A female factory supervisor collapses on the job, clutching her chest and foaming at the mouth. The new patient–Sofia–is a 16 year-old emancipated minor who claims that she an orphan who started her professional life early to avoid foster care. Because she’s only 16, the team immediately runs pregnancy and drug tests.
Foreman tries to branch out on his own this episode. After House denying him the opportunity to conduct clinical trials, Foreman tries to prove that he is capable of working two jobs and takes on his own case from Cuddy. The second case involves a 4 year-old boy having abdominal pain and bloody vomit. Eventually hitting a wall, Foreman enlists the help of Cameron and Chase. They seem to enjoy working with Foreman again.
“Don’t you work with three other doctors and a grumpy gimp?”
Wilson comically feigns disinterest in the House/Cuddy situation by denying any counsel to House whatsoever. This appears to frustrate House more than any of the actual advice Wilson could give on the matter.
Kutner’s orphan background draws him close to the patient, only to find during an fMRI that she was lying about her parents’ deaths. She claims that she was raped by her father and her mother tried to pretend that it never happened. Kutner suggests to the others that she might be lying yet again. House orders anti-anxiety meds to treat Sofia for stress, but decides against it when he finds blood in her urine. Thirteen becomes closer to Sofia and tries to coerce her into addressing the issues with her father by pressing charges.
After several inconclusive tests and aimless theories, Foreman is prompted to ask for House’s help after his patient goes into cardiac arrest. Chase warns him that he and Cameron can only help so much. Despite providing valuable input on Sofia’s case, House coldly denies Foreman any help, sarcastically remarking, “But he has you!” Foreman later has a House-like epiphany during a conversation with Cameron, and finds that his patient’s over-protective older brother has been overfeeding him children’s vitamins because he thought they would make him stronger.
After examining her symptoms and suggesting arsenic poisoning as a possible cause, Sofia is placed on chelation therapy to remove all of the poison from her body. Subsequently, she begins seizing and new MRIs reveal multiple lesions on her brain. With a diagnosis of leukemia, House orders that the arsenic be placed back into her system since it was slowing down this particular type of cancer. They all agree that a bone marrow transplant is necessary to keep her alive, as the arsenic is not a cure.
Sofia refuses to call her family for the transplant and Thirteen takes it upon herself to go to her home. She finds that Sofia has stolen another woman’s identity “to protect herself from her parents.” When House hears of her reasoning for stealing another person’s identity to hide, he recognizes this as a defense mechanism and badgers Sofia into admitting what it is she is guilty of. Sofia admits to killing her brother by leaving him alone in the bath, and now finds it impossible to face her parents. He tells her that she can’t fix what happened, but she can help to not make it worse by not killing her parents’ other child. She calls her family and the transplant is a success.
Foreman goes to House once more and tells him that he will be conducting the clinical trials, to which House responds “Okay” without further comment. Foreman is puzzled and House explains that he “can’t say no if it’s not a question.” Wilson walks out of the hospital with House, remarking on how kind it was of him to teach Foreman a lesson. When asked if he wants to talk about Cuddy, House says no.
A perfectly compact episode, which was surprisingly House-lite considering the House/Cuddy story not being tied up last week. The Chase/Cameron/Foreman team up was refreshing. Their relationship contrasts so much with the forced chemistry among House’s current team. Taub’s marriage issues were barely touched earlier in the episode by Thirteen (“Are you surprised I didn’t come to you first for relationship advice?”), and House’s feelings for Cuddy remained unaddressed for the most part, making this a nice, self-contained episode. I was beginning to have my doubts about Foreman’s necessity on the show, but the character is always afforded more opportunities for growth.
Mike Trevino is a rabid fan of House and The Office and blogs out of San Antonio, TX.
