Christmas at the Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital finds Dr Gregory House (Hugh Laurie, pictured) and his team tackling the case of Maggie, a 34-year-old mother with paralysis in her hands. A series of experts have failed to diagnose her condition, but House wastes no time in jumping to his usual conclusion that the patient is hiding something. He is especially irked by Maggie's insistence that she always tells the truth - even to her 11-year-old daughter, Jane.
House rifles through Maggie's medical history in search of something out of place, but only turns up the information that she underwent a double mastectomy several years ago. 13 challenges him to accept the fact that Maggie is telling the truth, but House cannot shake off his suspicions. "There's a reason that everybody lies - it works," he says. "It's what allows society to function."
The team races through a series of possible diagnoses, including cancer, drugs and STDs. When Maggie suddenly loses her sight, the doctors launch another battery of tests, while House searches the patient's computer for clues as to her health - all to no avail. "We haven't found anything abnormal on any test," Taub reports.
House then hits on the idea that Maggie has a psychological "conversion disorder", whereby her brain thinks there is something wrong with her body. "Her mind is tricking her body," he says. "We need to trick her mind." House's proposal is to treat Maggie with a placebo and have Jane lie to convince her that the medicine is working.
Elsewhere, a secret Santa exchange creates rancour in the team...
(5 Star)
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