House: "Joy to the World"
Brandi Kleinert LarsenThere's nothing like the holidays to bring the kissy-face out on House. And because the show's creators are masters at sleight-of-hand, of course the warm embrace didn't come from the couple you'd expect.
We've always really liked how the medical plot links into the emotional plot, but we feel that they did an especially nice job in this episode by tying in Cuddy's adoption ups and downs with a case that seemed the furthest thing from an infant.
Natalie is the main medical case -- she's an overweight teen who collapsed during a school performance. Her liver is failing but they can't get her on a transplant list until they find out exactly what is wrong with her. They have no idea why she continues to faint, have seizures and a racing heart. She's a social outcast at school and the team finds that her schoolmates have given her 'shrooms to "loosen her up."
The mushrooms aren't the cause of her problems. We continue to
see false start after false start. One of her classmates, Simon,
delivers her homework and tells Taub and Kutner that he sold her
bottles of vodka each week. This makes the team think it's an alcohol
addiction that is the root cause. She continues to get worse and they
take the case to Wilson, who thinks it's leukemia and wants to start her
on chemo immediately, but House suggests they test her bone
marrow first. House, who has been trying and failing to be nice, is
trying to save Natalie from additional pain, especially if her organs
are too badly damaged for them to treat.
Wilson had confronted House earlier in the episode about his inability to be nice. House is in a snarly mood, continuing to snap at Cuddy and the rest of the team, even going so far as to bring in a Christmas present for himself. House takes on additional clinic hours to practice being nice to patients but he's pushed to his limits with a woman who doesn't know how to use her inhaler (a very funny moment) followed by a patient who is pregnant but swears both she and her fiancee are virgins. The fiancee returns for a paternity test, and House trying to be nice, lies to the couple and tells them her pregnancy came through partenogensis (when an egg is fertilized without a sperm) even though the test results showed the woman cheated. Cuddy scolds House that he doesn't know the difference between nice and evil.
That's when she realizes that Natalie doesn't have leukemia. She was pregnant and was suffering from eclampsia. Natalie admits that she and Simon had a sexual relationship. She had planned to give the baby up for adoption but instead went into labor while volunteering at a soup kitchen and then gave birth in an abandoned house.
Cuddy goes to the spot Natalie describes and finds the baby has been taken care of by squatters. We'll pause for a second here to say that we think the show stretched reality. While we're thrilled Cuddy will be adopting this baby, we couldn't quite buy the way it was presented.
Cuddy returns to the hospital to find that Natalie has been turned down for a liver transplant and only has a few days to live. Both sets of grandparents decide to place the baby for adoption and Cuddy tells House that she will be adopting the child. House wishes her a merry Christmas and then leaves.
So, if they weren't the couple kissing, who was? Thirteen and Foreman. They've been giving each other the sweet looks and have grown attached to each other throughout the clinical trial. When Thirteen confronts him about his harsh demeanor, he softens his approach because he makes the decision that he is not like House. Their budding relationship was a nice gift for the holiday season.
Which quote was your favorite?
Wilson had confronted House earlier in the episode about his inability to be nice. House is in a snarly mood, continuing to snap at Cuddy and the rest of the team, even going so far as to bring in a Christmas present for himself. House takes on additional clinic hours to practice being nice to patients but he's pushed to his limits with a woman who doesn't know how to use her inhaler (a very funny moment) followed by a patient who is pregnant but swears both she and her fiancee are virgins. The fiancee returns for a paternity test, and House trying to be nice, lies to the couple and tells them her pregnancy came through partenogensis (when an egg is fertilized without a sperm) even though the test results showed the woman cheated. Cuddy scolds House that he doesn't know the difference between nice and evil.
That's when she realizes that Natalie doesn't have leukemia. She was pregnant and was suffering from eclampsia. Natalie admits that she and Simon had a sexual relationship. She had planned to give the baby up for adoption but instead went into labor while volunteering at a soup kitchen and then gave birth in an abandoned house.
Cuddy goes to the spot Natalie describes and finds the baby has been taken care of by squatters. We'll pause for a second here to say that we think the show stretched reality. While we're thrilled Cuddy will be adopting this baby, we couldn't quite buy the way it was presented.
Cuddy returns to the hospital to find that Natalie has been turned down for a liver transplant and only has a few days to live. Both sets of grandparents decide to place the baby for adoption and Cuddy tells House that she will be adopting the child. House wishes her a merry Christmas and then leaves.
So, if they weren't the couple kissing, who was? Thirteen and Foreman. They've been giving each other the sweet looks and have grown attached to each other throughout the clinical trial. When Thirteen confronts him about his harsh demeanor, he softens his approach because he makes the decision that he is not like House. Their budding relationship was a nice gift for the holiday season.
Which quote was your favorite?
- Poisonous mushrooms and hallucinogenic mushrooms are very different.
- I was good at school, good at work, lousy at life.
- With or without these drugs, I don't have a long time to live. I'm not going to spend it being his guinea pig.
- I think we got our diagnosis: our little girl's a drunk.
- Too bad you couldn't just be nice to people. You could get a real present that way.