Epic Fail - Recap

Video game designer and millionaire Vince is testing his soon-to-be-released virtual reality game with his employee Lee and Roy. When Vince disappears, they remove their helmets and check in his office. He's seated on the couch and says that his hands are burning. They take him to the Princeton ER and Hadley can't find anything wrong. She says she'll send him to a neurologist but Vince wants House to see him.

House is in Cuddy's office telling her and Foreman that he's quitting on the advice of his psychiatrist, Dr. Nolan. House thinks it's too dangerous to continue working as a diagnostician and plans to go into research where there's less stress. Cuddy questions his decision but House insists that it's final. Once he goes, Foreman asks to take over as head of diagnostics. Cuddy points out that the department only exists because of House but Foreman notes she's been keeping the space available for the three months since House went into rehab, and he'd like a chance to keep it running. Cuddy agrees to give him one chance to prove himself.

Foreman, Hadley, and Taub get the conference room ready and Foreman explains that he'll be in charge. They agree on a diagnosis of CRPS and give Vince the news. The millionaire has checked on the Internet and believes that he has mercury poisoning caused by sushi. He argues that his symptoms don't match up exactly with CRPS and asks them to give him a blood test for heightened mercury levels.

As Foreman moves in to House's office, Cameron comes by to congratulate him. She warns that his teammates might have trouble accepting him as their boss after he's been their co-worker. She casually asks about House and how he's doing, and Foreman admits he's surprised that House is acting un-Houselike. Cameron asks about Hadley and reveals that she's not in Vince's room doing the spinal tap to test for CRPS. He goes to the lab where Hadley and Taub are performing the mercury test and isn't happy that they took instructions from Vince. The mercury test proves negative and Foreman goes to see Vince.

At Mayfield, House meets with Dr. Nolan and reports that his leg pain is growing increasingly worse. Nolan suggests that he find a hobby and if he can't think of one, take up a hobby that his roommate Wilson likes.

Vince insists that Foreman perform mercury chelation despite the negative test results. When Foreman threatens to quit unless Vince agrees to the spinal tap, the video game designer gives in. Hadley and Taub perform the procedure and Vince admits that Foreman reminds him of himself. He starts to have trouble breathing and they discover his lungs are filling with fluid. Analysis of the fluid shows that the stress of the test brought on a pulmonary edema, indicating a thickened heart ventricular. Foreman and Taub concur that the symptoms indicate cocaine and go to ask Vince if he's using.

House decides to go to a cooking class with Wilson. The temptation to make jokes about Wilson's (meat)balls is overwhelming but House's medical expertise proves useful when he comes up with a way to slow down the cooking speed using vinegar and brown sugar.

When Hadley and an apologetic Foreman confront Vince, he asks how long they've been having sex. He's hacked into Foreman's personal page, which has a photo of him and Hadley together. Foreman hastily turns off the computer and asks Vince if he's using cocaine. Vince denies it, saying he gave it up 12 years ago. As they leave, Foreman tells Hadley that he doesn't believe Vince and orders her to search his office. Hadley notes that he's trying to act like House, and then the exact opposite of House by apologizing, and now he's going back to House tactics again, and suggests that he just be himself. As he goes, Foreman tells her that they have reservations for dinner that night. When Hadley tries to delay them, he tells her bluntly to be there on time because he can't change the reservation.

Cuddy goes to see House at Wilson's apartment. House is preparing a meal with his classmate Cecile, who he claims doesn’t speak English. As Cuddy talks, Cecile asks House in Mandarin Chinese why Cuddy is dressed as a hooker. Cuddy makes small talk and says he's looking good. House assures her that she's not the reason that he's quitting. Cuddy hesitantly says that she's going to miss him and Cecile finally tells her in English just to kiss him and get it over with.

Hadley and Taub go to Vince's office and play the video game. As they play, Taub observes that she's been in a crappy mood and figures she's not happy with Foreman giving orders. Taub admits that he's fine with Foreman being a jerk as a boss because he didn't expect anything else, and suggests she just go home with Foreman, put on some heels, and break him in. Bird creatures in the video game attack them and Hadley gets an idea. They go back to the hospital and get Vince to reveal that he dissected birds so he could replicate their anatomy in the video game. They figure he was infected with psittacosis as a result and they can treat him with antibiotics. However, Vince reveals a new symptom: a three-hour erection which doesn't match with psittacosis.

The doctors use a shunt to get rid of the excess blood. The next morning they report to Foreman, who notes that Taub could have done it on his own. Hadley says that she's dedicated and argues that Vince has a brain tumor. Foreman disagrees and the two of them argue back and forth. Taub finds the whole thing amusing but ends up agreeing with Foreman's diagnosis of thrombocytosis. As they go, Hadley complains about Foreman ordering her around. When Foreman admits that he isn't handling the pressure well, Hadley tells him not to bring it up with his underlings.

The trio arrives at Vince's room and discovers that he's brought in two new doctors. He tells them that he's using the Internet to bring in more doctors. Foreman orders them out but one of them comments that Vince hasn't had a MRI for a brain tumor. Vince follows up on his comment and asks Hadley if he should have a MRI. She suggests they do both the thrombocytosis test and the MRI and Vince figures that means she doesn't trust Foreman's diagnosis. He demands an MRI and Foreman reluctantly agrees.

Wilson gets up in the morning and discovers that House has been cooking all night. He points out that House is getting obsessed and his friend agrees, noting he's still an addict but he wants to find something harmless to get addicted to. Wilson can't complain because the food tastes so good.

