Differential Diagnosis - A House MD Podcast

Another hidden House MD gem rears its head, as we take a look at Clueless, the fifthteenth episode of the second season of House.

You might not recognise it by name, but this is the one with the murder mystery, the gold and that cool moment where House talks about his childhood in Egypt...yep now you remember it.

So if you have about an hour to kill and want to hear 2 people over analyse the hell out of a fifteen year old show, then you've come to the right place.

Enjoy the House MD podcast and we'll see you every week(ish) for another analyse of all the House MD episodes.

In the fourteenth episode of season 2 of House MD, we learn that Sex Kills. We also learn that there's a missed opportunity with this one. A chance for a great episode is buried in here, but what we end up with a good episode that's perfect for a rewatch during a House MD binge.

So if you fancy listening to 2 people pick apart an episode and rebuild it back up, all while making claims that they would have done a better job than the amazing House MD writing staff - well then this is the podcast episode for you.

Enjoy!

Okay, we were wrong, turns out there's even more to the Stacey epilogue than we thought.

Gregory House is dealing with even more existential pain and patient drama in Skin Deep, House MD Season 2 Episode 13 (no surprise there).

What is slightly surprising, is this is one of the first episodes that we almost actively disliked for large parts of. This mostly comes down to the issue of a lazy patient story, which flips between controversial and shocking subjects (for the time at least), with nothing in particular to say about any of it.

But it's sandwiched by a good bit of House drama, so it's worth it in the end. So if you want to hear 2 people go in circles about why a dramatically empty episode of House MD is empty of drama, then this is the Differential Diagnosis episode for you!

In the epilogue to the Stacey arc of the show, things are...well, business as usual. But that's kind of the point after all.

In Season 2, Episode 12, the episode aptly named Distractions is all about House distracting himself from his sudden breakup with Stacey. We'll talk about the lowkey epilogue to one of the show's biggest season arcs and how its subtly proves just why House MD is such a strong show when it comes to its writing and characters.

It's the end of the Stacey and House arc in this week's episode of House MD: Need To Know.

As always, the House MD writers manage to bring big story arcs to a close in the most underplayed and melancholic way possible.

Need To Know is one of the House MD highlights, so this week we'll be exploring the conclusion of House and Stacey's relationship and delving into what it says about House as a character and what we have learned from this storyline. Along with that, we also discuss the equally depressing patient storyline and Gaz goes in depth on Cameron's HIV test.

In this House MD episode called Failure To Communicate, we equally fail to communicate our thoughts about this huge step in the House & Stacey relationship.

It's House and Stacey's first kiss and Foreman is one again vowing for the top spot back at Princeton Plainsboro, plus we have a patient who just can't stop lying (by ommission because he can't talk).

So let's take a look at all of these storylines all based around the theme of not being able to communicate and see if we can string together any coherent thoughts about it.

It's the ultimate Sex And The City / House MD crossover as Miranda joins Princeton Plainsboro as a patient.

As with most series that have 24 episodes, there are going to be some lulls and some mediocre moments, and sadly this is one of them.

However, like the good differential diagnositicians that we are, we're going to give it our best shot to completely explore S2E9: Deception and pick it apart to see what works and what it does that other episodes have simply done better.

Thank god, Chase is actually doing something!

In this differential diagnosis of House MD, Season 2 Episode 8, we're taking a look at The Mistake. 

Is that mistake House not telling Chase that his father had cancer?

Or is the mistake our analysis of the whole episode?

Either way, join us as we explore Chase's first major story arc in season 2 and continue to follow the Stacey wars as House and Stacey continue to passively aggressively put up with each other.

The Stacey Wars have begun, as House attempts to use his knowledge of Stacey's failing marriage to get closer to her...but to what end?

In this cracking episode of House MD, we take a look at yet another quite easily forgotten, but very well constructed episode of House. From its tight patient storyline about a man who has chosen to live a consequence free life in the face of his AIDS diagnosis, to House's continuing mess of a relationship with Stacey, and Chase...who continues to do some more weird stuff - there's a lot going on in Hunting and now, we're here to talk about it. 

Hekimoglu is the recent Turkish adaptation of House MD and to our surprise each episode came at a whopping 2 hour runtime.

We braved the 2 hour pilot episode, which was very similar beat for beat to the original House MD pilot and now we've come together to discuss the Hekimoglu pilot and explore what it got right and the additional things that it got wrong.

We have an obvious disclaimer that we are viewing this adaptation as English people and there may be several aspects to the Hekimoglu House MD adaptation that we may have missed due to cultural differences e.t.c.

In this hidden gem of an episode, we discuss the surprising thematic complexity of Spin and how it's one of those episodes that is easy to forget, but has so much under the surface upon a rewatch.

From exploring the justification of lies, the lies we tell ourselves and on to House as an antagonist, there's a lot going on in House MD season 2, episode 6.

