Hugh Laurie stars as acerbic but brilliant New
Jersey medic Dr Gregory House in the fourth

series of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning
medical drama. In this episode, House is recruited
by the CIA to treat one of their agents in a secret
facility. Meanwhile, Foreman has trouble
managing the applicants in their efforts to treat a
racing driver who collapsed following a race.
House is just about to begin running his latest
case when a mysterious man appears and takes
him to one side. To House’s bemusement, the
man claims to be from the CIA and says that he
needs his help with a highly sensitive case. “One
of our employees just returned from assignment
sick. We believe he may be the victim of an
assassination attempt,” he says.
The temperamental medic only believes the
man’s story when he is ushered aboard a waiting
helicopter. House is flown to a top-secret location
where he meets the physician in charge of the case, Dr Samira Terzi (Michael Michele, ‘ER’, ‘Ali’), and an immunologist called Dr Curtis(Holmes Osborne, ‘Donnie Darko’), who has also been called in to help.
The patient in question goes by the false name of ‘John’ and House and Curtis are told nothing about his history apart from the fact he has been working in Bolivia. John is losing weight at an alarming rate and his skin is blistering. Seeing that John’s chart records his fondness for horse chestnuts, Curtis suggests he has horse-chestnut
poisoning. House scoffs at the idea and proposes pancreatitis, only for Curtis to trump him with radiation poisoning. John is treated for radiation exposure and begins to improve – only for House to reveal he
countermanded Curtis’s orders and started him on a treatment for pancreatitis. However, House’s satisfied smile is wiped from his face when John slips into a coma. House then offers a new theory: John has a rare type of cancer, which would mean that he was not in fact the target of an assassination attempt. As House and Curtis squabble, Terzi elects to follow House’s advice, only for a worrying new symptom to suggest that radiation poisoning is to blame after all. Has
House been wrong all along?
Back at the hospital, Foreman and the applicants try to diagnose Casey Alfonso, a young female drag racer who collapsed after a race. Foreman initially diagnoses a simple case of heatstroke, until the patient shows decreased reflexes. Alarmed by her symptoms, Casey refuses further treatment from Foreman. “You obviously don’t have a clue what you’re doing,” she says. The applicants would appear to agree, as they challenge each of Foreman’s subsequent diagnoses.
Foreman is especially angry to learn that while he is treating Casey for one condition, Amber and Taub have gone behind his back and treated her for another. When Casey develops paralysis in her legs, the team returns to the whiteboard to bicker over the possible causes. Foreman blames the team’s inability to work together on House’s competitive system. “He created a nasty little cutthroat world, planted you in it and is watching you play – and none of it works for anyone except him,” he says.
Another of the applicants, Brennan, then invites ridicule when he suggests that Casey has polio, which has not been seen in the US for over 20 years. Kicked off the case by Foreman, he refuses to give up and runs tests which confirm his diagnosis. Foreman allows Brennan to treat Casey with an infusion of vitamin C, which studies have suggested may cure polio. Incredibly, the treatment works, and the applicants celebrate their success. But Foreman suspects something is amiss. Can he restore a little dignity by solving the case once and for all?