Office Politics - Recap

Political consultant Joe Dugan runs a sample ad for his boss, New Jersey Senator Hal Anderson, pointing out his opponent's pro-immigration stance. Hal isn't eager to run the ad, but Joe tells him that he has no choice. As they talk, Joe scratches his arm and realizes that he has something more serious than a rash on his arm.

House is working in the clinic and Cuddy visits him. When she points out that he hasn't hired a woman to replace Thirteen, House insists that he's working on it. Cuddy then tells him that she's hired Martha Masters, a med student who graduated high school when she was 15, and House has no choice since she's his boss.

House meets with the team for a differential on Joe, and Martha introduces herself. House tests her and is surprised to learn she's incredibly knowledgeable. The doctors would rather focus on the case, and House notes that she isn't saying anything. He sends the men to check out Joe's house, and House tells her to get an opinion.

As Masters goes with Foreman and Taub, she admits that she's awestruck by House, and they take offense. She's surprised to see that they're breaking in, and Foreman explains that patients hide things when they know they're coming. However, Masters refuses to go in. Inside, Taub and Foreman discuss Masters' lack of inexperience, and Taub isn't thrilled to have her. Foreman figures that Taub is jealous that Masters is smarter, and finds a jug of unpasteurized apple cider.

Back at the hospital, Foreman suggests that Joe has e coli from contaminated cider, while House figures that Taub is worried about Masters because she's too young. Foreman is amused, but also suggests that Joe has a feces infection from the contaminated apple cider. As he prepares to filter Joe's blood with Masters' help, she suggests that they tell Joe that they broke into his house. Taub tells her to go ahead if it will clear her conscience.

As they filter his blood, Joe calls in the shots for the campaign from his bed. When Masters asks if he wonders how they came up with their diagnosis, Joe figures that they broke into his house, but doesn't care as long as they get results. As they talk about the merits of honesty in politics, Joie is suddenly paralyzed.

Back in differential, the team analyzes Joe's condition, noting that his paralysis was temporarily. House is more interested in knowing why Masters snitched on her teammates. She insists that she has normal morals for a doctor, but House insists that rules aren't normal. Chase agrees with Masters' diagnosis of a neuroendrocine tumor, and notes that Joe's suggestion for the ad is a sign of a mental disturbance. It's been leaked on the Internet against Anderson's wishes, and Chase figures that Joe did it himself. House orders them to test for the tumor as well as DIC, and then asks Masters if she would lie to save a patient. However, she admits that she would lie to protect her grandmother's feelings, and wonders why she's willing to lie when it won't save someone.

House talks to Cuddy and notes that Masters has principles, but she warns that he can't fire her without good reason. Cuddy insists that Masters brings a fresh perspective, and wonders if House is defensive. She refuses to back down, and tells House to give Masters a real choice. She returns to her office and finds Masters there, worried that she's going to be fired. Cuddy tells her to have strong beliefs, but Masters says that she has trouble working with other people since she was so much smarter than her peers. In response, Cuddy assures her that House will accept her as long as she proves herself.

As they run CT tests, Chase and Foreman discuss whether to help Masters or not. Joe speaks up and says that he didn't leak the ad, and whoever did is doing his client a favor. He figures that people will react protectively, and admits that he set up Moreno's supposed amnesty speech by taking footage from a speech he gave to Amnesty International. Foreman confirms that there's no sign of a tumor, meaning DIC. He goes to see Taub, who is doing the blood tests, and comments on his age. Taub takes offense, insisting that he's in great shape. He challenges Foreman to basketball after work, and Foreman accepts. They then get the test results.

Anderson comes to see Joe, and Joe figures that he leaked the spot. The senator admits that it worked. Taub comes in to tell them that he tested negative for DIC, and asks if he's visited any agricultural or industrial sites. As they ask where he's been, they realize that his kidneys are shutting down.

Back in differential, Masters suggests clotting and Foreman agrees. She suggests chemotherapy or steroids, and House says chemotherapy and refuses to consider the second option. He says that they have to withhold the information from Joe, even though Masters is sure that he'll go with chemotherapy. She goes to Joe, who opts for steroids because he wants to get back on the campaign trail. Masters suggests that he reconsider, but Joe insists on the steroids.

