Last week, we saw Wilson officially denounce his relationship with House; claiming that they were never friends, and that he was only an enabler to House’s destructive behavior and personality. There was also something about a pregnant woman having leprosy.
Cold open: a crane operator collapses, a kickboxer passes out while cornering his opponent, a tuba player falls out of his chair, all of them spewing blood. Thirteen reveals the unifying cause of all of this when she approaches the last victim…a transplant.
All of the new patients (some are now cadavers by the first scene), are shown to have received organs from the same donor. “It’s not cancer,” says Foreman. House pushes the diagnosis, despite the autopsy and test results. The last patient, who recieved a corneal transplant eight years prior, is the only source of clues, along with the donor’s last residence.
House attempts to make nice with another doctor, presumably to replace Wilson. It’s a cute scene with House sizing the guy up, mostly to his disgust. House is ultimately rejected.
The last patient fails a brief eye exam, but clues point to the problem being in her brain rather than the eye. House hilariously proposes removing her head. However, the patient hallucinates, diluting the hilarity of the situation.
An eccentric electrician intrudes on the team’s pow-wow. A self-proclaimed “genius coffee-maker repairman.” House deduces him to be a terrible private investigator who wears argyle socks. Lucas aggressively drops in on the investigation and condescendingly provides very valuable information. House’s new friend? He’s quick-witted, egotistical, and very clever. I’m hoping to see him again.
Back to the medicine, House proposes cutting into another (older) patient’s brain to find the cause of the star patient’s completely unknown condition. Fortunately, the old man dies, and he’s wide open for a very productive autopsy and testing.
I’m very happy to have seen the medicine taking precedence over the drama this episode. We’re only twenty minutes in, but I hope I was right about last week being an overly long and dramatic introduction that threw even the rules medical fiction out the window. I love the House-Wilson drama as much as anyone, but that’s definitely not what got me hooked in the first place.
The brain is clean, leaving the team exactly where they began. House maintains that it’s cancer, in the face of everyone’s. Kutner has had so many “brilliant” moments. On his opinion, House decides to perform a colonoscopy on a poor four year old who has to remain conscious during the procedure to tell when it hurts.
House joins Lucas on a stake-out in an ice-cream van. is remarkably insightful.
“One type wants to find out that they’re right, one wants to find out they’re wrong. You want to find out if Wilson’s pining…if he wants to come back.”
The colonoscopy ends up negative, and Kutner plays “House” again. It’s really astounding me how they’ve given all of the good ideas to Kutner and not Thirteen or Taub so far. The team uses the dead patient’s colon to run the test again. The colonoscopy starts to turn south, andhe explodes all over Foreman. Kind of morbid, but it made me giggle.
House tries to coerce the patient into signing an agreement to chemotherapy. Rather, he completely fools her into thinking that chemo will have a placebo effect due to her trust in him. Pretty dirty on his part, but I’m not surprised. Enter: the patient’s relevant insight.
After House asks why she had the transplant in the first place, “Do you think the world would be any different if you’re leg were okay?”
Lucas informs House about Wilson’s recent activity more. He reveals that Cameron has made several visits to his home, Cuddy and Foreman have made several calls to him, he’s been reading meditation books and he’s even infiltrated a weekly group therapy session that Wilson takes part in. Also, he’s never mentioned House once to anyone.
“It’s not cancer,” House finally admits once the patient begins to respond positively to the chemotherapy. “She’s dead unless we can find what’s cancer, but not cancer.”
House pops in at Wilson’s asking for an epiphany. I should’ve deduced that the non-cancer would inevitably lead to Wilson, the oncologist. House admits to hiring a private investigator. He assumes Wilson would take this as a sign of affection, but Wilson rejects him.
“There is a world beyond you. The next time you knock, I’m not answering.”
It’s still heart-breaking to see them this way.
Lucas helps House out with his epiphany as he admits to taking his money and not really spying on Wilson. House dismisses this. A scan of the patient’s brain reveals “brain, but not brain.” Cuddy insists on the cancer treatment to continue, but House is denied brain surgery despite the nice evidence he presents. Security is placed outside the patients room to keep House out.
The patient finally crashes as per House’s prediction…but we see argyle socks exit the room. Apparently, Lucas will do anything if the price is right. Exactly House’s type.
House observes the surgery that he’s indirectly forced Chase to do. Chase realizes House’s presence implies some kind of toying with the patient. Lucas enters and feels guilty at switching the patient’s meds.
“You have no one else so you’re paying someone to listen,” Lucas tells House when he starts explaining the procedure.
House visits the patient. He explains that there were non-brain cells confusing her mind, and her transplant only augmented this.
This episode was an exceptionally big step up from last week. Though I’m a bit biased that I prefer the medicine over House and his foibles, despite how intriguing it can be. This was a nice mix of both. Drama can easily become overbearing, and “Not Cancer” managed to hold together while making progress in all areas. Good show this week. Looks like Lucas will be a recurring character. Should make for some interesting plot swings.
Mike Trevino is a rabid fan of House and The Office and blogs out of San Antonio, TX.
