We all have those old shows that we watched years ago and now wonder if they are as good as we remember. I remember my older brother introducing me to Doctor Gregory House, the cocky, Vicodin-popping mastermind and prankster of the mid to late 2000s. I decided to check back in now to see how the bi representation holds up.
Before I go any further, there will likely be SPOILERS, along with plenty of unnecessary opinions of the other characters involved. This show ran from 2004-2012, so if you suddenly started but aren’t finished, or only slightly remember some lady reigning in an unhinged doctor, wait to read this until you are done. Or don’t. Maybe spoilers are your kink. Who am I to judge?
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Let’s dive in.
House, also called House M.D., is a medical drama based in the Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. Here, Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) leads the diagnostic department in unconventional ways. He is often seen with his various team members who help him brainstorm brilliant solutions to the medical mysteries he faces each week. After the third season, House loses his initial team of consulting doctors and is forced to pick new ones from the 40 interested applicants and goes about finding his new set of doctors.
This brings us to Thirteen.
What I Liked:
As a medical drama, they really didn’t have to make one of the characters bi. I personally feel this was a bold move for it being such a highly watched series. Everyone was watching and they still decided to risk the biscuit for some bi representation.
At the beginning of her arrival, I was wary. Once they had implied Remy "Thirteen" (Olivia Wilde) was queer, I figured it would be something I keep watching and cringe through. The bisexuality arch at first felt like a bit to add some spice to the characters, but as the seasons went on I became more impressed with how they handled her sexual orientation.
They tackled some difficult tropes and stereotypes and even had her mocking common questions every bi female can quote being asked. At first, I was bothered that they were bringing up these things until I took a step back and saw that they were laughing at it the same way I do rather than trying to paint her existence and experiences without them. They were in on the joke. That was for us.
As the series went on, she eventually developed a relationship with a fellow doctor. Both of them are very no-nonsense and reserved. I personally thought they were a great match, aside from them needing to get over some of their own issues. The characters break up, which leads Thirteen down a path of promiscuity. She is diagnosed with Huntington’s and knows her time is limited and begins mentally spiraling. She has lots of hookups, but this is where we finally get some on-screen reminder of her bisexuality rather than just another awkward bi question or smug comment from her peers.
At the end of the series, she declines to return to work for House, partially because of her new healthy relationship with a woman. We don’t get too much insight into this relationship since we don’t see much of Remy at this point, but we know she has moved on and is happy.
They also did a very uncommon thing for any media: THEY SAID THE B WORD! They openly and repeatedly said the word bi. They didn’t try to call her a confused lesbian or an experimenting straight. They gave her clarity in her sexuality and she never wavered.
What I Didn’t Like:
It is a double-edged sword when dealing with stereotypes. The more we bring them up, the more they continue to live. But there is something to be said about the power we possess when we find ways to brutally murder them with a sharp and deadly one-liner.
Granted, I did not enjoy that they made the one bi character the one who is fatally fighting with her mortality. It was already a gray-area when they had two coworkers dating, but they had done this before with two straight characters, so equality, I guess.
One aspect of this that I both liked and disliked was that they made Thirteen and Chase (Jesse Spencer) both “slutty”, though for different reasons. It still isn’t done in the reclaimed feminist way that I wished they had been able to explore sexuality, and Chase certainly doesn’t get nearly the same stigmatized guff as Thirteen, but at least both sexes faced the same thing. I get that it is a drama so they are going to use casual sex as a shock and spice factor, so I won’t stay too salty over this.
I think the choice of character that was bi was a little stereotypical for its time. They went with the cold, mysterious, aloof, closed-off character. We’ve seen this a thousand times, and honestly, I know countless bi ladies who also fit this description. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Rosa Diaz’s and Remy Hadley’s, but bi women are more than just that. I think we’ve seen this played out so many times in media, and yes, this was earlier before the market was completely saturated with it, but it still was happening in this time as well. Again, even though I personally love these types of characters, it is one that has been done over and over.
The Rating:
House is a rare breed. It was mainstream and tackled a lot of topics most didn’t want to touch. I think they did right by their bi character. Despite giving her an inevitable death sentence and making her have an emotional spiral coming to grips with her mortality, I think they made her human and realistic. I also punched the air every single time I got to hear some cliche bi cringe question get taken down and demolished by our no-nonsense bi bombshell.
Remy tackling these common bi misconceptions and negativity on a show with millions of viewers gave me absolute life. They gave her fleshed-out relationships with both sexes, both mentioned and discussed not for shock factor, but as basic character progression, and nobody batted an eye. Even more impressive, they openly talked about her bisexuality and referred to it by name, which even current productions still often tiptoe around.
All in all, I think this show is wonderful and very deserving of its four whole unicorns.
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