient???),

I dunno, i think I recall him doing that other times too. i think he just doesn't think of clinic patients as actual people.

I enjoyed this episode too, although I don't believe for a second that an exclusive pre-school would not accept the daughter of the Dean of Medicine of an Ivy League medical school/hospital into their program. Those are exactly the kids (and connections) those kind of schools are looking for.

House licking hot sauce off the caterpillar

House is such a tactile kinda guy that he had to lick it - twice actually. That seemed very in character and made me laugh.

[readingrat.livejournal.com]

I don't believe for a second that an exclusive pre-school would not accept the daughter of the Dean of Medicine of an Ivy League medical school/hospital into their program.

My back story (if I were writing a fanfic about it) would be that the teacher who talked to Cuddy after the test took a good look at House and decided that he was the sort of parent they definitely didn't need. If I were running a preschool I'd interview the parents and weed out the ones who looked like Trouble.

The caterpillar thing actually had me fascinated because of the sexual implications. I'm sure House slash fans are having a field day with that.

[brighidsfire.livejournal.com]

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap!" "Thanks Wilson!" Classic moment.

House licking the caterpillar . . . I was dying thinking of all the Hilsons pointing at the screen and saying "SEE? SEE? I TOLD YOU!!!"

Masters irritates the hell out of me. I liked her when she first showed up, now she's just a snotty little goody two shoes who needs a dose of reality, and House is too absorbed in his domestic affairs to give it to her. I'd sure like to though, with a broom handle upside her head.

If this were real life, among many changes to the series we'd see would be Cuddy with a nanny, an au pair and a housekeeper, as well as an army of assistants at work and a much bigger office on the top floor of the hospital. She'd also have Rachel enrolled in the local Montessori preschool, undoubtedly. They're fairly exclusive here.

Chase as dumb whore is amusing, but I hope this doesn't continue for the rest of the season, it's getting a little old now. Love Taub's comments. He has the most underrated sense of humor on the show.

I don't even remember the medical mystery. Something about Wegener's that wasn't Wegener's, I think. *shrug*

Lots of good moments. I liked this ep too for that.

[readingrat.livejournal.com]

Masters irritates the hell out of me. I liked her when she first showed up

Ditto. But now she's just a very pale shadow of Cameron, but nowhere near as credible as a character.

Love Taub's comments. He has the most underrated sense of humor on the show.

Agree. I didn't miss Thirteen at all till now, whereas Taub would be a loss. I didn't like the way they treated his marriage, but now that it's over, let's hope his private life stays out of the show for some time. As for Chase, I found it irritating having him shown as a whore every single episode without any sort of point or resolution to the whole matter. (Had the 'Chase is a dumb whore' arc covered the wedding episode and this one, then we would have had a minor character's conflict that comes to some sort of a resolution within a decent time span.) Nevertheless, I found the manner in which the show concluded the matter amusing. 'House' is traditionally TV drama, but it essentially lives off the comic elements, and giving Chase's personal problems a light-hearted touch took care of them in a suitable manner. IMO they do this somewhat shallow but comic thing better than angst. The whole Mom Cuddy thing was basically saved by House drugging her - classic comedy. It took the edge off the extremely abusive nature of the mother-daughter relationship, which might otherwise also have ended as an angst-fest. (I don't think many viewers noticed, but her dealings with Cuddy made the John House we actually saw in the series seem a potential contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.)

House licking the caterpillar . . . I was dying thinking of all the Hilsons pointing at the screen and saying "SEE? SEE? I TOLD YOU!!!"

That was brilliant. I'm glad they're doing a little something for the ambiguity of the show. Now just a trifle more Wilson and I'd be happy, although the last episode was a step in the right direction.