House

It's me again, that pesky Erin Fox, in for Nina. Tonight's episode starts out at a Hasidic Jewish wedding, where a lovely bride (Roz) and her bearded groom (Yonatan) are being hoisted up high in chairs during the Horah dance. The bride suddenly doesn't look so hot, and falls off the chair into the stunned crowd. Cut to opening credits. This teaser was quick and dirty...hmmm, no misdirects or anything. What do they think they're up to?

House and Wilson meet up at an elevator where House busts Wilson's balls about dating CTB. House insists Wilson doesn't go for her type because he likes "needy" women. Wilson surprises House by saying they've been together for four months already. After House scrapes his jaw off the ground, he joins his team who are discussing possible ailments of the collapsing bride. House's end theory is that at 38, she married out of desperation, and basically wanted to off herself. Thirteen is way more convinced that she has endometriosis in her bladder and orders tests.

Foreman and Taub search through the bride's belongings for anything that could have been used to poison her, while they talk about the mating rituals of Hasidic Jews. Taub says he doesn’t get it at all, while Foreman says, hey, why not get together after only three meetings if you have the same values? Taub finds some funky panties in a box and Foreman discovers hard rock CDs with her name as producer. Now they're thinkin' she's been into some drugs.

Back at PPTH, Roz tells Thirteen and Kutner that she converted six months ago, but before that was using heroin. They tell her that now they have to test her hair for latent toxins to see if there's any long term damage. Meanwhile, continuing his long list of inappropriate boundary crossings, House uses Wilson's key to wait for CTB to return home. He tries to guess why she would ever want to be with Wilson... egomaniacal House thinks it's all about getting back at House for not giving CTB the job. CTB definitely holds her own in the conversation, which drives House even more nuts. Heh.

Back in his office, House discusses Roz’s condition with Taub and Kutner. House now believes that the bride has porphyria because she went to extremes by becoming Hasidic. After the couple hears House's theory, they insist on a new doctor... especially after House calls himself “Dr. Yahweh”. But now, the bride can't breathe, so they’re stuck with House. And the team is back to one of their favorite theories: Lupus!

Later, as a nice break, House decides to barge in on Wilson and CTB's date. When Wilson complains about the wait, CTB goes to harass the host while House observes, "She's going to slap him in the face with your testicles." Best. Line. Ever. When House realizes that Wilson is really into CTB's personality, he realizes that Wilson has chosen a female version of House. Insert awkward pause here.

Roz's tests show she doesn't have Lupus, but then she gets a gnarly leg cramp. Foreman and Thirteen do a scan to check for clots. They wax philosophical about people who don't change, and who don't like boxes only if they don't fit into them. Then Foreman busts out with, "Like you, because your bisexual." Thirteen doesn't deny it, and every dude watching this show is now paying full attention. House enters and tells the team that his tests were just to prove the patient likes being tested on... until they make her stand up, and she crashes... then sits, and is fine. House is intrigued, and makes her do it a few more times. Sick puppy.

After more tests (this time for heart issues) are ordered, House accosts Wilson about moving out of his hotel. Wilson cuts him off and agrees that yes, he is indeed dating House. It's brilliant... they've been a couple for years. I can hear the bloggers typing away as I write this! At last! Confirmation that House and Wilson are a couple! Hee.

Thirteen and Taub do a sweat test while Yonatan defensively explains why he won't be with his wife during the test while she's undressed: Out of respect. Before anyone can apologize for offending him, Roz's temperature plummets and she starts to seize. The team realizes that Addison's disease fits Roz's symptoms and administers the proper meds. Meanwhile, Cuddy, due to a little prodding by House, talks to Wilson about his relationship with CTB. Cuddy knows CTB is going to leave Wilson devastated and empty in the end. Wilson just says, "Wow." He knows she's right.

Roz starts feeling better and is happy with her treatment until she starts bleeding internally. Chase tells her she needs surgery to survive long enough for House to figure out what's going on. She refuses until sundown so she can have one Shabbat with her husband before she dies. Sad. They call in a Rabbi.

House summons CTB and tells her if she can solve the case, and she'll get the job. She tells House that dating Wilson is not some tricky maneuver to get a job with House. She always thought she'd have to choose between respect and love, but with Wilson she gets both. House realizes she's changed. Awwww.

Right before Roz is wheeled in to surgery, House has an epiphany (as always), that something isn't where it should be... that something is her kidney which has gone loose. Ouchy! This leaves House free to tell Wilson that he could do worse than a female proxy for him. Ha! Wilson freaks out because this admission means House has changed??? What? Huh?

That’s the last House for now, until the writers return. What did you think about the episode? Do you think House will leave Wilson and CTB alone now?

Check out more episodes in our Online Video Guide.

