House – Recap & Review – Ignorance is Bliss

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House
Ignorance is Bliss

Original Air Date: Nov. 23, 2009

Patricia Morris Buckley — Staff Writer
pmb@thetwocentscorp.com

Gee, I wish I had the problem that I was too smart. That people wanted to pay me to write books, solve major world problems and make world-shattering discoveries. Yeah, it would be a tough life. Not.

But that’s how former boy genius Jimmy Sidas sees it. He’s been working as a courier and married to a woman few people would call “smart.” Until he collapses in a bookstore after making a delivery, putting him in the path of House.

Cuddy hands Jimmy off to House, who agrees even though House knows its TTP, or Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a rare disorder of the blood-coagulation system (thanks Wikipedia!). The team, which now consists of Foreman, Chase, Thirteen and Taub, thinks the answer is more simple and threaten to take out Jimmy’s spleen – but are surprised by House agreeing.

Gosh darn, everyone seems surprised by House in this episode. House is acting sooo nice, but it’s all to get invited to Cuddy’s sister’s house for Turkey Day. As she says, “I know he has an agenda, but is it a good agenda or a bad agenda?” Come on – this is House. He plans to break up Cuddy and her new squeeze, Lucas.

When Cuddy appears to break down and ask him to dinner, he even checks out the address (it’s three hours away). But when House arrives, it’s to an empty house where the maid tells him she’s supposed to give him a turkey sandwich. Ten points to Cuddy!

So House retaliates by showing up at Lucas’ house drunk and says that he loves Cuddy. The next morning, Cuddy says that Lucas broke up with her. House thinks he won, but did he?

Things get interesting with Jimmy because they find hidden alcohol at his home. But his liver is fine – it’s the kidneys that are bad. Turns out that a combination of cough syrup and alcohol make you stupid (oh that’s why Nyquil is such a big seller!), which means he can lead a normal and happy life. The whole medical case is a bit of a snoozer, but it does allow Jimmy to point out the similarities between him and House – and how being so smart doesn’t make our good doctor happy. House concedes the point by giving the genius his cough syrup back.

But we’re not done — in his second “aha” moment of the night, House realizes that a fall that broke Jimmy’s ribs also splintered his spleen and now he has 16 of them. So he had TTP all along.

After asking Cuddy out several times, House realizes that she never really broke up with Lucas and that being smarter hasn’t helped him at all when it comes to personal relationships. At least Wilson gets to do his “I told you so” smile.

Personally, I think Cuddy is better off with Lucas. Isn’t he cuter, nicer and more family friendly? Or is she too trying to dumb down for happiness? Pitch in your Two Cents…