The Choice (House)
Encyclopedia
"The Choice" is the twentieth episode of the sixth season
of the American medical drama House
and it is the 130th episode overall. It aired on May 3, 2010. It was written by David Hoselton
and directed by Juan J. Campanella
. This was the first episode of House, since the first 7 episodes of season one, to garner fewer than 10 million viewers for its initial air date.
) named Teddy. He fainted at his wedding after having a round of aphasia (loss of voice). House unexpectedly pokes him with a needle and Teddy says ow. House claims Teddy was faking to avoid getting married. However, he has a pleural effusion as he's being discharged.
Thirteen and Taub check where Teddy lived before he moved into his fiancee's room, but the owner comes back and sees them. The owner, Cotter, claims to be Teddy's ex-boyfriend of three years. The team tests Teddy for HIV/AIDS but he's negative. Thirteen talks to him and finds out he had "treatment" to become heterosexual. He had electro convulsion therapy and was injected with many different chemicals. The chemicals could explain the pleural effusion and the ECT could explain the rest. The team thinks the ECT could have caused head trauma. During the EKG, Teddy has a heart attack. Foreman decides to do an angiogram to see if it's blocks or bleeds. The team comes in to prep Teddy for his angio, but every time he sits up he faints, and he stabilizes when he lies down. House thinks it could be postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome
(POTS), causing his blood pressure to plummet when he's upright.
While Teddy is sleeping, Cotter comes to visit, but when he takes Teddy's hand, Nicole asks him to leave. Nicole then confronts Teddy about exactly who Cotter is. Teddy admits he used to think he was gay, but got help and insists he is straight now. At that moment, Teddy starts to have a severe headache. This leads House to think infecton. Taub suggests cerebral infection, which would explain the headaches and cause POTS. It could also spread to the heart if it's fungal. House orders a spinal tap and says to run the CSF. But Teddy tests negative for infections and his headaches get worse. House thinks the spinal tap caused Teddy to spring a leak, worsening the headaches. Low pressure in the brain caused the POTS, not the other way around. However, Teddy's face twists in a strange way. It's not POTS.
They get Nicole, Teddy and Cotter in the same room to redo Teddy's history, hoping this time it will be more accurate. Nicole says Teddy sometimes has erectile dysfunction, but Cotter claims they never had such problems. Taub suggests that arterial disease causing acute ischemia could explain the heart, neurological symptoms and possibly even POTS. The test shows everything's normal with his penis' blood flow, but Teddy starts to lactate. Taub suggests a pituitary tumor which could explain his libido and heart issues, and if the tumor's big enough, the headaches and syncope as well. The team checks his prolactin level and MRI his pituitary.
Talking to Wilson, House had an idea. Teddy had an Arnold-Chiari malformation
, a narrowing in the base of his skull. Teddy's therapy caused his brain to swell just enough to plug the opening, cutting off his CSF. His brain pressing against his pituitary caused the other symptoms. He declares that he has chosen the life he wants to lead, that he loves his fiancee and wants to get married. She says she must make her choice and cannot marry him.
Meanwhile, House spends extracurricular time with his Princeton Plainsboro colleagues. Taub invites House to dinner, Thirteen invites him to come with her to a lesbian bar and House performs a karaoke rendition of "Midnight Train to Georgia
" with Foreman and Chase. It's revealed that Wilson has been setting House up for dates with his team members as he's concerned for House's well-being. He pays them to spend time with House so he has someone to be with while Wilson spends time with Sam. It also becomes apparent that House's pain is becoming too much to bear, as he starts turning to alcohol for relief.
The show closes with Cuddy asking House if he would go to dinner with her. She states that she wants to be friends, and House retorts, as the closing remark, that it is the last thing he wants, with the unspoken suggestion that he wants more. The last scene involves House stroking his leg in pain, glancing at ibuprofen
before deciding to pull a bottle of alcohol from his desk and drinking.
Unrealityshout.com reviewed the episode very positively and said of it that: "House delivers his punchiest episode in weeks with The Choice. Greg House is at his absolute best when he's firing out acerbic one liners like a sniper with a machine gun full of sarcasm bullets..." but also noted that the sixth season had suffered slightly and that this particular episode redeemed it.
IGN
gave the episode an "Impressive" score of 8.4 and noted that: "This was a strong episode filled with many overlapping themes, and unlike last week's mysterious illness which seemed to be cured from out of the blue, this week's diagnosis made for great TV as it was dripping with irony." and said in summary that "there was a lot to like about this episode, depressing as it may have been. The patient-of-the-week story arc was well plotted out and the diagnosis felt justified, albeit cruel."
TVFanatic gave the episode a score of 4.2/5.0 and praised it for being a "solid episode".
House (season 6)
House entered a sixth season on September 21, 2009 with a two-hour premiere. The season premiere, titled "Broken", was filmed at the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey.Season six featured 22 episodes, two fewer than the usual number...
of the American medical drama House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
and it is the 130th episode overall. It aired on May 3, 2010. It was written by David Hoselton
David Hoselton
David Hoselton is a Canadian screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on the television series House and the animated films Over the Hedge and Brother Bear....
and directed by Juan J. Campanella
Juan J. Campanella
- Life and career :Campanella was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He started studying engineering, but dropped out in 1980 after four years at university. He would later remark that the decisive factor for this decision was watching All That Jazz on the very day he was going to apply for a fifth...
