I'll go one step further, the show writers have gone to great lengths this season to demonstrate an *absence* of respect between these two very strong, independent characters, who at times haven't been very respectable -- Cuddy's been whiny and manipulative and House has been childish. It could be argued that these are characteristics they have both always had, but not to the same degree or disastrous effect. About the time "Pox" aired, I started to wonder what they saw in each other in the first place, and by "Two Stories" I barely recognized either of them.