As Foreman runs the MRI, Hadley comes in and he accuses her of stabbing him in the back by not publicly supporting the team's diagnosis. She points out that it was his diagnosis, not the team's. Hadley refuses to lie when asked a direct question but Foreman says that she would have done it if she was working for House. The MRI shows no sign of a brain tumor and he tells her to treat Vince for thrombocytosis.

An angry Hadley goes to see House, who figures she would have held out longer before complaining to him about Foreman. When she asks him how she can deal with Foreman, House tells her to stop being a coward and Foreman is the one with legitimate concerns. When he suggests that she give in to keep Foreman happy, Hadley is surprised and notes that House never advises anyone to give in. House offers her some of his cooking and she admits it's the best thing she's ever eaten. However, House admits that his leg still hurts and cooking isn't helping him deal with it.

Foreman discusses his problems with Chase, who suggests that he either fire Hadley or accept that it's her job to challenge her boss. Foreman suggests they forget the whole thing and going out drinking but Chase warns that he's ducking the problem.

Wilson comes home early from work and discovers that House has given up cooking. His friend explains that he was started to obsess about his obsessing so he stopped cooking. House claims he's fine but goes to see Nolan and complains that his leg pain is increasing, and the more he worries the worse it gets. Nolan suggests he finds something else but House worries that he'll never find a long-term solution.

Foreman visits Hadley and tries to apologize. It works and they try to start their relationship over. However, they're summoned back to the hospital because Vince's lymph nodes have swollen up. The thrombocytosis treatment isn't working so Vince puts up a $25,000 reward on the Internet to anybody who can find a cure for him.

House goes back to his apartment, looks through his clothing, and finds a bottle of Vicodin. He considers it carefully.

Foreman and the others are swamped with communications from everyone who has seen Vince's reward offer. They take them to Vince and warn that by the time they've gone through all of them, he'll be dead. Vince asks for treatment for amyloidosis because the majority of respondents voted for that as his disease. An exasperated Foreman says they'll test for it first if Vince will agree to retract the reward once the test proves negative. Vince agrees to the deal.

When Wilson comes home for lunch, he finds House obsessing about doing laundry. House observes that he has lunch with Cuddy so he must be there to check up on House. House insists he's good and casually strolls off... without his cane.

Much to everyone's surprise, the test for amyloidosis came up positive and Taub begins treatment. He tells Foreman that he's received a job offer to join a friend's surgical practice and tends his resignation. When Foreman wonders why Taub is leaving after Foreman fought to keep the diagnostic department going, Taub admits that he came to Princeton to work with House. He's been looking for a job eve since House quit and now he has one. Taub concedes that Foreman is doing fine, but he just isn't House.

Back at their apartment, Hadley tries to console Foreman, who is worried Cuddy will shut them down if Vince doesn't recover. He admits to her that he's not ready for the job and Hadley starts to tell him a story about her college roommate.

Wilson visits Cuddy and explains that after he noticed House was getting along without his cane, he blocked the toilet intake valve and secretly got a urine sample from House. He's had it tested and determined that while it doesn't show any traces of Vicodin, it does have epithelial cells from a Labrador Retriever. They figure that he's using.

At Princeton, Vince runs into the lobby, sweating heavily. To him, the world starts transforming into the virtual reality game he's designed. Birds attack him and Foreman transforms into an alien warrior when he enters the lobby. Vince throws a cup of coffee at him and runs for the elevator only to find a transformed Hadley. He starts to get a grip on reality but a giant bird-creature from his game bursts through the lobby window. As he collapses, Foreman realizes that Vince is delirious because of a high body temperature, which is counter-indicative of amyloidosis.

They put Vince in a cold tub to get his temperature down and wonder what to do next. Foreman's next diagnosis is light-chain disposition disorder (LCDD), and Hadley agrees. Foreman goes to see Vince and explains that the treatment is high-dose chemotherapy. Vince quickly gives in for once but Foreman figures that he's too scared to consider the options. Foreman slowly goes over the treatment, and insists that while it's dangerous, it's the best thing for both Vince's life and Foreman's career.

Wilson and Cuddy tell House they know he's using. He tells them that he easily figured out Wilson's plan and somehow got a dog to urinate in the toilet for him. When they wonder why he's recovered, House immediately gets up and uses a coffee mug made by Wilson's godson to provide a urine sample. Cuddy complains about what Wilson has got her into.

As Foreman takes a shower, he looks at his hands and notices that his fingers are pruning. He goes to Vince's room and tells her to stop the chemotherapy: the lack of pruning in Vince's fingers when he was in the cold tub means he has Fabry's Disease. Hadley explains that she went behind Foreman's back and already started treating Vince for Fabry. When Foreman wonders how she came up with the diagnosis, Hadley explains that she realized the swelling of the lymph nodes was brought on by contrast reaction during the MRI. Once she eliminated that symptom, she came up with Fabry's. Once they've got Vince on treatment, Hadley admits that she ignored Foreman's orders and went back to the Internet, and someone on-line suggested the contrast reaction.

Later, Hadley talks to Foreman in his office and apologizes for going behind his back. Cuddy has made Foreman the new head of diagnostics. Foreman wonders if he can do her job with Hadley around and she realizes that he's firing her.

At Medfield, House admits to Nolan that he slipped up. He shows his doctor a check for $25,000. House went online, saw Vince's offer, and gave a diagnosis. However, he admits that when he did, his leg stopped hurting. Nolan admits that he may have been wrong and that the best cure for House's leg pain is diagnostic medicine. When House wonders if he should do it from home, Nolan warns that sitting alone in a room all day would just reinforce his anti-social behavior. Nolan is forced to admit that the one thing worse than House practicing diagnostic medicine is House not practicing diagnostic medicine.

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