One of my favourite details about this episode, is how the lecture room went from being just the compulsory students, to slowly filling up through out the episode, until it finished and it was overflowing with people hanging out in the aisles/doorways.

An interesting thing that we get hints of in later episodes that deal with House's past is the fact that prior to this he was a fairly athletic person, and specifically he was big into running. So after his brain (for puzzle solving), his legs were the next most important parts of him to himself, which adds even more reason to why he was so insistent on not having one of them amputated, even at major risk to his life. The irony of course being that he could have then got a prosthetic and still been able to run, but instead he's now in a situation where he still has both legs, but one is in too much pain for him to be able to run.

The reveal that it's House's story is one of my favorite reveals in TV history.

"But we also know that House has gone on to live a pretty happy life..." True or false, this have me a chuckle

The drama of this episode becomes more interesting when the patient is revealed to be House, but I find the way House decides to teach about diagnostics very smart. Three real case patients, each one of them with leg pain, in one case doctors try to do too much (because Cameron always wants to fix everyone's heart), other one is receiving the wrong treatment, because he is not upfront with the cause, and one more that is not receiving proper treatment on time because the cause is not evident right away. I think the way House presents this lecture is brilliant and if students are smart, they will keep several lessons in their head. I saw another MD reacting to this episode, and he was very critical of the scene where House says "eeeh! the patient's dead" and when the students say they didn't have enough time to run any tests, House responds "you had time to examine his leg". That other reactor said something about protocols and sequences, and how doctors in real life are told to examine the patient first... But last time I had to take my son to the ER with an injured knee, the doctor was in the room for less than 15 seconds, talked to me, asked my son where it hurts (he is autistic and could not describe in detail, just signaled the genera area of the knee) indicated the staff to take x-ray and to give him ibuprofen. Didn't inspect the knee, didn't look for signs of damaged ligaments like loose mobility of the joint, after the x-rays showed nothing broken or dislocated, he said "it's just a sprain, take him home, give him some ibuprofen for the pain and use ice. Maybe follow-up with an orthopedist." After about a month of dealing with the insurance, we got the appointment with the orthopedist, and MRI, and a diagnostic of torn ligament, torn tendon and fractured meniscus. My son had to wait about six weeks to start treatment (physical therapy) not knowing at that point if he was even going to require surgery, so yes, there are doctors who will not even look at the leg.

My dad was a surgeon, and he used to say, “I don’t have a crystal ball!” I understood what he meant after this episode.

9:44 I know I'm a rare exception, but this is how I'd need to be told I'm dying. I overthink everything and every second you delay those words is false hope. I need a fast and direct statement with no wiggle room or ambiguity.

I like how you know how to play ball with the premise of some of these shows. We know that house is filled with inaccuracies but you are able to not let those bother you and still engage with the "what if" scenario and explore it in a fun way. Thank you.

my brother just recently pointed out that House is suppose to be Sherlock Holmes but if he went into medicine instead, Wilson is also his Watson, and now I can't un-see it and it makes everything make way more sense once you figure out who everybody is suppose to be

No one ever talks about how the three variations of leg pain endings: saved the leg, amputation and house 😢

I was seeing an occ doc for an occupational physical. She asked me an odd question: did you used to have more leg hair? Well, yes, I did. I assumed my jeans rubbed a bunch off. After the physical was over, she recommended I have my primary care doc order thyroid test. I asked why. She said, “your weight, dry skin, and loss of hair on your legs could indicate hypothyroidism”. My PCP ordered labs and I am now on synthroid for hypothyroidism. Good catch by an attentive occ doc.

I remember the first time I watched this episode. Being someone who lives with chronic pain, the revelation that this was House's story hit me unexpectedly hard.

I've watched this episode a number of times, but I still get teary-eyed listening to House and Stacy argue about cutting off his leg. It's such a powerful scene.

