Twenty Vicodin is the Season 8 premiere of House that first aired on October 3, 2011. It was directed by Greg Yaitanes and written by Peter Blake. The episode takes place about one year after the episode Moving On.
Season 8 starts out with Gregory House serving out a lengthy prison sentence for his various misdeeds in Moving On, including his trip outside the country in an attempt to escape responsibility. Entirely cut off from his old life, House determines his current problems are the result of his inability to deal with people. Feeling he will never be able to practice medicine again, he plans instead to go back to university to earn a doctorate in physics - a field that will all but assure his isolation from other human beings. As expected, House has great difficulty getting along with his fellow inmates, but does find his "one friend", an elderly prisoner who shares a fondness for chess. After one year, he's unable to bring himself to apologize for his conduct, show respect to the parole board, or cooperate with the prison system. However, due to prison overcrowding conditions, the parole board sees him as a candidate for early release as long as he can stay out of trouble for five days. This faint hope may turn out to be pointless. First, he meets a fellow prisoner with a mysterious medical condition, and convinces a beautiful doctor he has met working in the infirmary that with her help he can figure out what is wrong with the man. Second, one of the prison gangs makes it clear to him that he will not get out in one piece unless he delivers something within his control to them as an "exit fee" before he's released. In the end, House must walk a fragile path to save the patient, avoid trouble, and still walk away with his relationship with the pretty doctor intact.
Michael Pare appears in this episode as the prison warden. Jaleel White also guest star as a fellow inmate, Porter.
Recap
Gregory House is sitting before a parole board. He has been in prison eight months and has become eligible for parole for the first time. It’s going disastrously until Warden Delaire admits to House that the prison is overcrowded and if he behaves for five days he will be released. Otherwise, he serves four more months. House gets contrite and assures the board he can behave.
House is going through the prison routine and minding his own business until the time comes to get medication. He helps his cellmate Asofa make sure he takes the proper anti-psychotic. House gets his dose of Vicodin. When one of the long term prisoners, Mendelson comes for his medication, House points out the nurse gave him the wrong dose. When she goes to correct it, House takes a Vicodin out of his cheek and slips it to Mendelson. Mendelson shows off his new swastika tattoo, so House tells him he’s Jewish - and a gay black Gypsy too!
House visits the cell of Frankie and House makes a chess move without even looking at the board. A prisoner, Nick approaches House and tells him about his symptoms. House chides him for mistaking the cell block for the medical clinic. House gets back to his cell and finds Rollo stealing his spare food. Rollo knows House is leaving and won’t need it. House confronts him, but he realizes if he does anything about it, he loses his chance at parole. The chess player comes along and tells him to forget it - he will be getting out Friday. He then asks if he’s just been checkmated and House confirms it.
While cleaning up, Stomper tells House he wants his stereo and headphones.
House finds himself in the clinic. He hears Dr. Adams starting Nick on ceftriaxone. Dr. Sykes compliments her. However, House immediately realizes she thinks the patient has gonorrhea and tells her she’s wrong. The patient realizes it too. Sykes tells Adams House used to be a doctor. House tells her the patient has lupus. She’s sceptical and House tells her off, but realizes he may get written up and asks her not to. She says she usually doesn’t.
The chess player tells House not to mess with Stomper. However, House isn’t taking advice. He hides his stereo in Rollo’s cell. Stomper comes looking for his stereo, and House tells him that he did put it in Stomper’s cell, but Rollo stole it. Stomper is sceptical, but House says that Rollo was making fun of him. Stomper goes to see Rollo and finds the stereo. A fight breaks out. House gets he stereo back, along with some of the tuna Rollo stole. The chess player comes along to tell him he was stupid. House says he will be teaching physics in Fiji by the time those two get out of solitary. The chess player asks him how many tricks he has left.
The next day, Tuesday, House is sleeping in his bunk when he hears a chirping sound. He finds a cricket. Asofa wakes up too and grabs House when he tries to get rid of the cricket. House reminds him about his history with pets.
House goes to visit Nick to look for the rash that would indicate lupus. He goes to Dr. Adams in triumph, telling her there’s a rash on the left thigh. Adams has done her homework though, and knows all about House’s previous life. She wants to know about his drug use and prescription forging, but House dodges her questions and tells her to start Nick on prednisone. Adams wants to know why he thinks she will. House has pegged her as a smart girl from a family with a trust fund who took the job to satisfy her liberal tendencies. She wonders why he thinks that and he says he’s notices she wears different expensive shoes every day, but never any leather. She also has an antique locket and only wears a scarf on Fridays, indicating she did her residency at Johns Hopkins Medical School. He also notes the only time she doesn’t look bored is when she’s discussing Nick with him.
Back in the cell block, Frankie tells House Mendelson is looking for him. He’s upset House didn’t tell him he was being paroled. Mendelson tells House he wants all of his remaining Vicodin doses, plus the ones he should have given him for Monday - twenty in all. House says there’s no way - he only gets four a day - 11 before he gets out. Mendelson tells him he’s smart and will find the answer. House threatens to ask for protective custody, but Mendelson tells him if he does, he will have his friends on the outside find him.
House finds Porter, the prison’s capitalist. Porter tells him if he gets $200 from an outside friend sent to a friend of his in Trenton, it’s no problem. However, House says he has no friends on the outside. Porter agrees to do it for all of House’s remaining goods inside the prison.
House finds Nick in pain. He says its just from being jostled a little. Nick’s left arm is hypersensitive to touch - it’s broken House tells him he doesn’t have lupus.
