Both Sides Now (House)
Encyclopedia
"Both Sides Now" is the twenty-fourth episode and season finale of the fifth season of House
. It originally aired on May 11, 2009.
House and the team are intrigued by Scott (Ashton Holmes
), a man who has undergone a corpus callosotomy
procedure to treat epilepsy
. The procedure left him with independently functioning left and right brain hemispheres and two distinct personalities, resulting in loss of conscious control over some of his actions, including those of his left hand, a condition known as alien hand syndrome
.
As the two sides of Scott’s brain struggle for dominance, his warring personalities make it increasingly difficult for the team to figure out what is causing the unique problem. The team is forced to use some unusual methods to get him to cooperate with their necessary testing.
Meanwhile, Cuddy tells House that their relationship must be that of employer and employee. House tells Wilson that he kicked his drug habit and had sex with Cuddy; Wilson responds by saying "Wow" twice after House's statement (as Wilson put it: "one for each").
House tells him that Cuddy is trying to avoid her true feelings for him, and Wilson advises that he talk to her, advice which House ignores. Instead he begins a campaign to annoy and provoke her, an attempt to break through her composure.
When, as part of this plan, House refuses to make his scheduled appearances in the clinic, Cuddy begins referring patients to see House in his private office, specifically a pesky elderly man named Eugene Schwartz (guest star Carl Reiner
) who claims that he has been having a problem with "squawking"; however, Cuddy avoids a direct confrontation with House.
In a sub-plot, Chase and Cameron collectively decide to put their wedding back on; Chase agrees to let Cameron keep her dead husband's frozen semen because he realized it was the only thing Cameron had left of him. Cameron had offered to have the semen destroyed.
In a final attempt to provoke Cuddy into examining her true feelings for him, House announces to everyone in the main lobby of the hospital that he had sexual relations with Cuddy. Cuddy responds by confronting him in a hallway, and then firing him after he suggests that they move in together. Cuddy storms off but before House can do anything else, Eugene Schwartz approaches to inquire about his squawking condition again.
House initially diagnoses it as acid reflux causing his vocal cords to tense, but when Schwartz adjusts his belt due to soreness, House realizes Schwartz has pancreatic cancer, which was the root cause of the acid reflux. At the same time, it is reported that the patient with alien hand syndrome, Scott, is really suffering from a reaction to an ingredient in the industrial-strength deodorant he uses (which his 'alien hand' had known all along, hurling the bottle of deodorant away from his body whenever it got near him and even hitting his girlfriend, played by Maria Thayer
, when she brought the deodorant to him to the hospital).
House then goes to talk to Cuddy in her office, and asks her if she could possibly be overreacting to the previous night. She finally admits that maybe she is, since he's "said plenty of lousy things to [her] before." House seems confused, as he assumed that she was overreacting to her and House having sex and what it could mean to their employer-employee relationship.
But he realizes that Cuddy's reactions all day have not been consistent, and that something is wrong with his analysis of the situation. He had been troubled for the day on why she left no lipstick marks on her coffee cup, despite the fact that she left her lipstick at his place the night before, and it had smeared on House during sex. House brought the lipstick to work to taunt Cuddy, but has not yet presented it to her.
House then has a flashback to the night (from the episode "Under My Skin
") before when he thought he told Cuddy that he needed her help with his addiction. He suddenly sees the reality of what has happened: he never told Cuddy he was having hallucinations that night. His final words of the evening were: "go suckle the little bastard child that makes you feel good about yourself." Aggrieved at this very remark, she left the office and went home, never accompanying him to his apartment.
House snaps back to reality. He reaches into his pocket to remove the lipstick, but, to his horror, he discovers that it is actually a bottle of Vicodin
. The bottle drops from his hand, and he staggers backwards, stunned. He then has another flashback, and realizes what happened. The whole previous night was all a hallucination. His memory of Cuddy staying by his side while he detoxed was not real, and, in fact, he spent the night popping pills by himself.