I think this episode was my most favorite from the tv series. It had great setting and pacing, it escalates well, and delivers a great climax that brings it back to the show and reveals more about the main character. It also really showcases how a "head of diagnostics department" (a thing that wouldn't normally exist) would operate differently than most.. more like a wordly knowledgeable Sherlock Holmes but with a focus on medicine instead of criminology. The lecture itself, while it kind of flexes House and his department, does at least drive home a point to not get complacent in the diagnosis. "Actually look at the problem", or "don't judge a book by its cover", or "the patient isn't going to easy to deal with", etc. While not everyone needs to know the amount of venom a snake might retain after biting, keeping an eye out and investigating the things that don't quite fit can mean catching problems sooner and saving more lives. I liked the insight you've given in this episode, and surprisingly there was little medical gaffs other than maybe they were jumping assumptions a bit quick on some thing (something their team does a lot, honestly, so par for the course), or the mannerisms... which actually make sense, given the characters in question. Another reason I liked this episode a lot... the verisimilitude was good enough to really get swept away by the show.

The snake venom volume thing seems to catch a lot of medical professionals off guard. House knows this because he is the medical Sherlock Holmes, not because we expect doctors to know about snake venom production. Probably the best episode of the first season of the show and in the running for best overall. We finally get his backstory, it ties in to why he and Stacy have a complicated relationship, and it gives a subtle passage of time to show how long Cameron, Foreman, and Chase have been working with House since they have not one, but two different leg issues they’ve been a part of in the past for House to draw on along with his own case.

Probably one of my favorite episode and it was in the first season. The best part was when he was told that its pretty hard to think when he is all jn their faces and he responds "YEA, you think itll be easier with a real patient, really dying?" Any form of practice and studying wont be like the real thing, in any profession.

Two things I'll mention: 1. I like that as the lecture/episode goes on, the lecture hall gets more and more filled up. It's kind of a nice touch. And 2. Jennifer Morrison (Cameron) is going to be at a local convention next month, and if I can go, I'll probably get her to sign my House box set.

I was under the impression that House meant it would be easier to break the bad news to the wife and kid because they weren't there and are made up and not about breaking it to the patient.

This was a fun watch. Nice job. Also, can we just take a second to point out how great a show "House M.D" was. The writing, the puzzles and the acting was just really great.

Finally someone saying it: You can’t knock him out and then go over his head! You know his clear will and he knows the risks. If everything goes south you can still wake him up and ask again. And no, an amputation doesn’t even come close to being less painful. Especially not over-the-knee amputation. I have seen so many complications and follow up surgery and a seam insufficiency and higher amputations following it, less mobility, no mobility without prosthetic or very bad mobility and so on. Shoulder problems from walking with crutches… I could go on and on for ages.

I love that at first he has five to ten students, but on each panning shot the number seems to double. Every doctor in that hospiral is like "ok it'sy break, time to go hom-... House is goving a lecture!??!?! Count me in!" Because they know he's an amazing doctor, but they'd never want to actually deal with him.

This episode won the Emmy for writing. It’s my favorite from the show.

The student with the short hair and glasses is my favorite character in this episode. He really learns, and he knows it.

I like how he goes "puncture." Or how quickly someone died without them even examining a patient. Also hilarious trying for the "family history" for leg pain.

"House has gone on to live a pretty happy life" Wot? xdd

Yeah, the thing about knowing how much venom a snake would or wouldn't have is them leaning into the Sherlock Holmes parallel (Holmes claimed to not even know whether the Earth orbited the Sun or vice versa but had an encyclopaedic knowledge of obscure "trivia" about cigarette ash :). Still one of my favourite episodes of TV - structure, acting, dialogue, humour, all absolutely on point (and yep, House just casually saving someone else's life while giving a lecture is the ultimate flex :).

He did not say all vericose veins are caused by pregancy. He said, statistically these are the bigges.

"There are medical issues here." This is House. There are always issues.

Yes, more House M.D. please... You are the one channel who does not just bash the shows for medical inaccuracy, but sort of enjoys it too for its entertainment value. We Like that..

I learned so much Dr. Jess! Great video! I think House tells a patient they're dying by sending one of his team to do it! I also love how House's team is sitting there, and they figure out he's been talking about himself! Typical House. 😅

The "it's House" moment usually gets a bigger reaction from reactors. Really impressive that you guessed the diagnoses for House and the Farmer, think most reactions miss 1 or both of them (if they're doing medical play along)

5:38 - The problem is, when you have a self-righteous anti-opioid doctor who petulantly refuses to order ANY imaging, or to consult with a patient's prior neurosurgeon, when said patient is complaining of severe neck pain from bronchitus 5 years after a cervical fusion surgery, solely because the patient is requesting dilaudid by name, because of her automatic suspicion of "narcotic seeking behavior". Due to several medical conditions, allergies, precautionary avoidance and unwanted side effects, dilaudid was the only IV pain reliever that I could safely be given for this level of pain. Less than 2 years after this I had to undergo another surgery to extract the C-1 vertebrae because it was continuing to constrict the spinal cord just below the brain stem, which made the pain exponentially worse whenever I coughed due to the erratic jerking motion of the muscles in the neck. *NO* help from the above mentioned doctor, who was hell-bent on gaslighting me and treating me like a junkie looking for a fix.

