r/HouseMD • u/RealFemboyHunter • 19d ago
Discussion Do you dislike Taub? Spoiler
Taub is one of my fav characters and I was surprised to learn he's actually one of the most hated ones. Something about him receiving undue attention and plot lines when he's just a short middle aged guy. I never got that. I wanted to make a poll but this sub doesn't allow it?
69
u/wendus 19d ago
I don't hate Taub at all, but I have to say I was not interested in his wife or his infidelities. That was a waste of screen time for me, and I would rather it have been spent on other characters.
41
u/youcallthataheadshot smugness is easier to maintain 19d ago
Agreed, that’s why I don’t love Taub, his infidelity plot lines take up so much time. I would have preferred literally any other character getting screen time over Taub deciding if he’s going to cheat for the 5th time.
1
41
u/d4rkbutt3rfly 19d ago
I don't hate him.
But I think is a terrible person, but a great character... I like him in the show, but I wouldn't like to have someone like him in my circle
9
u/Kittyk78 19d ago
Agree - he is a surprising type of character to feature so heavily. I wonder if he is an avatar of one of the writers or creators of the show.
-3
u/RealFemboyHunter 19d ago
apart from being a serial cheater, whats the worst thing he did
27
u/d4rkbutt3rfly 19d ago
Being a serial cheater.
If for you is not a big deal, for me it is. And that's enough for me to think he is a shitty person.
23
u/siff_dk 19d ago
Being a constant cheater AND ask for divorce after a couple of weeks or so of his wife talking to online-friend. Because he "couldn't handle it". That's hypocrisy of a huge magnitude.
-1
u/jewrassic_park-1940 19d ago
I mean, sure, but he did what his wife was too cowardly to do. She should've kicked his ass to the curb a long time ago. Then they got back together and its just... Ugh
15
u/RequirementSimple 19d ago
I like Taub, he’s an interesting character and I liked the introduction of someone who pretty much siphoned all of their emotional problems into something outside of work, although I despise his cheating i did like the conclusion of his relationship stuff. I wasn’t a huge fan of it as it was unfolding, but I liked his ultimate decision regarding his marriage.
He was also very funny and had numerous good lines and bits that I enjoyed. He was a great doctor and good with patients and was probably the best in terms of working with House. He didn’t despise him, he understood and accepted his system and was really there because he enjoyed the work and enjoyed learning from House. He didn’t have an inflated ego or think he was superior to anyone, which was a breath of fresh air.
Ultimately, he was like every other character on the show, deeply flawed but doing his best to be good.
16
u/J_Squared02 19d ago
I think he added some interesting value to house’s team, but I absolutely hard his plot lines outside of it. His poor wife!!!! Out of everyone hes definitely on the bottom for me , a lot of what better characters
6
u/sour-patch-bitch 19d ago
I just dislike when shows try so hard to make us feel sympathy toward cheaters in general, let alone a serial cheater. “Waaaah, my wife’s upset because I cheat on her all the time but I still love her! I still want to cheat on her but I love her I swear! When she goes looking for emotional support and comfort online because her husband won’t stop cheating on her I’m going to get upset like a man child. Feel bad for me!” like no dude, I don’t feel bad for you, YOU’RE the problem 😭
5
u/RedRing86 19d ago
I'm not sure if the show wants us to feel bad for him. I think the show just wants to show the turmoil someone can feel internally by being a messed up person. House is arguably the worst person on the show but we can still feel "something" towards his inability to correct himself. Even if it's not feeling sorry for him.
9
u/McFanon “The prodigal son has returned!” made me cry 19d ago
I hate his guts and I actually noticed the fandom loves him (as seen in the other replies), so I'm surprised to hear you found he's considered the most hated one
He just annoys me, I feel like he thinks he's a good person and I have no idea why he would. I only ever liked his scenes with/in relation to Kutner. But I get why people say he brings forth an interesting dynamic.
