Sides

Cameron was passive, far from her pragmatic self while dealing with regular patients. She had an inherent dislike for this one, dictator Dibala who was infamous for rumours of brutal violence upon the Sitibi tribe. When the dying man's advisor asked her confidentially if he was capable of thinking clearly, Cameron said he wasn't and not likely to in the future either, since his neurons would continue degenerating. Having heard about this, Dibala asked her to inject an air bubble into his IV port. He would have a quiet heart attack and Cameron wouldn't be indicted. And yet she could not bring herself to do it. She realized she could not to take a stand supporting violence, no matter what the justification might be or what she might believe. After that she dedicated herself to treating the patient wholeheartedly, just as she would treat any other.

Dibala acknowledged that some of the torture and murders he incited were severe, and they were a mistake. Despite that, he stood firm on his stand that he would do anything to "protect his country." He believed that the Sitibi tribe were "cockroaches" and wanted to save his country from them. The fact that his beliefs might have been unfounded and violence as a principle is to be opposed is another point. But he made a tough choice and took a stand for what he believed in.

Chase on the other hand started off as the neutral doctor until he realized the extent to which Dibala had affected the life in his country. He met a young man, who was made to commit heinous crimes on behalf of the dictator and was bloodthirsty for revenge, realizing how wrong it was for him to do what he had done. On questioning Dibala, Chase observed that the remorse this man felt was far less that the intensity of his "quest." If he was saved, he would go on and give shape to his designs of genocide, thereby killing far more people than Chase might ever save in his role as a doctor. And so he took a stand. He tested the wrong blood and administered wrong medicine that led to Dibala's death.

The Tyrant from season 6 would be one of my favourite regular House episodes. I liked the way characters made tough choices in the face of dilemmas where they had no option but to take a stand instead of debating, negotiating, searching for some middle ground, and overly intellectualizing a very real situation. Sometimes we just have to take a side, tough as it may seem.