Charity Case Episode Review

Honey, I'm House! We're back to the old Housian feeling of past seasons, but with a fresh sense of the re-born rather than the re-cycled. The case centres around a man who seems to suffer (as House immediately refuses to believe it could be anything but a symptom) of extreme altruism. His generosity surpasses a rational sense of giving. His ambivalence towards his family, in the sense that he loves them and yet does not elevate them above other human beings, proposed a strange paradox in terms of caring. House of course jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of the man's disproportionate sense of generosity, but interestingly, not for his own use, per se, but in order to get his team back.

When Thirteen begins to con the patient into giving her a kidney in order to analyse his mental state, he immediately agrees despite the fact that it will kill him. Adams, Foreman and Wilson believed that the man was not sick and had the mental capacity to agree to the first kidney donation, so this proves just how wrong they were (as well as revealing more of the "true" perspective to us). It also goes to show just how much perspectives differ in terms of looking at humanity. House, Thirteen and Chi, who are the skeptics and realists, see this need to be extremely charitable as part of a disease. We see both a rosy and dark version of the issue. I'm more of a realist and this IS House, so I'm glad dark wins. However it is a happy ending as the man is cured and although he will continue giving, he gets his family back. And House can once again say: I was right.

So we go from the POTW who cannot stop giving charity to Chi who refuses to accept any. I thought the banter between Adams and Chi was superbly written, especially in the locker room where the shoes were involved:

Chi: "You want me to return these, give them to someone, wear them while you masturbate?"
...
Chi: "You do know I punched the last person that pissed me off"
Adams: "Was it Santa?"

Chi's refusal comes from principle, which is great because it doesn't stop her from helping House con Adams into a one upmanship in order to get his car fixed. It's a win-win-win, as Adams thinks she's beat Chi, Chi has actually beaten Adams, and House gets what he wants. I think having Chi as House's ally is great, especially as she doesn't let him walk all over her. Adams does prove that she is not a wallflower either as her charity is not in the realms of generosity in this case, however both her and Thirteen are working for free, hence another aspect of charity.

I thought House's scenes with Thirteen were true to both their natures and beautifully written. His selfishness was overcome when he realised just how happy she was and that it was an innate sense of guilt that was keeping her in the hospital working as a doctor. So the last (veiled) act of charity is letting her go. I'm really sad to see Thirteen leave as she has such an interesting presence on the team and has evolved so much.

On a happier note, we also see a little bit of the clinic, which many of us have enjoyed a lot in the past, often seeing House humiliating his patients. So let's hope for more to come!