Family (House)

"Family" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of House, and the sixty-seventh episode overall.

Plot

Wilson prepares a 14-year-old leukemia patient named Nick for a last resort bone-marrow transplant from his younger brother, Matty. However, when his brother sneezes, the team must figure out what is wrong with him before the transplant can occur. With only 5 days left for Nick, the team resorts to worsening Matty's condition to reveal what it is and treat it quickly. While the team wonders between an infection and an autoimmune disease, Matty actually gets seriously sick and starts to bleed out of his ears. Meanwhile, Foreman is busy checking the donor list to provide a riskier but immediate bone marrow donor. House disagrees, saying that Foreman is simply taking the safe route to avoid killing another patient. The first transplant doesn't work, and Nick is dying. House convinces Nick that if he is going to die, he should die, saving Matty. House proposes that if Matty's bone marrow is transplanted into Nick, whatever Matty has will spread and kill Nick, but will tell the team Matty's condition. The boys' parents originally oppose this, but are convinced by Nick to allow the procedure. Before the transplant begins, the team finds out that the younger brother is suffering from a fungal infection known as histoplasmosis. Foreman decides to take bone marrow from Matty in order to save Nick's life. However, since Matty is too sick to be sedated, Foreman removes his marrow without anesthesia -- House applauds the decision, while Foreman realizes he is too much like House for his own good, and tells House he is resigning.

Outside the hospital, House must deal with his new dog, Hector, about whom House does not seem to care. Hector makes a mess in the house, including eating some of House's pills and biting off a piece of House's cane. The doctor tries to get rid of the dog by leaving the door of his apartment open, but Hector just stays inside (though somebody does enter and steals House's stereo). House is forced to return Hector to Wilson, but it seems that House and Hector developed a certain fondness for each other -- even though this seems due to House's attempts to transform the dog into a canine version of himself. When Wilson calls for Hector, he does not respond, but responds when House gives him a Vicodin, probably due to the fact that Hector consumed House's Vicodin previously in the episode. Wilson puts a leash on the dog and leaves with Hector, who is walking with a limp just like House (House deliberately slammed a door on Hector).

Trivia

Hector starts to limp like House at the end of the episode. This is reminiscent of Melvin Udall's adopted dog learning to jump over sidewalk cracks in As Good As It Gets. Interestingly, As Good As It Gets features stars Lisa Edelstein and Peter Jacobsen as diner customers who get insulted off their table by Udall.

When House goes to a store to buy a new cane, he tries a smoking pipe. The smoking pipe is an icon of Sherlock Holmes, on whom House is partially based.

Music

The song featured at the end of the episode is "Ain't No Reason", from the album So Much More by Californian folk/pop singer-songwriter Brett Dennen. It also features "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC when House gets a new cane with flames.

External links

• FOX.com - House official site
• Television Without Pity - House recaps
• House Episode Guide at epguides.com
• TVGuide's Page: Full list of House Episodes
• House M.D. Guide
• Medical Review of "Family"