And of course, the ever road cycling fan Gaz has a lot to say on how the patient is very very similar to a certain cyclist who was very famously banned for doping charges.

We love talking about anything even remotely House MD related. That's what DDXtra is all about. So this week, we're taking a look at another medical procedural which has David Foster on the writing staff (one of our favourite writers on the House MD writing team).

New Amsterdam is a surprisingly lowly rated show which followed a medical genius with a quirky set of behaviours as he tackles the day-to-day management of the New Amsterdam hospital, while navigating its politics and array of equally unique doctors...Sound familiar?

This is a discussion and mild recommendation to check out the show if you're hungry for medical procedurals, but enjoy us chatting about New Amsterdam, while making comparisons to both House MD and The Good Doctor as we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of all the respective shows.

It's another episode where the patient dies and this is easily one of the most depressing House MD episodes that the show has ever put out to date.

Season 2, Episode 5 is all about daddy issues - between the patient and his father, as well as House and his own father.

Daddy's boy is a great exploration of how the small choices that parents make for the greater good, can go on to damage and shape the children that they were trying to protect. And for the next hour or so, we're going to talk about how it explores that idea very, very well.

Gregory House has already insulted cancer kids, so let's move on to TB infected kids.

In the fourth episode of season 2 of House MD, all around great guy Sebastian Charles is admitted to the hospital with suspiciously TB like symptoms. While House tries to take the diagnosis away from the TB angle while undermining Sebastian's charitable work at every opportunity, Cameron becomes tempted by the thought of joining Sebastian in Africa and possibly on a date.

We'll take a look at all the storylines, the lacking diagnosis element of the episode and finally chat about the slow encroachment of the misery that awaits House in the seasons to come.

In Humpty Dumpty, Season 2, Episode 3 of House MD, House and the team are facing not only the challenge of diagnosing a patient with a mysterious blood clot that is causing his hand to rot, but also dealing with Cuddy's guilt over seemingly causing the patient's troubles in the first place.

In this episode that explores objectivity, guilt and race - we do our best to navigate the themes, character arcs and everything else that makes up an episode of House MD, to differentially diagnose if the episode will make a full recovery, or if it's a rotting appendage to season 2 that has to be cut off immediately.

Our Differential Diagnosis of House MD season 2 continues with our analysis of the second episode, Autopsy.

Autopsy features Gregory House tackling the mysterious case of a 9 year old with terminal cancer, who has recently started hallucinating, but it's not connected to her original cancer diagnosis.

In this darkly comic episode, we'll be discussing Gaz's theory on House contemplating his own suicide via the patient's optimistic outlook on life, and that very creepy kissing scene between Chase and the patient (who is a child).

So as usual, let's crack out the whiteboard and begin our differential diagnosis of House MD!

The Good Doctor is the currently airing medicial procedural written and created by David Shore starring a main character who is a genuis doctor, trying to practice medicine in the face of his difficulty connecting with his patients. Sounds very similar to another show doesn't it?

In this critique of The Good Doctor, we've both watched the first few episodes of the show and we're here to compare them to the early episodes of House MD, to give anyone who's interested in checking out The Good Doctor our thoughts on where it differs from House, how it stands out from House and why we don't like it as much as House.

A big thanks to Kevin MacLeod for offering his song "Heartbreaking" as a royalty free piece of music to start the episode, as well as his entire library of incredibly diverse songs.

"Heartbreaking" by Kevin MacLeod:

"Heartbreaking" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In our return to our Differential Diagnosis of House MD, we're taking on the House MD season 2 premiere, Acceptance.

We've got a long road ahead of us and while Acceptance isn't the big moment that many season openers are, Acceptance confidently re-introduces us to the world of Greg House, the Princeton Plainsboro team and the ongoing themes of forgiveness and "Acceptance" (get it) that will be explored between House and Stacey throughout House MD season two.

Thanks to everyone who has just joined us, or stuck with us and enjoy the continuing adventures of the House MD podcast, Differential Diagnosis.

We've now reviewed, analysed and conducted a differential diagnosis on every single episode of House MD season one.

So to pull everything together, we're going to end Differential Diagnosis season one with a complete summary of everything we've seen through season one of House MD.

From the things we liked, to the changes we want to see in season two, the character arcs, themes and cultural impact - we totally tie up everything that season one of House MD has to offer.

For anyone who has taken the time to listen to even a second of Differential Diagnosis, we want to offer our heartfelt thanks. We hope you enjoyed our first season and we'll be back soon to bring you season two if you're interested, although you are free to ignore it if you hated the podcast.

We've already covered our worst episodes of House MD season one, so to keep everything balanced, we're taking a look at our favourite episodes from House MD season one.

