When I normally watch TV shows, I’m pretty neutral. I tend to just watch the show to watch the show, and most of the time have no strong preferences in shipping, to give you an example for Bones, though I adore the interactions between Booth and Brennan, I really don’t care whether they get together or not (in fact I may be one of the few people who fears it). But I can’t help to have noticed, as I’m sure many of you have also noticed about yourself, that I have grown severely attached to this relationship so much so that I was reduced to a blubbering fangirl once THE promo for “Under my Skin” came out. So I thought it would be a good time, just before THAT episode airs, to reflect on why we all love Huddy so much and what makes this couple, in my opinion, so much more than just ‘sexually compatible’ (I’m sorry Missy for quoting you like this, I just bristled at that part of your article in the Hameron spot).


I don’t think House MD, when it started, had any intentions of developing the Huddy relationship, in fact, if it wasn’t for the Vogler arc, Cuddy was being considered to be dropped from the show. They instead focused on the Hameron relationship, and left the Huddy interactions as charged conflicts between the boss and a rather troublesome employee. Cuddy’s character was used as a foil to House and even used as his “arch nemesis” so to speak, to highlight his morality and pure honesty in an otherwise curmudgeon of a character. But when the season’s final two episodes came around, a very important development was revealed about those two character’s relationship. Cuddy was House’s doctor during his infarction and is essentially responsible for cutting out part of his leg and leaving him crippled for life. Though this part of the story, nor the post-infarction era, has never been fully discussed, the lasting effects on their relationship are something to behold. I will not pretend to see more there than there actually is, but twice this twist in their past has come up to be reflected on by the show. The first time this happens is in “Skin Deep”.


In “Skin Deep” House is still reeling from the effects of Stacy no longer being a part of his life and, as is common with his character, his pain increases massively due to the mental anguish of losing her. He decides that he needs a drug more powerful than Vicodin and settles on Morphine, but he doesn’t just want it injected into his veins, he wants it injected into his spine so that it kills all feeling altogether. He goes to Cuddy for this. He says he doesn’t want to go to Wilson, because he’ll get a lecture, and doesn’t ask his team because he doesn’t want them questioning his judgment, but the real reason, as becomes apparent later when he drops his pants and shows Cuddy what she did to him, is because he knows he can use her guilt to manipulate her into helping him. Though it has never been said that Cuddy feels guilty for what she has done, looks such as the one at the end of “Three Stories” or moments in “Merry Little Christmas” when she feels far guiltier than Wilson does, reveal that Cuddy is not altogether at ease with what she did to House. House obviously knows this and tries to use it to his advantage. The second time this was tossed around for discussion was in “No Reason.”


The episode of “No Reason” is the first time as viewers that we were allowed into House’s mind as the whole episode was in fact a hallucination. Therefore all of House’s interactions with the characters reflected what his brain picked up on when he interacted with them normally. House’s interactions with Cuddy were no different. The scene that always amazes me is the scene where Cuddy sees him walking fine for the first time and reveals her plan with the Ketamine and the German pain clinic.

Cuddy: It worked! [House turns.] There’s a clinic in Germany, they’ve been treating chronic pain by inducing comas and letting the mind basically reboot itself. There’s about a fifty percent chance your pain will come back, which, of course, means there’s a fifty percent chance that it won’t.
No Reason, Season 2, Episode 24

In this we see that House has understood the guilt that Cuddy feels and it has morphed into her following research in a German clinic just for him. While I understand that this conversation is merely House’s subconscious reminding of him of maybe a magazine article he read a while back about Ketamine, the fact that House’s brain associates Cuddy with that image shows a great deal about what he has picked up about Cuddy and in fact what he thinks she feels about him. A great deal of manipulation, on Wilson’s and Cuddy’s part, goes on for House’s benefit, and I think his overreaction to their trying to help him, rings back to his infarction and of Stacy’s ”betrayal” when she fixed him without his consent. The episode reveals a great deal about the tension that still exists between House and Cuddy on that front. The depth and complexity of this part of their relationship is always something wonderful to behold because it is so rare to find a couple in TV now, that is not just about chemistry, but has a huge story behind them, something that reminds of the romantic stories you get in books.


