Original artwork, not a still
I love the smell of pus in the morning. It smells like… victory.
— House M.D. · 2004
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is House at his most gloating: a hospital smell of infection treated as the scent of winning, pointed at the colleague who just lost the argument. The joke is the borrowed swagger of Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, where the original praises the smell of napalm in the morning, turned into medical gallows humour. Fans quote it as a victory line for any win that is slightly gross.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for House M.D.Show the scene
The line is from 'Deception', the ninth episode of House's second season, first aired 13 December 2005 and written by Michael R. Perry. Dr. Cuddy has put Dr. Foreman in charge of supervising House, who retaliates by piling paperwork on him and arguing about a gambler with a seizure. The team concludes she has Munchausen syndrome, but House pushes the aplastic anemia theory, and late on he realises the real culprit is a Clostridium perfringens infection, found by smelling a grape-like odour from a cut in her bruise. Cuddy afterwards tells Foreman he blew the diagnosis. House's wiki notes the line as his triumph over Foreman.
Sources (1)
- House Wiki: DeceptionInfobox, Recap and TriviaReference checked
Context reviewed
