Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
House begins the season at Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital, where Dr. Darryl Nolan refuses to clear him to practise until he addresses more than Vicodin withdrawal. House schemes to get discharged, befriends his roommate Alvie and grows close to Lydia, a visitor whose sister is a patient. When House’s attempt to help another patient ends in a devastating fall, he finally asks Nolan for help and takes part in treatment. He leaves Mayfield and returns to Princeton, but then resigns, tries life away from diagnostics and soon comes back to the hospital.
Back at work, House works with familiar colleagues again, though the team changes as the season progresses. A case involving African dictator Dibala splits Chase from the others: fearing a planned massacre, Chase deliberately alters the blood tests so Dibala receives the wrong treatment and dies. Foreman helps keep the truth from coming out, while Chase struggles with what he has done. Cameron eventually leaves Princeton-Plainsboro and her marriage to Chase ends. The season also keeps House’s friendships under strain, as Wilson starts a life with his ex-wife Sam and eventually asks House to move out.
The finale follows a crane collapse that traps Hanna beneath rubble. House stays with her while also diagnosing the operator, and Hanna agrees to have her leg amputated in hope of surviving. She dies from a fat embolism, leaving House alone with the failed rescue and the urge to take Vicodin again. An argument about Cuddy’s engagement deepens his distress, but she later comes to his apartment and admits she loves him. The season closes on her confession and House’s decision to resist a relapse.