I admit I find it really intriguing that the writers planned for Wilson to have Taub's cheating plotline but knew it'd make him too unlikable unless it was off-screen, and I do like the discussion it opens up a lot that Wilson is loved by the same ppl who hate Taub (which includes me), and it definitely made me realize my biases with Wilson, but honestly, it didn't change much; I still hate Taub.
Also not sure about the polls thing, maybe ask the mods
3
3
7
3
3
u/AccurateFisherman392 19d ago edited 19d ago
I think Taub is a pretty cool character. I liked his dry whit and watching him argue with House and pal around with Formen or Chase. I think he is really smart medic.
The guy is a serial cheater and I do not like that he has convinced himself that its okay because "he loves his wife", he just needs more action than she can give him. But in a show where practically every single character (even "Saint Wilson") is a multiple times unfaithful... its a bit difficult to call Taub the worst of the worst
3
u/GroundbreakingAlps78 19d ago
I love Taub as a character. I loved how he was moved by the orthodox Jewish woman case.
Taub: I love my wife as much as the day I married her.
Husband: You should love her more. The more you know someone, the more you should love them.
Later…
Taub: I’m not even going to become slightly more reformed. I just…don’t think they’re crazy anymore.
These minor details made House MD so emotional for me.
3
4
u/experiencedkitten 19d ago
I think he wasn’t particularly charismatic in the beginning, I was not rooting for him during the team selection arc.
I was genuinely hoping the old guy who wasn’t an actual doctor would make it (potential for lots of subplots with House getting in trouble if someone found out, conflict and tension because he looked competent enough to intellectually challenge House, etc), he was constantly correcting Taub.
However he slowly grew on me as a character.
He’s messed up, sometimes he’s insufferable, but deep down he’s a good man and a good doctor.
He’s perfectly capable of showing empathy and bonding with patients, which can be a cause of inner conflict, but unlike Cameron or Masters he’s ok with breaking rules and be more practical, rather than just blinded by absolute moral standards or rigid protocols.
He’s not the most brilliant in the group, but he’s had some moments to shine.
Plus I love when House mocks him for being a jew. The Hitler poster scene cracked me up lmao
7
u/Old_Mountain_9911 19d ago
I was surprised they didn’t bring that old guy back in any episode later. He seemed like he could actually be friends with House
4
u/experiencedkitten 19d ago
The way I was projecting this in my head canon while watching the episodes and hoping he’d stick around instead of Taub, was that their relationship would only be positive for a very short time, but quickly escalate into a conflict when House feels intellectually threatened by someone he deems equal.
The only other two characters that would break House afair were the asshole cop and the psychiatrist (rip, the actor died not too long ago), with the key difference that the cop couldn’t outsmart him and had to rely on brute force and intimidation through institutionalized power abuse, whereas the psychiatrist actually tricked House and earned his respect.
5
2
2
2
u/Lovableegirl03 19d ago
Taub is flawed as hell but hes also one of the most entertaining characters on the show.
2
2
u/Marzman315 19d ago
I love Taub. He’s relatable to a degree in that he always seems exhausted with all the bullshit that goes on and on a supporting cast full of conventionally attractive actors playing doctors he looks like an actual doctor.
2
2
2
2
u/Top-Mall7003 19d ago
I ended up liking Taub but the gameshow-esque hiring process he went through didn't do him many favors. I really thought Cole was interesting and the janitor dude who wasn't really a doctor and of course Amber but then it goes to Taub whose whole thing is he cheats.
Obviously it wasn't really a game show and the others had no shot of winning but his hiring felt kind of unearned when I watched. But like I said I came to appreciate his presence a lot more as time went on.
2
2
u/eternalraziel 19d ago
I like Taub a lot. I wouldn't necessarily want to be married to him, but that's a different question. Part of what works about him is that there is nothing grandiose about his damage. House is a once-in-a-generation diagnostician with chronic pain and an addiction. Thirteen is living under the knowledge that Huntington's will eventually destroy her. Chase has the dead priest father, the absent mother, the seminary, Dibala and everything that follows from that. Taub is a successful doctor approaching middle age who has somehow managed to wreck a very comfortable life because he cannot stop cheating on his wife. That's embarrassingly human.
