Charity Case

{{Infobox television episode | series = [[House (TV series)|House]] | image = | caption = | season = 8 | episode = 3 | director = [[Greg Yaitanes]] | writer = [[Sara Hess]] | teleplay = | story = | music = | photographer = | editor = | production = | airdate = {{Start date|2011|10|17}} | length = | guests = * [[Wentworth Miller]] as Benjamin Byrd * [[Ron Perkins]] as [[List of House cast members#Other hospital personnel|Dr. Ron Simpson]] * [[Toni Trucks]] as Trina | season_article = House season 8 | episode_list = List of House episodes | prev = [[Transplant (House)|Transplant]] | next = [[Risky Business (House)|Risky Business]] }}

"'''Charity Case'''" is the third episode of the [[House season 8|eighth season]] of the American television medical drama series ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' and the 158th overall episode of the series. It aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the United States on October 17, 2011. It is also the penultimate episode with [[Olivia Wilde]] as Dr. Remy Hadley (Thirteen). This episode seems loosely based on the American investor [[Zell Kravinsky]], even using his quote that "to withhold a kidney from someone who would otherwise die means valuing one’s own life at 4,000 times that of a stranger".

==Plot== Philanthropist Benjamin Byrd ([[Wentworth Miller]]) collapses outside of a training center for the homeless where he's made an incognito visit. When brought into Princeton Plainsboro, he offers a large payment to the hospital so that House will be able to reassemble his diagnostics team. Wilson is also placed in an ethical bind because Byrd offers a kidney to one of Wilson's needy patients. The team tries to determine whether Byrd's generosity is a symptom of mental instability, something confirmed when he offers his other kidney to [[Thirteen (House)|Thirteen]] and says he's willing to live on [[Kidney dialysis|dialysis]].

Dr. Jessica Adams works with House on a volunteer basis. She and [[Chi Park|Dr. Park]] clash over both their diagnoses of the patient and Adams' insistence on giving the proud Park increasingly large gifts, finally paying for House's car repair under the impression that it is Park's car.

House reaches out to the retired Thirteen. She aids him on the case and is nearly persuaded to return to the diagnostic team full-time. He then fires her so that she can go to Greece with her new girlfriend guilt-free.

==Reception== This episode was watched by 8.34 million US viewers. ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave this episode a B rating.<ref name="avclub">{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/house-charity-case-1798170055 |title=Charity Case |first=Zack |last=Handlen |date=October 17, 2011 |access-date=October 31, 2011 |work=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref>

==Trivia== Because of this episode a Dutch man donated a kidney to a stranger in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nierdonatie-bij-leven.nl |title=Nierdonatie bij leven |first=Olaf |last=de Vries|date=December 1, 2013 |access-date=February 5, 2023}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb episode|2016511|Charity Case}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20111024235144/http://www.fox.com/house/recaps/season-8/episode-03.htm "Charity Case"] at [[Fox.com]] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20111021074100/http://www.politedissent.com/archives/8087 Medical review of "Charity Case"]

[[Category:House season 8 episodes]] [[Category:2011 American television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Greg Yaitanes]] [[Category:Television episodes written by Sara Hess]]