House MD Season 5 Episode 22 Recap

House Divided

As tonights episode of House MD opens, we see a 14 year old deaf wrestler getting ready for a wrestling match. As the match continues, the wrestler is crippled by the sound of loud explosions in his ears. He falls to the mat, grabbing his ears and screaming in agony.

We then see House talking to Amber, who is dead. The alarm goes off and she tells him it's time to wake up. This makes it seem like he was only having a dream. House has been taking sleeping pills and it turns out he sees Amber even when he is wide awake. House is hallucinating, which calls into question just how much of what is going on can be trusted by the viewer.

The wrestler has been deaf since the age of 4 as a complication of meningitis. House suggests that he had a seizure, and orders testing for seizures. Meanwhile, Wilson and Cameron are acting a little strange. Amber asks House why Wilson closed a file folder when he showed up, and why is Wilson so eager to just write House a prescription and be rid of him. It turns out they are planning a bachelor party for Chase.

While Thirteen and Foreman are testing the patient, he loses vision. While talking with Amber, she suggests that House play some music for the patient. Then we see House all pimped out with a boombox blasting Public Enemy's "Fight the Power." Based on the patient's response, House says there is yet another new symptom: Neuropathy.

Foreman suggests that their could be raised ICP levels causing the symptoms. First House shoots his idea down, but when Amber says he is right, House says Foreman is right. Maybe his deafness was not a complication of Meningitis, but a result of MF2 cancer.

Taub explains to the patient that MF2 cancer is a slow progressing cancer, and entirely treatable, but it would cure the deafness. Here's the ethical dilemma. The patient wants to stay deaf. Although tests show slightly elevated ICP levels, there seems to be no indication of cancer.

Meanwhile, Hadley wants in on the bachelor party. House says no. It's for men only. She says if she gets drunk enough she may make out with the stripper, or become one. "Sold!" House/Amber proclaims.

House shows Wilson some scans to compare. 3 year ago vs today. What's different. Wilson says the bending of the ventricle was not there 3 years ago, which does indeed indicate MF2. But they're going to need a brain biopsy.

As Chase prepares to do the biopsy, House discusses a stripper named Karmel with Amber. Then He argues with Chase over giving the patient cochlear implants during the biopsy. After surgery, we see the patient hearing all sorts of noises. His mother is angry and demands the implants be removed. House observes via Amber that the mother does not seem genuinely angry and tells her that she actually wants her son to hear again.

Cuddy argues the ethics of stripping the patient of his deafness and house says that the patient is opting to be handicapped, and the mother is an idiot. House is no longer in charge, Foreman is. Foreman orders tests for Eppstein_Barr.

The Patient wants the implants removed, but his mom would like him to keep them. She says his name, and he asks is that his name? Seth. They hug, and he just bursts forth with great volumes of pee as Taub enters the room.

Next we see House with Hadley, Foreman, Taub, and Amber. They are trying ice cream that turns out to be alcoholic ice cream. Then suddenly, everyone but House and Amber go gray. House asks what just happened. Meanwhile the deaf boy is telling his girlfriend he doesn't want to hear, but she says it's wonderful that he can hear now.

Foreman and House continue to argue over who is in charge, and House says Cuddy doesn't really want you in charge. She just wants to avoid a lawsuit. Then we see that the patient has ripped out his implants. Amber says "we just saved his life." Arrhythmia, house says. Another new symptom.

We see the team gathered, but Amber holds up a lighter. House clears the team of the room. Then we see him practicing setting liquor on fire for the bachelor party. He winds up setting the lab on fire, including a body for autopsy. Amber asks what all the new symptoms have in common, and House says it's heat.

Now, at the bachelor party, House is doing his trick of lighting the drinks on fire. Wilson comes in and yells "House! This is my apartment." House got Wilson to attend after all by hosting it at Wilsons.

While House and Amber sit in the bathtub thinking about the case, Chase goes to do a body shot off of Karmel, the stripper. He licks her and goes into anaphylactic shock from her strawberry body butter. House wonders why, if Amber is just a part of his own brain, would Amber suggest to use Karmel, knowing that she uses strawberry body butter, and knowing that Chase is allergic to strawberries. He doesn't want Cameron, but Amber says he's not a big fan of other people's happiness either.

House gets a call that the patient is getting worse. He has lung failure and does not have MS. They were wrong, but the team is all drunk. Cuddy calls him and says that she needs him to show up because no one is sober. He tells her "Goodnight."

The drunken doctors attend to the patient anyway. There are tobacco stains on his teeth, and that may explain. He used to chew tobacco, and now he doesn't. It's Sarcoidosis.

Cuddy tells House that the team solved the case without him. He says that's good. She asks what is going on. He says that he hasn't slept since Kutner killed himself.

House goes to bed. When he wakes up, he looks in the mirror and smiles, No Amber, but then as he turns around, there she is. House is still hallucinating from his insomnia, and we will have his alter ego characterization of Amber for at least one more episode.

Next week, Do House and Cuddy Kiss?