“Three Stories” is the House M.D. episode in which House explains three diagnostic cases.
The episode is structured as a lecture delivered by House to medical students. He presents three patients with leg pain and asks the students to work through the evidence. The cases allow the episode to move between different time periods and viewpoints rather than following a single conventional mystery.
“Three Stories” is especially important because it reveals the origin of House’s leg injury and clarifies why he lives with chronic pain. Its nonlinear structure also shows how diagnostic reasoning can be affected by assumptions, incomplete information, and a doctor’s personal experience.
The episode was written by David Shore and directed by Peter O’Fallon. It received major critical recognition and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, making it one of the show’s most acclaimed installments.