House wakes up the next morning with a sore leg. He looks at his one remaining Vicodin. Asofa is worried, but House says he’s just going through withdrawal. Asofa offers him some narcotics, but shows him the cricket is sick.
House goes to see Adams to tell her it‘s not lupus, but she figures Nick broke his arm in a fight. He starts a differential, but Adams won’t show him the patient file. They come up with lung cancer, but she can’t run an x-ray until Friday. House thinks he will be dead by then and tells her to start him on blood thinners. She says treating without tests or proof must have been an interesting way to run a practice. House tells her he’s going to get proof.
House does another examination of Nick. He then asks Freddie to see if he can find another cricket for Asofa. Freddie reminds him about the pesticides they’ve been using, and House thinks of something. He then runs into Porter, who tells him Mendelson and his gang have bought out all the Vicodin and he can’t help.
Adams and House examine Nick. She finds an acoustical shadow that House also found. It indicates a tumor. She’s astounded House found it without a stethoscope. She won’t start blood thinners, but agrees to a clotting test. House realizes it’s a good idea. They go to her office and she asks if he’s really leaving medicine. He tells her that before he decided to go to med school, he considered getting a Ph.D. in physics. He tells her about dark matter, the greatest mystery ever. She tells him it divorces him from humanity. He tells her he and humanity got together too soon. She reminds him he is great at medicine, reading people, and understanding people. When they check back on Nick, he’s bleeding profusely from the cut Adams made - a totally surprising symptom.
It’s Thursday. House is trying to treat Asofa’s cricket for pesticide poisoning with sodium bicarbonate. House looks at the four Vicodin he has managed to collect.
House sees Dr. Adams. She managed to get Nick x-rayed and it wasn’t a tumor. She sees House rubbing his leg and asks if he’s alright. He says he’s fine. She gives him Nick’s file. They start thinking about toxins. Dr. Sykes comes in and catches House with the file.
House goes to get Nick to do an environmental scan. He notices Nick is getting weaker too. Nick just wants to try to phone his girlfriend. House yells at him that the girl isn’t going to wait and there’s a reason why people like them are in prison. Nick throws him out.
House goes to get Adams to help with the environmental scan, but she’s not co-operating either. She wants to know why he lied about being in for drug use and not assaulting his ex-girlfriend. She realizes that if that were the only issue, he would have got probation or a fine, not 16 months in prison. When House says he had a bad lawyer, Adams tells him he can’t work on the case anymore.
Mendelson confronts House, realizing he can’t get all the pills in time. House promises to make good once he’s out, but Mendelson says if he shows any weakness with House, every punk in the prison will try to kill him. He walks out with House’s cane.
House limps back to Frankie’s cell and asks for gum and a pen. House uses the materials to create a short-circuit in a wall outlet and starts a fire. He then goes to the clinic. When the fire distracts Adams, he grabs some Vicodin.
Nick comes back, but House has lost interest. However, when he looks back at Nick, he notices his lips are swelling. House asks about what’s he’s eaten, but it’s only meatloaf, potatoes and coffee. Nick goes into anaphylactic shock and House calls for help. With no immediate help, House uses Frankie’s pen to do an emergency tracheotomy. C.O. Alvarez finally shows up.
That night, House’s leg hurts, but the cricket is better. House looks at his Vicodin, then at the bottom of Asofa’s bunk, which he’s using as a whiteboard. He finally takes two Vicodin, leaving him with only eighteen.
It’s finally Friday. House is still scheduled to be released. He looks at his remaining Vicodin and takes two more. He then decides to flush them down the toilet to prevent either himself or Asofa from contraband charges. House then asks for protective custody. However, when he sees a steaming cup of coffee, he thinks of something and denies he needs protective custody anymore. He goes to Adams and tells her that it was the heat that set off Nick’s anaphylaxis - mastcocytosis. Dr. Sykes wants to run blood tests, but House realizes they won’t be able to confirm it that way. He suggests giving Nick five aspirin, which should induce anaphylaxis. Sykes realizes how dangerous it is, but Nick agrees to try it. However, Sykes refuses. House calls him a moron and coward. When House goes to do it himself, Sykes threatens to write him up.
Adams follows him out of the clinic and tells him she realizes he stole the Vicodin to pay an exit tax. She asks if he’s okay. He asks for twenty and she gives them to him. She promises to take care of Nick.
House offers the Vicodin to Mendelson. When Mendelson tells him he’s done the right thing, he says he realizes that. Then, he throws the Vicodin into the air. A fight breaks out. Mendelson hits House and orders his lackey Sullivan to take him out. Sullivan goes to get a hidden shank. As he goes to stab House, Asofa comes out of nowhere to hit Sullivan from behind. He then takes out the rest of Mendelson’s men and starts pummelling Mendelson until the riot cops drag him off.
Adams is treating House’s injuries. He asks for the aspirin to test Nick. Adams realizes he got beat up on purpose. House quickly locks out the guards and Sykes. Adams confronts House - she found out House took the first deal he was offered because he wanted to punish himself. She wants to know if he thinks saving Nick will wipe his slate clean. He says he’s doing it because he has a gift. However, before they give the cup with the aspirin mixture to Nick, it’s intercepted and House is dragged away. However, Adams grabs the cup and gives it to Nick. Sykes tells her she will never work again, but she tells him to shut up to see if he has an anaphylaxis attack. However, nothing happens. House is dragged off.
It’s Saturday, and House is in solitary. His food arrives with a note - “You were right”.
Major Events
Video
thumb|300px|left|It's Lupus! Again!
thumb|300px|left|House in jail
thumb|300px|left|First visitor
thumb|300px|left|Dealing with racists
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Twenty Vicodin |
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