(Warning: spoilers for the episode that aired Dec. 13)
Trust House to have a holiday-themed episode called “Deception” with the moral that people don't change and will go back to their gambling ways, risking their lives, their happiness, their careers, their money, but probably not their Vicodin. Sniffle. It warms my heart so.
Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) is terrific as this week's patient, Anica, a woman House (newly minted Golden Globe nominee Hugh Laurie) meets and – is it possible? - almost flirts with at the horse races. When she collapses from a seizure, he notes mysterious bruises on her abdomen and has her taken to Princeton-Plainsboro so he can play doctor.
Following House's disciplinary action from last time, for this episode – oh please, let it just be this episode – Foreman is in charge of the diagnostic department. Cuddy does dangle the carrot of permanent leadership in front of Foreman, so House can be the “mad scientist” while the administration of the department runs smoothly, but neither Wilson nor I believe that will ever come to pass.
Foreman and House predictably disagree on Anica's treatment, with Foreman, Cameron, and Chase deciding she is suffering from Munchausen's Syndrome, a psychiatric disorder that causes her to self-induce illnesses. House believes aplastic anemia is contributing to her symptoms, and shockingly resorts to devious means to prove it to Foreman, who has discharged her. Turns out, House was almost right, but also wrong, stopping the treatment for the anemia just in time when he realizes she actually has an infection.
It was fun to see the diagnostically brilliant House forced to play hands-on doctor, ineptly doing a medical history and tests he has likely left to his minions for years. The man is barely an adult when he's in charge, so the role reversal of this episode gave him a great excuse to indulge in his childish side, and gave Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) another great line: “House assisting – that's funny. Too bad Foreman's gonna die.” There were cute moments: House shows off his surprisingly-not-tragic flirting skills again with a pretty lab technician; Cameron has a fantasy fulfilled when she gets to ride on the back of House's motorcycle. And it's good to see that New Jersey still has seasons, and hasn't become New California as I feared.
Article comments
1 - nanfont
Great review, deekay. A very strange episode, following the improbable plot twist of Foreman being put in charge. (I guess it's only Cameron whose position is a fellowship?) I found Cameron confronting the patient about Munchausen's improbable as well, since she's always so sympathetic to patients. I guess not if their problems are not physical in origin. I watch the show with a friend, and her feeling was that House went too far this week by giving Anica an injection and then walking away while she was seizing. I also felt it was in the outer limits (although the injection ploy hit me more than his not helping her afterward); if there was any sense at the end of last season that House maybe has some human sentiment in him, the writers have been doing their best this season to show him at his worst. There were, of course, wonderfully funny moments, and I think the image that sticks with me is that of House and Cameron on the motorcycle.
2 - wally bangs
The best part of the epsiode was the jelly incident.
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
"There's more to being a good leader than being a jerk."
"The world will never know."
4 - deekay
I liked the "How would you rate my leadership skills?" "Nonexistent. Otherwise, excellent!" exchange too.
Nanfont, yeah, there were actually a lot of moments I liked in this one, but overall ... eh. House injecting her and walking away while she seized seemed incredibly cold (no pun intended, with the snow and all) but he did it for his usual reasons. He said he thought Foreman discharging her without diagnosing and treating her other illness would lead to her death. He thought if he was involved in treating her afterwards, it would cast suspicion on his suspicious activities. He didn't just do it to prove himself right - he did it to get her other medical issue taken seriously. Still ... cold. And combined with not really seeing much of his humanity in this episode, seeing him grovelling to his team to get tests done (though I loved the lab tech flirting), Foreman showing so little personality, and no other juicy character bits, it wasn't a favourite of mine.
And Foreman was less than a year into a two year fellowship in DNR last season. But I try not to think of details that make my brain hurt.
5 - meg
That was one weird episode. The image that sticks most with me is Cameron and House on the motorbike - they were so cute! lol. House was being his usual but apart from him, it seemed like no one had a personality in this episode. It was too weird for my liking, others have been way funnier.