Foreman lets Taub take the first shot, and he sinks it from the three-point line. Foreman dares him to do it twice, and Taub does. Foreman starts playing for real, and the two go at it. Taub ends up three points behind on the game point, and Foreman scores the last point with a lucky shot. He admits that he was wrong about Taub, and now they have to figure out Masters is making him secure.

Masters comes to see House and tells him that they're giving Joe the chemotherapy by mistake. House admits that he switched the medicines, and forbids her to tell Joe the truth. When she refuses, he fires her and says that if she warns Joe, he'll get her thrown out of medical school and is willing to lie to do it.

The others come to see House, and Foreman warns that they needed Masters' perspective. Taub is happy to have her gone. Chase notes that Joe is getting worse, and Taub suggest that Joe has a tank full of tropical fish. House tells them to break in and confirm. As they go, Cuddy comes to get House and brings him to her office to meet with Masters. Masters agrees to give in to House, but Cuddy insists that she stay. He figures that Cuddy sees Masters as herself, and tells her to put Masters in a different department.

As they examine Joe's fish tank, Chase figures that Taub doesn't like Masters because of how she looked. Someone catches them.

House gets a call from Foreman, who explains that they're in jail and need House to bail him out. House says he's busy and hangs up.

Joe watches as Senator Anderson addresses the press on TV. House comes to see Masters and tells her that he needs her for differential. However, he just needs her to analyze his differential. However, she interrupts when Anderson accuses Joe of leaking the ad and violated his trust. He fires Joe from his campaign and ends the press conference, and House thanks Masters for her help. As he goes, he tells her that she's fired again.

House goes to see Joe and explains that Hal has Hepatitis C, which explains Joe's symptoms. Joe insists they didn't have sex or share a needle. House figures that they used coke together, and Joe's liver is hiding the possibility. He gives Joe interferon and leaves.

In jail, Foreman realizes that Taub has met Masters before. He insists that he didn't know Masters, but Foreman and Chase refuse to drop it. Taub finally admits that he interviewed her because he interviewed her for Hopkins Medical School. Despite the fact they talked for an hour, now Masters doesn't remember her.

As Masters leaves, House tells her that he's rehiring her. He explains that Joe has Hep C and it isn't responding to interferon. He asks her what else does treat Hep C, but she tries to walk off. House says that she'll give in because she hates failing, and that she won't quit. Masters notes a study that showed that patients who were infected with Hep A recovered from Hep C. House agrees and fires her, but she refuses. They got to Cuddy, who refuses to allow House access to Hep A cultures. Masters agrees, noting that Cuddy is taking a cowardly position. However, Cuddy refuses to give them the Hep A without proof that Joe has Hep C, and tells them to come up with a way to prove it.

As they go, House warns that he's going to do something unethical. Foreman, Taub, and Chase arrive, and House tells them to come up with a way to create a false Hep C test. Chase suggests that test Anderson, and Taub suggests they do enough tests to get the 1% chance of a false positive. House reluctantly agrees.

Later, House goes to see Wilson and admits that he's worried that Cuddy might be upset when he lies to her this time, as her employee. Wilson warns that he'll have to choose between lying to save a patient, or Cuddy.

House brings in Anderson in and agrees to run the test under an assumed name. He then labels the blood sample with Joe's name and shows it to Cuddy. She's impressed that he respects her enough to tell her the truth, and goes to hire a new team member. House goes to see Masters and tells her that he'll give her an honest chance. However, he wants her to convince Joe to agree to be infected with Hep A. House explains that if Joe doesn't consent, the odds are that he will die.

Masters tells Joe that they need to inject him with Hep A. When he demands the facts, she tells the truth and admits he has an 85% of dying. However, Masters warns that it's his only chance and explains that House put his career on the line by lying. Outside, Masters is happy that she didn't have to lie. She figures that House hired her because she doesn't compromise her principles, but House says that he wants her to want to lie to a patient. Masters assures him that it's not going to happen.

Later, Masters finds Taub in the locker room, and they confirm that Joe is recovering. She finally recognizes Taub from Hopkins and apologizes. However, Taub wonders if she's lying to spare his feelings.

House signs off on the med school paperwork, and Cuddy tells him that she'll see him later at home.

In his room, Joe watches as Anderson gets elected and boasts about running a positive campaign.

Cuddy talks to Nurse Regina and discovers that House saw Anderson at the hospital at the same time that House's team ran the test.

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