House Fodder

House: The Jerk

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House Episode 3-23 – The Jerk

Airdate May 15, 2007

This is a capsule review – it will be replaced soon by a full review.

The Hook:

A teen-age boy plays tournament speed-chess against an adult opponent. They play rapidly, slapping the clock after each move. Finally the opponent realizes his defeat and rises, offering his hand in congratulations – “Good game.” The boy begins to rise, grimaces, then snatches the clock and brains his opponent with it. A tournament official rushes to the fallen man and yells for somebody to call an ambulance. “Call two,” says another official. The boy has fallen as well, holding his head and yelling “My head’s going to explode!”

House and company try to solve the mystery of the 16-year old chess whiz, Nate, who is having blinding headaches with no discernable cause. The boy is obnoxious, almost as obnoxious as House, and rapidly demonstrates just how obnoxious he can be with every doctor that tries to treat him. His mother, Enid, says he’s been that way since reaching puberty, and feels guilty at her own relief when told that his personality may improve when the root cause of his symptoms is found and treated. As treatment after treatment is tried and discarded, Nate’s condition worsens and his kidneys shut down (doesn’t this seem to happen every week?). House employs chess as a diagnostic tool, trying to beat Nate at his own game, and at first seeming to do so, only to have to concede when Nate produces a brilliant end-game. At last the cause is found. Nate cannot metabolize iron properly and the build-up in his blood is driving the symptoms. Nate can be cured by regular blood cleaning. The bad news for Nate is that he’ll have to do this for the rest of his life. The bad news for Enid is that obnoxiousness is Nate’s regular personality – not a symptom. Maybe he’ll grow out of it. Somebody probably told House’s mom the same thing.

In a sub-plot, somebody sabotages Foreman’s job interview at a big New York hospital by calling up and telling them he wanted to cancel. Foreman thinks it’s House. House denies it and accuses Cuddy. Cuddy denies it and seeks out Wilson. Wilson denies it and thinks Cameron did it. Cameron denies it and accuses Chase. Chase denies it and says ‘oh, by the way, it’s Tuesday and time for my bit of slow-speed serial stalking’. Cameron says ‘better luck next week’. Chase finally reasons that it had to be House, who, confronted with Chase’s psychological analysis, finally admits it and observes ‘that kind of thinking is why I hired you.’

- Cecil
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Week After Next:
The case starts at sea with a couple caught in a storm on a small boat. Once again a unique case challenges the House team.
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Prev Episode: 3-22 Resignation May 8, 2008
Next Episode: 3-24 Human Error (Season Finale) in two weeks, May 29, 2007

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Guest Cast Ep. 3-23, "The Jerk" Aired 5/15/2007

Nate ___________________Nick Lane
Enid___________________Colleen Flynn
Doug__________________David Bowe
Mark__________________Dustin Joiner