At a classical piano recital, Patrick Obyedko (Dave Matthews, lead vocalist of the Dave Matthews Band) begins playing a Beethoven sonata brilliantly, except for strange little mistakes. But the mistakes build up and Patrick stops playing: Patrick's hand is deformed, as if smashed with a hammer. His father, Dr. Obyedko (Kurtwood Smith), apologizes to the audience and brings him to the hospital.
As part of the differential, Dr. House has an upright piano brought into Patrick's room. The team discuss whether Patrick's extraordinary musical abilities are relevant to the case.
The team also try to confirm whether or not Dr. House has cancer. As it turns out, he doesn't: he wanted to fool a researcher in order to get a "cool new drug" shot directly into his brain.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Kiss of Distraction: Dr. Cameron kisses Dr. House in order to get an opportunity to draw blood to test for cancer.
- Stealth Pun: Dr. House plays the opening part of a song on the piano. The song is "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats. House originally aired on Mondays.
