House's trips to "Wonderland?"

 Watching House has been quite the experience. I think the thing that keeps me coming back as an avid viewer is that every case is different, even though the formula for most of the episodes is the same. I guess this shows that I like formulaic things, it makes me feel comfortable because I [sort of] know what to expect. After watching the episode "9-5" a few weeks back when it aired I felt jipped. It didn't follow the formula, it didn't even follow Dr. House! I felt like an addict who had finally realized her what her addiction was: a fascination with Gregory House [and the realization that I feel lost without the series formula!] I'm not so sure that my fixation is because I want him to change--I actually find him refreshing. I think rather, I continue to return to the show because I enjoy watching how he interacts with individuals while breaking many of the social etiquette rules adopted by the general population. He's rebellious--a quality that I lack and often admire as long as it is constructive.

Thinking about episodes "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart" I was prodded to consider the qualities of dreamlands. I feel as if the viewer was dragged along with House on his drug-induced journey into his memory. BUT, unlike most TV series where the viewer has some ability to distinguish between what is real and unreal, we were as helplessly confused as House. I liked this though. I liked not being able to distinguish anything during--as one character stated: "A drug induced trip to Wonderland." I felt there were a few references to Alice In Wonderland  including this statement as well as the question "Who am I?" posed by the mysterious woman who haunts House's dreams. Granted, the question has been altered from the original "Who are you?" but, I have noticed a trend in any dreamland sequence that confronts identity. In Alice in Wonderland Alice is asked by the caterpillar to realize who she is while in House Dr. House is prodded to remember the identity of another. I also found it slightly ironic that House was trying to use his dreams to trigger a memory of reality. Often dreams are pictured as an escape for the mind to play out unrealized situations, yet in this sequence of episodes the wonderland is a singular memory of a hellish event that triggers the death of a colleague. As opposed to a "wonderland" I think the place where House travels to via narcotics, electrocution, and sensory deprivation is actually a nightmare. The question between "hallucination" and "dream" is also confronted in this episode. I understand that hallucinations are different than dreams, but in this episode they are depicted similarly--almost to the point where the viewer cannot tell which is which unless prompted by the characters: "Your hallucinating..." or "Don't worry, this is just a dream."