. This was the first episode of House, since the first 7 episodes of season one, to garner fewer than 10 million viewers for its initial air date.
Plot
The team takes on the case of an ailing groom-to-be (guest star Adam GarciaAdam Garcia
Adam Garcia is an Australian actor and tap dancer of partial Colombian descent .-Career:...
) named Teddy. He fainted at his wedding after having a round of aphasia (loss of voice). House unexpectedly pokes him with a needle and Teddy says ow. House claims Teddy was faking to avoid getting married. However, he has a pleural effusion as he's being discharged.
Thirteen and Taub check where Teddy lived before he moved into his fiancee's room, but the owner comes back and sees them. The owner, Cotter, claims to be Teddy's ex-boyfriend of three years. The team tests Teddy for HIV/AIDS but he's negative. Thirteen talks to him and finds out he had "treatment" to become heterosexual. He had electro convulsion therapy and was injected with many different chemicals. The chemicals could explain the pleural effusion and the ECT could explain the rest. The team thinks the ECT could have caused head trauma. During the EKG, Teddy has a heart attack. Foreman decides to do an angiogram to see if it's blocks or bleeds. The team comes in to prep Teddy for his angio, but every time he sits up he faints, and he stabilizes when he lies down. House thinks it could be postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is a condition of dysautonomia, more specifically orthostatic intolerance, in which a change from the supine position to an upright position causes an abnormally large increase in heart rate, called tachycardia...
(POTS), causing his blood pressure to plummet when he's upright.
While Teddy is sleeping, Cotter comes to visit, but when he takes Teddy's hand, Nicole asks him to leave. Nicole then confronts Teddy about exactly who Cotter is. Teddy admits he used to think he was gay, but got help and insists he is straight now. At that moment, Teddy starts to have a severe headache. This leads House to think infecton. Taub suggests cerebral infection, which would explain the headaches and cause POTS. It could also spread to the heart if it's fungal. House orders a spinal tap and says to run the CSF. But Teddy tests negative for infections and his headaches get worse. House thinks the spinal tap caused Teddy to spring a leak, worsening the headaches. Low pressure in the brain caused the POTS, not the other way around. However, Teddy's face twists in a strange way. It's not POTS.
They get Nicole, Teddy and Cotter in the same room to redo Teddy's history, hoping this time it will be more accurate. Nicole says Teddy sometimes has erectile dysfunction, but Cotter claims they never had such problems. Taub suggests that arterial disease causing acute ischemia could explain the heart, neurological symptoms and possibly even POTS. The test shows everything's normal with his penis' blood flow, but Teddy starts to lactate. Taub suggests a pituitary tumor which could explain his libido and heart issues, and if the tumor's big enough, the headaches and syncope as well. The team checks his prolactin level and MRI his pituitary.
Talking to Wilson, House had an idea. Teddy had an Arnold-Chiari malformation
Arnold-Chiari malformation
Arnold–Chiari malformation, or often simply Chiari malformation, is a malformation of the brain. It consists of a downward displacement of the cerebellar tonsils through the foramen magnum , sometimes causing non-communicating hydrocephalus as a result of obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid outflow...
, a narrowing in the base of his skull. Teddy's therapy caused his brain to swell just enough to plug the opening, cutting off his CSF. His brain pressing against his pituitary caused the other symptoms. He declares that he has chosen the life he wants to lead, that he loves his fiancee and wants to get married. She says she must make her choice and cannot marry him.
Meanwhile, House spends extracurricular time with his Princeton Plainsboro colleagues. Taub invites House to dinner, Thirteen invites him to come with her to a lesbian bar and House performs a karaoke rendition of "Midnight Train to Georgia
Midnight Train to Georgia
"Midnight Train to Georgia" is a 1973 number-one hit single by Gladys Knight & the Pips, their second release after departing Motown Records for Buddah Records...
" with Foreman and Chase. It's revealed that Wilson has been setting House up for dates with his team members as he's concerned for House's well-being. He pays them to spend time with House so he has someone to be with while Wilson spends time with Sam. It also becomes apparent that House's pain is becoming too much to bear, as he starts turning to alcohol for relief.
The show closes with Cuddy asking House if he would go to dinner with her. She states that she wants to be friends, and House retorts, as the closing remark, that it is the last thing he wants, with the unspoken suggestion that he wants more. The last scene involves House stroking his leg in pain, glancing at ibuprofen
Ibuprofen
Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for relief of symptoms of arthritis, fever, as an analgesic , especially where there is an inflammatory component, and dysmenorrhea....
before deciding to pull a bottle of alcohol from his desk and drinking.
Critical Reception
The episode was generally positively received.Unrealityshout.com reviewed the episode very positively and said of it that: "House delivers his punchiest episode in weeks with The Choice. Greg House is at his absolute best when he's firing out acerbic one liners like a sniper with a machine gun full of sarcasm bullets..." but also noted that the sixth season had suffered slightly and that this particular episode redeemed it.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode an "Impressive" score of 8.4 and noted that: "This was a strong episode filled with many overlapping themes, and unlike last week's mysterious illness which seemed to be cured from out of the blue, this week's diagnosis made for great TV as it was dripping with irony." and said in summary that "there was a lot to like about this episode, depressing as it may have been. The patient-of-the-week story arc was well plotted out and the diagnosis felt justified, albeit cruel."
TVFanatic gave the episode a score of 4.2/5.0 and praised it for being a "solid episode".