Allison Cameron

Allison Cameron, M.D. is a fictional character, portrayed by Jennifer Morrison, on the American medical drama House.

Character

Template:Spoiler Dr. Cameron is a member of Dr. Gregory House's team of handpicked specialists at the fictional Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital (PPTH), Department of Diagnostic Medicine. She is an immunologist and was hired by House six months prior to the pilot episode (implied in the un-aired version of the pilot). Prior to working at PPTH, she was a medical intern at the Mayo Clinic and was one of the top students in her class in medical school. She is currently working for House under a medical fellowship, along with Drs. Chase and Foreman.

Cameron is the most empathetic member of House's team and possesses the best bedside manner. She is also known for her honesty, sincerity and possesses a strong moral and ethical character. Cameron is hesitant at times to do House's bidding in which she is required to lie or deceive their patients and has gone head-to-head with her boss before on several occasions on the issue. She has even refused House outright increasingly in the second season which contradicts her penchant to bend over backwards for him.

Biography

Despite her kind and earnest nature, Cameron has undergone extremely traumatic experiences in her life. According to a conversation between her and House (1.07, "Fidelity"), she fell in love and got married when she was twenty-one. However, the marriage lasted six months ending with her husband's death due to thyroid cancer that had metastasized to his brain. She also revealed to Wilson that she had met her husband briefly after he was diagnosed and that if they hadn't married, "he was alone". (2.01, "Acceptance")

In "Hunting" (2.07), a man infected with HIV coughed blood into her mouth and eyes, putting her potentially at risk for contracting the disease. He suggested to her that she should enjoy life and experimentation a little more, causing her to take crystal meth and have a one-night stand with her co-worker, Dr. Robert Chase.

Cameron and Dr. Foreman's friendship became strained after she accused the latter of stealing her idea for an article in a medical journal. Her frustration and anger was further exacerbated by her peers' indifference (especially House's) to the entire affair. She eventually confronted Foreman and apologized for the angry way she had treated him, though, claiming she didn't want to damage their friendship. Foreman replied by telling her that their relationship was purely professional, and they were by no means "friends."

However, in a later story (2.20 & 2.21, "Euphoria" -- Parts I & II) when Foreman was dying from an unknown disease, he apologized for his prior actions (including exposing Cameron to the disease on purpose which led her to go to the patient's house in an effort to find the source despite it being declared off-limits several times by House). Although Cameron didn't accept his apology initially (fearing it was a knee-jerk reaction to his impending death rather than one made in sincerity), she did before he was put into a chemically-induced coma. Foreman also named her his medical proxy while he was incapacitated, giving her the right to allow a white-matter brain biopsy to be performed on him, despite House's vehement objections.

Relationship with House

Her emerging feelings for her boss can be seen as early as "Damned If You Do" (1.5), where she showed extreme trust in House's leadership to the team and gave a Christmas gift to him towards the end of the episode. She was also one of the few who acknowledged his birthday. However, the episode where this becomes extremely clear is the episode "Control" (1.14), in which she asked House as to whether he liked her. House replied, "No."

The Cameron-House relationship would play across several episodes, finally resulting in House agreeing to take her out on a date as a plea for her to return to work after the dismissal of hospital board chairman, Edward Vogler, from PPTH. The date did not go well though, as Cameron learnt from attempting to gain an insight as to what her emotionally crippled boss felt about her (by using Freud). House responded by saying:

"You live under the delusion that you can fix everything that isn’t perfect. That’s why you married a man who was dying of cancer. You don’t love, you need. And now that your husband is dead, you’re looking for your new charity case. That’s why you’re going out with me. I’m twice your age, I’m not great looking, I’m not charming, I’m not even nice. What I am is what you need. I’m damaged." (1.20, "Love Hurts")

Cameron would later approach Dr. House in the latter half of the first season finalé (1.22, "The Honeymoon") as he was observing his old flame, Stacy Warner with her husband and acknowledged his rejection by responding:

"I thought you were too screwed up to love anyone. I was wrong. You just couldn't love me. It's okay. I'm happy for you."

Indeed, the return of House's former girlfriend has caused the relationship between House and Cameron to be placed in the back burner for the rest of the first season and half of the second season. While it is clear that Cameron still harbors some feelings for House (and possibly vice-versa), the future is still uncertain for the two characters despite a few "tease scenes" by the producers.

Trivia

• In the pilot episode, Cameron mentions that she has a criminal record.

• She once mentioned to House that she was not an only child (1.02, "Paternity").

• There have been theories that she might have lost a child once, as a result of her behaviour in "Maternity" (1.04). In fact, House took it upon himself to violate her privacy and pull her medical history (1.07, "Fidelity"). Though there was no note that she had ever been pregnant, some still believe the contrary.

• Cameron is the only regular character that hasn't been in every episode of the show to date. She was missing primarily in "Babies and Bathwater" (1.18), stemming from her resignation from the hospital.

• She hates sports metaphors (1.08, "Poison", 1.17, "Role Model").

• Cameron is admittedly pro-life having once asked House in a private moment between the two if he would give up a baby to save a loved one. While House was of the opinion that it depended on the prognosis of the latter, she quietly replied that she "couldn't do it" and that she didn't have to "be religious to believe a fetus is a life" in response to House's assumption that she had "found religion". (1.12, "Sports Medicine")

• She revealed to Dr. Wilson that she was once in love with her late husband's best friend, Joe, but never acted on her feelings. (2.06, "Spin")

• She was invited to move to Africa by Dr. Sebastian Charles (Ron Livingston) (a world-renowned activist, a fellow immunologist and patient) and then later, on a date, in "TB or Not TB" (2.04). Cameron confided in Chase who expressed his doubt that she would go out with Dr. Charles despite their mutual attraction, simply because he wasn't House. At the end of the episode, she declined both offers.

• Cameron is the only member of House's department thus far to meet his parents, John and Blythe, when they stopped by to see him. The latter invited her to come along for a drink with them but she declined. House would later thank Cameron for doing so, and then went on to compare her to his father whom he has issues with saying they both possessed an "insane moral compass" and that it was a "crappy quality for a dad". (2.05, "Daddy's Boy")

• House told her he loved her out of the blue in order to make her to take her final HIV test. Her mouth dropped open in shock and he quickly swabbed the inside of her cheek, and told her that she would get the results the day after. By the end of the episode, Cameron finds out that House had actually opened her test results before she had a chance to find out herself. (2.11, "Need to Know").

See also

• Dr. Gregory House
• Dr. Robert Chase
• Dr. Lisa Cuddy
• Dr. Eric Foreman
• Dr. James Wilson