Nick insults everyone at a book launch, then collapses
At an author's launch party, Nick suddenly says every cruel thought aloud about the book and the people around him, then has a nosebleed and collapses.
S5E17 · The Social Contract
19 moments · 29 min of essential viewing in a 44-minute episode.
Moments, in order
Wilson declares death to monster trucks
Wilson turns down House's monster truck night and admits he only ever tolerated them; the team then argues whether a filtered persona is the real self.
House pages Cuddy so Nick can rate her body
Nick can't stop narrating his fantasies about the doctors scanning him; House pages Cuddy in to hear Nick's verdict on her, then calls it a compliment.
House tells Wilson he has no core
House argues Wilson becomes whatever the people around him need, then catches him hiding a Wednesday night plan: racquetball with Taub.
House grills Taub on racquetball and Sandy Koufax
Mid-differential, House mocks Taub's athletic claims and quizzes him on racquetball shots, then sentences him to all-night blood draws for lying.
Marika hides her pain to help her daddy
During a nerve test, Nick's daughter Marika says nothing as the heat burns her hand, because she thought doing well would make her father better.
Nick reads Taub's guilty face
Nick insists his choices matter more than his thoughts and that he never cheated, then sees straight through Taub's reaction.
Taub confesses the fake racquetball, and House exposes the squash racket
After a sleepless night of blood draws, Taub admits he never played racquetball with Wilson; House points out what he's actually been holding.
Nick tells Marika she's below average
Angry about her burn, Nick dismisses his daughter's diagnosis and tells her to her face she isn't smart; Marika runs from the room.
Nick asks his wife to stay away from him
Afraid of what he will say next, Nick asks his wife to keep her distance and to tell Marika he loves her. Even her reassurance comes out as a lie.
Taub the quadruple agent delivers Wilson's deleted emails
Taub hands over Wilson's printed emails; House traces a secret Wednesday meeting to a doctor Gonzalez in Manhattan who writes about suicidal patients.
Wilson walks out without his coat
House corners Wilson outside, reads guilt into his forgotten coat, and Wilson asks for one corner of his life House doesn't examine.
Nick would rather risk death than stay this way
Nick asks House for a surgery near the brainstem that could kill him; House then pushes a reluctant colleague to get the boss to operate.
House finds Wilson's brother Danny, and offers company
House has tracked Wilson's secret to his brother Danny in a Manhattan psych ward; Wilson explains their unusual honesty, and House offers to come.
Nick wakes from surgery still saying everything
Nick survives surgery but the cruel honesty continues; his wife asks if he regrets marrying her as his temperature falls and his heart goes into V-tach.
Wilson tells House about the night he hung up on Danny
Wilson recounts Danny's schizophrenia and the call he ignored to study; House calls his people-pleasing an overreaction, then has an idea.
House diagnoses Doege-Potter by phone
As Wilson goes in to see Danny, House calls the team: the patient's normal glucose turns an irrelevant scan finding into the answer, an immune overreaction.
Nick apologizes to Taub, and his wife has news
Cured, Nick apologizes to Taub about his nose and goes back to polite lies; his wife arrives with job news, and nobody says what they think.
Wilson thanks House for never lying to him
After meeting Danny, Wilson tells House he values having no social contract with him; House answers honestly, and the monster trucks are back on.
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