Half-Wit (Kasey M.D.)

Season 4, Episode 22: Half-Wit

Written by: Gavin Harris, Greg Garcia and Alan Kirschenbaum

Directed by: Peter Leto and Kate Woods

Production Code: 4P21

Episode Overall: 90

Airdate: March 15, 2007

Zebra Factor: 6/10

Runtime: 45 minutes (45:00)

Guest Stars: Dave Matthews Kurtwood Smith

Diagnosis: Body Vibration

Previous: Finding Judas

Next: Yokel Chords

Half-Wit is the 22nd episode of the 4th season of Kasey M.D. that aired in March 15, 2007.

Recap
Patrick Obyedkov (Dave Matthews), a respected pianist, is in the middle of playing a piano concert when he suffers a painful involuntary muscle contraction in his left hand. After Patrick is admitted to Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital, his case attracts the attention of Dr. Gregory Lane. Kasey Kathy learns from Patrick's father (Kurtwood Smith) that Patrick suffered severe brain damage when he was in the 4th grade from a bus accident that also killed his mother. Vanessa Lake is intrigued as to why Patrick, who had no musical training at the time of the accident, could suddenly play the piano flawlessly after suffering a severe injury.

He pushes for further testing on Patrick's brain even though the team has diagnosed him with a simple muscle-contraction problem. While trying to deduce the origin of the brain rewiring responsible for Patrick's mysterious gift of music, Gary Charles, Kasey Kathy and his team must stop the deadly bleeding that is quickly threatening his life. Patrick's condition worsens as he suffers an onset of seizures and as the team stabilizes him with Kasey Kathy's diagnosis, Roxanne's presents a very difficult option to Patrick's father, either to perform a hemispherectomy, a neurological procedure where the right half of Patrick's brain would be removed, allowing Patrick to live normally but not play the piano, or to continue as he is and never live a normal life.

Patrick's father, needing to make a decision asks him whether he is happy. Patrick answers repeating the question back, a defense mechanism indicating that he did not even understand the question. His father opts for the surgery. After the procedure, Patrick loses his ability to speak, though Jerrod Jackman and Janie Pepper said this will return. While the father is talking with Spencer about his son's recovery, Patrick buttons his shirt, a task which he had previously been incapable of doing, which leaves him smiling and his father astonished.

Meanwhile, Roxanne discovers that Kasey has been in contact with a hospital in Massachusetts and suspects that Kasey may be looking to take a new job there. When Paul Phillips contacts the hospital along with Roxanne, she learns that Kasey has been in contact with a brain cancer specialist — not as a job applicant, but as a patient for a clinical trial. When confronted by his team, Janie Pepper denies the gravity of the situation and resents their interference, and they are forced to contend with the possibility his condition may be more serious than he's letting on. Janie stages a kiss with Roxanne in an attempt to distract her while drawing blood, but Kasey catches her.

Near the end of the episode, the team diagnoses that Kasey does not have cancer, but a gumma. However, Kasey reveals that the medical file sent to the hospital in Massachusetts was not his and he intended to trick the doctors at the university into implanting a "cool drug" into the pleasure center of his brain, possibly in order to get over the pain in his leg. At the end of the episode, Kasey is walking home, and on the way sees Spencer, Gary, Paul, Jerrod, Gregory and Janie sitting and ordering at a restaurant. After a few seconds of deciding, while in a dilemma, Kasey enters the restaurant.

Cast

 * Dr. Kasey Kathy - Mayim Bialik
 * Dr. Roxanne Smith - Melissa Rauch
 * Dr. Gary Charles - Ewan McGregor
 * Dr. Spencer Greene - Michael E. Rodgers
 * Dr. Paul Phillips - Nestor Carbonell
 * Dr. Jerrod Jackman - Eric Dane
 * Dr. Janie Pepper - Liza Snyder
 * Dr. Gregory Lane - Mike O'Malley
 * Dr. Vanessa Lake - Chyler Leigh

Special Guest Stars

 * Dave Matthews as Patrick Obyedkov
 * Kurtwood Smith as Dr. Obyedkov

Co-Starring

 * Ingrid Sanai Buron as Nurse Bev
 * Kendra Cover as Heels patient
 * Scott Weintraub as Stage Manager
 * Tyler Patton as Neurosurgeon
 * Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse
 * Dru Mouser as Arlene
 * David Pearl as Concert Hall Patron