Even though he's solved the puzzle, he goes further, wanting to know why she did it. "I don't know. I've just never been happy," she answers. Depression just might be the unsolvable mystery, at least if he refuses to consider it as a medical mystery instead of an emotional mystery.
Part of the beauty of the character of House is that we're never given a simple answer for why he is the way he is. His leg hurts, his lover betrayed him, his father abused him, but none of that is offered up as a simple equation to explain him away. Like House, Addie can't offer an explanation for unhappiness, though unlike House, she uses excess kitchen cleanser instead of excess Vicodin to deal with it.
He breaks his word that he won't tell her parents if she promises not to attempt suicide again, and makes them think about looking into anti-depressants as well as therapy ... because while the mystery is solved, the patient's life is still at risk. And maybe, just maybe, he can see himself in her.
Cuddy gives Foreman one last thought as they watch Addie's surgery. He thinks she's trying to tell him that House's success rate is all that matters, but she says: "I'm telling you there are worse things to turn into." Foreman remains unconvinced, though: "It's not worth it." I get the feeling House might agree.
House takes full advantage of his clinic time in this episode, diagnosing a not-terribly-attractive man with cheating on his terribly attractive girlfriend. While she's strangely resigned to that – "I get it," she says – House adds that the cheating is of a dietary nature. The vegan nutritionist's boyfriend has been sneaking cheeseburgers. House moves in on the woman who has decidedly unsuperficial taste in men.
Honey (can we call that irony, since honey isn't technically vegan?), as played by Piper Perabo of Coyote Ugly, is kinda dumb (Wilson: "She's 26." House: "With the wisdom of a much younger woman."). She's kinda pathetic. She's kinda flaky. But she's very, very pretty. That's all it takes to make her House's type, apparently.
In the end, when he meets her in a bar under the pretense of doing a job interview, there's a glimmer of something else. A woman who can listen to his listing of failures – and if anything, he's under-reporting – with a "how miserable can you be, saving lives, sleeping around, and doing drugs?" just might be more of a match for him than appearances would suggest.
Article comments
1 - Maddoc
Hmmmmmm.
2 - Kaonashi
The exploding head scene was sooo gross. They were picking up pieces of her scalp and putting it in a bag! *BARF*
I'm not sure about the patient's form of suicide though. Turning kitchen cleanser into a pill sounds far-fetched to me. If she were truly depressed and suicidal, wouldn't have she just done the deed much quicker? Is this based on a real event?
3 - Diane Kristine
I don't know - I wouldn't be surprised if it's based on truth, but it did seem like a too-convenient way to commit suicide (and then go to karate?), designed to create a medical mystery instead of being all that believable. It didn't bother me too much, but it was a little jarring.
4 - Kaonashi
Hi Diane,
Exactly! She tries to kill herself and then goes to karate class? I wonder if it was an actual attempt of suicide or a desperate call for help to her parents.
5 - MT
I kind of buy the suicide thing. She doesn't know why she wants to do it, and she doesn't want others (like parents) to know, doesn't want to have traces of drugs in her system, so have the kitchen cleaner in the pill sounds like a good way of going about it. Although I'm not quite sure how House got the kitchen cleaner and pill thing; I didn't recall it's been mentioned anywhere till he brought it up, so that's a bit wierd.
Also, she would have done it a while ago(thus the scars forming), but no immediate effect, so she's still going abouther business like karate as usual, kind of like a routine that one just does but without actually experience the moment. That's my take on it.
6 - Diane Kristine
You're right about the timing - I'd forgotten about the scar tissue, so she didn't likely gobble the pills and then go to karate. It still felt they created a convoluted suicide attempt to turn it into a medical mystery, but whatever. I was too distracted by exploding heads to be bothered too much.
7 - PDESR
I believe that the only way Foreman is going to stay is if he winds up overriding House on a decision and saves a patients life. I think it may be the only way he could personally justify his continued existence on the team.