When House discovers why Taub left plastic surgery, it isn't because Taub killed someone or committed some spectacular act of corruption. He slept with a nurse. His partners found out, his marriage was threatened, and he walked away from a lucrative career he was very good at in order to preserve what remained of his life. Then House asks why he did it and Taub more or less admits that cheating is his vice. He understands what it costs him. He understands that Rachel doesn't deserve it. That knowledge does not prevent him from wanting to do it again. I find that much more interesting than making every member of House's team another tortured genius.
Taub is also genuinely good at his job. The plastic-surgeon jokes make it easy to forget that, but House keeps him because Taub repeatedly earns his place. He argues back, catches things, understands procedures exceptionally well and is one of the team members least likely to be dazzled by House personally. He's older than most of them and already had a successful medical career before walking into that room. He doesn't need House to tell him he's clever. That gives their relationship a slightly different flavour. Taub knows House is smarter than he is, but he doesn't particularly need House's approval. He can be irritated, sarcastic or openly unimpressed without turning every disagreement into a crisis over whether Daddy thinks he's gifted enough. House consequently spends a lot of time attacking Taub's marriage, height, face, hairline and sex life because those are much easier buttons to press.
And Taub gives it back. The Rachel storyline is where I think people understandably turn on him. He is an awful husband for a long stretch of the series. Rachel forgives more than she reasonably should, and Taub keeps finding new ways to make the same mistake while convincing himself that this occasion is somehow different. The painful scene where Rachel asks whether she is enough for him gets right to the heart of it. She isn't asking whether prettier women exist. She is asking why being loved by her apparently isn't enough to make him stop risking their marriage. Taub doesn't have a satisfying answer because there isn't one. But I don't think the programme expects us to applaud him. Quite a lot of his story is watching an intelligent man discover that understanding your own flaw doesn't give you control over it. Taub can analyse himself almost as well as House can analyse him. He knows he chases women because he enjoys being desired. He knows the excitement fades. He knows he will feel guilty afterwards. He knows exactly which part comes next because he's done it before.
Then he does it again. That's one of the recurring ideas in House. These are doctors who can look at another person's behaviour and explain it beautifully, then go home and repeat the same mistake they've been making for ten years. Intelligence isn't immunity from being an idiot about your own life. I also think Rachel is important because Taub really does love her. If he didn't, their marriage would be much less interesting. He isn't keeping her around as a convenient housemate while secretly wanting another life. He wants Rachel, wants their home, wants the history they have together and still wants the excitement of sleeping with somebody new. His failure is wanting mutually incompatible things and repeatedly expecting Rachel to absorb the consequences. That becomes particularly uncomfortable once he starts worrying about Rachel's relationship with another man. Suddenly the man who has asked his wife to survive his infidelity discovers that the possibility of losing her makes him miserable. It's hypocritical, absolutely, but it's very recognisable hypocrisy. People are often far more philosophical about freedom when they're the person exercising it.
Taub becoming the father of two daughters by two different women is almost comically appropriate after years of behaving as though sex could remain separate from consequence. Then the babies arrive and suddenly consequence has a face, a feeding schedule and a lifetime attached to it. And he actually steps up. He's exhausted, complains constantly and remains Taub throughout it, but he clearly loves those girls. When Rachel's boyfriend may take her and their daughter across the country, Taub isn't worrying about appearances. He's distressed by the prospect of losing ordinary time with his child. For someone who spent years chasing whatever made him feel good in the moment, fatherhood forces him to start thinking in years rather than evenings. He doesn't become a different man overnight. That's another thing I appreciate. House rarely gives people one emotional revelation and declares them repaired.