However, we all know it's Three Stories, so in a twist on the formula, we're taking a look at episodes from season one that we think are perfect examples of what makes a great House MD episodes, exploring the makeup of our favourite episodes to explore why we love House MD and give you some insight into what we personally think makes for a good episode of House.

The House MD season finale is finally upon us. Today we're doing our final differential diagnosis on Season One, Episode 22: Honeymoon.

This is the big reunion between Gregory House and Stacey Warner. As House treats Stacey's new husband Mark, he must not only tackle the issue that the patient doesn't think there's anything wrong with him, but also face his ex girlfriend, someone who he has been unable to move on from in the last 5 years.

We'll be taking a look at how season one ends, how it sets up for season two and how it effortlessly pulls together the hanging plot threads that have been set up throughout the first season.

In our followup to our entire Team character analysis, this week we're taking a look at the man himself, the one and only, Gregory House.

Season One introduces us to the titular Gregory House MD and so we wanted to have a fitting standalone episode to really take the time to differentially diagnose the amazing character that the House MD writing team have crafted across season one.

So if you enjoy in-depth chats about Gregory House and want to hear our thoughts on the hidden complexity behind all the House-isms, then join us as we discuss Gregory House in full.

It's finally time for us to tackle the magnum opus of House MD season one, possibly even the entire show. It's time for us to differentially diagnose Three Stories.

It's a House MD classic, unveiling so many layers of Gregory House's history, from his leg, to his mysterious relationship with Stacy and his attitude towards death.

We've been waiting for this for a long time, so we'll get stuck in right away to get to the bottom of what makes Three Stories such an incredible and unique episode of House MD.

To round off House MD season one, we're taking a look at the supporting characters and diagnostic team to see how these characters evolved and developed throughout the first season.

In this bonus Differential Diagnosis episode, we'll be taking a look at Cameron, Foreman, Chase, Cuddy, Wilson and Vogler to create a complete picture of what we have learned about them, pieced together from our individual episode reviews throughout the first season of the podcast.

So if you're interested in getting a fuller picture of what we think about each character, then enjoy this mega character analysis of the House MD team.

Today we'll be exploring Gregory House's approach, or lack of approach, to his love life. In the twentieth episode of the first season of House MD, Love Hurts, we take a look at the date between House and Cameron, popularly known as Hameron.

In this episode of the Differential Diagnosis podcast, we'll take a look at how the show reveals even more about House's love life, his past relationship with Stacy and the lasting damage it has done to him and how that will be uncovered finally as we approach the big finale of the House MD season one.

This week we've been exploring the stranger side of the House MD fandom, namely the fanfiction. Going into the alternative House universe, we stumble upon all kinds of fascinating reinterpretations of all of our favourite characters.

From Foreman as a baby, to Wilson as House's carer, Vampire Cameron, House's son, Hameron, Huddy, Hase, Hilson, Faub, Thirtameron and every kind of coupling you imagine...there's a lot of going on in the amazing world of House MD fanfiction.

Join us as we explore the brushstrokes of the community and read a few of our favourite tales in House MD story time. We've tried to credit every single story we discuss to its original writer, and as always, this is all in good fun and not meant to mock anyone who spent their time producing any of the fanfictions we discuss.

Dealing with the fallout of the death of Vogler, we're taking a look at Season 1, Episode 19 of House MD called Kids.

This is a strange episode of House that feels more like an epilogue to the Vogler arc, taking its time to clean off a lot of the complications that Vogler brought to Princeton-Plainsborough hospital, to get back to business as usual.

In this episode we'll be talking about how the Vogler arc impacted this episode and discussing our different interpretations of the "Hameron" relationship and the strengths and weaknesses of the story line as a whole.

Another week, another Differential Diagnosis of an incredible episode of House MD. This week, we're looking at Babies & Bathwater, also known as the death of Vogler. After an emotional roller coaster, we finally come to the final episode of the Vogler chronicles.

On top of that, Season 1, Episode 18: Babies & Bathwater has a lot going for it, with a script written by David Shore himself and an intricate series of plot lines which pull together a cohesive them and lots of great drama. This is one of the best episodes from season 1 of House MD, so join us as we analyse the important bits and differentially diagnose the episode.

In this latest episode of Differential Diagnosis - A House MD Podcast, we're differentially diagnosing Season 1, Episode 17 of the show: Role Model. In this episode of House MD, Gregory House meets a politician vying to be the first black president and much like DNR, this is a patient who has a drastic impact and connection on House.

We'll take a look at a few aspects of House's personality which really come to fruition here, namely his ability for hope, belief and his inability to emote and make decisions.

For House MD Season 1, Episode 16: Heavy, we'll be taking a look at the culmination of the cliffhanger from the previous episode, where House must decide which of the fellows to fire. We'll be taking a look at how House manages to resolve the situation and also exploring how the writers handle the melting pot of drama and character conflicts that this latest plot development throws into the mix.

