The narrative follows series protagonist Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) as he overcomes his Vicodin addiction and psychological problems at Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital.
House awakens in the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital after suffering through the painful effects of Vicodin withdrawal.
However, Dr. Nolan (Andre Braugher) refuses to sign a recommendation that he is able to return to practicing medicine.
He meets his bipolar roommate, Alvie (Lin-Manuel Miranda), and begrudgingly participates in group therapy with Dr. Beasley.
He also meets and is intrigued by Lydia (Franka Potente), a woman who plays piano for her sister-in-law Annie (Ana Lenchantin), an unresponsive patient in the ward who was a cellist.
With Steve badly injured, Dr. Nolan tells House he cannot possibly treat someone so uncooperative.
House has an idea of how to help Steve, who had been trying to "save" the silent girl, Annie, with a music box confiscated in the nurse's station.
Lydia arrives and House takes her in to see the group watching her sister-in-law playing "Bach's Cello Suite No.
Dr. Nolan tells House that Lydia and her husband are taking Annie to a rehab facility in Arizona.
House demands an overnight pass, and over Nolan's objections he goes to see Lydia at her home.
[1] Actors Franka Potente and Derek Richardson, who had one series of scenes together in this episode, started dating afterward and married in 2012.
Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times said "the episode has a few sentimentality issues (any plot point involving a music box walks a very fine line), but it doesn't matter much because the characters are so vivid they even outshine House at times, which can only be good for him."
Alan Sepinwall from The Newark Star-Ledger praised the episode saying "for one night, this is the best House, and its leading man, have been in a long time."
[5] Compared to the rest of the sixth season, the episodes became the highest-rated in front of "Epic Fail", which received only 14.44 million viewers.
The rating was a significant rise from the previous year's season premiere, which averaged a 5.6/16 and 14.4 million viewers.