INTRODUCTION

As we mover into season 5 of House, it has been made clear that the relationship between House and Cuddy is something that will be explored and expanded upon in upcoming episodes. Throughout the past four seasons, not only has the hot sexual tension between House and Cuddy approached its boiling point, but their relationship has also evolved into one of deep emotional connection and understanding. A Huddy arc is no longer a pregunta of if o even when, but a pregunta of how – how will their relationship begin, how will it evolve, and how will it end?

Presumably, season 5 will not only bring about the long-anticipated Huddy “reunion”, as it has been called, but also a break up and a great deal of tension between the two characters. The writers would never allow their relationship to run smoothly for the whole season, but this does not mean that the relationship will end permanently. Some obvious problems with a Huddy relationship are that House is a jerk and that Cuddy is his boss, but those simple facts are superficial siguiente to the larger obstacles pushing them apart and the deeper connection pulling them together. The purpose of this articulo is not necessarily to advocate a long-term relationship between House and Cuddy but simply to highlight some reasons why it may be possible. It seeks to provide some perspective on why a long-term relationship would be consistent with House and Cuddy’s characters and does not mean that either one of them needs to change.


1. THINK HOUSE CAN’T SUSTAIN A RELATIONSHIP? WHAT ABOUT CUDDY?

Probably the number one problem fans have with shipping a couple involving House is that they see House as cynical, lonely, and anti-social and therefore incapable of sustaining a long-term relationship. A reasonable argument can be made in favor of that view, but we also know that House has been in a long-term relationship before. He lived with Stacy for five years, and even though their relationship did not work out in the end, (in part because House stubbornly never forgave her for making medical decisions when he had the leg infarction), their interactions during flashbacks in the episode Three Stories portrayed them as a surprisingly normal couple in amor with one another.

Stacy: “We’ve got to let them cut the leg off.”
House: “It’s my leg. It’s my life.”
Stacy: “Would tu give up your leg to save my life?”
House: “Of course I would.”

*****
House: “I’ll see tu when I wake up. We’ll go golfing. I amor you.”
Stacy: “I amor tu too. I’m sorry.”
House: “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.”

--Three Stories

Although House was with Stacy before the infarction in his leg, it has been pointed out numerous times, such as in Honeymoon, that House is “pretty much the same” now as he has always been. New light was shed on House's character when we learned that it was possible for him to amor someone without losing his cynicism, his loneliness, o his anti-social personality - that was proven during the Stacy arc and it has the potential to be proven once again.

Throughout four seasons we have learned a lot about the lives of our main characters. The one person whose past remains very mysterious is Cuddy. (For some very interesting and plausible theories about Cuddy’s past, read the articulo “Lisa Cuddy: The Mystery Unveiled?” por Salemslot!) In terms of romantic history, all we know is that she had a one-night stand with House and that she has had a couple of dates, one with the ex-marine in Top Secret and one with the blind fecha in Insensitive. If she has had any long-term relationships, we do not know about them; however, her high-power career and her obsession with her work suggest that she has not. Part of the reason for this is that she is afraid o unable to let herself be happy, as House has pointed out for us several times:

House: “You’re not happy unless everything is just right, which means two things. You’re a good boss, and you’ll never be happy."

--Humpty Dumpty

House: “What tu want tu run away from, what tu need tu don’t have a clue, what you’ve accomplished makes tu proud, but you’re still miserable.”

--No más Mr. Nice Guy

(For más about House’s analyses of Cuddy and LOADS of really insightful info about his perception of her, read oldmovie’s article, “You see the world as it is and tu see the world as it could be”.)

House continues to surprise Cuddy por how well he knows her; what these quotations suggest is that Cuddy would have trouble in a relationship because she is used to preventing herself from being happy. At the same time, however, she has acknowledged her own character flaw and has attempted to deal with it; her decision to have a child in-vitro seems to be her realizing that in the midst of her successful and ambitious career she has been unable to settle down and start a family. With so little knowledge of her past it is difficult to pinpoint where her personal problems are rooted, but she clearly has had trouble sustaining committed relationships and regrets that she has failed to develop a personal life. In the future she would probably be más willing to try balancing her life better, and más open to the idea of a long-term relationship.

House and Cuddy both have a habit of emotionally isolating themselves and pushing other people away, yet somehow they have never been able to isolate themselves from one another. As a result, they know and understand each other extremely well, and although it would not be easy for either of them, it is possible that they could realistically overcome their problems with commitment and find a way to maintain a relationship.


2. CUDDY DOES NOT TRY TO “HEAL” HIM.

House is in pain. He is in pain physically and emotionally, and at one point he referred to himself as "damaged" (Love Hurts). Whether other characters are intrigued o irritated por House, each character’s reaction to his pain defines how he o she behaves around him. Here is a very brief summary of each character’s view of House:

Wilson – Wilson tries to do what he believes is best for House, so on various occasions Wilson has tried to change House to an extent. For example, in Detox, he convinces Cuddy to bet House he cannot last a week without Vicodin as a way of mostrando House he is an addict and needs help. Later, in Meaning and Cane and Abel, Wilson comes up with a scheme to teach House some “humility”. Although Wilson is an indispensable friend to House, his attempts to change House’s behavior have never succeeded.

