Tuesday, June 13, 2006

The Cameron Show -- Episode 201, "Acceptance"

Clinic patient:
Cindy, a chipper young woman about to die from lung cancer

Look at those crazy writers, mixing things up for the first episode of the season. It's Cameron on clinic duty, which automatically makes it a different ball game.

As soon as Cindy mentions that she "had a husband once" and we see Cameron's reaction -- she thinks death before divorce, as do we, courtesy "Fidelity" -- it's clear this storyline is going to be all about Cameron. So much so, in fact, that it becomes a much bigger plot point than any previous clinic patient. There's more talk of Cindy than there are shots of her. Cameron's complete denial about Cindy's diagnosis -- the first stage of dying and a throwback to her awkwardness in "Maternity" -- even bleeds into discussion of the main case, as Cameron pushes for a closer look at Cindy and questions the priority given to the inmate.

The final scene between the two is kind of a handoff of the five stages of dying. Cameron has finally worked her way to acceptance, but when she tells Cindy she's dying and then hugs her, Cindy doesn't hug back. It's a small detail, but a telling one: It reinforces how affected Cameron was by the whole deal and shows Cindy in shock, perhaps on her way to the denial phase. Another small detail is also rare, as far as the clinic patients go -- Cindy has a name. Without a name we don't get close to her, and if we don't get close to her we can't identify with Cameron's plight.

Season openers usually set up a theme or two for the year, and though my memory of Season 2 is a bit fuzzy (it's a little different watching from week to week as opposed to DVD), it seems to me Cameron had a bit of an emotional ride.

The good news is House is still trying to avoid clinic duty.

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