After season 1 had ended, it seemed the writers had a change of heart about the Huddy relationship. At this point in my shipping I was a die-hard Hacy fan, love gone horribly wrong, but looking back, it was obvious that House and Stacy were never going to be together and that she was eventually going to leave (but the journey was fantastic to watch) and now that I have hindsight, one can see that the makings of Huddy were already being introduced. In “Humpty Dumpty” it was revealed and hinted at that Huddy had once known each other at university and may have slept together at that point. Though in reality this point does not really add to why I find their relationship so wonderful, but it proves that at this point at least, the writers had decided that they had their claws into something quite unique and were setting us up for more. Season 2’s Cuddy was still a similar character to her season 1 character, but she was given more screen-time and her friendship with Stacy served to reveal more to her personality as she tried to give Stacy advice. But out of season 2, my true love for Huddy was born.
    
House: Cuddy…You see the world as it is, and you see the world as it could be. But what you don’t see is what everyone else sees, the giant gaping chasm in between.

Cuddy: House, I’m not naïve, I realize…

House: If you did, you would have never hired me. You’re never happy unless things are just right, which means two things. One you’re a good boss and you’ll never be happy.
Humpty Dumpty, Season 2, Episode 3

Now I know I have shipping bias, but what a perfectly beautiful moment. I have ranted and ranted about this moment, more times than any sane person really should have, but the grace and eloquence in this scene has yet to ever be matched by another couple for me. It’s not sexy flirting, nor fluffy compliments or kissing; it just reveals his deep knowledge about who Cuddy really is. It’s not even that much of a romantic scene, in fact many people probably disregard it (well not on Fanpop lol), but to me it represents the epitome of the Huddy relationship. This gentle aspect of their relationship, which is repeated later on in “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, gives the viewers a look into what House thinks and feels about Cuddy. The tone of his voice in this scene, mixed with the beautiful dialogue, gives this sense of mourning for Cuddy, a sort of deep pity but the kind that does not foster resentment, but instead a feeling of esteem. House is drawn to inherently good people who look out for those around them, Wilson, Cuddy and Cameron all fit that, and he is drawn to Cuddy because of her idealism and though I think it annoys him at times, I truly believe that deep down there is a desire to protect her from the shattering of her ideals, something I don’t see House doing with any other character (at least the mains). These gentler parts of their relationship bring out House’s desire to shelter Cuddy from the world (if anyone’s read ‘Heart of Darkness’ by Joseph Conrad, House’s relationship with Cuddy reminds me a bit of Marlow and The Intended). But the gentler aspects are not the only times House’s “protectiveness” is brought out.

The end of season 2 and season 3 saw the beginnings of a new type of character for House to play in the Huddy relationship, the jealous suitor. House is a character, who hides a lot of emotions, but the audience is always given pretty good hints as to what he feels in most episodes, and a very large hint the writers like to throw to us about House’s feelings about people is his jealous streak. He gets jealous very easily when he feels that the people he truly cares about may be taken from his inside circle. He acts out and commits a whole series of outrageous behavior, breaking into confidential files, sharing with Amber and continually making Cuddy’s personal life resemble that of a ghost town, showing the deep fear he has of losing them. Although House and Cuddy’s relationship has always been fun, this is when the much more playful and flirty part of their relationship was explored and hence bring out the fangirls lol. I remember PG saying something to this effect a long time ago and I fully agree with her, that if you don’t appreciate the fun side of their relationship, you can’t fully appreciate their relationship at all. I have yet to see a couple so willing to mess with each other just for the fun of it. From interrupting dates to switching Vicodin to laxatives, Huddy’s ability to make fans laugh and smile is something that can’t be ignored and though it is in no way deep, it certainly adds a layer to their relationship that makes them far more rounded and pure entertainment. When you have couples all around you that are about sex appeal, or about love triangles or even destiny, isn’t it nice to turn on the TV and see your incredibly dysfunctional OTP revealing stalkerish knowledge about menstrual cycles or having underwear stolen? The comic relief their “pranks” give to the relationship is what drew many fans in and allows the characters to show the fun part of their personalities and the strange way in which they work well together.

