"House" Season 8, episode 3, "Charity Case" aired on Oct. 17.
Quick Recap
Patient: Benjamin (Wentworth Miller)
Symptoms: Collapse, trembling, irregular heartbeat and severe generosity.
Diagnosis: Plummer's disease
Side stories: House attempts to get Thirteen to rejoin his team. Dr. Adams joins the team and causes conflict with Dr. Park. House attempts to get the millionaire patient to fund the return of the rest of his team but can't because it's a symptom. Wilson nearly takes a kidney from the patient for one of his patients, but the donor has heart irregularities just before surgery thanks to House.
Full Summary
"Charity Case" opens with a man talking with a job center worker. The man vanishes leaving an envelope at her feet. She opens it to find a check for $1 million to the clinic. She chases after the man and he collapses in the street.
Dr. Chi Park presents the case to House but feels the patient is just dehydrated. House disagrees and they return to his office where Dr. Adams is waiting. House tricks her into volunteering on his team until she finds a job. After some argument over what might be the problem, House orders an array of tests. The patient explains to them just how much he gives to charity, and that his wife left him as a result.
Chi and Adams argue over whether the patient's generosity is a symptom or not. Foreman interrupts and reveals why House wanted the case in the first place -- he wants to get money from the patient to fund the return of Chase, Taub and Thirteen. Foreman says that there's no evidence Chi isn't right about the patient being dehydrated. He orders the patient discharged. Chi points out that clearly the extreme generosity is a mental symptom and Foreman points out that House can't take his money if it is. House agrees the patient should be released as a result.
House runs into Thirteen in the lobby. She asks him to stop calling her because she won't come back to the team. She has found a girlfriend and is moving out to the country to enjoy what time she has left. Adams and Chi go to discharge the patient, but Chi does one more test hoping to prove he isn't just a good guy, he's sick. As she finishes, the patient suffers tachycardia, meaning his heart rate becomes rapid. They tell House and Adams gives Chi a free coffee -- she refuses to take money and Chi seems uncomfortable with the charity. They stabilize the patient but obviously he can no longer go home. House visits him and within minutes he's offered a million dollars. Now sure the generosity is a symptom, House seeks Wilson's approval to take the money. Wilson, of course, says it would be wrong.
They settle on treating the patient with antivirals and he appears cured. Chi and Adams continue to disagree about whether or not the generosity is a symptom. Adams gives Chi a pair of expensive shoes to further explore her inability to accept charity. Chi gets her a job interview in return, so Adams ups the ante by getting Chi a spa certificate. House suggests she go further, as Chi can top a spa session.
That evening House tricks Thirteen into helping him fix his computer and gets her to come in and bring him dinner. The next day House runs into Wilson who explains House's patient has volunteered to donate a kidney to one of his dying patients. House says it's wrong to take the kidney because the generosity is a symptom. Foreman is pulled in to settle the argument and he feels the patient is cured. He approves the kidney donation. House has Chi do a test to confirm the patient has what they think he does before Wilson takes his kidney. The test fails.
As Wilson is preparing to take the patient's kidney, his heart rate suddenly becomes unstable and the surgery is called off. Foreman busts into House's office and kicks him off the case because he knows House did something to make the patient's heart rate go off to keep his case. After Foreman leaves, House admits he dosed the patient. He then calls Thirteen and has her come in and pretend to be in need of a kidney. She talks to the patient and he agrees to give her his other kidney, leaving him on dialysis for a few years before dying.
This convinces Foreman to let House keep the case. Wilson says his patient who needed the kidney has died. House has his eureka moment during their conversation and realizes the patient has Plummer's disease. They treat him and he refuses to give House money for his team.
Adams pays $45,000 to fix Chi's car, and Chi finally just says thank you and accepts the charity. A moment later they show her telling House it worked, she got her car fixed. House then goes into the lobby and sees Thirteen happy with her girlfriend. He calls her over and fires her so that she will go and be happy, rather than staying on his team out of guilt. She says good-bye and leaves.
This episode was a bit dull and almost had a run-of-the-mill feel because it followed the basic format of hundreds of episodes in the series. The good-bye to Thirteen was weakly done and seemed forced. They did leave it open for her to come back from time to time if desired, but it seems she is gone from the show for now. While the first two episodes of Season 8 were promising, this one dropped the ball.
If you missed last week's episode "Transplant" you can read a full summary and recap here.
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