He also comes up with the brainwave that maybe the kid is just a jerk, and wipes "personality" off the whiteboard. Foreman disagrees: "You crossed it off because you want to hate the kid, and you can't hate him if he's just a victim."
"You want him to be a victim because you want to believe that people are good, and if they're not, it's got to be a chemical problem," House counters. I don't think Foreman would argue that House is good, but fortunately he's got the drugs and maybe even depression to blame it on.
Once the personality issues are out of consideration, the diagnosis is clear: amyloidosis. Except of course it isn't. After the biopsy is negative, Foreman keeps testing and treating him anyway, and Chase challenges House on his game playing with Foreman, House realizes that the kid's other aches weren't from getting beaten up in the playground but from hemochromatosis, having too much iron in his blood. He lets the grateful mother know that her son will have a long and annoying life, and tells the annoying son how he would have beat him at chess. "I know. I was bluffing. And that's why you lost."
That gives House another move with Foreman. He bluffs again, letting Foreman continue to test for amyloidosis and not revealing that the case has been solved. It's not quite as dramatic or funny a moment as I'd hope to end on, but sure, why ask Foreman to stay when you can just crush his spirit. Maybe House is evil. At the very least, he's quite the jerk.
Article comments
1 - Amrita
Such a perfect jerk though :)
2 - Phillip Winn
Was the season finale too upsetting to write about? I'm jonesing for your opinion!
3 - Diane Kristine
Heh, sorry, it was a hectic week and I'm still working on it. It should come tonight, though!
4 - confused
sorry, I know this is a really old episode but it bothers me that they never really explain why he attacked his chess partner to begin with. just because someone is a jerk doesn't make them violent, and pain doesn't usually cause someone to physically attack someone else, especially not someone who hadn't really angered him (the patient won the chess game and yet bashed the other dude's face in).