episodes to watch if you’re converting to foremanism
silly title, but i just finished my s1 rewatch so i want to outline the most important s1 episodes you can watch/rewatch to better understand foreman as a character and the things that they tell you about him. i will be updating this when i rewatch the other seasons!
the pilot - this is where we meet foreman, and it’s here that we get it really set out for us as to who foreman is. he believes in propriety, but that’s nebulous. he’s a romantic. he has a history of crime. he’s remarkably intelligent. he’s not afraid to challenge house. house likes him. these are all very important cornerstones for who foreman is going to be for the rest of this series and while they get explored in depth later on you kinda need that foundational knowledge first
poison - this is where we kind of start with the idea of foreman being like house, and this is a huge theme that will continue with him. he doesn’t really acknowledge that he’s like house in this episode, despite them having the same damn shoes, but we see it all throughout. we see his arrogance, we see his cockiness, we see the negative qualities of house really shine in him here. the patients mother even says “you’re just as pompous and self absorbed as he is!” and foreman acts like it’s total bullshit and then gets in the lift with house and his matching shoes.
dnr - tells us a huge amount about foreman’s belief in propriety and how it clashes his belief in house. the whole episode, foreman is quarrelling with the way that house does things because it’s not proper. but house is right, and that matters to foreman above all else. house is right, and foreman is smart enough to know that house can make him better. medicine is his ‘thing’ as much as it is houses, as much as music is the patient‘s. he’s smart enough to know he’ll never be satisfied with settling no matter how badly he wants to. very much an episode oat for me.
histories - this is the big episode for foreman and his belief in the meritocracy and his mistaken belief in how accessible it is. foreman thinks that because he ascended the meritocracy, everyone can, and he looks down on the people that haven’t because he believes that they just didn’t try hard enough. and, crucially, he’s proven wrong. he’s shown that not everyone can, and he regrets it so very deeply. this is a very good episode for showing us foreman’s bias, why he has it, and that it’s out of no genuine malice. he can see the best in people, he wants to see the best in them, and he hates it when he prevents himself from doing that from a preconceived notion of them being unworthy.
sports medicine - ive already written up my whole thoughts on sports medicine, but this is where his whole Weird and Comphet thing starts up. this is where we first see what foreman is like in a relationship, and this is where we see how odd and performative he can be, how he feels the need to conform as it pertains to his relationships and let everyone know that he’s conforming. it shows us how his relationships are often for outside approval, and how he’ll end them abruptly always in an indirect way that forces them to drift apart or the woman to break up with him. we’ll see this pattern again with wendy, with thirteen, and finally with the married lady in s8.
heavy - this is an episode that tells us firstly about foreman’s sense of solidarity (which i believe probably links back to his criminal history) and his deep rooted insecurity/imposter syndrome. his job is never on the line, we know this for certain because he’s house’s special boy, even the other fellows know this, but foreman doesn’t know this. foreman really wants his job, he looks down on chase not appreciating his job and not working hard for it when he’s worked so hard to get where he is and feels like he has to perform twice as good to keep the same job. and despite foreman’s refusal to lower himself, he’s so insecure when house makes essentially a joke about foreman’s job being on the line that foreman cracks. he’s worried it’s a real threat. he’s so insecure that he’s blind to how much house really does just absolutely adore him and that insecurity/imposter syndrome will remain very important through the whole show.
role model - i think that while this episode isn’t the most important episode ever, i think it’s one that you can miss out and it doesn’t have the clearest line of analysis in the same way the others tell us something direct about him, but i do think that this is an episode that tells us about foreman’s relationship with his blackness and thus his relationship with honesty and hard work through the lens of his blackness. i think it tells us about it mostly through his interactions with the patient, i think it shows us that foreman holds himself to higher standards just like the patient does because he’s a black man.
honourable mentions:
these are episodes that don’t directly tell us about foreman as a character, but they do set precedents for how foreman’s relationships function with the other fellows.
babies & bathwater - foreman chase beef. yes it starts in heavy but this is when it gets BAD. this is when it gets generational beef starting bad. second foreman knows his job isn’t on the line he’s gunning for chase’s neck and he actively thinks chase doesn’t deserve nor appreciate the job.
love hurts - forecam!! while he’s cameron advocate #1 in all episodes after she gets fired i think that this one is a big one for just… showing how much he likes her. bantering with cameron all episode, very clearly overjoyed to have her back, staying back and talking to house about her, calling her a friend… he’s fake idgafer #1 in s2.
