House M.D. (TV Series) The Socratic Method (2004) User Reviews

The One With The Mother Dependant On Her Son...

[taylorkingston · 7/10 · 8 March 2017]

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. It was interesting. And I think the reason why I found it so interesting is because of the family situation the patient was in. It's not rare, just not talked about very often.

In this episode, a thirty-eight year old Mother, who only has the caregiver support of her fifteen year old son, is admitted from apparently suffering from thrombosis, schizophrenia, and alcoholism. Wow, that son has a lot of work to do.

Best part of this episode: Nothing in particular.

Worst part of this episode: Nothing in particular.

Overall, I give this episode a 7 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Great.

The Socratic Dialogue Steeped in Melodrama

[holy_big_sandwich · 7/10 · 24 January 2023]

The crux of the episode lies in a young teenager (claims to be 18 probably 14), taking care of his schizo mother. As the episode progresses House gets a hunch that the cobwebs in her head are not as bad as everyone thinks, leading him to diagnose her with Wilson's disease, a genetic disorder that lets your body build up copper to the point your liver fails and you get psychosis.

Here in lies the namesake of the episode, as the greek philosopher also suffered from schizophrenia. House tries to deduce the patients true intentions, as at one point, she was lucid enough to call child services on herself.

Besides a truly miraculous cure that returns the alcoholic rambling woman back to her old self in about four minutes, we have to suffer through the melodramatic son seemingly being forced by the hand of god to wrangle her crazy mother, finally being rewarded with a sane one. I guess he made the right call, since any psychiatric ward would just dose her with ketamine and let her rot in a padded cell for the rest of her life.

House Quote: FOREMAN: Mickey Mantle had a whole bar named after him. He got a transplant.

HOUSE: Yeah, well, Lucy can't switch-hit. Plan B. Surgery to resect the tumor.

Gripping

[xredgarnetx · 3 April 2006]

SOCRATIC METHOD is one of the first season's more intense episodes, in which a mother with serious health problems is thought to have substance problems. Her son is like a parent to her, protecting her at every turn. House suspects something far more peculiar going on, and has his team check out the woman's home for possible contributing factors. This is the kind of episode that has hooked me on this show. It plays like a medical episode of LAW & ORDER, which is the highest compliment I can give any TV series. The acting is first rate, the drama is high, and the action is compelling. And we get to see the House team in a different light in this episode.

Inaccurate portrayal of Wilson's disease

[tomjshaw-80476 · 4/10 · 8 July 2023]

Whilst I found the episode enjoyable, it was deeply inaccurate in its portrayal of Wilson's disease. I actually have the condition in the episode. First of all, she gets better in about five minutes. This is incredibly inaccurate- I have been on.treatment for nine months and I am still not completely better. Secondly, Kaiser-fleischer rings aren't that color. Thirdly, she has neurological symptoms but the copper has collected in her liver. There are two types of Wilson's disease: liver and neurological. Finally, her voice is fine- one of the main symptoms of neurological Wilson's disease is difficulty speaking. I would have expected her voice to have gone given that the copper had been building up for 30 odd years. Whilst psychosis can be a symptom of Wilson's disease, not everyone has it, including myself.