Ugly - Recap

Kenny and his father arrive by train, accompanied by a documentary film crew. Kenny is hideously deformed due to a softball-sized cyst on his left eyebrow. They go to Princeton where Chase is in attendance at the surgery to remove the cyst. However, Kenny has a heart attack and they’re forced to stop the operation.

The documentary team gets permission to film House’s treatment of the boy. House is less than enthused and ducks them to confront Cuddy, but she wants the publicity. House then meets with Foreman and the five remaining fellows, as well as Dr. Terzi. The fellows, particularly Amber, are wondering how Terzi got hired without going through House’s gauntlet and what that means for their chances.

House gets the team into the MRI, where the film crew can’t go, so he can get some privacy. They run a differential, and House concludes that Kenny has been huffing Freon, causing scarring of the heart that led to the attack. After he sends the fellows off to test his theory, Terzi confronts him and wants to know if he’s hiring her for real, or just to play another game with the fellow. He says his offer is for real, then goes to Wilson and admits he isn’t sure if she’s competent and if he’s keeping her on because of her looks. Wilson is just surprised that House feels anything remotely resembling guilt and remorse.

Kenny’s father doesn’t believe his son is doing drugs, but Taub notes it isn’t unusual for parents to be unaware of what their kids are up to. Kutner tests Kenny for scarring but comes off looking like an idiot on camera when he tries to commiserate with the boy. Meanwhile, Cuddy is having an awkward time trying to explain why House is avoiding the film crew. House sticks by his scarring theory despite the fellows’ objections, and shoots down their theories. The only one he doesn’t shoot down is Terzi’s, until Foreman points out it doesn’t make sense. House has Taub shut down Kenny’s heart so they can run an EP, even though Taub doesn’t think House is right. However, Taub and the other fellows are reluctant to argue the matter since if they’re caught on camera it’ll look bad for any future employers.

Taub talks to Kenny, noting that if the drug theory is correct then they can cure it and remove the cyst. Kenny lies about taking drugs, fooling no one and confirming Taub’s own theory the kid isn’t taking drugs and House is wrong. However, Kenny starts vomiting blood.

House tries to run a differential but the film crew gets in the way and the fellows are too busy playing for the camera. Terzi comes up with another dumb theory that House considers, until Foreman points out it’s lame. House backtracks and Taub comes up with a theory concerning liver tumors causing the intracranial pressure leading to the vomiting and other symptoms. House undercuts him again and Taub has no choice but to go along rather than look bad on-camera.

The film crew interviews Wilson, who rambles on about House being caught in a gay sex scandal in a bathroom stall. House interrupts him and gets the crew out of the room, then sits down with Wilson to try to figure out if Terzi is making him stupid because of her good looks. Kenny starts vomiting blood again despite House’s steroid treatment for the drug use and he’s forced to admit he’s wrong. Terzi comes up with a new theory and after slowly seeing if everyone else likes it, House agrees to test.

The film crew then interview Cameron as she examines a patient, and she fervently defends him. However, she admits that she “loves” working with House, then stumbles over trying to explain what kind of love she meant. It doesn’t go well.

House now believes Kenny has a rheumatoid condition but Taub still believes his own liver tumor theory is correct. He bypasses House and goes to Kenny’s father, and the father agrees to go with Taub’s recommendation. House fires Taub but Cuddy keeps him on, since the father now trusts him. Suspicious, House goes to one of Taub’s former partners, pretends to want plastic surgery for his toe, and tries to find out why Taub quit. The partner refuses to discuss the matter and tells House to get out.

Taub runs a CT test that he believes proves his case. He shows the results to Cuddy and House, but they’re inconclusive and House notes that he called Taub’s wife. They go into an OBY-GYN exam room to discuss the matter and Taub admits that he had an affair and his partners gave him the chance to resign. Cuddy then agree with House and orders the steroid treatment. House talks to Kenny and his father, and admits that, unlike Taub, he could care less about making Kenny normal: he just wants the kid to live. Kenny would rather have the surgery so he can look normal and everyone (including his father) will treat him as normal.

House breaks into the room where the film crew is keeping their tapes, and brings Wilson along. House reviews the tapes and has to admit that Terzi’s theories were dumb, and his considering them was even dumber. Wilson thinks the whole thing is funny.

Cameron is practicing her “I meant a platonic kind of love” speech for the film crew in a mirror, while Chase looks on. He has his own suspicions about what she meant.

Taub still insists his theory is correct, but when House (deliberately) latches on to them and orders massive treatment, Taub is forced to back down and concede Kenny is okay. They go to give the boy the news, but House notices Kenny’s little finger is twitching uncontrollably and insists there’s some problem remaining and they can’t operate on the cyst.

In differential, Taub thinks House is just looking for symptoms so that Kenny won’t get the operation, and then he won’t be normal. The plastic surgeon figures House despises “normal” and doesn’t want Kenny cured. Taub suggests they remove the pacing wire from Kenny’s heart: if he’s cured, he’ll be fine. If not, they’ll have Kutner standing by with defib paddles. Kutner is enthused about the idea (despite having set a patient on fire once, and electrocuting himself another time), and House agrees. They remove the wire and Kenny is fine, so they take him into surgery.

House still believes something is wrong with the kid. Thirteen also has her doubts and goes in to watch Chase prep Kenny for surgery. She notices discoloration around the hairline and realizes that no one has looked closely at Kenny’s face due to his deformity. Meanwhile, Wilson goes in to give House a hard time about hiring, firing, and then dating attractive women, but Thirteen comes in to give them the news: Kenny has lyme disease but the target rash was hidden by his hair and his deformity. Shaving the kid’s hair, they confirm the diagnosis.

It’s time for another dismissal and House has determined that Taub signed a non-compete with his former partners. He can’t go back to plastic surgery, so if he doesn’t get the job with House he won’t work at all. House is impressed with his determination and keeps him on. He then admits that he treated Terzi unfairly, hiring her because of her looks... and fires her.

A little later, the film crew sends Cuddy a preliminary cut of the documentary. Through camera edits they manage to make House look like a warm caring human being. House is disgusted and stalks off, while Cuddy just smirks... then watches the scene of a now-normal Kenny thanking House.

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