Directed by: Katie Jacobs
Written by: Russel Friend, Garrett Lerner, David Foster and David Shore
Dr. House wakes up in his room at Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital for the first time. As expected, he already wants out. House's roommate is Juan Alvarez, whom everyone calls "Alvie" (Lin-Manuel Miranda).
House tells Dr. Beasley (Megan Dodds) that he intends to make life so difficult they just let him go. House quickly gets the group therapy session ended, and he's sent to isolation.
After an odd basketball game in which he's rude to the other patients, House goes back inside to find a woman playing the piano (she was given the key to unlock the keyboard). She's Lydia (Franka Potente), playing for a patient who apparently never talks.
House gets the patients all worked up about how the ping-pong table has neither a net nor paddles. Dr. Nolan (Andre Braugher) delivers paddles, diffusing the rage House just stoked.
A new patient comes in, Steve (Derek Richardson), a man who believes himself to be a superhero, "Freedom Master." Looking out the window, House notices a woman coming to see Dr. Nolan.
House notices that the piano's unlocked. He only gets to play four notes from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor before an orderly comes in and locks the piano.
House learns from Alvie that the inmates have a prison-like cigarette-based economy. House pretends to beat up Alvie, he's force-fed a pill, which, however, he does not swallow. Thus, he obtains a phone call, reaching Dr. Wilson, who tells him that he already talked to Dr. Nolan.
House decides to cooperate with the psychiatrists, and he seems to get better. However, he's really playing the black market to get whatever advantages he can.
Lydia comes back. House learns that her sister used to be a cellist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. House suggests bringing a cello.
Dr. Medina (Andrew Leeds) asks House about his fight with Alvie. He administers a urine test. House was ready for this eventuality: another patient is in the stall, ready and waiting to provide a sample.
Dr. Medina asks Steve to use his super strength to move the piano away from the window. House questions the validity of that therapeutic strategy.
A cake is made for Susan (Angela Bettis) prior to her discharge. House demands that Steve join the party.
House reveals to Dr. Nolan that he hasn't been taking his pills. And Dr. Nolan reveals that the pills are placebos. They knew from the urine test that House was faking but allowed him to think he had fooled them.
Lydia brings a cello. House suggests asking Steve for help carrying it up. Then House drives Steve to a carnival where they get to float in the air. In the parking structure, as House brings a stuffed giraffe doll to the car, Steve decides to launch himself in flight.
Steve survives the fall. House takes Steve to a hospital. Dr. Nolan tells House he'll be transferred to another psychiatric hospital where his games won't be tolerated. "Don't. I need help," House says.
This concludes Part I for sake of syndication. There's no "To Be Continued" title card.
For syndication, Part II begins with Robert Sean Leonard (Dr. Wilson) saying "Previously on House" to preface a quick recap of Part I.
Therapy with Dr. Nolan doesn't seem to go anywhere.
Alvie refuses to believe House is cooperating. "They didn't break me, I am broken," House says.
Dr. Nolan gives House a business suit and takes him to a formal reception. There, House tells a donor he's gay and Dr. Nolan is his lover. Lydia is also present, and House and Lydia pretend to be married to screw with another woman at the reception, culminating in a kiss. The next day, House tells Dr. Nolan about his kiss with Lydia.
Orderlies unlock the piano as Lydia comes in. "Why did you kiss me?" House asks her. He starts playing the piano. Just then, Steve comes in, in a wheelchair, with a cast on his leg.
Dr. Beasley announces the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital talent show. Lydia brings House some sheet music for a piano duet.
Dr. Nolan summons House to the hospital room where his father is hooked up to life support. House reviews the chart and tells him it's obvious "even to a shrink" that the patient will never recover.
Back at the asylum, Lydia's crying. House apologizes for pushing her away. The two of them go somewhere private to have sex.
At the talent show:
- Dr. Beasley and Diane dance to the Macarena.
- Richter (Curtis Armstrong) D Js while Alvie Raps. Alvie has trouble with his rap but House helps him out with a few rhymes.
Later, House apologizes to Steve and gives him Annie's music box, which he gives to Annie. She says, "thank you," speaking for the first time in a long time.
Annie (Ana Lenchantin) plays Bach on her cello, a pleasant surprise for Lydia. The next day, Annie's discharged. House confronts Dr. Nolan, asks for an overnight pass to go see Lydia. Annie's not just being shoved back into society; she's going to another facility, located in Arizona, and Lydia's moving to Arizona with her. House asks her to stay in New Jersey, but she can't.
Dr. Nolan determines that House made a genuine connection with another human being and has grown as a result of the heartbreak. Therefore, he will recommend the reinstatement of House's medical license.
Alvie decides to start taking his medications.
House boards a bus after his discharge, sitting in the rearmost seat.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Analogy Backfire: House's analogy of himself and another patient to Bonnie and Clyde.
- Cuckoo Nest: Mayfield Psychiatric.
- Layout of a Season: Season 6 begins with House's stay in the mental hospital, which mentions that he will be seeing his doctor for outpatient therapy after being discharged. This is not referenced again until a couple of episodes before the finale.
- My God, What Have I Done?: House taking Steve to the carnival.
- Title Drop and Wham Line: House says, "I'm broken."
