House – Recap & Review – Help Me

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House
Help Me

Original Air date: May 17, 2010

Shannon – Associate Editor
shannon@thetwocentscorp.com

It’s the season finale, people. Are you ready? This episode has one of my all time biggest fears (building collapse) and I’m going to try to get through it without hyperventilating but I’m not making any promises.

The opening shows an injured House around some broken glass and then we cut to a screen that says “Eight Hours Earlier”. House gives Cuddy a book for an housewarming gift, but she’s off to Trenton where a crane has collapsed. House heads there as well. It’s mass chaos, of course and there are injured people all over. The crane crashed into a building and it looks like 9/11. They even cut the credits and the theme song. This is dire.

The crane operator says he fell asleep at the controls and that’s why he crashed the load into the parking garage. He took caffeine pills and drank coffee but House thinks he passed out because of a neurological problem rather than he just fell asleep. House sends Foreman back to PPTH with the crane operator.

House goes in the partially downed building to break into the soda machine and to call Wilson to ask if Cuddy and Lucas are really moving in together. House hears some banging from inside the rubble. The rescue crew comes over to investigate. They ask if the person inside can knock three times and call out but they hear nothing. House is not convinced so he does his own digging and crawls down inside the rubble. Oh man, this is making me nervous. I almost can’t look. House goes down deeper into the rubble and there’s a girl down there. Her name is Hannah. House tries to pull her out but her leg is caught. House wants to leave to get help but she begs him not to leave her in the dark.

The rescue team is having a hard time getting the wreckage off of Hannah so she’s stuck down there for a while. Cuddy thinks they should amputate the crushed leg. House projects his leg onto Hannah’s and is obviously against it. The rescue captain just wants to cut it off already, but Cuddy gives House his way, as usual.

House talks to Cuddy about why there was weirdness when he gave her the book. She thought it was an engagement gift. She and Lucas just got engaged the night before. House is obviously crushed, no pun intended.

Taub and Chase give the crane op an MRI and then he starts bleeding from his eyes. House makes off to go back to the hospital but Hannah starts having a panic attack down there and only House can calm her. Cuddy convinces House to go back down and stay with Hannah. Ugh. This is my worst nightmare. Seriously. I am so uncomfortable right now.

House is bonding with Hannah even though, in typical House fashion, he doesn’t want to. She asks him to pray with her and he refuses on account of he doesn’t believe in God. Hannah says she doesn’t either, but she asks him again. Hannah says that she used to believe that if you were a good person that good things would happen to you. She asks House if he agrees and he says he recently tried to do the right things but now he’s not so sure.

Hadley was missing most of the morning but finally shows up. Taub quizzes her on where she was and she says she was in therapy but Taub thinks that’s a lie. She assures him she’s fine.

Ok, so they’re gonna lift the thing off Hannah’s leg now. I just know this is gonna be bad and I don’t want to watch…something collapses and it goes to black. So now everyone else is buried with Hannah. Something fell on Hannah’s chest and now her lung is collapsed and House has to re-inflate it. House manages to get out but he’s only slightly injured. You guys, I’m claustrophobic and this is freaking me out. Now it’s been 4 hours Hannah’s been down there and they’re concerned that Hannah’s going to have crushed syndrome which is poisonous to the entire body. The EMT guy and Cuddy want to amputate but House won’t let them. Cuddy thinks that he’s being contrary because Cuddy is engaged. She says she doesn’t love him and that everyone else is moving on and House has nothing. Cuddy goes down to convince Hannah to let them amputate. Hannah pleads with House not to amputate but now House says they need to go ahead and do it. House tells her the story of his own leg and how he wishes they’d gone ahead and amputated it because he lives in pain and it made him a bad person and now he’s alone. This is all in front of Cuddy, by the way. Hannah agrees to let them take the leg.

They give Hannah something for the pain. She asks if it’ll be quick and House runs her through the procedure. She asks how bad it’ll hurt and he tells her it’ll be like nothing she ever felt before and gets started. Ugh, you guys. Just, ugh. That girl’s screams are going to haunt my dreams tonight, I just know it. Hannah’s husband shows up and they take her away to the hospital. House rides along in the back of the ambulance. Hannah has a fat embolism from the amputation and Hannah’s husband begs House to do something but there’s nothing House can do. Hannah dies right there in the ambulance. Foreman says there’s no way House could have prevented the embolism, even if they’d done it in the OR. House doesn’t feel better because he did everything right and she still died. Foreman says House shouldn’t be alone right now and House orders him out of the way.

Thirteen is in House’s office and leaves an envelope on his desk. Taub comes in and Hadley tells him she’s asking for time off. He asks if she’s ok and she says she’s not and walks out. And that’s the last we hear of that.

House goes back to his apartment. It’s creepy and dark and some ominous music is playing. He’s staring at himself in the mirror and then he rips it off the wall and throws it into the shower, revealing his hidden drug stash in a hole in the wall. Oh, House you sure were hard core about your pills. House pours the pills into his hand and Cuddy walks in. She says she’s not going to stop him if he wants to take the drugs. Cuddy tells House she ended it with Lucas. She says she’s stuck and she’s got a new house and a new fiance and all she can think about is House. She asks him if they can make it work and he says he’s the most screwed up person in the world. She tells him she loves him but she wished she didn’t. They kiss. Is this real? He asks her how he knows he’s not hallucinating. She asks if he took the Vicodin and they’re they are, still in his hand. She says she thinks they’re ok. They link hands.

Holy crap. I’m emotionally spent. I can think of two times this show has brought me to tears and this is the second time. I think this may be the best season finale and possibly the best episode of this show I’ve ever seen. I don’t know what else I can say other than I hated it, but in a good way. Hugh Laurie is a freaking amazing actor. I’m not sure how this Cuddy/House ‘ship is going to play out but I’m intrigued. Can’t wait for next season now! I know I’m going to need the summer to recuperate from this. Leave me a comment and let me know what you guys think. See y’all next season!