Oh and of course, we'll be disagreeing on how much we like Vogler.

This time we're tackling yet another classic of House MD season 1. It's time for Mob Rules, where we unpack this story of control, brotherly love and treachery from across the patient's story, the team itself and of course, the one and only, Edward Vogler.

Join us for yet another in depth differential diagnosis of this stunning episode, co-written by the equally stunning, David Foster, who we've just recently discovered wrote all the best House MD episodes.

It's the first episode in the Vogler arc and the claws are out.

Is this the introduction of a well written and complex character?

Or is this a terrible antagonist forced onto the show runners by the producers?

In this episode, we run a differential diagnosis on the episode Control and Edward Vogler to see if one of House MD's most famous antagonists is up to par with the quality of the rest of the show.

In this mostly forgotten House MD episode, we take on a differential diagnosis of Cursed, the 13th episode of the first season, which appears to be one of the strongest first season episodes of House which has remained in the background of the show's legacy of stand out episodes.

With a strong thematic premise that is integrated well across all of the plot lines, as well as the first and only tragic appearance from Chase's dad, there's a lot to unpack here, so over the next hour or so, that's exactly what we're going to do. Join us and enjoy yourself.

You thought the Foreman episodes were over? Well think again! It's time for the fourth installment of the Foreman trilogy.

Coming in the wake of the mammoth episode that was Detox, Sports Medicine has some big shoes to fill and while there are interesting hints of things to come, does this rather standard episode have enough going on to fill Detox's shoes. That's what we'll be discussing this week in Differential Diagnosis - A House MD Podcast.

This week we're taking a look at Detox, the mid season House M.D episode which finally fully explores House's addiction to Vicodin. There's lots to unpack when it comes to the episode itself and the huge effect this episode has on the rest of the show as a whole, so join us as we differentially diagnose season 1, episode 11: Detox. 

Rounding off this recent trilogy of Foreman focused episode, we're conducting another differential diagnosis on Histories, the tenth episode of House M.D. Join us as we take a look at this mid season episode and try to uncover why we have such mixed feelings on the episode, its characters, themes, storytelling and continuing focus on Eric Foreman over the rest of the cast.

It's a fan favourite and we're doing a particular meaty analysis of DNR, in which House breaks the Do Not Resuscitate order on a patient with a seemingly terminal ALS diagnosis. But are things as they appear... dun... dun... dun. If you're in the mood for over one hour of House M.D. analysis, then you've come to the right place.

Moving swiftly through the first season of House MD, we find ourselves at Season 1, Episode 8, Poison. In our first disagreement during a Differential Diagnosis, the symptoms are a weaker plot, lazy characters and an undefined theme, but is the patient terminal or can it be saved. In this week's Differential Diagnosis, we'll be discussing every facet of Poison and seeing if it holds up to the rest of the stellar first series of House M.D.

We're back for yet another differential diagnosis of yet another House MD episode. This week, it's episode 7 of season 1, Fidelity. In a particularly heavy character drama packed episode this week, we're taking a look at how the House MD show runners handle a heavy patient drama episode, exploring infidelity between couples in mature and refreshing way.

In this week's differential diagnosis, we're differentially diagnosing The Socratic Method, the season 1, episode 6 entry for House MD. 

The Socratic Method is an especially complex episode which pulls successfully pulls together all the composite parts of what makes a great House M.D. episode. The Socratic Method manages to tie together its theme from the patient story line to the medical mystery, to give us our first glimpse of what makes House MD such a great series and allows us to explore a prime example of a House episode done right.

It's a double whammy of firsts in this episode as we tackle both the first episode of House MD set at Christmas, but also the first episode that centres around religion.

We'll be taking a look at how House MD takes its first tentative steps into the world of faith and how the show runners manage to combine an intriguing mystery, religious themes and character development to deliver the first of many iconic episodes of House MD. This is season one, episode 5, Damned If You Do.

We're taking a look at one of the darker episodes of House MD season one, Maternity, AKA the one with the dead baby (sounds like an intense episode of Friends). We'll be exploring this dramatic episode of House, discussing the unique tone and style that House MD is starting to establish for itself as well as explore the increased characterisation that the show is continuing to improve on, most notably in terms of the characters Cameron and Wilson.

In the second episode of Differential Diagnosis, we check out the third episode of House MD, Occam's Razor. The show has already established the basics, now it just has the easy task of establishing everything else. So let's take a look...

In the first episode of Differential Diagnosis, we explore the first 2 episodes of House MD, exploring how this iconic series took its first steps, seeing where it succeeded and where it stumbled.

We each have differing approaches and opinions to this one, with one of us believing the Pilot and Paternity are both different introductions to the world of House MD, with the second episode basically being a redo of the first; while the other believes the two episodes are just chronological episodes with no retconning at all.