The beauty of Hugh Laury as House is that he’s a comedian by trade, a bit of Fry and Laury is legendary. “You’re dying,” as a delivery, with the editing, is gold. It’s supposed to be funny, it’s okay to laugh!

Hugh is so freaking talented

Thanks for not criticizing the inaccuracy and explaining the right way.

In the context of the story the "you're dying" flashback scene is being relayed to an audience of prospective clinicians. We have no objective evidence that this was the "bedside manner" used by Dr. House or that it was Dr. House that delivered the news to the patient.

Before he said "makes breaking the news easier" he said "there is no wife and kid". So it does make breaking the news easier since there is no one to break the news to

"House has gone on to live a pretty happy life" Well i'm not so sure...

I wonder how House would have diagnosed me. The docs when i was in the hospital found out i have a genetic disorder theyve never seen before. Dont know if i should be honoured to have a paper written about me. LOL. I showed all the signs of dozens of infections and cancer. All tests came back negative though. LOL.

tbh, doctor coming to me and just saying "your dying" is fantastic way to tell me that.. sugarcoating might be more fun for the the doctor, but to me, patient that is dying... I would really appriciate if you just told me honestly "you are dying and there's nothing we can do" would help me so much.. I might have some ideas of trying, but ultimately, honesty is would be calming... there is nothing we can do would give me so much more calm than doctor skipping around the subject.

What a great episode! Great reveal that Dr House was talking about himself! Luv how he figures why the Dr he is sitting in for is always sick! Lol thanks Dr Jess looking forward to more!❤💛😁

I see it as two ways. One, House gets his own medicine. He often does stuff the patients don't want. If he were real, he'd be in jail a dozen times over instead of just the once. Or, it could be an explanation for why House often does things against the patient's wishes. Maybe he didn't do the radical things he does now before they did it to him without his consent...

I remember when i first heard about this show, the pitch was, what if Sherlock Holmes was a Doctor, massive fan of Sherlock, read all the books when i was a kid, so even though at the time i didn't know the term Sociopath, i knew that was who he was, not really his fault in the books, he would have a client come in and just want to know about the case, get the info as fast as possible, did not enter his head to ask did they wan't to sit down, have a drink, that how Watson helped him, brought a bit of humanity to him, same with House, that's why he needs Wilson. This show is amazing because you know House is a Dick, but you also know if you were sick, you would wan't him on your'e case, I think Hugh Laurie and the rest of the cast did such a great job, loving your'e reactions Doc, one episode to watch, don't think I have seen anyone do a reaction to it, A small case, check it out, it really is something, keep up the good work.

10:47 Rarely seen a lightbulb go off so visibly! :D

I must have missed this episode. I don't remember it. I agree though I would love to have sat in on this lecture.

Will always watch House reactions from Doctors. Glad another channel is doing them.

Imagine being that other doctor who can't figure out why he keeps getting sick all the time, and you get the message: "House covered your lecture today and by the way he diagnosed you with lead poisoning, you should stop using that mug."😆

That is probaly the best episode of the series

I 100% would want to be told “you’re dying in a few hours” instead of some long drawn out conversation. That way I could figure out a way to order my favorite meal, call my loved ones and say some really inappropriate things to random people just for giggles.

Just found you and you were awesome. House is a terrific show. Glad for your insights.

Much more House reactions please! Thanx Jess!!!

in the real world, if I am dying, I would like someone to tell me I am dying...the directness is preferred, at least for me. Be as nice and diplomatic as you like...in the end it is meaningless

It's worth noting that House's relationship did not survive the decision the girlfriend made to go ahead with surgery. That was why they broke up, so they did allow for the fact that it was ethically questionable to be brought up

House father its an active military officer and they travel around world and he learned a huge amount of military information, and military medics most part of them know lots about snakes and venom.

Yet another great reaction to a brilliant episode!