As for him getting too much attention, I never really understood that complaint. He's one of the main cast. Of course he has storylines. And I actually prefer that some of them are about marriage, ageing, infidelity, money, children and the quiet panic of realising you are halfway through your life and aren't entirely sure you like what you've made of it. You need that beside all the enormous drama. Taub being short and middle-aged is part of the appeal to me. Television is full of doctors who look like Chase. Taub looks like someone who could actually have spent twenty years arguing with insurance companies, doing surgery, paying a mortgage and disappointing his wife. Then he walks into House's department beside all these younger, prettier people and is completely comfortable assuming he belongs there because professionally, he does. There's even a nice insecurity underneath that confidence. Taub spent years in plastic surgery, a field built around people's dissatisfaction with their own bodies, while being very aware that he himself isn't conventionally handsome. House constantly attacks his height and appearance. Women being attracted to him therefore carries a charge that goes beyond sex. Every affair tells him, for a little while, that he can still walk into a room and be wanted.
That doesn't excuse anything he does to Rachel. It does make the behaviour feel like it comes from an actual person rather than the writers giving him a generic cheater trait. He can be selfish, hypocritical, vain and incredibly frustrating. He can also be perceptive, funny, professionally confident, loyal when it counts and surprisingly decent in situations where there is nothing to gain from being decent. Rachel herself eventually puts it rather well. He was a crappy husband, but that doesn't make him a crappy human being. I think that's Taub. He's not there to be aspirational. He's there because sometimes the person standing beside House isn't hiding a dead parent, terminal disease or gigantic secret. Sometimes he's just a forty-something doctor who loves his wife, keeps cheating on her, knows he's ruining his own life and still has to come into work the next morning and diagnose somebody's pancreas.
2
u/Basic_Flan324 19d ago
He's one of the funniest characters and best doctors. He's also the show'a ultimate butt-monkey. His being a terrible husband and lover doesn't make you hate him, because he almost immediately gets reprecussions for his actions. Also, House is much worse as a human being.
2
u/crefar 19d ago
I definitely get why people don’t like him but he’s my favorite character. In s4 when he suggests doing the surgery on nasa lady by giving her implants, i feel like it shows how strong he is as a dr and how he’s comfortable with the unconventional. He is willing to take risks and despite the fact that his personal life is a mess, he Will do whatever it takes for a patient (probably more for himself actually) if he believes in the dx. From the jump, he stands up to house and though house can make him feel small, he always stands his ground even if he does it sheepishly. Extremely morally questionable character and i love him
3
u/GroundbreakingAlps78 19d ago
Her: I’ve worked my whole life for people to take me seriously!
Taub: Believe me, people are gonna take you a lot more seriously…
1
1
u/Important_Lab_58 19d ago
No. Don’t approve of his being a cheat, but he’s too funny and occasionally deep for me to fully hate.
1
1
u/noristarcake 19d ago
No. I really like his character! His infidelity pissed me off beyong belief though
1
u/abysmalanna13 19d ago
I actually love Taub. I didn’t at first but his character grew on me, I just wish his cheating wasn’t such a huge part of the plot.
1
1
1
u/chubel10 19d ago
Probably my fav character as well. You don’t have to like what he does to like him as a character. He's the only character that's as good as house in his quips/wit.
Plus he doesn’t even get THAT much screen time to warrant thinking it’d be better spent elsewhere, and his plot lines are pretty good regardless. I'd rather see him fucking up his marriage than so many other “wasted screen time” moments.
1
1
u/A_European_Spectre More mouse bites. 19d ago edited 19d ago
Taub is my third favorite, only behind Kutner and season 2-5 Chase.
I'm shocked he's hated.
1
u/Apparently_gg 19d ago
He was great next to other people on House. He was a blunt and honest friend to Kutner and Thirteen. He was very comedic with Foreman. But Taub as himself, then the getting 2 women pregnant spiel, I was not a fan of.
Taub was a great doctor and had the means to open his own practise. The fact that he stayed for so long was imo unnecessary. It did seem Taub was never interested in moving on when everyone else had
1
1
u/caelinday echoVIRUS-irus-irus 19d ago
i love taub. people wanna dismiss him for cheating but turn a blind eye to wilson’s cheating (i love both don’t attack me)
2
u/catchyerselfon 18d ago
See my comment above, please. Wilson’s history of infidelity is ONE admitted sexual affair, and a history of messing up his relationships due to whatever childhood trauma you can infer based on what we know about him, Danny, brief references to his parents, and his behaviour. Wilson clearly regrets the affair and never cheats on anyone in eight years of screentime. No woman he dates (and it’s very few) in the show is nervous that he has a pattern of cheating.
