This kinda bothered me. The whole episode had a sitcom feel. Yeah we have all these huge character altering changes now, but they would rip the heart of the series out. Everything will be back to the status quo in a handful of episodes, so whats the point? I just don't like how they went out of their way to focus on the huge changes in personality from House when we all know they won't last more than 4 episodes.

I liked the idea of the institution before I saw the episode. After seeing how the handled it, I really couldn't be happier it is over. The glaring mistakes they made on how those places are run really ate at me. Suspension of disbelief only helped so much. I suppose people who work in a hospital would feel that way about every episode though.

Hopefully the next few episodes prove more interesting. Based on the previews I am not exactly optimistic about it. Of course the writing tends to distract me from the actual plot lines so maybe I am rushing to judgment. With any luck the later episodes will have a better plot line. They never last more than a few episodes anyways.

Oh I forgot about how they showed how that place was run, that bothered the shit out of me.

• How do they not check that patients don't take pills, especially one (House) has been proven to not take his pills
• How the fuck did he get the lady and Steve out?  We unfortunately had bad weather so missed however he stole the car
• They just let patients wander the hospital?
• Every hospital is full of terrible shrinks?
• What was the level crap?  If you're a level three you can feel free to run around the snack machine floor but if you're a level five you can use the phone and somehow hand those phone privilages off to someone else?
• How come the bad rapper was able to just choose to not take his medicine?
• When House started wailing on the annoying guy they only gave him pills?
• Why did House have keys to the hospital?
• How did House find an empty room to have sex with the random chick?
• A chick that hasn't talked for 10 years gets given her music box and she's gone the next day?  Nobody else was clever enough to think of that in 10 years?  I guess she also obviously has no issues with whatever put her in that state to begin with and that 10 years in silence let her work through her major issues so she's fine in freaking out care!?

And I'm sure there were other things about that hospital that bothered me but I'm in a hurry so not going to sit and think about it.  I'll just end with yeah, suspension of disbelief only went  so far with that episode and I was glad they left the mental hospital.

There was a lot that was factually innaccurate in this episode. But House rapped, and he wasn't complete garbage. There was also Lola in the episode, minus the running but still. . . So for me 10/10.

And just to add to the terrible shrink part (and I apparently don't have to be in the hurry I thought I was in^^):

Here you have this guy that is House's shrink or something. He meets with him and has read his file (the white guy who was supposed to be the idiot shrink). He knows that House manipulates people, it's just what he does and has been doing the entire time he had been there. He didn't try to hide it once and the guy flat out said he doesn't House.

So he takes him to do the urine tests...and then he trusts him?

Right, so you have a guy that manipulates everybody and have every reason not to trust and you don't even bother checking the stall?

You don't check the stall when apparently you work in a place that just lets people hang out in the bathroom? Especially people that are anorexic or bolemic or whatever that guy was?

Ugh, it's like the writers had never been to an institution and assumed that most other people hadn't either so they could just make up whatever crazy stuff they wanted to because it is a crazy house and nobody would ever catch on!

Well the level crap is not unheard of, but it is for people in rehab rather than the crazy house. Of course I am still not certain why House was sent to the crazy house when he just needed a rehab facility. But yes, they do have "levels" in rehab where you get access to different privelages for being higher up. You absolutely can NOT transfer them though.

Depending on the pills, forcing someone to take them can fall into a legal grey area as I recall. To the best of my knowledge you can't actually force them to swallow the pills. You can make their lives misreable for not taking them though. This might change if he was sentenced to a mental institution rather than just committed. It also gets a bit fuzzier if they pose a significant threat to themselves, or others.

The orderly bt for the fight made me want to scream at my TV. For those curious, there is a very specific protocol for that. The big orderlies (and there are almost always ones bigger than you) grab you, hold you down, and the nurse/doctor injects a sedative through a shot. They do not throw pills in your mouth and hope you swallow. It would take forever to kick in, and people can just hide them in their mouth.

I enjoyed it a lot; glued to the TV.

You guys mentioned the inaccuracies, but while I was watching, I didn't think too much of it.

I did feel it was too similar to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" though. Even the guy jumping out of the parking lot and injuring himself, I knew something like that would happen.

The level thing makes sense, it's just how they presented it didn't.  If you're level 3 you get to go up a floor and just go to the snack machine?  What?  Why would you let a mental patient just walk around the hospital?  And if level 5 is this near unatainable thing so that only one person has it and phone use is the prize, don't you think they would have someone near when he uses the phone?  I still have no idea how House managed to use the phone.

As for the pills, I guess that makes sense not outright forcing patients to take the drugs but if you give them the drugs wouldn't you have to make sure they take them so you aren't liable for them handing the drugs out to other people?  It just seems like you would have to have some responsibility there rather than just handing them the drugs and tell them have a nice day.

And yeah, still no idea why they gave him pills when they were holding him down.  That was just stupid.

You let the mental patient wander around because you are reasonably certain that they won't do anything crazy. Getting to level 3 would likely require that the person demonstrate a predictable temperment, and show great signs of improvement. I have only seen that great a level of freedom given in rehab/recovery facilities though. In the crazy wards if you demonstrate that much responsibility, then you can just go. Yeah the phone and level 5 thing was retarded. You monitor drug addicts phone calls cause they are lying, cheating scam artists.

And yeah, you make sure they take their meds. This is especially true if there are any "fun" side effects. If a patient was caught passing his meds out he would be booted from the facility, and a few people would likely be fired. The nursing staff would get so much crap that they would likely start checking the mouth of every patient to be absolutely positive they couldn't have it hidden anywhere.

I really don't care for the minor techincal inaccuracies unlike you nerds, I liked the episode.

But the girl talking after ten damn years was a major damn thorn in my side.

This episode was an interesting twist on House - I rather enjoyed it. I was looking forward to seeing him in the institution for half the season or so. Too bad.