Despite the title, “Ugly” is a fun character study of the regulars at Princeton-Plainsboro. The episode is all about perceptions – exploring each character’s self-perception, as well as how they want to be perceived by the rest of the world.
A documentary film crew follows House and the team as they try to figure out why Kenny, a teenager with a deformed face, had a heart attack while getting prepped for a facial bipartition. The reconstructive surgery cannot take place until the cause of the heart attack can be found and cured. Each of the team members reacts differently to the case and to the presence of the camera. It is in coming to terms with what the camera reveals that we get touching, humorous, and sometimes embarrassing glimpses into the true nature of the team doctors.
The main theme of perception begins with Kenny. I have to say that the special effects department deserves kudos for the prosthetics used to represent Kenny’s congenital deformity. His face is uncomfortable to look at, but as we get to know Kenny, we learn that other than the facial deformity, he appears on the surface to be a normal teenager.
Tired of being perceived by the world as being monstrous and different, Kenny and his father are anxious for the surgery to happen. Kenny even lies to Dr. Taub about taking drugs if that means that he can have the surgery as soon as possible. He believes that without the surgery he won’t have a normal life. House points out to Kenny that reconstructive surgery will not provide normalcy to Kenny’s life; he’ll still have to deal with the person he has become as a result of having lived with the deformity. He’ll also have to deal with the changes that will come in all of his relationships, including the relationship with his own father.
Chase is the chief surgeon on Kenny’s case. You can almost hear how carefully he chooses his words in order to explain the reconstructive surgery to the camera crew and give the appearance of being the competent doctor in charge. It was nice to see Chase take command of the situation when Kenny had the heart attack, ordering the crew to stop filming while he saves Kenny’s life. I like the new and improved Chase. I only wish we could see more of him.
Article comments
1 - anon
Nice analysis of this episode.
Just one correction: it's "bull's eye" rash, not "bullet" rash.
The medical facts on Lyme were a bit off in this episode. The bull's eye rash is a sign of recent tick bite, it is not a symptom that remains in later stages of the disease. Even if someone goes untreated and develops full-blown Lyme, the rash still disappears on its own.
Cardiac symptoms can present earlier, but generally they are a later-stage symptom, meaning months to years after infection. If the bull's eye rash were still present, the boy's cardiac symptoms would be very, very unlikely to be caused by Lyme in the real world. If the boy had undiagnosed Lyme long enough to have such serious cardiac involvement, there is almost no chance he would still have the rash.
2 - cindyc
Thanks for the correction. Lyme disease is a concern where I live and I've known people who have had it in various stages. It is more than an inconvenience. Some people don't take it seriously enough.
CindyC