Damned If You Do

Season 1, Episode 5, Aired
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Episode Summary

A nun whose hands are red, swollen and cracked is sent to House. The nun believes it is stigmata, but House suspects an allergic reaction. He gives her some pills, which cause her to become unable to breathe. As her condition worsens, her fellow sisters pray for her while House and his team work to discover the cause of her illness while House has to wonder if he misadministered the illness.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (13)

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  • this was a good ep

    8.5
    "Great"
    By cube2k8, May 11, 2011 Report Abuse
    a nun is sent to doctor house but thing is he does not really belive in faith and so she comes in with redness and other things and house gives her pills and then she cant breathed she thinks its god and she wants to be taken . and she thinks its asine from god and house does not belive that . and he must try to figure things out before its too late. and this was a good ep and it showd you anthor side of house . and that is why i gave the show a 8.5 instead of anyting lowermoreless

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  • Well it was an average episoide

    7.0
    "Good"
    By tvrev, Apr 26, 2010 Report Abuse
    Well, House's reaction to seeing the nun was priceless, Still he thought it was a simple case which caused him to think he made an error when she went into fit but he refuses to accept it. As per usual he investigate and get thrown off the case but knowing House like we know he didn't give in and spoke to the nun. Still that help with the tea but that didn't cure her. At this stage he has to give up but he refuses to give-up and get an idea to do full body scan. So it was copper wire, am i only thinking why didn't they do one when she was admitted to the hospital?.

    Other case, Santa claus well recommend Smoking to do a patient, i didn't know doctor were allowed to do that but it was amusing, it's upto the patient whether he would take the advice. I thought it was nice Camron to give house a present, am i sense she kinda of likes him. What was the present she give him, i want to know.

    Next week case look a bit more cool, finally we see blood vomitting, this is a medical drama so it took few episoide to have one these type of cases. Until next week that's it from me.moreless

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  • Perhaps not one of their best, but I'm still willing to sit through it, so take that as a victory for the writers nonetheless

    7.5
    "Good"
    By anshu_angel, Apr 26, 2010 Report Abuse
    This episode was fine, okay, all right.. average, in other words. I didn't quite get the Jewish jokes that House was making with his doctor buddy, but there were a few other priceless moments as usual [such as Cuddy eyeing the teabag he threw at her with suspicion- "What is this, hemlock?"]. On the whole, however, the nun storyline wasn't that engrossing, and the woman was rather insipid and colorless. When she starts hallucinating about 'the Lord', it gets a little cringeworthy- but at least it's not an extended scene. You'd think, though, that House would be a little more cautious with the treatments- he jumps from one to the other haphazardly, and he ranted in a previous episode how dangerous that was, to prescribe one thing then another, but does it himself. All those chemicals in the one body can't be very healthy...but still, an average episode of 'House' is worth far more than a whole heap of other shows, at the end of the day, and I stil found a few moments to enjoy, so it wasn't that bad.moreless

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  • Not the best one so far. It looked a little worse compared to the awesome episode before it. Then again, it was still quite good.

    9.2
    "Superb"
    By Mr_Jaminson, Apr 26, 2010 Report Abuse
    Great episode, they are all great. This one, however, I must say was not my favourite for a few reasons. I always love an episode with shocking or very unusual symptoms. This one did not really have much of either of these. This episode seemed to focus on more of the morals of the nuns' religion i think, or at least religion in general. I just did not find it all that interesting compared to the side stories of the others. This all changed when you found out the patient had been pregnant before and it instantly grew quite interesting.

    The final reveal was awesome too, the way it was done it was like a punch in the face!! A copper cross just sitting in your body for so long, almost unimaginable.

    Medical Problem: Allergic reactions to copper.
    Rating: 9.2/10moreless

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  • How do you save a life, when they feel that it is divine intervention?

    9.3
    "Superb"
    By CVPWaveMaster, Apr 26, 2010 Report Abuse
    This episode hit a little close to home, cause I feel the same way about most nuns. Most of them are evil, they are picky and they disapprove of everything. It's no wonder why Dr. Chase felt the way he did. "Are you allowed to watch TV or do you think that's the work of the devil?" But to have a woman get sick that way is insane. She started convulsing and seeing images of Christ. And automatically when a nun has marks on her palms it must be stigmata. Problem is that people associate Jesus to his death more than his message. People focus more of how he died and who's to blame rather than trying to live for the heavenly father's will. By the way I'm Catholic, but I also believe that there is more than one pathway to God, so I hope I haven't belittled all the other wonderful religions out there. It's interesting to find out that it was actually a copper tool stuck inside of her, from a self-abortion several years ago. It's also interesting to see House being the Grinch of the hospital and others being nice to him. His small heart becomes ten times sizes to big when his ex-wife tells him he did a good job and Merry Christmas.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Trivia: Dr. Chase's mother has been dead for ten years. Edit
    • Dr. House is listening to a patient's heart with a stethoscope. However as the shot cuts to his face you can see the stethoscope is not in his ears. Edit
    • Dr. Foreman refers to a patient's "eophinosil" count. The word he's after is "eosinophil" (a type of white blood cell). Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Injoke: The chocolate bar House is eating in the hospital chapel is Cadburys Dairy Milk, an English chocolate company that Hugh Laurie did voiceovers for. Edit
    • This episode was nominated for a Humanitas Prize for 60 Minute Category. Edit
    • House plays "Silent Night" on his piano during the closing scenes. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • House: We are condemned to useless labor... Dr. Wilson: Fourth circle of Hell. Charting goes a lot faster when you eliminate all classic poetry. House: Writing down what we already know to be read by nobody. Pretty sure Dante would agree that qualifies as useless. Dr. Wilson: You're over two weeks behind in your charting. (Dr. Cuddy approaches them, and House throws a piece of paper towards her) House: Oops... I missed. Edit
    • (House pages Dr. Chase with "call mom") Dr. Chase: My mother's been dead for 10 years. House: But she's always with you in spirit. Edit
    • Dr. Cuddy: You have a patient in exam one! House: Yeah, but see... (looks towards the watch) I'm... I'm off at twelve and it's already five off... Dr. Cuddy: She's been waiting for you since eleven! House: (to Dr. Wilson) Melancholy without hope. Which circle is that? Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • House: Writing down what we already know to be read by nobody. Pretty sure Dante would agree that qualifies as useless. Wilson and House are alluding to Dante Alighieri's poem The Divine Comedy, in which the main character travels through nine circles of hell. Edit
    • House recommending cigarettes The clinic patient, Marvin, dressed as Santa Claus, who is prescribed cigarettes by House for his inflammatory bowel. The whole thing is very reminiscent of an old Fry & Laurie first series sketch called "Doctor Tobacco." Laurie goes to see the "doctor" (Stephen Fry) for an examination. He complains of having trouble breathing at night and tightness in his chest. Fry tells him to smoke a cigarette twenty times a day, "ideally moving on to thirty or forty." Laurie complains that they cause lung cancer and emphysema. Fry dismisses the idea. They argue back and forth until Laurie insists that he'd like a second opinion. Fry offers that they're also cheap, nutritious and stylish. And if he's interested in a third opinion, they're also soothing, harmless and sexy. Turns out, Fry wasn't a doctor after all but a tobacconist. Edit
    • Title Alluding to the quote made by Eleanor Roosevelt, The full quotation is, "Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." Edit

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