Review House Season 6 Ep. 4
Instant Karma
At the beginning of "Instant Karma," a wealthy businessman brings his ailing son to Princeton-Plainsboro, demanding that House takes his case. Unfortunately, House is still without a medical license and Foreman is still technically in charge. This leads Cuddy to make Foreman a figure head. The kid is Foreman's patient, but House will be making all the decisions. House decides he likes this arrangement, and suggests that Foreman stay in charge for good.
You Can't Have It All
The title of the episode refers to the businessman, and his belief that his son's ailing health is a result of his business success. As he puts it, "Everything I touch turns to gold. Except my family." The philosophy of karma is an interesting one, and has a lot of potential when a character like House takes a crack at it. Unfortunately, the episode is slow in building this up. For the first half of the episode, the case feels almost like an afterthought. The kid seizes every time the team tries to do a test, and then they scramble to find a new diagnosis.
Eventually, the story gains traction when House lands on an illness with no cure. In desperation, the father decides the only way to save his son is to financially ruin himself. If the success he has enjoyed with his business runs out, perhaps karma will bring him more success with his son. It is an interesting notion, though House's seemingly indifferent attitude to the father's logic seems a bit out of character. In past seasons, House would berate patients for making decisions like this based on superstitious beliefs such as karma. Here, he is silent. Even after he figures out what is really wrong with the kid and treats him, he puts up no fight when the father chooses to believe it was because of his bankruptcy, and not the medicine.
Resurfacing Lies
What saves the episode is the continuation of the previous episodes controversy surrounding the death of Dibala, the African dictator the team unsuccessfully treated. A board is investigating the death, which has Foreman paranoid since he helped cover up Chase's deliberate sabotage, which caused Dibala's expiration. This fear is amplified when test results surface that show Dibala's cholesterol levels were different in the two blood test (because the second blood test was not in fact Dibala's). Chase tries to shrug it off, but Foreman knows their inability to explain this will arouse suspicion.
The tension works well to help liven up the episode. Cameron can tell something is up, setting the stage for marital problems to surface between her and Chase this season. It is also obvious to House that Foreman and Chase are distracted, and ultimately presents them with an out. House orders a report showing Dibala's doctors in Africa were giving him medicine for his cholesterol, which Foreman and Chase can point to for the abnormality of the blood readings.
There was also the mini-story line of someone sabotaging Thirteen's attempts to take a vacation (Surprise! It's House. He wants her back on the team) that was more or less negligible. Though it would be a shame if she leaves the show for good.
Overall Thoughts
While the episode had it's problems, it was nice to see House play a real part in the diagnosis. The past couple of episodes seemed to give House his own plot line separate from the medical case. In "Instant Karma," he seems to have finally reabsorbed into the team. As Chase points out at the end of the episode, House will always be in charge, whether he likes it or not.
As for the future of the show, hopefully the issues between Foreman and Thirteen will be resolved soon, as the break-up story line is becoming a bit distracting. Thirteen is a great character, but if the writers are not going to move from the relationship between her and Foreman, perhaps it would be better for her to leave. On the other other hand, the consequences of Dibala's death has a lot of potential to be mini-arc for this season, at least for a few episodes. Seeing Foreman and Chase deal with their choices (and the increasing number of lies required to maintain it) could make for a very compelling plot line.
Grade: B-
Review of House 6.4
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