Broken (House)
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"Broken" is the title for the first and second episode of the sixth season of the television series ''
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
''. The two-part season premiere was first broadcast on
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
on September 21, 2009. The narrative follows series protagonist Dr.
Gregory House Gregory House, M.D. is the titular protagonist of the American medical drama series ''House''. Created by David Shore and portrayed by English actor Hugh Laurie, he leads a team of diagnosticians and is the Head of Diagnostic Medicine at the f ...
(
Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a ...
) as he overcomes his
Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol (also known as hydrocodone/acetaminophen) is the combination of the pain medications hydrocodone and paracetamol (acetaminophen). It is used to treat moderate to severe pain. It is taken by mouth. Recreational use is co ...
addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...
and psychological problems at Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital. Receiving season-high ratings, the episode garnered positive reviews from critics. The performance of
Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a ...
was also applauded.


Plot

House awakens in the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital after suffering through the painful effects of Vicodin withdrawal. He asks to leave knowing that they legally cannot keep him because he voluntarily committed himself. However, Dr. Nolan (
Andre Braugher Andre Keith Braugher (; born July 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999), used car salesman Owen Thoreau Jr. in the com ...
) refuses to sign a recommendation that he is able to return to practicing medicine. House resigns himself to staying at the hospital and getting his clearance. He meets his bipolar roommate, Alvie (
Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animate ...
), and begrudgingly participates in group therapy with Dr. Beasley. He also meets and is intrigued by Lydia (
Franka Potente Franka Potente (; born 22 July 1974) is a German actress. She first appeared in the comedy film ''After Five in the Forest Primeval'' (1995), for which she won a Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Actress. Her breakthrough came in 1998, when she ...
), a woman who plays piano for her sister-in-law Annie (
Ana Lenchantin Ana Lenchantin is an Argentine-American cellist of French ancestry, known for frequent appearances with American rock bands such as Train, Into the Presence, The Eels, Gnarls Barkley, No Doubt, Arthur Lee and Love, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Na ...
), an unresponsive patient in the ward who was a
cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...
. House attempts to be kicked out by making the patients' and workers' lives miserable, starting by humiliating the patients by deducing their problems during a group therapy session but only succeeds in being placed in
solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
. House then goads his fellow patients into creating havoc in the ward over not being allowed table tennis paddles, but Dr. Nolan calms them by giving them the paddles. From the hospital window, House sees Dr. Nolan get into a car with a woman. House convinces Alvie to break into Nolan's office to get information on him, but Alvie finds nothing useful. House then phones Wilson to ask for help blackmailing Nolan, but Wilson refuses, saying that Nolan had warned him that House may try to do something like this and that he should let Nolan do his job. House starts to adjust to life inside the institution. His only respite is Lydia's regular visits, during which they talk and discuss music. A new patient named Steve, who insists on the name "Freedom Master", believes he is a superhero that can fly. During one of his episodes, the doctors drug him into a catatonic state. House is infuriated by this, and, with Lydia's help, kidnaps Steve and takes him to a
carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
. House and Steve go on a
wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
ride which makes it appear as if they are really flying. Steve is overjoyed, but then actually believes he can fly and jumps off a
parking structure A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified ...
. With Steve badly injured, Dr. Nolan tells House he cannot possibly treat someone so uncooperative. As Nolan leaves, however, House softly calls him back and says, "I need help." He begins therapy with Nolan and House says, "I want to get better." House takes his medication for the first time, and tells Alvie that his new plan is to cooperate, much to the chagrin of Alvie, who feels betrayed. Nolan brings House a suit and has him mingle at the hospital's fund-raising party. His assignment is to make connections with strangers. It is difficult for House at first, but then he has fun toying with people. Lydia becomes his accomplice and before she leaves, she kisses House. House discusses the kiss with Nolan. Lydia is married. He also feels guilty about what happened to Steve, and Nolan tells him to apologize personally. During group therapy, Dr. Beasley suggests the patients put on a talent show. House has an idea of how to help Steve, who had been trying to "save" the silent girl, Annie, with a music box confiscated in the nurse's station. Steve calls it her "voicebox". House convinces Beasley to allow them to get the music box, but Dr. Nolan comes in to break up the group and wheels Steve away, saying that House was "trying to fix, instead of moving on". House rebuffs Lydia because he knows that, in the end, someone will get hurt. House is given a day pass by Dr. Nolan who requests his presence. He arrives at a hospital to find Nolan at the bedside of his dying father; a tearful Nolan asks House for a consultation. House has nothing to add to the diagnosis, confirming that Nolan Sr.'s condition is terminal. House accuses Nolan of having no one else to turn to but his own patient (House himself). Nolan tells House that he does not need him to make deductions, and House realizes that what he needs is company, so he stays and sits in silence. When House returns to Mayfield, he finds Lydia upset over her sister-in-law. He apologizes and dances with her. They find an empty room and have sex. The residents hold a talent show. House does not participate at first, but is coaxed into helping Alvie when he cannot finish his rap on stage. House apologizes to Steve, and as he wheels him away, Steve breaks his silence and gives the silent Annie the music box he was holding. For the first time, she speaks to say 'thank you'. Lydia arrives and House takes her in to see the group watching her sister-in-law playing "Bach's Cello Suite No. 1" on the cello. After learning that Annie is being released from Mayfield, House goes to Nolan's office to confront him. Dr. Nolan tells House that Lydia and her husband are taking Annie to a rehab facility in Arizona. House demands an overnight pass, and over Nolan's objections he goes to see Lydia at her home. He is startled when Lydia's young son answers the door. House wants her to stay, and Lydia says she wants to but ends up asking House to leave. Back in the Mayfield parking lot, House talks to Dr. Nolan about his feelings, which, in conjunction with House getting close enough to someone to be hurt in the first place, convinces him that House deserves the recommendation to the medical board, showing that he learned to talk about his problems instead of abusing Vicodin and deserves his medical license back. Mayfield gives House a good-bye party, and House is discharged and gets on a bus back to Princeton. After the departure of House, Alvie decides he wants to get better and goes back on his medication.


