Meaning (House episode)

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House episode
"Meaning"

Episode no.	HOU-301
Airdate	September 5, 2006
Writer(s)	Lawrence Kaplow & David Shore (teleplay) Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner & Lawrence Kaplow & David Shore (story)
Director(s)	Deran Sarafian
Guest star(s)	Kathleen Quinlan as Arlene, Edward Edwards as Richard, Carter Jenkins as Mark, Clare Kramer as Caren, Terry Rhoads as Artie, Eamon Hunt as Surgeon, Remy Thorne as Kid, Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse
House Season 3 September 2006 - May 2007
Meaning Cane and Able Informed Consent Lines in the Sand Fools for Love Que Sera Sera Son of Coma Guy Whac-A-Mole Finding Judas Merry Little Christmas Words and Deeds One Day, One Room Needle in a Haystack Insensitive Half-Wit Top Secret Fetal Position Airborne
All House episodes

Meaning is the first episode of the third season of House and the forty-seventh episode overall.

1 Plot Overview
2 Arc Advancement
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot Overview

House has recovered from multiple gunshot wounds and is back at work, taking on two cases simultaneously: Richard, paralyzed after brain cancer surgery eight years ago, who drove himself on his motorized wheelchair headfirst into a swimming pool; and Caren, a young woman paralyzed from the neck down after a yoga session. As House begins to diagnose and treat them, the team notices a distinct change in his attitude toward the patients, and Cameron even catches Richard's wife thanking House for his sensitivity to her husband's situation. House suspects that Richard could possibly walk again, but he has no specific medical proof to back up his hunch and the various treatment avenues he pursues lead nowhere. Cameron and Foreman refuse to indulge House and his theories, which they feel he is pursuing merely to make the case interesting for himself. Cuddy and Wilson also are convinced House is creating a mystery out of Richard's case to cure his own boredom, but he denies it and becomes more frustrated when his theories do not point to a cure for Richard, forcing House to face an unpleasant truth. At the end, we see House forging a prescription with Wilson's pad which signals that the pain is returning.

[edit] Diagnoses

Richard McNeil: House orders an upper endoscopic ultrasound, Foreman objects that his throat will collapse; it does, and the patient almost dies. Then House orders an MRI scan of the brain, and Foreman tells him that it will cause a bleed into Richard's brain. Again Foreman's predictions hold true, and, once again, the patient almost dies. House comes up with the theory that Richard has Addison's disease. However, Cuddy refuses to follow through with treatment because of the risks (and she also claims she is trying to teach House "A lesson in humility"). At the end of the episode, she follows the family to the elevator and McNeil's disease is relieved by cortisol (although House is not told that his theory worked).

Caren: House decides Caren is faking the paralysis, and proves it by burning her foot, and observing that she moves her foot in reflex. He also decides she is faking the shortness of breath and, to prove it, he first threatens to stick a huge needle in her chest and then he does it. From that, he learns that blood is building up around her heart. House insists on opening her up to find the tumor he then thinks must be there. But, at the surgery, he notices a discolored toenail. He diagnoses her with scurvy, which he cures with orange juice.

[edit] Medical Terms

[edit] Clinic Patients

None on this episode.

[edit] Arc Advancement

[edit] Happenings

Wilson counsels House on connecting emotionally with people, and on the healthy way of experiencing other's gratitude or affection. He says those emotional pathways atrophied, just like his leg, and using them again will, again like his leg, bring them slowly back. Cuddy feels concerned about this newfound emotional connection destroying his judgement. She tells House he enters her office "24 times a year" (which happens to be the number of episodes in a season) with a scientific description and a crazy metaphor explaining some good, if statistically unlikely, reason for one of his crazy treatments, but notes no scientific background this time around.

[edit] Characters

House and Cameron: House asked Cameron out on a date throwing her off. She declined his invitation citing a list of reasons. Amused, he declared her to be "full of crap" and accused her of only being interested in him when he was still a "sick puppy". Cameron, in response, replied that he was still "not healthy".

[edit] Self References

"You Can't Always Get What You Want" is played at the end of this episode. The same song was played at the end of the "Pilot" of the series and at the end of episode 22, "Honeymoon," the season one finale.
The title refers to the title of the previous season finale, "No Reason".

[edit] Trivia

[edit] The Show

At the end of the episode, Cuddy administers cortisol to Richard, saying "It fights infection". Cortisol actually supresses the immune system, but this is clearly a deliberate lie.

[edit] Behind the Scenes

[edit] Allusions and References

Stephen Hawking: In the beginning of the episode, after House jogs into Dr. Cuddy's office, House wonders why "Stephen Hawking would try the 500 butterfly." Stephen Hawking is a quadriplegic due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

[edit] Memorable Moments

[edit] Quotes

Cuddy: "Why did you?"
House: "Why does a dog lick its workplace-acceptable euphemism for testicles?"

House: "Oh, I stuck that primo! How rad am I?"

Cameron: "You're lucky he didn't die."
House: "I'm lucky? He's the one who didn't die."

[edit] Music

Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz: House jogs in the park.
You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones: Wilson warns Cuddy not to tell House what happened with Richard. The song is also featured in the "Pilot" and "Honeymoon".

[edit] References

[edit] External links

House

Episode list | Awards | Soundtrack

Cast and crew

Characters

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Category: House (TV series) episodes