Hey guys! Erin Fox in for Nina again this week... So, Nina is a ginormous Giants' fan, as is my husband (I am vicariously), so they are still blanketed by an insane euphoria that can only come from kicking Tom Brady's butt. I however, am on the couch, ready to blog about the special post-Super Bowl episode of House.

This week's teaser was one of the more unique and interesting ones in ages... an arctic repair man is trying to fix energy windmills in the middle of a blizzard. One blade flies off and slices the guy's femoral artery open. Enter the slow-mo savior, Cate, played by Mira Sorvino. She glues up the artery (no, seriously, she uses glue) but then starts to have pains of her own. Then she hurls into the snow and asks for help... but who will help her in the middle of no where?

Enter House, looking for his beloved cable only to have Cuddy tell him that now patients have to pay for their cable. Appalled, House barely listens as Cuddy tells him about a psychiatrist (Cate) who needs medical help via web cam. After discussing all sorts of yucky sounding kidney stones that she could have, Kutner has the brilliant idea of using waves to break up her stones... except the waves are so strong, they shatter a jar used to see if the procedure would be safe. Guess that would be a no. Cate is feisty, and House seems to dig her. She insists that she can't have a kidney stone based on her symptoms, of course then House must insult her by saying "You know only one of us is a real doctor." Heh.

House sends the team to spy on Cameron in order to get her to change the board’s mind over the cable issue. This storyline is lame, but at least they're letting Cameron say more than three lines. The team sucks at harassing Cameron and fesses up about House’s motives. Cameron, is used to these shenanigans, and refuses to play the game.

Back in the igloo, Foreman and House realize Cate doesn't have a stone because her windpipe starts deviating to the left, indicating a collapsed lung. You know what that means... a recreation of Pulp Fiction's needle in the chest move! Of course she gets it in the exact right spot. After discussing next steps with Foreman, they tell Cate she may have a tumor, and that she needs to X-Ray her whole body.

House then runs off to banter with Wilson about the possible cancer, and stumbles upon the fact that Wilson seems... happy? How dare he! Also, House decides that Cate needs a physical to check for enlarged lymph nodes in case she needs to biopsy one for lymphoma. Cate and House have some cyber camera flirting in his apartment, where he takes advantage of the situation by playing a little "Let's Get It On" as she palpates her naked body. She's super sassy here, and he's diggin' her big time. Poor Cate has to give herself the biopsy, and House actually calls her by name, and then asks if she's OK. Wilson almost falls out of his chair, and totally nails House on his abnormal sensitivity and care with Cate. Wilson then looks at her slide, and she doesn't have cancer. Yay. But then she gets the evil pain on her other side. Boo.

Now House thinks she has an auto-immune disease, but she refuses to take the prednisone because someone else may need it later. Foreman tries to talk her into going outside to see if the cold will improve her condition but she passes out before that can happen. In the newest grossest idea since squirting breast milk into a kids mouth... House makes the Femoral guy drink her urine. EW. When he says it's watery, that means she has excess fluid in her brain. Now House is making the poor guy drill a whole in her skull to relieve cranial pressure. No pressure though!

Foreman directs Femoral guy with the drill into Cate's head. OW. It works initially, and she wakes up from her coma. The team discusses new possible dianoses, and nifty Kutner comes up with fat emboli, and low and behold, he's freakin' right! Bone marrow from her broken toe (concealed by her socks during her almost-naked exam) leaked out and caused all the blockages. Cate's all better once that very painful break is reset. YAY!

Now House's only mystery: Who the hell is Wilson dating. He stalks him to his date to find out: It's CTB!!! Can't wait to see the fall-out this coming Tuesday.

Check out full episodes of House on our Online Video Guide.

Hey Everyone! Erin Fox here, subbing for Nina the next few weeks. So be gentle with me... don't be like House.

So, we begin tonight's episode with a mother ("Maggie," played by West Wing's Janel Moloney) holding her daughter's safety rope as she climbs an indoor rock wall. In a classic misdirect, the daughter's ("Jane") leg cramps up, and we think she's got the illness of the week. But oh no! It's her mom, Maggie, who is revealed as the POTW when her hands suddenly become paralyzed (dropping poor Jane). The most disturbing part about the opening is not that Jane plummeted to the ground and broke her arm, but that there was a lamely placed flying reindeer and Santa's sleigh in the shot to let us know that it's the Christmas episode.

Back at PPTH, the surviving job candidates discuss Maggie's case as House enters, ripping down the festive decorations and the doctor's Christmas spirit to boot. Kutner denies putting up the decorations but then betrays himself by then asking to do a secret Santa exchange. When will he learn? House asks about Maggie and 13 reveals that she is getting worse. House wants to know what Maggie is hiding, but 13 insists the patient wouldn't lie; she's been completely candid about her double mastectomy and all sorts of her personal business. Of course, House's favorite thing to do in life is prove everyone lies, so he decides to get more history.

