Recap: 'House M. D.,' Season 8, Episode 10, 'Runaways'

"House M. D.," Season 8, Episode 10, "Runaways," had a number of interesting threads, not the least of which was the case of Callie, a teenage runaway with the usual unusual symptoms to baffle and amuse the House team.

Spoilers surely follow.

If one has to be a homeless runaway, Callie's method is the way to go. She is not technically homeless as she has found a foreclosed house to live in, some kind of income to keep it stocked with food, and is actually going to school. Things take an alarming turn when her symptoms start including coughing up blood and getting numb in the legs.

To make a long story short, after going through the usual list of causes that turn out not to pan out, House deduces that Callie picked up some worms that have started to feast on her organs. Fortunately the treatment is not very difficult.

Her reason for running away from home was interesting. Her mom was a drug addict and Callie wound up having to be the adult, caring for her, and actually working to get the electricity on and the house stocked with food. She decided that if she was going to have to be a grownup, she was going to do it on her own.

However, the mom shows up and is, inconveniently, clean and sober. House puts this to the test by abusing her verbally and then accidentally on purpose leaving his pain meds next to her. The mom passes the test by giving the bottle back to House.

In the meantime, House has to treat a pair of estranged brothers who have bonded over their mutual love for Civil War reenacting, a hobby that the good doctor finds bizarre to say the least. The fact that one of the brothers does not drop persona while in uniform does not help. The cause of what ails them, ironically, is a failure on the part of one of the brothers to be totally authentic. Polyester uniforms indeed.

Taub has trouble bonding with his infant twin illegitimate daughters. This is understandably hard because they are infants and cannot talk, though in his favor they do not scream when he comes into the room.

Finally, Foreman's adulterous affair takes a turn for the worse when the married woman he is carrying on with decided to tell her husband. Without the sneaking around, the allure is just gone.

Source: House MD, Runaways, TVRage.Com