Directed by: Greg Yaitanes
Written by: Peter Blake
Paramedics rescue Stewart Nozick (Todd Louiso), a man who wants to be left alone.
The patient is an agoraphobe whose home has an "airlock." Dr. Cameron tries to cause a seizure in the patient to no avail. After a phone call, Dr. House barges into the patient's house leading a bunch of random people into the patient's room. Almost immediately the patient complains of excruciating pain in his stomach.
House diagnoses the patient with intestinal blockage. The patient must be taken to the hospital for treatment. But he refuses to leave his house. So House comes up with the idea of having some doctor he knows with a funny accent do the surgery in the patient's house.
House explains to Cameron that his actual plan is to have Dr. Chase (he's Australian) sedate the patient in his house, then transport him to the hospital, do the necessary surgery, transport him back to his house and wake him up, with him none the wiser. But Dr. Cuddy intercepts them at the hospital and demands to know if the patient has actually consented.
Cameron wakes the patient up and tells him the truth of where he's at. He flips out. Back at home, the patient grants health care proxy to his lawyer, Larry Rezekis III, Esq. Cuddy takes House, Cameron and his team off the case, but they continue treating him anyway.
Taub puts a temporary pacemaker in the patient. According to Chase, that's like pin the tail on the donkey. Chase refuses to put in a permanent pacemaker because that requires way more precision than is possible outside of a proper clinical setting.
Dr. Cuddy thanks Dr. House for not taking advantage of her sexually the night before. Then he tells his team "I hit that last night and now she's all up in my jock." The team react as if that's just idle boasting that doesn't merit a response. But when he tells Dr. Wilson the exact same crude verbiage, Wilson believes it, so House admits it was just a kiss.
In conversation with Wilson, Cuddy demonstrates that she has already simulated in her mind how a romantic relationship with House would go from beginning to end: the novelty and forbiddenness of it all would quickly wear off and they'd be left with nothing but bitterness.
House dreams that he's chasing a mosquito. Trying to kill the insect, he unwittingly opens a propane tank valve and turns the stove on. It's only a matter of seconds before the propane explodes and blows out the windows. Jolted awake, House goes to Wilson's apartment to talk some more about the potential relationship with Cuddy.
Also, Chase tells Cameron that he doesn't spend the night with her because he feels like a visitor at her place. Cameron clears out a drawer in her bedroom so that Chase can stay the night.
The patient takes a few very hesitant steps outside his house.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Oh, Crap!: In House's dream, when he realizes he has no time to escape the propane explosion.
- The Shut-In: This week's patient.
