“Three Stories” is the House M.D. episode that presents three versions of one medical case. It is the series’ season-one finale and uses a lecture structure in which House teaches medical students by recounting three diagnostic puzzles.
The stories gradually reveal that one case is autobiographical: House suffered a leg infarction that caused lasting pain and led to his cane and dependence on pain medication. The episode’s layered storytelling intentionally delays which patient is House.
Written by David Shore and directed by Paris Barclay, “Three Stories” won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. It is often cited as one of the show’s strongest episodes because it combines medical reasoning with decisive character history.