'House M.D.,' Season 8, Episode 8, 'The Perils of Paranoia'
The unfortunate patient in "House M.D.," Season 8, Episode 8, "The Perils of Paranoia" is a prosecutor who, in the midst of destroying a witness on the stand, asks for a continuance as he is having a heart attack.
Of course he isn't really having a heart attack. Spoilers follow.
The crack doctors of Team House spend a lot of time wondering if Tommy, the patient, is being poisoned by his wife. There may be something else wrong with him as he has a secret closet in his house filled with guns. Is he just a nutter who has prepared for the fall of civilization? Or is the paranoia a symptom of whatever ails him?
The doctors also engage in a wild goose chase involving cocaine and sleep apnea. Or perhaps he has a brain infection? Or GAD?
The interesting parts of the episode are the interpersonal actions between the doctors.
For instance, it is the opinion of some of Team House that Foreman is picking on House because he lacks a life. This is put to the test when Foreman encounters a woman named Anita who, unfortunately, turns out to be married. Foreman blames Taub for setting him up, which Taub denies. Is he lying?
There is also a cat and mouse game involving House owning a gun and Wilson trying to find it, with traps being set. When Wilson finds the gun, House maintains it is a magician's prop and therefore not a real gun.
Park is starting to deal with the idea that while she is respected for her medical skills, most people think she is off-putting. By the end of the episode she tries to remedy this. Unfortunately it is with Chase, which would be bad news for a woman with social skills.
Tommy, by the way, has a form of diphtheria, something most people do not get these days because there are vaccines. Tommy was so concerned about the coming collapse of civilization that he forgot his shots. Paranoia can actually kill.
And it seems that House does have a real gun and also a real dressed sword. They both belonged to his father, the Marine, whom he hated and yet perhaps misses.
Published by Mark Whittington
Mark R. Whittington is a writer residing in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Last Moonwalker, Children of Apollo, Dark Sanction, and Nocturne. He has written numerous articles, some for the Washington... View profile
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