House Season 4 Premiere: Do the Math!
Hello Everybody!I'm excited that WebMD has asked me to post about a TV series I've never seen before. How surprised I was to learn that 'House' is now in its fourth season on Fox. Like, where have I been the past three years?!?
SPOILER ALERT! The episode's surprise ending is disclosed and discussed in this blog. Come back later if you plan to watch this episode.
This show is the classic procedural drama. It appears to follow a predictable storyline that invariably leads to an unexpected ending. The long-running murder mystery 'Perry Mason' remains the gold standard for this genre. If you couldn't solve the case by the first commercial break you were likely brain dead. Nevertheless, you always stayed glued to the end of the program just to make sure you were right and to celebrate your brilliance.
What makes 'House' different is the medical context. Unlike the ordinary whodunit that is based on money, infidelity and revenge, this mystery series exploits subject matter that is generally unfamiliar to most of the audience. In this case the writers have an advantage.
The Medical Dilemma
After a gas line explodes a young, previously healthy woman is rescued from the rubble of the collapsed office building by her live-in boyfriend. A chain of perplexing health crises follows: severe crush trauma, unexplained fever, cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, alcohol withdrawal, massive bleeding, and multiorgan failure triggered by an antibiotic she had safely consumed in the past. A quiltwork of clinical contradictions. In each scenario Dr. House divines a specific cause for each problem - but that's the problem! Medicine doesn't work that way. It's more like basic arithmetic.
1+1=2! Whenever the sum of 1+1 equals anything other than 2 it is time to take a giant step backwards and analyze the situation because something is out of order.
The Clues
Clues (bad math) were everywhere. It was determined the patient was taking antidepressants but the boyfriend insisted she was not depressed. The patient developed alcohol withdrawal but she didn't drink. The patient had an enlarged uterus and a recent abortion but the boyfriend denied that his girlfriend would have ended a pregnancy.
Newly acquired health problems typically unify under one umbrella diagnosis; however, this trauma victim was wearing far too many divergent diagnostic labels, even for primetime TV. At this point most health care providers watching the program likely figured out what had transpired...the old switcheroo!
Eureka! The Solution
The assumed identity of the rescued woman with severe facial injuries was incorrect. The boyfriend believed it to be his girlfriend when it was her co-worker. The real girlfriend had actually expired in the collapse. The survivor was correctly identified and found to have a thick medical record with a very long problem list that explained all of the earlier crises. Case closed.
Remember, when watching mystery shows of any kind, if 1+1 does not equal 2, take a step back and rethink the whole situation. Perry Mason taught me that!
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Technorati Tags: House, Fox, identity, health and wellness
1 Comments:
I think Dr. House needs YOU on his new team! I have watched this show regularly, but if last night was any indication of the "stretch" we'll all have to make, I'm not sure it's worth the effort. 1 + 1 is often 3 on this show!
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