Directed by: Paul McCrane
Written by: Doris Egan
Lupe (Monique Gabriela Curnen), a frequently unemployed woman, is playing three-card monte but becomes completely unable to pick a card before passing out. She's taken to the hospital, where Dr. Foreman is absolutely certain that radiation treatment will cure her.
Meanwhile, Dr. House talks to real estate agent Bonnie (Jane Adams), one of Dr. Wilson's ex-wives, about buying a condo, but his real intent is to figure out Dr. Wilson's tricks for getting women into bed. Bonnie plays along, but eventually expresses all her pent-up resentment towards Dr. House. Bonnie mentions an ill-behaved dog, Hector, who made her think of House.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Career-Building Blunder: Dr. Foreman's failure with Lupe does not end his career.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Dr. Foreman is so determined that Lupe can be cured by giving her radiation treatment, but it turns out that she just had a staph infection and the radiation treatment destroyed her immune system, essentially killing her. Foreman doesn't just believe he made a mistake and attributes what he did as akin to pulling a trigger.
- Pet the Dog: House assures Foreman that the patient's death was not his fault.
- Shell Game: Three-card monte.
- Shout-Out to Helen Mirren: The Queen of Hearts "ain't no Helen Mirren, but this Queen is for you," says the dealer (Charles Porter).
- Significant Anagram: Bonnie explains that the dog Hector is named from an anagram for "Doctor Gregory House": "Hector does go rug." Dr. House says that's a lame anagram (it leaves six letters unused), and gives a much better anagram for his own name (without the title): "Huge ego, sorry" (no letters left over, no extra letters brought in).
