Occam's Razor (30 Nov. 2004)

A college boy whose low blood pressure does not respond with IV fluids piques House's curiosity. Clinic Cases: A woman who had a cold last week, man with a sore throat, woman whose leg hurts after running 6 miles, a boy and his MP3 Player.

Director:

Bryan Singer

Writers:

David Shore (creator), David Shore

Stars:

Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Laurie	...	Dr. Gregory House
Lisa Edelstein	...	Dr. Lisa Cuddy
Omar Epps	...	Dr. Eric Foreman
Robert Sean Leonard	...	Dr. James Wilson
Jennifer Morrison	...	Dr. Allison Cameron
Jesse Spencer	...	Dr. Robert Chase
Kevin Zegers	...	Brandon Merrell
Alexis Thorpe	...	Mindy
Faith Prince	...	Becky Merrell
Lauren Cohn	...	Jodi Matthews
Marco Pelaez	...	Hospital Pharmacist
Jason Stuart	...	Adam Brown
Ben Campbell	...	Jerry Morris
John Kelly	...	Robert Merrell
Joshua Wolf Coleman	...	Suburban Pharmacist

Storyline

Student Brandon Merrell (22) is rushed to ER with seven symptoms. His college girlfriend Mindy fears she caused it by excessively passionate sex. The only syndrome fitting all seven is improbable 10.000.000 to one, so House supposes it's two rare diseases each explaining half, but tests not only disprove both theories, the treatments make him much sicker, the poor boy ends up in terrifying total isolation and agonizing biopsy. House now guesses his original symptom, a mere cough, was accidentally mistreated with gout medicine which causes the six other, but the pill theory hunt proves frustrating, and there is more to discover...

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Plot Keywords:

clinic | pill | cough | error filling perscription | cough medicine | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 November 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 10, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Heel & Toe Films, Shore Z Productions, Bad Hat Harry Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the coffee machine in the team's bullpen, the inscription reads "Good Coffee - cheaper than Prozac".

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Goofs

House says that sinusitis and hypothyroidism covers all the symptoms of the patient, but rash is not a feature of both these conditions.

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Quotes

Dr. James Wilson: That smugness of yours really is an attractive quality.
Dr. Gregory House: Thank you. It was either that or get my hair highlighted. Smugness is easier to maintain.

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Connections

Features Metroid: Zero Mission (2004)

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Soundtracks

"One"
(uncredited)
Written by Harry Nilsson
Performed by Three Dog Night

User Reviews

"I'm Doctor Gregory House. You can call me Greg."

After the pilot, this is the second episode of House directed by executive producer Bryan Singer, and it's easy to see why he chose to call the shots on this one: like the series premiere, Occam's Razor serves as a perfect introduction to the twisted world of Gregory House.

The diagnostics case of the week is that of a 16-year old boy (Kevin Zegers) whose unusually low blood pressure doesn't respond to IV fluids. While the team tries to figure out what's wrong with the boy, House also has to deal with clinic duties: patients include a woman whose leg hurts after running six miles ("Who knows? Could be anything.") and a boy who has used his MP3 player in a strange way.

Aside from the thrill of the medical/mystery blend (the solution is, as always, original and intriguing), this episode stands out because of its wonderful sense of humor: Chase, Foreman and Cameron casually chatting about sex after the patient's girlfriend suggests she might have, uh, done him to death, Wilson and House discussing the latter's "appealing" smugness (absolutely right) and, of course, the protagonist convincing several clinic patients they ought to wait for another doctor thanks to a wonderful monologue that begins with the apparently harmless "You can call me Greg.". In other words, 40 minutes of great television.