But by the end of season 4, in the midst of the emotional turmoil of Amber’s death, Huddy again (or rather the lovely Lisa Edelstein) managed to step up to the plate only adding to the excellence that was already present. A lovely bit of their relationship was drawn out during those two episodes, and while their sexual tension was played out in the strip tease, the caring and protectiveness of Cuddy was brought out by the end.

[The music fades as Cuddy leans over House, her concern writ all over her face.]

LISA CUDDY: Hey, I'm here. Blink if you can hear me.

[House blinks absent-mindedly.]
# There are things that drift away #

[Cuddy sighs deeply in relief. House inhales, about to say something.]

LISA CUDDY: No, shh, don't try to talk. Just rest.
Wilson’s Heart, Season 4, Episode 16

Her tear stained face and distraught expression at last shows the viewers the deep feelings that Cuddy might have for House. Holding onto his hand at the end, in a desperate attempt to reassure House that she’s still there, speaks very strongly about the protection she wishes to give House, and these two episodes reflect that feeling more so than “Babies and Bathwater” or “Words and Deeds” could ever do. Protecting House against Wilson earlier on in his attempt to save Amber and then later on when Wilson is no longer there for House, Cuddy shows her consistency in House’s life and she once more remains at his side. Their scenes are by far some of the more beautiful of the show’s.

So we’ve seen how Cuddy feels toward House, and now season 5 seems to deal with the other side of that matter, how House feels about Cuddy. Season 5 has been pretty damn difficult for House, from almost losing Wilson, to kissing Cuddy and then her getting a baby and then Kutner killing himself. House has had to re-evaluate a lot this year and while every season has shaken House and made him stop to think about his present situation in life, never more he has to think so much. House’s feelings for Cuddy are revealed in their twisted way in almost all of the episodes of season 5 and we as viewers have been treated to seeing House’s thought progress move as he tries to come to grasps with the idea that Cuddy is now no longer just his tenuous friend, but now someone who cares very deeply about him. He goes back and forth and probably up and down as he fumbles his way through their interactions, teetering between wanting to push her away and wanting to hold her close. His internal struggle is another aspect of Huddy which makes it completely unique. It’s not the “are they or aren’t they” cliché, but rather the “can he or he can’t he?” Will House risk his unchanging world in order to acquire something he so desperately wants? Or will he succumb to his fears and settle back into the dark pit of his existence? That element of their relationship is what keeps the viewers hooked, the fans know that the sex and the kissing and all of that are indeed inevitable, but it’s the emotional aftermath and the inner workings of each of these incredibly screwed up people’s minds is what really drives the Huddy fans onward to the next episode and is what I love.


To wrap it up, in my personal opinion, Huddy is probably the most complex relationship ever to hit the small screen. It’s fun and dysfunctional side meshing with its angst and needy side, come together to create a whole web of hidden meanings and emotional problems that pretty much kicks the ass of most of your regular “boy meets girl” scenarios. So in fact, House and Cuddy are much more than just sex buddies and are more than just the sexual appeal that so many people only give them credit for, they are an epic couple (yes I said it) that not only has a story behind them, but a very interesting future ahead and while we all have to know that the future may not end with a white house with blue shutters, I think that’s part of what makes them all the better, the uncertainty. That is why House and Cuddy are my favorite ship ever.


Other parts that I couldn’t find a place for the in the article but have to mention:
- Nicknames
- Parallels (needles, running, bed sides, coffee mugs, matching outfits)
- Cuddy’s Serenade
- Innuendo
- House and his sexual harassment
- The desk
- Power plays
- Wilson the Huddy shipper