Production

Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (also known as Greystone Psychiatric Park, Greystone Psychiatric Hospital, or simply Greystone and formerly known as the State Asylum for the Insane at Morristown, New Jersey State Hospital, Morris Plains, and M ...
was used for exterior shots of the hospital.


Reception

The episode was well received by critics.
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
reported generally favorable reviews with a score of 77/100 based on 8 reviews. The show earned a 9.5 rating out of 983 votes on
TV.com TV.com was a website owned by Red Ventures that covered television series and episodes with a focus on English-language shows made or broadcast in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Origin ...
.
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
stated "a trite, untrue mental-illness mystery insults the show's high IQ, but doesn't diminish the opener's capture-the-imagination thesis: that a redeemed House can be just as compelling as a rude House." Mary McNamara of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' said "the episode has a few sentimentality issues (any plot point involving a music box walks a very fine line), but it doesn't matter much because the characters are so vivid they even outshine House at times, which can only be good for him." Alan Sepinwall from ''
The Newark Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of w ...
'' praised the episode saying "for one night, this is the best House, and its leading man, have been in a long time." The episode also won for Best Episodic Drama at
Writers Guild of America Awards 2009 The 62nd Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2009. Winners were announced on February 20, 2010. Nominees Names in bold denote the winners. Film Best Adapted Screenplay * ''Crazy Heart'' * ...
.


Rating

In its original broadcast, "Part One" was viewed by an estimated 16.5 million viewers, with "Part Two" bringing in approximately 17.25 million viewers. Compared to the rest of the sixth season, the episodes became the highest-rated in front of "
Epic Fail Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One ...
", which received only 14.44 million viewers. The two-hour season premiere garnered the top
Nielsen Ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
on the first night of the broadcast networks' premiere week. The show averaged a 6.7/16 with 17.1 million viewers. The rating was a significant rise from the previous year's season premiere, which averaged a 5.6/16 and 14.4 million viewers. 4.43 million Canadians watched this episode, making it the most viewed program of the week.


References


External links


"Broken"
at
Fox.com The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...
* {{WritersGuildofAmericaEpisodicDramaScreenplay 1995–2009 2009 American television episodes House (season 6) episodes Works set in psychiatric hospitals Television episodes set in psychiatric hospitals Psychiatry in the United States in fiction it:Episodi di Dr. House - Medical Division (sesta stagione)#Piegato