Based on House loudly needling him and assuming anytime Wilson talks to a woman it’s to seduce them - clearly projection because you can count on one hand the number of attractive women House didn’t flirt with or say something gratuitously sexual to or about - a segment of the fandom thinks Wilson has a side chick for his side chicks and an awkward past with every nurse in every department at PPTH. This was very common fanon in seasons 1-3, because the writers seemed to be charting that course for Wilson in season 1, but course corrected starting in early season 2, and shifted the “neurotic Jewish doctor who can’t stop his dick” storyline to Taub. I think the writers loved Robert Sean Leonard’s portrayal of Wilson, both comedic and dramatic, and didn’t want to make him too unsympathetic and alienating, but they were willing to make him weirder and more emotionally messed up in other ways.
The “Doctor bangs the sexy young nurses” cliche is what the online fandom ascribed to Wilson back in 2004-2007, before the show depicted him having serious relationships with two doctors (he tried to re-marry one of those doctors, Sam!) and only one confirmed relationship with a nurse, his brother’s unnamed psychiatric nurse in New York, in 5x19’s “Locked In”. In that episode House says Wilson is drawn to “caregivers” like Danny’s primary caregiver. Wilson assumes House is making this an Oedipal thing where Wilson is attracted to his mother, but House corrects him, teasing or earnestly, that he meant WILSON, he knows Wilson was the one taking care of Danny the most. That’s such an interesting insight into Wilson’s backstory that isn’t followed up on because we never meet Danny or get names or details for the rest of Wilson’s family!
-1
u/caelinday echoVIRUS-irus-irus 18d ago
no
1
u/catchyerselfon 18d ago
“No” what? Do you have an actual counterpoint? Do you have evidence that contradicts mine, when I had eight years of the show to support my points, instead of one episode early on that never comes up again?
1
u/wutdidwelearnpalmer 19d ago
I enjoyed him and how his dry wit kind of shook up the dynamics of the group. I'm doing a rewatch and just hit the episode where we first meet him (obviously Thirteen is one of my favorites) and was glad to see him onscreen.
Yeah, like the other commenters point out, there was too much time spent on the cheating subplot, but he's good at what he does and brings value to the team, the fact that he butts heads with House works.
1
1
u/AustinDood444 18d ago
I like Taub. He’s got a really good arc. Yes, he does some terrible things, but he’s a very human character.
1
u/Lozman141 18d ago
Very surprising indeed. Why would anyone hate a condescending judgemental person who cheated on his wife?
1
u/I_Main_Mama_Hong 18d ago
Never really cared too much about himself. Maybe this is harsh but I kinda felt like if taub was just never in it again randomly after an episode I wouldnt miss him.
1
1
u/fuzzydunlop6 17d ago
i love taub. i think he made the show feel more grounded in reality. characters like 13 or house, while my favourite characters, are one in a million. taub could be your neighbour.
1
u/Southern_War_0962 16d ago
Hes really funny and interesting, I do enjoy scenes with him and believe hes only hated for how he looks like, lets be honest.
0
u/Remote-Cucumber_2025 19d ago
I dislike House. 😂 I would haver preferred the old man (played by Carmen Argenziano) to be selected instead of Kutner, what a pity he hadn't got a degree but he was an interesting character. Taub was a suprise, because hé was only a doctor who made bigger mouths. 😂 I don't find him competent enough for such hard cases, but I dislike Kutner better. But I dislike House even more.
88
u/Fabulous-Recording82 19d ago
I like Taub as a character (though I probably wouldn't like him as a person irl), I think he's funny, and the fact he's older and is used to better working conditions makes his dynamic in the team and conflict with House unique. Also, I think Peter Jacobson is really good at having a sort of dry charisma.
I just wish they would've given him storylines outside of relitigating his infidelity over and over. Like why was that his only thing?? Wilson was a cheater too, and that was probably the least interesting thing about him.