I get very weary of the way Hollywood portrays a lot of things, and I do my share of complaining about it. But every once in a while, they do something right. Tuesday night on House (FOX) was one of those nights. And I just have to sing their praises.
The patient is a 42-year-old pregnant woman who is dying because of something that is wrong with her baby (21 weeks along). Her kidneys shut down, then her liver, finally her lungs. When the team has ruled out just about everything, House recommends an abortion/D&C because the baby isn’t viable yet. He refuses to call the baby a baby. He always refers to it as a fetus which bothers the mother.
At the last possible moment, the woman is rushed to surgery where they open her womb to operate on the baby. A teeny-tiny hand comes out of the womb and sort of grabs hold of House’s finger. (Doesn’t really grab because of how small the hand and fingers are, but that’s the feeling.). House is absolutely frozen in place.
The moment is so profound, so beautiful, I found myself in tears.
About five or so minutes later, at the end of the hour, we see House in his apartment, rubbing his thumb and finger together as if rubbing that little hand. I got teary-eyed all over again.
This is an episode (Fetal Position) that shouldn’t be missed.
-rlh-