Cameron – It has been emphasized that she is a character that needs to be with damaged people. In season 1 and even into season 2, she is convinced that House’s negative behavior toward her is his immature way of expressing emotion. Her idealistic and romanticized view of House makes her believe that she has the ability to change him, even though he is very firm in his principle that “people don’t change”.

Chase – House tends to undervalue Chase and at times he treats Chase worse than Cameron o Foreman. Although Chase does not take action in an effort to change House, he presumably wishes House was different.

Foreman – Similarities have been emphasized between House and Foreman throughout the course of the entire series. For example, in Poison Cameron tells Foreman, “Maybe we should all pitch in and get tu a nice cane. You’ve already got the matching gym shoes.” Later, in season 3, Foreman wants to quit his job to avoid ending up like House, but he returns in season 4 after being fired at another hospital for pulling a very House-like medical stunt. Foreman clings to a fading hope that House could change because to him, that means he can change as well.

Unlike any other character, Cuddy has never shown an expectation o desire for House to change in any way. She knows him extremely well, and she tolerates and accepts him the way he is; she even admires and adores him the way he is. In front of other people Cuddy defends House unquestioningly, but when she confronts him personally we have seen that she can actually get through to him in ways that other characters can not.

A prominent example of this is during the “Tritter arc”, when Wilson arranges a deal with Detective Tritter that would clear House of all charges if he simply went to rehab. Wilson's thinking was rational and logical and would have been the perfect resolution to the conflict - if House wasn't House. Cuddy is furious at Wilson for going to Tritter, because she knows House will not accept the deal and she worries that Wilson has just made House’s situation even worse:

Cuddy: "What the hell were tu thinking? tu didn't think ratting out this hospital's best doctor merited checking with your boss first?"
Wilson: "I didn't rata him out, I got him a deal."
Cuddy: "Which he'll never take."
Wilson: "He will if we - "
Cuddy: "How long have tu known House? Did tu think he'd suddenly become reasonable?"

--Merry Little Christmas

Wilson's intention in this scene is to take away House's Vicodin until he takes the deal and goes to rehab. What is most significant about the way Cuddy handles this situation is how she instinctively defends House in front of Wilson but then confronts House later and actually makes him realize he needs to take action:

Cuddy: “You’re not impressing anyone! tu may call yourself principled but what tu really are is a stubborn adolescent idiot! This isn’t his [Tritter’s] fault!”
House: “I’m not the one who – ”
Cuddy: “YOU used the rectal thermometer on him, tu insulted him instead of apologizing, tu flaunted your drug use in his face, and tu REFUSED to accept a deal – ”
House: “I accepted the deal!”
Cuddy: “Not until after tu estola a dead guy’s pills.”
House: “Allegedly.”
Cuddy: “Tritter has been opening doors for tu every step of the way and tu keep slamming them shut. There are no más openings to give, House. If tu want to stay out of prison tu got to make one for yourself.” [Hands House a prescription] “Vicodin, tu function better on it. Talk to him.”

--Words and Deeds

After Cuddy’s outburst we see House confront Tritter calmly for the first time, and he tries to apologize and explain himself. When talking to Tritter does not work, House enters rehab to mostrar he is making an effort to be treated. Although Tritter stubbornly rejects House’s attempts to redeem himself and Cuddy ultimately has to fabricate evidence to save House from prison, this is the first time House actually confronts the reality of his problem and tries to handle it in a productive way. This change in behavior is partly just from the pressure of the imminent trial, but the pivotal moment is House’s confrontation with Cuddy. Cuddy makes him realize that he has dug himself deep into a hole and that he needs to take responsibility.

The Tritter arc provides an excellent example of Cuddy’s protectiveness over House and shows that she accepts who he is and does not expect anything different from him. In this particular circumstance, we are dado a glimpse of their understanding of one another and Cuddy’s ability to make House realize he has made a mistake. Likewise, House has done the exact same thing for her as well, most notably in Humpty Dumpty.

House: "You've lost perspective, Cuddy. You've stopped looking at this as a doctor. You're actuación like someone who shoved somebody off their roof. tu want to make things right? Too bad, nothing's ever right."

--Humpty Dumpty

Just as Cuddy is able to change how House handles his close shave with prison, House is able to change how Cuddy handles a patient whose declining condition she blames herself for. The patient worked for Cuddy and fell off her roof, and she felt guilty that she had not let him go inicial like he wanted to. House gets very frustrated with her for losing her objectivity, and finally he convinces her to make the necessary medical decision despite her clouded judgment. Later on he tells her "I know this wasn't just because of your roof", implying that he understands she is particularly susceptible to guilt, possibly because of something in her past. House knows he can not change that about her, but he can help her through a situation like that just as she was able to help him through the conflict with Tritter.

