Honeymoon (House)

"Honeymoon" is the twenty-second and final episode of the first season of House, which premiered on the Fox network on May 24, 2005.

Plot

House agrees to treat his ex-girlfriend Stacy's (Sela Ward) husband Mark (Currie Graham), who refuses to believe there is anything wrong with him. According to Stacy, Mark is suffering from abdominal pain, paranoia, mood swings, and regression, and has passed out twice. Several other doctors have already cleared him. House's team also believe he is fine, and do not understand why House believes Stacy. Cameron asks him, "What happened to 'Everybody lies'?", referring to House's refusal to take anything at face value. Wilson thinks House is trying to win Stacy back.

All the tests are negative. As a last hope, House orders an exploratory surgery. After spending hours watching the video, he finds abdominal epilepsy, which indicates a neurological problem. The team suggest Alzheimer's disease and encephalitis. Cameron tests for Alzheimer's and finds nothing. Meanwhile, Foreman and Chase go to Short Hills, New Jersey, search Stacy and Mark's home, and find a bottle of amphetamines, which turn out to have been confiscated from a student (Mark is a high school guidance counselor). In full view of his team, House slips the vial of narcotics into his pocket. The diagnostic team also note that Mark had switched from mountain biking to yoga, which Chase suggests could indicate back pain, but House dismisses as a symptom of "getting older". House and Foreman test Mark's memory, but find no problems. House grills Mark about Stacy, to which he gives a long, rambling answer about how they honeymooned in Paris. Stacy is furious, and House admits he does not know what is wrong, but refuses to give up.

Mark develops paralysis in his arms and legs. House decides to treat Mark for Guillain-Barré syndrome, while Mark starts showing paranoia. His throat appears to close up, but as Cameron is about to intubate, House notices Mark's O2 stats are normal and concludes he is suffering from a panic attack, which he treats with Ativan.

House confides to Wilson he is happy Mark is not responding to treatment, and is unsure if it is because he wants to be with Stacy, or if he wants her to suffer. When he talks to her, he finds out she and Mark never honeymooned in Paris, even though the brain scan showed he was telling the truth. House realizes Mark is delusional, and comes up with a diagnosis: acute intermittent porphyria, which implies that the switch to the indoor activity of yoga was relevant, as a symptom of the disease is sensitivity to light. Unfortunately, aside from a time-consuming genetic test for mutations in the gene HMB synthase, the only way to confirm AIP is through a urine sample made during an attack. Since there is no way to predict when this will happen, House wants to give Mark a drug cocktail that could set off an attack. Despite Stacy's agreement to the treatment, Mark refuses the test. House refuses to proceed against the patient's wishes. Stacy accuses him of setting up with Mark exactly the same situation she had previously faced with House (as told in the previous episode), except that she asserts that unlike House, Mark will forgive her. Despite his team's attempt to stop him and against the patient's wishes, House injects Mark with the drug cocktail, which triggers the attack. House extracts urine directly from Mark's bladder and performs a test on it using ultraviolet light. When his urine turns purple under the light, House is able to confirm and treat AIP.

Stacy admits she is still in love with House, but cannot be with him, and she believes Mark is there for her more. Cuddy tells House she is considering hiring Stacy, to which he replies that he has no problem with the idea. In the closing scene, House attempts to walk without his cane at home. Experiencing pain, House opens the vial of narcotics he stole earlier and takes the pill.

External links

• "Honeymoon" at Fox.com
• "Honeymoon" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Honeymoon" at TV.com