House Episode Recap: "The Jerk" 5-15-07

The show starts out with a chess competition turned ugly. Nate Harrison, the focus of this episode, is apparently not too good of a sport. Nate mocks the opponents moves, and wins the game. His opponent offers him a congratulations, while Nate's breathing turns heavy. The chess clock is his weapon of choice, and he clubs his opponent mercilessly in the face. Something is obviously wrong with Nate while he is being restrained and holding his own head in pain.

While being examined at the hospital, Nate continues with his sarcastic attitude. They diagnose him as having cluster headaches, which could be the reason he is acting up so often. Nate's mother, Enid, is half thankful with the diagnosis. She blamed herself for Nate's behavior, thinking she was a bad mother.

The team treats Nate for the cluster headaches, but find that it had no effect. House wants to stick with the cluster headache idea given the boy's attitude because "symptoms never lie". They turn to mushrooms, citing that they help treat cluster headaches. With permission from Cuddy, they give him a small dose and see that Nate's pain has stopped. Meanwhile, Nate encourages Cameron for intimate acts where the team discovers another problem: undersized testes.

The team now needs to biopsy part of Nate's brain. Enid gives the go ahead, but Nate will have no part of it and demands that no one touch him. Nate suddenly looks dizzy and blacks out. Chase notices a yellow tint to his mouth which means Nate's liver is failing. Nate had been a vegetarian and started eating meat just a few months ago. The food intake could have changed his digestion enough to upset his liver. Chase and Cameron bring him hamburger patties made from the hospital cafeteria, and Nate demands they give him a higher quality meat. Chase has had enough and tells him that they will force them down his throat, ordering a full set of body restraints from the nurse. Nate shoots him a disgusted look and digs in.

The hamburger shows no change, and House now wants Nate starved to see what the changes in his blood sugar are. Chase warns the team of another fit of rage from Nate, and that is just what happens. Nate is shown swinging his IV pole at a nurse, he wants to be fed, and now. The team offers him food for a urine sample. Nate thinks he is clever and asks if they wanted a sample, here it is, and urinates on the floor. The mood changes when his urine changes from yellow to blood red.

The team does several more tests with no results. Chase finds House in his office for a chat, and while Chase is fiddling with the pieces off the chess board House realizes what is wrong with Nate. He holds out two chess pieces and asks Nate which color he wants. While grabbing for one, Nate doesn't bend his thumb. House grabs his thumb, bending it back while he screams in pain. Nate's condition is hemochromatosis, his body can't absorb iron from his food which builds up in his organs and joints. House points out that Nate is just a jerk, and the rest of his life will be filled with dialysis and blood draining every 3 months. Other than that, his case is closed.