In terms of a Huddy relationship, House and Cuddy can not change each other but they can balance each other out; they have a unique connection and a much deeper understanding of each other than anyone else does. From Cuddy's perspective, she does not believe she has the ability to “heal” House. In fact, it is much deeper than that; she has risked her job and prison in order to save him, defended and protected him countless times, and has shown she will sacrifice anything for him. She ultimately does not believe he needs to be healed at all.


3. WHO’S YOUR DADDY…HOUSE?!

This episode is famous among Huddy fans as one of the first times that the House-Cuddy relationship is really brought into the spotlight. However, it is also important for two other reasons. First, an old friend of House's, Crandall, discovers he may be the father of House's current patient. Crandall is convinced the girl is his daughter, and is very enthusiastic about being a father. Second, House's leg is worse than usual, and his constant pacing makes his pain a prominent aspect of the episode. At one point, Wilson attributes House's leg pain to Crandall:

Wilson: "You did the paternity test. And either the paternity test comes back negative and tu shove it in the guy’s face, o it comes back positive and tu shut up and your leg starts hurting."

--Who’s Your Daddy?

Wilson dismisses the leg pain as a result of House being wrong about a paternity test. If we do not look deeper, we accept Wilson's explanation as correct because Wilson usually analyzes House with amazing accuracy. But the audience knows something Wilson does not; we know that House's leg hurt in the first scene of the episode, before the medical case was ever introduced. His leg pain was the result of something that happened before the events of this episode. At the very end of the preceding episode, Forever, House discovers that Cuddy is trying to get pregnant and she has considered Wilson as a possible sperm donor. House seems surprised at Cuddy's decision to have a child, and perhaps even a bit offended that she has considered Wilson to be the father and not him. As a direct result, he spends much of Who's Your Daddy? in agonizing pain, a physical manifestation of an internal struggle - he is desperately trying to decide whether he wants to be her sperm donor, and whether he is up for the responsibility of being a father.

In the end, House talks to his friend Crandall, who is welcoming parenthood with open arms. House sees no reason that Crandall should want to be a father o that he could make a decent one, but Crandall simply tells House that it "Feels right. Feels good." Cuddy later comes into House's office, presumably to ask him to be her sperm donor. House looks at her in anticipation and actually gives a subtle nod, implying that he is ready for the pregunta and probably plans on saying yes:

Cuddy: "Thank tu for the injections."
House: "You're welcome."
[Cuddy turns to leave.]
House [a bit taken aback]: "You came all the way up here just to tell me that?"
Cuddy: "No." [walks away]

--Who’s Your Daddy?

So what happened here? What does this say about House and Cuddy's relationship at this point in the series? First of all, House is extremely supportive of her when she is trying to get pregnant, and he keeps it a secret from everyone else. He shows he is there for her in a way the audience has never seen before. Also, evidence suggests that House would have agreed to be a sperm donor if Cuddy asked, which shows that if they get pregnant as a couple later on in the series he will be más prepared with the idea of being a father. Likewise, Cuddy's decision not to ask him is just as significant as his decision to say yes. When Cuddy enters the office, she clearly wants to ask him to be the father, but something stops her; it seems she realizes that if she were to have a child with House, she would want it to be as part of an actual relationship and not just as a donor.

After this episode, (and really the entire "baby arc"), the idea of House as a father has already been presented and dealt with in part, so if it comes up again it will not be unnatural o inconsistent with House's character. The same applies to Cuddy; her desire for a child added a new dimension to her character in seasons 2 and 3, but it also set her up so that if she has a baby (i.e. House's baby) later on, it would fit perfectly in the context of her relationship with House.

IN CONLCUSION

House and Cuddy balance each other out - they are equals in the sense that they understand one another in ways that others do not, and their relationship up until now has evolved into a close friendship. That is why they need each other, care about each other, and even amor each other. It is too early to use the word “love” in a romantic sense, but they seem to amor every moment of flirting and bickering and they definitely amor each other at a friendship level.

The reason their relationship is stuck at friendship right now is because they both seem to know that if anything más happens between them, their relationship can never just go back to the way it is now; however, we know for certain that something is going to happen between them in season five. This means that their friendship will quickly escalate into something much bigger, and their feelings for each other will change irrevocably whether o not their relationship is successful.

So could it be successful? House and Cuddy are fundamentally unhappy and dissatisfied people, and that will not change even if they do manage to stay together. Even though they can not change one another, they continue to identify the other's faults and can help each other through situations that bring out their deepest character flaws. These flaws seem to doom both of them to ending up alone, but there are many reasons why a long-term relationship is not impossible, and why it could actually be a great thing for both of them.