I once had what my UC doctor termed a "mild" case of rhabdo in my two quads; insane pain that rivaled a kidney stone.

When House mentioned breaking the news being easier, he meant that since the wife and kid don't exist, there's nobody to break bad news to - which is a lot easier than breaking bad news.

Dr J - this was great!!! Subscribed.

As a Physical Therapist for 30 years, I have generally observed Family docs/GPs to underprescribe for acute pain and overprescribe for chronic pain and not differentiate between the physical causes of chronic pain versus those patients with centralized pain. I have definitely seen improvement in physician practice over the 2 decades.

Love this one, thank you!

I have chronic issues with dehydration due to total colectomy for UC. Once, this somehow progressed to rhabdomyolysis and shock. I refer to the episode as my four day preview of dementia because I was completely out of my head. If House was in a similar state, he was in no position to make medical decisions.

Amazing react, thank you so much,

been waiting forever for this

One of the things I love about this episode is that the scenes of the 'three stories' are a bit overacted/hokey and the dialogue a bit stilted because it's not an actual memory/flashback as much as it's a dramatic imagining/visualization of the story being told. It's fun to see two different styles of filming/acting next to each other in the same piece.

I subed right away after this video. House is my all time favorite show, and hearing you break down the medical part instead of obssessing over how obnoxious house can be just is so refreshing.

Hey Jess, very nice review. Appreciate the Dr review and thoughts. Keep it up!

Loved your grin when the House Avatar gave himself the shot!

This is my favorite episode of all of them. I can't guess how many times I've watched it.

Hey Jess awesome episode I LOVE House so much; did you ever suspect at any point before the big reveal that the supposed drug addict was actually House?

I love your House reactions. Thank you for sharing.

Stone cold reaction to the big reveal. :) Wow, It's been a year and I forgot I was one of the people who reccomended this episode. Glad that got around to making a reaction video. It's one of the best House episodes IMO.

Nice video. Jess. Great call on the diagnoses, too.

Great episode, Dr. House is awesome! :D

videos like this are my favorite to watch

14:00 "House goes on to live a happy life". This must be a new meaning of the word "happy" that I wasn't aware of ;-)

Please keep watch every episode. So far you're my 2nd favorite doctor to react to House M.D. the way to take the number 1 spot is to consistently come out with the house videos!!

Jess, I have a TV series to recommend. The Knick, is about an upscale hospital in New York about 150 years ago. It was at the time when medicine was separated by wealth, status, color and gender and when top doctors also needed to be skilled in moving around society. It's a fascinating, and somewhat history inspired two seasons series with great acting and directing.

'12% is varicose veins brought on by pregnancy' is not saying that all varicose veins are the result of being pregnant, just that the 12% relevant to his experience were affiliated with pregnant women. This could likely be a reflection of how many men vs pregnant women visit a physician and bring up a condition most laymen would consider 'cosmetic' in nature. Also, Dr. House is a modern-day version of Sherlock Holmes; the entire concept hinges on an insight based on knowledge far beyond what is typical and the derived rational deduction (flaws and all). Our real-world modern forensic detective process is actually strongly influenced by this fictional character by Arthur Conan Doyle.

I loved this episode because it acts as a partial origin story to House himself, but if you want the OTHER half of the origin story (why he became a doctor), look into the Season 3 episode "Son Of Coma Guy".

"Happy life" is one way of saying crippling, scream-inducing chronic pain that leads to a lifetime of drug abuse and self-destructive alienating behaviour. lol

Laughing, I went in for severe abdominal pain to th ER and 3 hours later I was going into surgery for free flowing air between my abdomen and stomach, a infection from my g-tube, and sepsis. This was during Vivid so my son could not be there. The surgeon so calmly told me I needed surgery and I needed it NOW. She also held my hand and told me that she didn't know if I would make it through. I hurt so bad, I just said please do it and call my son now and after. I also called my son. They were amazing.

Haha this is a great episode, awesome reaction!

I recall the story of a woman in South America who had a painful and disabling condition in one of her legs -I think that happened in either Argentina or Chile. Although her leg had full mobility and worked fine from that perspective, her life was miserable due to severe chronic pain. She begged for years to get her leg amputated, but all the surgeons she saw refused to perform the procedure because she had a working limb. She finally found a surgeon who amputated her leg, and her life changed for the better. She now wears different kinds of prosthesis that allow her to have a normal life. She even became an athlete and runs marathons, and now has a very happy and fulfilling life. Some physicians forget that health care is not just a matter of curing diseases or a race against death. It’s about quality of life.

