I'm an avid rewatcher of House, I love all aspects and all seasons, few episodes have me bored and the writing style is wonderful. This episode is one of my few favourites, due to it being entertaining, a different approach to the usual style of structure, and introducing a very strong secondary male lead to work well with Hugh. It is true it bares similarities to another film, but sometimes great writers use their great ideas along side that of a pre-existing structure in an ode to the film/song/series. All round entertaining, wonderfully acted and structure is wonderful. A perfect epsiode.
11 Reviews
Somehow familiar....
mondtagskind1 April 2009
True, it is really a good episode. But why do I not lose the feeling the writer and the director watched "Le Scaphandre et le papillon" ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" --> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401383/)?? Okay, it is not quite the same, as some aspects of communication differ from the mentioned film. Nevertheless it is interesting to watch an episode of "House, M.D." from a point of view, as if you have never seen any other episode before (a few minutes in: "These guys are friends?"). You can observe how the main characters appear to outsiders and get to know them from another angle. And there is reason to believe, that this episode might be the start of some changes to come. I'm curious. :)
Point of View POV , Thru The Eyes of a Paralized Brain Tumor Patient
rentatrip126 June 2018
Well Done Script, similar to an episode of M*A*S*H, griping and entertaining .
The Camera View keeps the action centered by taking audience into the mind of the patient/victim. I like it because most other House M.D. episodes do not give such insight into the life of a really believable sick person. This makes you feel real empathy for the person on the table . GREAT PERFORMANCES by ALL
Absolutely love this one
UniqueParticle10 August 2020
Almost entirely from the point of the view of the patient that is the excellent Mos Def! Such a peaceful well written episode and intriguing constantly. Great how locked in syndrome is mentioned quite an interesting thing, things start from a bike crash and he was experiencing symptoms that need to be solved as always except better than most!
A great episode
ctomvelu-14 April 2009
Mos Def guest stars as a man who falls ill and can't speak or move. He ends up in a New York state hospital room with House as a fellow patient -- House apparently has taken a tumble off his motorcycle and scraped himself up pretty good. Meanwhile, a doctor is waiting for the paralyzed Mr. Def to die so he can transplant his heart, but House quickly establishes that the poor is alive and conscious by slight movements of his eyes. House eventually gets him transferred to Princeton and proceeds to figure out what's ailing the guy. Half the episode is told from the patient's POV and mind, with some great voice-over narration, and the other half is standard House and crew working on the guy. At times, the episode verges on the surreal as the patient imagines himself in various places, playing with his children or talking to his wife and House. The computer-aided effects are seamless, and stand second only to the moment when House walked by himself in an episode from the first or second season. Mr. Def, a rapper who costarred with Bruce Willis in the movie 16 BLOCKS, is funny and said and very convincing as the helpless patient. The kids are cute, too.
Unique episode!
lovelylaura-9718220 November 2019
An Episode From Behind the Eyes of Patient
stephen-ewen12 January 2022
More than 1 locked in person...
bendebarra26 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Loved the part at the end from House's POV, suggesting that he, too, is locked into his ways. Amazing episode overall!
Mos Def performed excellently and by the end I was really rooting for his character, which isn't the norm in House ; usually the patients are pretty redundant to the plot or just lie excessively - which, yes, is the point.
House seeing a psychiatrist is exciting but sort of depressing when we find out, because it's clear he'd never keep going now that Wilson knows. My heart aches for House to find his! I live for the glimpses of his humanity and I hope he ends up with Cuddy in the end :)
Mos Def performed excellently and by the end I was really rooting for his character, which isn't the norm in House ; usually the patients are pretty redundant to the plot or just lie excessively - which, yes, is the point.
House seeing a psychiatrist is exciting but sort of depressing when we find out, because it's clear he'd never keep going now that Wilson knows. My heart aches for House to find his! I live for the glimpses of his humanity and I hope he ends up with Cuddy in the end :)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly?
joanne__king3 April 2009
A good episode, but the premise is a complete steal from "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", a French film based on a true story about journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. Bauby was the editor-in-chief of the French magazine Elle. He fell victim to locked-in syndrome after a massive stroke. Like Bauby, the patient in this episode is mentally aware of his surroundings, but is physically paralyzed except for some movement in his eyes. Both the move and the episode chronicle a first-person view of a person with locked-in syndrome. There are also dream events in both that include playing at the beach with family, In this episode the patient was played by Rapper and Emmy nominated actor Mos Def.
Annoying as all Hell
rwk224 August 2010
I couldn't even finish watching this episode. The POV from the patient's bed is quick and jerky and the edges blur. The viewer is constrained to basically just the thoughts of the patient, who is essentially entombed within his own body and it makes for a lacking plot in my opinion.
From what I've read of other reviews the show eventually splits and a regular standard TV angle is used. Points for originality for trying something different, I just personally didn't enjoy it. Perhaps if the producers try this again they could switch earlier on to the "regular" action and spread out the options a little bit.
From what I've read of other reviews the show eventually splits and a regular standard TV angle is used. Points for originality for trying something different, I just personally didn't enjoy it. Perhaps if the producers try this again they could switch earlier on to the "regular" action and spread out the options a little bit.
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