photo: fox
Last Temptation
Original Air Date: Apr 19, 2011
Patricia Morris Buckley — Sr. Staff Writer
pmb@thetwocentscorp.com
Until the last 10 minutes of this week’s House episode, I thought it could be one of the best episodes ever. Then I crashed back down to reality with the realization that this may be one of the most sexist shows ever.
But let’s start at the beginning when things were awesome. “Last Temptation” follows Masters’ last day as a medical student. She has to do one more procedure and she’s done. House has posted an intern position for his department and it’s obvious to everyone that he wants her to stay on — but there’s a price tag. She has to turn in her procedure book with his signature saying she did the last test, but she didn’t.
She has to LIE. Which Masters HATES to do. 13 offers her a compromise — do the test on her so Masters can soothe her conscience (ah, yes, 13 is back from “rehab,” as House tells the group — explaining later to 13 it’s better than telling the truth that she was in jail). Even her teacher is pushing her towards the job with House because she’s “quirky” and House is OK with that. But House figures out that Masters did the 10th procedure and cancels the intern position.
So Masters starts her internship in surgery and immediately impresses her superiors. Yet she’s still hooked on the House case — Kendall Pearson, a 16-year-old girl who is planning to sail around the world solo to beat the record. But she’s having health issues that no one else can figure out.
The team comes up with diagnosis after diagnosis, but Masters — who has left surgery for the rest of this case — finally comes up with an idea that is wrong, but leads to the real answer. Kendall has bone cancer and has to have her arm amputated to save her life. But Kendall has her parents wrapped around her fingers and insists on completing her sailing trip first.
Masters is sure that Kendall will be dead before she beats the record. House is no help because all he wanted was a correct diagnosis and to beat Wilson at the “who can keep a chicken in their office longest without getting caught” contest. That leads to one of the best Wilson scenes ever when Masters is talking to him and he keeps jumping — until she admits she knows he has a chicken under his desk – actually two at that point.
That’s when Masters realizes that if she wants to save Kendall, she has to lie. And she DOES! House is impressed and offers her the internship once again. Instead Masters walks away from House and from the hospital.
I loved that this show was completely told through Masters’ eyes, not House’s. She even has the A Ha! moment and figures out what’s wrong with the patient. I never felt more connection with her as I do at the end of the show.
But by then I also I felt totally betrayed that it’s all been just one long goodbye to this character. Seriously? So that means there can only be one female on House’s team and with 13 back, Masters must follow Cameron into the closet of Characters Who Used To Be On The Show?
I don’t know about you, but I felt jipped.
Are you glad Masters is gone? Did it feel too soon for 13 to be back at her usual job? Would you like to see Masters again? Give us your TwoCents…
TheTwoCents 
I hated this episode more than any other episode of House. By removing any real choice from the equation Master raped her patient and her patients parents. I would not want to be alive after such a brutal attack on my person and on my liberties as a free citizen. If I had been that patient I would have immediately suspected foul play and attempted to put Masters in jail for as long as possible. It is to bad that the patient had not followed through on her initial plans for emancipation from her parents. What a horrible episode. I hope Masters character got hit by a truck and died as she was walking out of the hospital.
That girl could have had weeks, months of normal life.. now she is horribly mutilated, still fighting cancer and only 16 years old. Imagine going to school like that. Imagine kissing a boy for a first time, like that. It’s heart-breaking.
It’s absolutely terrible and to inflict such pain and misery with deliberate intent is an awful crime. If that’s what they consider “moral”, the writers really failed on this one.
I know everyone seemed to hate this episode, but after such a lot of emotionally disconnected episodes I really enjoyed this one. I never particularly liked Masters, but this episode made me emotionally connect with her and after so long of not caring about any of the characters it felt great. And I loved the chicken thing.
I worry about House – normally when shows run this long they get better, not worse.