House: Unfaithful – Jesus, Black Toes, and Love Delayed

Serena Mercay
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Doing God’s work sucks unless you have your faith to keep you entertained. It’s clear from the resentful way he cleans, fetches a jacket for the freezing bum, and gets his booze on that this priest is just not that into the Lord anymore. And what happens when a priest loses his faith? Why, Jesus shows up in full-on stigmata mode to get his attention, of course! Being the unfaithful man of God he is, he assumes it’s a hallucination rather than a visit from the son of the big guy.

During his stay at Princeton Plainsboro, the priest blathers about his doubts in God. It all stems from a past incident where a teenage boy claimed he’d been diddled. Priest got shipped off like a shamed and deflowered teen in the 50’s. Claiming innocence, he lost his faith because he couldn’t rationalize God’s purpose for this plight. Misgivings about God make House giddy. He forms a strange bond with the priest, eating and chatting together like old chums. Chums who share a distaste for all things holy and a knack for causing disgust in others.

When the team assumes the priest has AIDS, Taub decides to find the priest’s accuser. The kid doesn’t seem bothered by the news for his own sake but is concerned about how the priest is doing. He ends up coming to visit and kneeling down, apologizing profusely. Verdict: priest is definitely not a pedophile.

Following a barrage of incorrect diagnoses and a little toe necrosis, the patient is diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome. The priest swore his faith was dead but when told he’s going to be alright, he falls back into old habits, wondering if all the coincidences that brought him to that point were really God’s handiwork. He cites Einstein: “Coincidences are God’s way of remaining anonymous.”

So did reliably atheistic House scratch “hallucinations” off the list and say “we can’t know everything” because he thinks the priest may have really gotten a visit from a levitating and recently crucified Jesus? He claims the vision was caused by alcohol, but how many of us hallucinate the presence of deities after a couple shots of whiskey?

House took on the diagnosis of the priest (deeming it a “fake case”) because the team was broken and he blamed Foreteen. He gave them until the final diagnosis to either split as a couple or quit the job. The possibility of either of those options made me so delighted that, if I wasn’t wholly incapable of physical coordination, I would have done a cartwheel.

Foreman decides that he’ll quit but Cuddy won’t give him a recommendation. Who would? He unethically (and stupidly) switched out Thirteen’s meds. Worse than that, he tattled on himself when it wasn’t necessary. Thirteen decides she’ll quit since getting another job would be easy for her. Foreman takes this as an assault on his manhood or something, reacting with a pointed bisexual joke. They break up in front of House and bicker at every given moment. In the end, Thirteen comes home, does a little theatrical bow, and straddles Foreman. It was all a ruse so they could keep their jobs and stay together. Maybe this veiled secret will make their relationship a little less like a visit from the sedative fairy.

This week continued the saga of Huddy: Will They or Won’t They? Cuddy is throwing a Jewish baby-naming ceremony for Rachel and invites House to make sure he won’t come. After figuring out the invite was insincere, House is determined to accept just to spoil her subterfuge. Wilson, being the resident expert on emotional intent, tells House he secretly wants to go to be a part of the baby’s life. Sidebar: I also hate it when they put the mushrooms under the cheese.

Upon hearing about House curing the priest, Cuddy makes it clear to Wilson that she has changed her mind about keeping House away. Who can blame her? Guys who save lives, despite any other personality flaws, are hot. As Huddy wait to leave the hospital, they have a moment where she takes a breath, preparing to re-invite him, and he looks at her expectantly. In the end, they both chicken out. Instead, he plays piano alone (with a tune that is clearly about Cuddy, complete with longing and a moment of Jewish-flavored melody). She greets people at the door, looking a little disappointed each time the guest is not House.

“I am incapable of acting like a human being.” -House

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 1:54 pmand is filed under House M.D.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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