House M.D. (TV Series) Deception (2005) User Reviews

Prejudices

[xredgarnetx · 8/10 · 4 September 2006]

A woman collapses at an OTB facility that House frequents, and he soon finds himself doing battle with his new boss (Foreman!) over her treatment. Foreman has become House's temporary boss in the aftermath of "The Mistake." And Foreman's well-known prejudice against street people and low lifes comes into play when he suspects the woman's motives. Much of the appeal of this episode is due to the actress playing the stricken woman, the lovely and talented Cynthia Nixon. She is highly convincing as a woman who may or may not be deathly ill, and causes House to get personally involved for a change. They have a great scene together in the third act while seated on a park bench in snowy weather. Wilson meanwhile digs himself into an increasingly deeper hole as he moves in with House.

Major plot hole but still fun.

[zgillet · 6/10 · 28 June 2015]

The episode is classic House fun, but it suffers from not making much sense. The main issue is that the woman is a Munchhausen's patient... which is fine; she shows all the classic symptoms. However, she says right at the beginning that she just moved to Jersey and has no job... yet already has many appointments. Now, either she is lying about moving, which negates the notion that the move was because she probably got caught for Munchhausen's wherever she used to live (as indicated by the ending), or she is telling the truth. But, if she IS telling the truth, she has no steady job. I don't care if she is the best hooker of all time, she could not afford the type of tests for her fake diseases on top of the other appointments seen without some kind of insurance. Also, no insurance would keep paying for these types of tests over and over (an inconclusive pituitary surgery?)

Apart from these glaring issues, the character interaction is, as always, superb. The acting is convincing and the subject matter isn't as trite as many hospital TV episodes, so it is still worth a watch.