In reality, House and Cuddy did not have sex; House's experience was just himself walking around his apartment, high on the pills. A hallucination of Amber says in his ear, "So this is the story you made up about who you are. It's a nice one," to which a hallucinated Kutner adds, "Too bad it isn't true." Cuddy, realizing House is extremely disturbed, attempts to comfort him.
Cuddy then takes House to Wilson, who takes him to the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital. Wilson and House share a silent goodbye, and House is led into the hospital by some of its employees. The shots of Wilson bringing House to the clinic are cross cut
with shots of Chase and Cameron's wedding.
, now abandoned. Some filming also occurred there for the sixth season.
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
. It originally aired on May 11, 2009.
Plot
House wakes up at his apartment after spending the night with Cuddy. He discovers that she has left her lipstick on his bathroom counter, as well as on his cheek. House pockets the lipstick, and goes to work with a smile and a remarkable lack of pain.House and the team are intrigued by Scott (Ashton Holmes
Ashton Holmes
Ashton Holmes is an American film and television actor, best known for the role of Jack Stall in A History of Violence and Private Sidney Phillips in the HBO miniseries The Pacific. He currently appears as Tyler Barrol on the ABC drama series Revenge.-Personal life:Holmes was born in Albany, New...
), a man who has undergone a corpus callosotomy
Corpus callosotomy
Corpus callosotomy is a surgical procedure that disconnects the cerebral hemispheres, resulting in a condition called split-brain....
procedure to treat epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
. The procedure left him with independently functioning left and right brain hemispheres and two distinct personalities, resulting in loss of conscious control over some of his actions, including those of his left hand, a condition known as alien hand syndrome
Alien hand syndrome
Alien hand syndrome is a neurological disorder in which the afflicted person's hand appears to take on a mind of its own...
.
As the two sides of Scott’s brain struggle for dominance, his warring personalities make it increasingly difficult for the team to figure out what is causing the unique problem. The team is forced to use some unusual methods to get him to cooperate with their necessary testing.
Meanwhile, Cuddy tells House that their relationship must be that of employer and employee. House tells Wilson that he kicked his drug habit and had sex with Cuddy; Wilson responds by saying "Wow" twice after House's statement (as Wilson put it: "one for each").
House tells him that Cuddy is trying to avoid her true feelings for him, and Wilson advises that he talk to her, advice which House ignores. Instead he begins a campaign to annoy and provoke her, an attempt to break through her composure.
When, as part of this plan, House refuses to make his scheduled appearances in the clinic, Cuddy begins referring patients to see House in his private office, specifically a pesky elderly man named Eugene Schwartz (guest star Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
) who claims that he has been having a problem with "squawking"; however, Cuddy avoids a direct confrontation with House.
In a sub-plot, Chase and Cameron collectively decide to put their wedding back on; Chase agrees to let Cameron keep her dead husband's frozen semen because he realized it was the only thing Cameron had left of him. Cameron had offered to have the semen destroyed.
In a final attempt to provoke Cuddy into examining her true feelings for him, House announces to everyone in the main lobby of the hospital that he had sexual relations with Cuddy. Cuddy responds by confronting him in a hallway, and then firing him after he suggests that they move in together. Cuddy storms off but before House can do anything else, Eugene Schwartz approaches to inquire about his squawking condition again.
House initially diagnoses it as acid reflux causing his vocal cords to tense, but when Schwartz adjusts his belt due to soreness, House realizes Schwartz has pancreatic cancer, which was the root cause of the acid reflux. At the same time, it is reported that the patient with alien hand syndrome, Scott, is really suffering from a reaction to an ingredient in the industrial-strength deodorant he uses (which his 'alien hand' had known all along, hurling the bottle of deodorant away from his body whenever it got near him and even hitting his girlfriend, played by Maria Thayer
Maria Thayer
Maria Thayer is an American actress from Boring, Oregon, known for her roles as Wyoma in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Rory in Accepted and Tammi Littlenut in Strangers with Candy. In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Thayer plays a Mormon newlywed on her honeymoon with her new husband, played by Jack...
