A cold open with the future patient already unconscious? The paramedics break in, and he punches one in the face as he’s being carted away in a gurney and then flees back into his home. The agoraphobic patient plotline makes for some great introspection for most of the characters, and this episode is very much Cameron’s. Jennifer Morrison has been missed.
Upon reviewing his record, Stuart has been diagnosed with agoraphobia and has an intense fear of leaving his home and is not very trusting of anyone who enters. Cameron identifies the trigger as being a mugging that lead to his girlfriend and himself being shot, resulting in her death.
“Anyone can hate humanity after being shot. It takes a big man to hate it beforehand.”
Cameron and Stuart have a bit of a history, and at first she is the only member of the team he is comfortable with. A history of seizures prompts Foreman to suggest an EEG to locate the source the abnormality. They are forced to make due with whatever diagnostic tests they can perform in Stuart’s home.
Cuddy and House are recuperating from the previous night’s surprise make-out session. While Cuddy at first tries to arrange dinner to discuss it, they eventually both rationalize the situation in similar ways, with Wilson acting as a mediator of sorts. Wilson feels so strongly that they should be together, that at one point he feigns feelings for Cuddy to try to spark jealousy from House. Cuddy, however, is completely aware of the ruse, and I breathed a sigh of relief as a potential love triangle was dodged entirely.
Stuart begins to complain of abdominal pain, prompting the need for a colonoscopy and biopsy of his lower bowel. To comfort him, House tells him that the surgical team will be brought in and perform the biopsy in his home. Once he is anesthetized, however, House has Chase bring him into the hospital. Stuart wakes up just prior to the procedure and Cameron is forced to tell him what they’ve done. Inevitably, a lawyer is called and Cuddy removes the entire team from the case.
The procedures are eventually performed in Stuart’s home after Cameron regains his trust, albeit under his lawyer’s supervision.
“Do you want to see if your client is actually made of money?”
Stuart is prematurely diagnosed with Whipple’s disease after the biopsy, but soon afterwards he finds that he can’t feel his legs. Following inconclusive wheat allergy tests and an upper endoscopy, his condition worsens and Taub is forced to install a temporary external pacemaker to keep him alive. House figures his cleaning habits are the cause. Stuart’s combination of ammonia and bleach in scrubbing his bathtub produce chlorine gas, which is highly poisonous. Despite the treatment, Stuart continues to deteriorate.
Upon reexamining the earlier x-rays, House discovers shrapnel behind Stuart’s hip. He slices open his hip and removes the shrapnel, explaining that the shooter from the mugging used hollow point bullets and the doctors neglected to remove all shards, resulting in lead poisoning.
Stuart’s agoraphobia is representative of several relationships in this episode. After a proper browbeating by House, Stuart leaves his home later on to defeat his own unhappiness. There is a subplot involving Chase feeling excluded from his and Cameron’s relationship, but in the end she welcomes him properly into her home by “cleaning out a large drawer” for him in her apartment. There is also a very minor plot featuring Taub and his failing marriage. It’s impressive how they’ve managed to turn him into such a sympathetic character this episode despite most of his personal drama taking place off screen.
The major subplot of “The Itch,” however, is left dangling. The title is a reference to a mosquito bite House has on his hand, and that Wilson tells him is psychological as it only seems to bother him when he mentions Cuddy. In the end, House goes to Cuddy’s home. During the Chase/Cameron/Taub/Stuart montage, there are shots of him gazing at her longingly through her window, but he ultimately turns around and leaves. This is actually a satisfying conclusion to what I anticipated to be a tasteless storyline if indeed it has concluded. A very, very well done episode this week and nice characterizations all around.
Mike Trevino is a rabid fan of House and The Office blogs out of San Antonio, TX.
