Directed by: Andrew Bernstein
Written by: Doris Egan
Nick Greenwald (Jay Karnes) is a novelist's editor who suddenly starts saying a lot of things of the sort people normally think but don't say, before passing out.
The patient's unfiltered, honest blabbing leads him to make obnoxious remarks about Dr. Hadley's sexual attractiveness. House pages Dr. Cuddy so that the patient can say similar things about Cuddy.
Dr. House insists Dr. Wilson come to a monster truck event with him, Wilson doesn't want to. Supposedly Wilson and Dr. Taub have been playing racquetball on Wednesdays. House pages Dr. Taub to the morgue for a demonstration of his racquetball skills. Taub does poorly, plus he failed to notice that House provided a squash racket rather than a racquetball racquet. Taub asks Wilson to lunch because he's "been made."
Nick says his daughter Marika is below average, that his wife is not that smart, and because of his lack of filter he wanted his daughter at home, not in the hospital. Upset, Marika runs out of the room, Nick tries to follow her.
House asks Dr. Chase to perform a risky brain stem surgery on Nick. At first Chase balks at the idea, but House is able to convince him.
It doesn't quite work, until House has his "Eureka!" Moment and finally cures Nick. It is clear that his relationship with his wife and daughter will never be the same again, as now they will wonder whether Nick means what he says or if he's just being polite.
Tropes
- Brutal Honesty: Greenwald's affliction. Naturally, this causes the main characters to examine the ways in which both honesty and deception can be helpful in our lives.
- "Eureka!" Moment: A conversation with Wilson about Wilson's brother leads House to realize the significance of the patient's glucose levels.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: When Greenwald sees Cuddy and Thirteen together he immediately imagines them... together.
- Shout-Out:
- To La Bohème: Wilson doesn't like opera, but he'd feel a need to go see that opera after going to a monster truck rally.
- To Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama: Nick admits his lie that he voted for Clinton in the primary and Obama in the general. The truth is he's never voted in his whole life.
- To Ferrari: Nick compares Cuddy's buttocks to the pistons of a Ferrari car.
- To Harry Potter: Dr. Kutner mentions that the Sorting Hat at Hogwarts was tempted to sort Harry Potter into Slytherin, but Harry convinced the hat to sort him into Gryffindor instead. This occurs in the first book/film.
- When House is skeptical that Taub is actually playing racquetball with Wilson, largely because Jews are not generally known for being great athletes, Taub counters with Sandy Koufax, arguably the greatest left-handed baseball pitcher of all time.
- Stepford Smiler: Dr. Wilson.