When my daughter was still a 4th year, there was a guy who needed to have his foot removed because of a diabetic ulcer. He was a roofer, and said his whole family including his grandmother depended on his salary as a roofer, so he couldn't lose his foot. He was insistent on this, even with doctors telling him he'd die if he didn't get the foot amputated. They were at a loggerheads. So my daughter thought about it from the man's point of view, and told his employer about the situation. His employer told him he'd make a desk job for him at the same or better pay, and then she discussed prosthetics with him, and he agreed to the amputation.

14:00 "we also know that House has gone on to live a pretty happy life." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That was always the kind of classes I liked. It's not just about learning but trying to use what you've learned

Admitting that I am *not* a doctor, but I have been the primary support person leaned on by several people in a potential amputation situation. This episode hit me hard, because I made all the arguments I could on both sides of the "amputate" or "don't amputate" against the surgeon and the patient in different situations. I don't want to be in that situation. But when someone you care about needs you, you have to fight to protect them. Most of them turned out either "acceptable" outcome or flat out "wins" I wouldn't want the responsibility the doctors and surgeon would have. This was, to me on a personal level, both the most enlightening on what the show was, and the most painful to watch episode of the entire series.

NEVER EVER get in the MRI in the House world. Something always goes wrong. 8-)

House would have lost his license a few episodes into the first season, but it's still a pretty fun show and occasionally they do address real issues.

I agree with House at the start, wouldn't the first thing you do be to check the leg and not just make guesses? lol

This was the first episode I saw and I was hooked. Excellent show. Probably Hugh Laurie's best work.

This is my most Favorite episode ever

Hi just wated to say love your breakdown of this show that has helped me so much. Seeing someone work still while being in constant pain pushed me everyday to keep going. I was 29 in 2010 and had to have a metal on metal hip replacement after years of dealing with cronic pain. I received a letter 3 weeks after the operation we are very sorry but we used a bad batch of hip replacements and your one of the unlucky few. It took me a long time to not blame the NHS doctors and nurses. 14 years its still in and ive been left on oxycodone and oramorph and having to have blood tests every week. Life isnt what i imagined it would be but there are always people that have it harder and that feeling sorry for myself doesnt change anything. Anyway sorry love your channel and your dreakdowns and prospectives.

Okay so two things, first, very nice, professional and down to earth reaction, I love it. Second, today I learned KZfaq gives real doctors like you a checkmark (at least in my country) which is super nice to see because it obviously makes everything you say more fun because it's more easily believable. In fact, now that I've learned this exists, I will never trust a channel that doesn't have this again tbh.

Love your reactions

This hits home in a way. I once got osteomyelitis and got a partial amputation (debrevement) of one of my toes. However, I was totally ok with it. I even scared my wife with how quickly I jumped to acceptance. Given, a toe is different from a leg, but it's still weird how vastly this changes. Also, I love seeing people react. You're reliving the magic from when I first watched this show. Please do more House MD episodes. I can find some more cool episodes I think you'd enjoy if you want. Great reaction!

By the way, the father of actor Hugh Laurie, who played the role of House, was a doctor, and Hugh used some of his behavior for the role. Laurie himself graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Anthropology. graduated with third-class honours in 1981

Still one of my favorites of all time.

This episode always hit me hard, because of my own leg injury. 20 years ago I fell down a cliff, roughly 5 stories high, and came into the ER with leg pain. They x-rayed and told me it was an internal bleed under the muscle, but that I was fine, and to just keep using the leg as usual and the pain would go away. Three months later I come in with even more pain. Another examination showed that the blood had pooled up under a nerve, and as I was bending my leg it was tearing my nerve. Nothing to do, just have to live with my leg not working properly, and sometimes hurting. It's not to the point where I need a cane or anything, though sometimes I wish I had one. I've learned to live with it quite well, don't even take painkillers for it anymore. But there is still a big part of me that wish that I had the option to amputate 20 years ago. I don't want to do it now, it's way too late in my life to learn to live with such a change, but if it was done decades ago I would be fully adjusted to it now, without the pain.

You think House's bedside manner is terrible, imagine him as a patient, lol