House M.D. (TV Series) Histories (2005) User Reviews

The first House episode where...

[GraXXoR · 8/10 · 3 October 2017]

... The patient could not be saved... And TBH, about time.... Sure, we could just say that House the series is a collection of episodes where, despite his insufferable arrogance, he managed to save the day. But this episode showed the other, more pedestrian and perhaps even truthful aspect of being a doctor; sick people die.

The patient was the outstanding performer in this episode. Her performance was outstanding as a bereaved, homeless woman. This was a rather isolated episode. Not much moved forward characterwise... However, House's treatment of the two student nurses was a little bit of light comedic relief in an otherwise rather dark episode.

Mostly though, I just want to crow about the fact that this was the first episode where I managed to call the disease before they did... Those rather ridiculous bats were the biggest give away... but then there was the light sensitivity, both in the initial nightclub and in the hospital... fever (pretty much omnipresent in any illness)... Here it started to narrow down... aggressive interludes followed by lethargy and having lived in Africa and knowing that Tsetse fly fever had already just been covered... it pretty much left rabies... then she kicked away the glass of water... hydrophobia (the old name for the disease.)

Great Episode

[Semroth · 9/10 · 13 May 2023]

First episode where the team truly loses the patient, yes in the earlier episodes you had them loses a baby but this is where they solve it and bring in the realism about the fact not everything can be cured.

Foreman at the beginning of the episode keeps trying to get the patient discharged and that's what gets House interested after Wilson tells him about it. It's said them slowly discovering more about this woman who turns out has Rabies, she's an amazing actress in this episode played by Leslie Hope and the scene at the end where Foreman looks for the person she's looking for to make sure she doesn't die alone is great and finding out what happened that made her homeless is tragic, Foreman comforting her in her final moments made me cry.

Great Episode 9/10.

Remember there is no cure for Rabies.

[holy_big_sandwich · 8/10 · 24 January 2023]

One of the first episodes where House loses a patient, and a bit unceremoniously. The real meat of this one is Foreman's prejudice against homeless people. As someone who made it out of the projects and became a neurologist, he sees people who are happy to sleep on park benches and use food stamps as deserving of their situation.

But of course he would be wrong in his nearsighted view and with the patient's death he's reminded that we're all just people. Some of us weren't even given a chance or others lost their place in society after catastrophic events beyond comprehension.

House Quote: "A day, maybe two. (turns to Foreman) And if you don't get your shot in, say, the next three hours, I'm going to have to make another affirmative action hire."

Leslie Hope took this one to the bank.

[ranwulfs · 10/10 · 7 February 2022]

The actress playing Victoria was amazing. She deserved an Emmy for this, in my opinion. This story broke my heart. Well written, and best of the season up to that point.

The operation was a success, but...

[xredgarnetx · 25 March 2006]

House must deal with a homeless woman who is dying for no apparent reason, and toward whom Dr. Foreman seems to be coldly indifferent. An unusually satisfying episode for two reasons: The acting of the actress playing the ill-fated homeless woman, who is absolutely harrowing, and a diagnosis that for a change does not lead to a happy ending. I will say no more. Just let it be noted that I had been wondering how long Dr. House was going to continue to work clichéd miracles, if you get my drift. Here we go: IMDb wants more lines than I am willing to write, and I am not willing to pad out my review in this case. Having said that, I will note that in a Season One episode, House momentarily affected a veddy British accent, which had me howling, knowing the actor is about as British as you can get off screen. Laurie appeared on a couple of TV talk shows recently, and you could cut his accent with a knife. Apparently while working, he maintains his American accent from dawn to dusk. Makes me wonder how he ever gets through the scenes with the heavily accented, blonde-haired Aussie doctor without losing his cool.

Underrated

[kellielulu · 10/10 · 20 August 2022]

Maybe the most underrated episode certainly of the early seasons.

The patient is homeless and it makes for some twist and turns in diagnosing her and reveals something about Wilson and Foreman . One of the better performances by a patient Leslie Hope does an amazing job even the changing tones in her voice. She's excellent.

We also learn Wilson has a brother who is homeless but hasn't been able to find in years.

House as usual is allergic to clinic duty so Cuddy has two female student doctors follow House around and teach them about patient histories. Very funny and a clever move by Cuddy. House actually does a good if unconventional job teaching them .

One of the most watchable episodes.

Cameron has an amusing reaction to Chase and Foreman's competitive ways in this one . Foreman's actually quite interesting he is rather judgmental and dismissive of the homeless but gives a homeless man his coat ( it's dead winter) and has issues with the patient but is angry that a cop used the taser on her . He's ultimately the one who is with the patient in her final moments and gives her much needed comfort and forgiveness. The forgiveness is for an act that led her to being homeless and hopeless. An accident but one that cost her everything.

Favorite scene : House and Wilson screwing with the team as they pretend a drawing by the patient has given them clues to her identity.

Haunting

[kc94568 · 10/10 · 7 November 2023]

This episode has never left me. It's one of the few House episodes that I remember with specific details. Foreman is the lead doctor when a homeless woman is taken to the ER. Foreman is basically judgmental and dismissive of the woman, who is masterly portrayed by actress Leslie Hope. Wilson, on the other hand, is far more caring and interested in finding out what's wrong with her, while Foreman just wants to discharge her so he can be done with her. He assumes she's gaming the system for a free bed and a few free meals. We know nothing about the woman, including her name or how she ended up homeless. As the episode proceeds, we slowly learn she is tortured by her past, but why? I won't spoil the reveal or ending, other than to say it was a gut punch and I was left bawling. And more true to life, this time there was no miracle cure. To this day, 18 years later, the episode still hauntingly lingers, occasionally surfacing in my memories. And the ending is still devastating.

Guessable

[bilgeinanc · 3/10 · 1 May 2024]

I could guess that it was going to be rabies the moment she was given water and she spat it out. And i am a college biology student. I dont understand how it could take this long for them to notice. Hydrophobia is pretty noticeable. Plus the bats?? My man needs to be blind to not see that. Oh and being bitten by a homeless stranger and not doing anything about it?? I would have gotten every type of test that could be done if it were me. And first thing i'd be getting would be the rabies shot. I don't know if all the other episodes were medically this bad but this one for sure was problematic in my opinion.