I think this episode is a prime example of the problems of trying to make a case for and against the actions of characters in a TV series, where the TV series is intent of having them do whatever is best for the Drama. Yes, I agree with your assessment.
My rant is more of a meditation on, 'Is House really having a crappy time at PPTH?' with focus on the employer-employee relationship as shown in this episode. But I think it's possible to make my general point, namely that Cuddy the Dean and House the Diagnostician have a symbiotic sort of relationship that benefits both of them. Cuddy gets that feel-good warmth from having lives saved by someone who'll take the rap if things go wrong, while House gets a working environment that'll let him do his epiphany thing with very little interference. I don't think Foreman gets slapped down at NY Mercy because he is young, or black, or not a genius. He gets slapped down because no sane employer will take the risk of having his doctors treat patients on hunches alone, no matter what the rate of success.
If I remember correctly House only ended up underground because he was bored, Yes, that was essentially it. I have no problem with him crawling down there when it's his own decision, but I did have qualms when Cuddy sent him down again, for one because it's one thing for him to do stupid things and another for Cuddy to ask him to do so. (To carry the argument to extremes: he can go poke knives into sockets if he feels like it, but it wouldn't really be okay for Cuddy to ask him to repeat the procedure ...) But if I remember correctly, his objection wasn't that it was a problem for a cripple (and he has no hesitation about playing the cripple card when it suits him), but because he wanted to get back to a patient with an unsolved problem. And that's what my main problem was at that point. Hannah didn't really need him, the crane driver did, so it was not logical in a Houseian sense for him to go back to Hannah, and a waste of resources from an administrative pov. When Cameron wants to do that sort of thing, House goes all sarcastic on her. (Acceptance, where she wants to 'waste' her time on someone who is diagnosed already, instead of placing her resources at the disposal of an undiagnosed patient.)
I had a lot of problems with Cuddy's treatment of House in this episode I must admit I must admit I didn't, other than the last five minutes, which were in bad taste as far as content goes and bad television as far as episode unity is concerned. (And yes, that, 'let's forget about Hannah and Lucas and get on with the sex' was traumatising.) The rest seemed normal to me - by their standards. IMO House pushed his luck there as much as Cuddy did - questioning her motherhood and her relationship when he knows both are sore points - and I don't think Cuddy does 'nice'. She's compassionate at times, but verbally she's as much of a marauder as House is. The 'chalk line on the ground' speech to Wilson always struck me as pushing very far into his personal sphere, and it didn't really sound like advice from a friend to a friend to me. (i'd be perplexed if a friend talked to me like that.) I'd have had no issue with it if she'd said it to House, but Wilson doesn't talk to her that way. (It was hilarious, though.)
But Cuddy's treatment of House in 'Help Me' is one of those instances where childhood traumas 'will out', as they say. I'm scared of tall guys, and I mean literally scared. I tend to notice House yelling at Cuddy much more than the other way round, because I perceive that as threatening. Cuddy yelling at House OTOH mostly strikes me as ridiculous and futile, although Help Me is an exception. Other people have bad childhood memories of mothers or maybe female teachers yelling at them, and they register Cuddy yelling at House much more than the other way round.
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Yes, I agree with your assessment.
My rant is more of a meditation on, 'Is House really having a crappy time at PPTH?' with focus on the employer-employee relationship as shown in this episode. But I think it's possible to make my general point, namely that Cuddy the Dean and House the Diagnostician have a symbiotic sort of relationship that benefits both of them. Cuddy gets that feel-good warmth from having lives saved by someone who'll take the rap if things go wrong, while House gets a working environment that'll let him do his epiphany thing with very little interference. I don't think Foreman gets slapped down at NY Mercy because he is young, or black, or not a genius. He gets slapped down because no sane employer will take the risk of having his doctors treat patients on hunches alone, no matter what the rate of success.
If I remember correctly House only ended up underground because he was bored,
Yes, that was essentially it. I have no problem with him crawling down there when it's his own decision, but I did have qualms when Cuddy sent him down again, for one because it's one thing for him to do stupid things and another for Cuddy to ask him to do so. (To carry the argument to extremes: he can go poke knives into sockets if he feels like it, but it wouldn't really be okay for Cuddy to ask him to repeat the procedure ...) But if I remember correctly, his objection wasn't that it was a problem for a cripple (and he has no hesitation about playing the cripple card when it suits him), but because he wanted to get back to a patient with an unsolved problem. And that's what my main problem was at that point. Hannah didn't really need him, the crane driver did, so it was not logical in a Houseian sense for him to go back to Hannah, and a waste of resources from an administrative pov. When Cameron wants to do that sort of thing, House goes all sarcastic on her. (Acceptance, where she wants to 'waste' her time on someone who is diagnosed already, instead of placing her resources at the disposal of an undiagnosed patient.)
I had a lot of problems with Cuddy's treatment of House in this episode I must admit
I must admit I didn't, other than the last five minutes, which were in bad taste as far as content goes and bad television as far as episode unity is concerned. (And yes, that, 'let's forget about Hannah and Lucas and get on with the sex' was traumatising.) The rest seemed normal to me - by their standards. IMO House pushed his luck there as much as Cuddy did - questioning her motherhood and her relationship when he knows both are sore points - and I don't think Cuddy does 'nice'. She's compassionate at times, but verbally she's as much of a marauder as House is. The 'chalk line on the ground' speech to Wilson always struck me as pushing very far into his personal sphere, and it didn't really sound like advice from a friend to a friend to me. (i'd be perplexed if a friend talked to me like that.) I'd have had no issue with it if she'd said it to House, but Wilson doesn't talk to her that way. (It was hilarious, though.)
But Cuddy's treatment of House in 'Help Me' is one of those instances where childhood traumas 'will out', as they say. I'm scared of tall guys, and I mean literally scared. I tend to notice House yelling at Cuddy much more than the other way round, because I perceive that as threatening. Cuddy yelling at House OTOH mostly strikes me as ridiculous and futile, although Help Me is an exception. Other people have bad childhood memories of mothers or maybe female teachers yelling at them, and they register Cuddy yelling at House much more than the other way round.