, when she brought the deodorant to him to the hospital).
House then goes to talk to Cuddy in her office, and asks her if she could possibly be overreacting to the previous night. She finally admits that maybe she is, since he's "said plenty of lousy things to [her] before." House seems confused, as he assumed that she was overreacting to her and House having sex and what it could mean to their employer-employee relationship.
But he realizes that Cuddy's reactions all day have not been consistent, and that something is wrong with his analysis of the situation. He had been troubled for the day on why she left no lipstick marks on her coffee cup, despite the fact that she left her lipstick at his place the night before, and it had smeared on House during sex. House brought the lipstick to work to taunt Cuddy, but has not yet presented it to her.
House then has a flashback to the night (from the episode "Under My Skin
Under My Skin (House)
"Under My Skin" is the twenty-third episode of the fifth season of House, which aired on May 4, 2009.-Plot:House and the team are given the challenge of diagnosing a ballerina, Penelope whose lungs collapse during rehearsal...
") before when he thought he told Cuddy that he needed her help with his addiction. He suddenly sees the reality of what has happened: he never told Cuddy he was having hallucinations that night. His final words of the evening were: "go suckle the little bastard child that makes you feel good about yourself." Aggrieved at this very remark, she left the office and went home, never accompanying him to his apartment.
House snaps back to reality. He reaches into his pocket to remove the lipstick, but, to his horror, he discovers that it is actually a bottle of Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
. The bottle drops from his hand, and he staggers backwards, stunned. He then has another flashback, and realizes what happened. The whole previous night was all a hallucination. His memory of Cuddy staying by his side while he detoxed was not real, and, in fact, he spent the night popping pills by himself.
In reality, House and Cuddy did not have sex; House's experience was just himself walking around his apartment, high on the pills. A hallucination of Amber says in his ear, "So this is the story you made up about who you are. It's a nice one," to which a hallucinated Kutner adds, "Too bad it isn't true." Cuddy, realizing House is extremely disturbed, attempts to comfort him.
Cuddy then takes House to Wilson, who takes him to the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital. Wilson and House share a silent goodbye, and House is led into the hospital by some of its employees. The shots of Wilson bringing House to the clinic are cross cut
Cross-cutting
Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions but this is not always the...
with shots of Chase and Cameron's wedding.
Production
Although Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital is fictitious, the building into which House is admitted was a psychiatric hospital in New Jersey, Greystone Park Psychiatric HospitalGreystone Park Psychiatric Hospital
Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital refers to both the former psychiatric hospital and the historic building that it occupied in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township .A new facility was built on the large Greystone campus and bears...
, now abandoned. Some filming also occurred there for the sixth season.
Music
- The song Scott's left hand plays air guitar to is "China GroveChina Grove (song)"China Grove" is a song from The Doobie Brothers' 1973 album The Captain and Me. It was written by original lead singer Tom Johnston, before he fell ill in 1975 and was replaced by Michael McDonald. The song is based on a real town in Texas with the same name. The connection is obvious given its...
" by The Doobie Brothers. - The song that plays during the final scene is "As Tears Go ByAs Tears Go By (song)"As Tears Go By" is a song written by The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, and their manager Andrew Loog Oldham, and was a popular hit for both British singer Marianne Faithfull in 1964 and The Rolling Stones in 1965.-History:...
" by The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and The Vitamin String Quartet. - The title of the episode is a reference to the Joni MitchellJoni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
song of the same name.
Trivia
- Due to his new job at the White House, Kal PennKal PennKalpen Suresh Modi , best known by his stage name Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, producer, and civil servant....
couldn't be present for the filming of this episode. The clip of Kutner saying: "Too bad it wasn't true" was taken from a previous filming.