House: Family is Family

Maybe it’s just me, but this week’s episode of House seemed like it had more to do with the various character subplots than the overall big medical mystery. That’s really not such a bad thing. For starters, Foreman’s older brother is released from jail and this is just the sort of drama House lives for. And secondly, someone is messing around with House and Wilson. Now who could possibly have a grudge against such fine doctors, especially dear innocent House? Yes, that was the sound of the sarcasm meter whistling you just heard.

The medical case wasn’t completely shunted aside, though. Daryl Bartlett is a college football player whose big opportunity is coming up when scouts attend his next game. Strangely enough, though, he completely loses it during practice and ends up tackling another player before turning on himself and knocking his helmet repeatedly on his head. Of course, when the team is presented with a case involving a sports player, steroids are always the first suspect. And as it always happens, steroids are almost immediately ruled out. The team is now convinced that all of Daryl’s symptoms point towards cancer, but where is this tricky cancer hiding out?

The culprit this week is melanoma – skin cancer that’s been hiding out on Daryl’s foot.  Although the cancer is treatable, Daryl has still missed out on his chance to be scouted and now his future is left hanging. Sports players, take heed of this warning and always have a back-up plan in case the dream doesn’t come true!

In Foreman World, his estranged brother Marcus has just been released from jail and is eager to reconnect. For his own reasons, Foreman resists but House cannot let such a good opportunity pass and chastises Foreman. “Family is family!” he quips as he hires Marcus as his assistant. We all know House doesn’t need an assistant – he just wants to piss off Foreman and dig up some dirt. And dirt he does dig up, but Marcus defends his brother and quits the job. So Foreman goes running back to his brother, they reconcile, and wouldn’t you know it’s all thanks to House!

The importance of family is tested once again when a soldier comes to visit House. He is being redeployed to the Middle East even though his contract with the military has expired and he needs House to give him a medical excuse to not return to war. His wife is expecting their first child and he just wants to be a dad. House says there’s nothing he can do for him and tells the soldier to either flee to Canada or shoot himself in the foot. Apparently, option #2 seemed more… appealing …. and that’s exactly what he does. The soldier allows his foot to become infected by the bullet wound so that it has to be amputated. I found this subplot to be extremely powerful – more so than anything else in the episode.

But of course, no episode is complete without some Wilson and House shenanigans. First, someone puts an angry possum into Wilson’s bathroom. Wilson is convinced House pulled it as a prank to get him back for not letting him use the bathtub. House denies ever doing such a thing, but let’s face it, it’s hard to believe that. House thinks Wilson has retaliated when the handicap bar near the tub is partially unscrewed and causes House to fall over. And again, Wilson denies any involvement. But now it becomes clear neither man is involved in these schemes when the fire sprinklers go off. “You would never sacrifice the flat screen!” Wilson exclaimed to House and it’s only too true.

Now who would be clever and tricky enough to sneak into the apartment and set up such highly thought out contraptions? Why it’s Cuddy’s boyfriend, P.I. Lucas! Lucas is angry that Wilson and House went and bought Cuddy’s dream condo right out from under their noses. I was wondering when this storyline would come back to haunt the duo! Lucas accuses them of being awful friends and goes off to find Cuddy. We’ll get much more from Cuddy next week when the top woman at Princeton Plainsboro gets her own episode!

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Brotherly Love by Cameron Cubbison.

Season 6, Episode 12: Moving the Chains (originally aired February 1, 2010)

For more on House, click here.

Tuesdays 8/7c on FOX

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and IMDbPro