After an extremely inappropriate yet hilarious Q&A with Jane, House consults Wilson on the nature of lying. Wilson has the good sense to ask, "I'm sorry, I missed rehearsal; Am I taking the 'truth is good' side? Isn't that usually what you take?" There's just something about these Christmas episodes that always makes for fantastic House-Wilson exchanges. Maybe it's the mistletoe.

After finding out that Maggie's a tad on the slutty side, Foreman and Taub discover she was slipped X by one of her dates. However, this lead proves useless when Maggie loses her vision.

Meanwhile, House meets a lovely young blonde in the clinic with Strep, who he assumes is a prostitute because she wears a St. Nicholas medallion and a sexy smile. We all know she'll be back.

Back in the war room, House is tearing up names for the secret Santa drawing, (to mess with them, of course— You didn't think he'd really be into that?) while the team throws out possible treatments. After a failed fluorosceine angiogram of her eyes, Kutner and 13 steal Maggie and Jane's computers to see if they can find any dirt. House thinks he's discovered that Maggie's e-mails prove that she has Sarcoidosis! After his theory is shot down, they decide that she could possibly be a psych case, and try to enlist Jane to lie to Maggie to see her response. Jane's not stupid, and won't play House's game. So, Taub tries to trick Maggie with a placebo IV to see if she improves, but then her lymph nodes swell large enough to block her airway. So, after a test to check her lungs, the poor thing starts bleeding out of her eyes.

Seriously, it just gets worse. Now she needs a bone marrow sample, which gives us our first Chase sighting of the night. This test is awful... it includes A big freakin' drill and a lot of pain. But, they can't even get into her bones because they are beginning to harden like rocks.

In the meantime, House is getting his Christmas jollies by turning the team against each other. He taunts the team into thinking he's been given an iPhone by one of the Santas... so then the rest feel obligated to buy House gifts. Pathetic, yet hilarious.

Blondie is back, this time with a nasty looking welty rash. House says, "Clap on," but Blondie insists it's not that kind of rash. House then suggests she's involved with some kind of donkey show. This is getting dirty quickly. She says, with a Cheshire-cat grin, "Donkey or a mule, I can never remember." House counters with, "Wow, that is a creepy smile, but the donkey's is creepier." She invites House to her show, and gives him a flyer, insisting he'll like it. Awesome.

After discussing Maggie's hardened bones, the team realizes that if she has one disease, it's treatable, if it's the other forms of osteopetrosis (hardened bones), she'll die. They try to convince Maggie to let Jane get tested for bone marrow donation to save herself, but she refuses. A lightbulb goes off for House... Jane can't be Maggie's daughter. Biggest. Lie. Ever. How stoked is House that he's right? Well, not really, because they realize she doesn't have the curable type of bone disease.

At the hospital Christmas party, Wilson and House talk about how depressing death and Christmas is... of course this conversation leads to the brilliant light bulb moment for House. Breast tissue can't be completely removed with mastectomies. House gives her a drug that makes breast tissue swell, which pops up a big ol' tumor on the back of her knee. In the grossest moment I think I've ever witnessed, House extracts breast milk from the tumor and squirts it into Jane's mouth. (Shivering with disgust). Maggie will be fine with surgery and chemo.

The episode ends with House going to Blondie's show... a Christmas pageant at a local church. She's the Virgin Mary, riding in on a donkey. Cute smiles exchanged by all.

What did you think of the episode? Do you give it a Bah Humbug or a Halleluiah?

After months of reality-show challenges and sometimes-random, sometimes-dramatic firings, Cuddy gave House an ultimatum: Pick the final two by the end of the week or the Wannnabes would start getting paid from his salary. She broke the news to him while he was watching his beloved medical soap opera (hilarious), and it was only after Cuddy mentioned that she had also taken away his hard-won parking spot that House seemed to take the threat seriously.

The POTW was a drugged-out punk rocker who exhibited not one, not two, but all of the many, many signs of excessive drug use — presenting House and team with a challenge, to see if there was actually something else going on. House's solution was to make the diagnosis a game: Whoever figured out what was ailing the guy first was hired, and the second person would be picked based on a point system, which House spontaneously introduced. Oh, and only the person who had possession of House's resident eyeball statuette thingy could run tests.

Wilson time was primo: He had misdiagnosed a case of terminal cancer, telling a patient he only had six months to live, when in fact it turned out that the guy was perfectly fine. House was fascinated by this whole scenario and snuck his way in to the meeting when Wilson broke the good news — except that the guy didn't take it that way, since he'd already had three goodbye parties, had sold his house and had bought a ticket to Italy. Which, of course, fascinated House even more. Wilson's crazy patient decided to sue him, because for those three months he thought he was dying, he did more living than he had in his entire life. And, as it turned out,the absurd idea to sue came from none other than House, who was doing it to teach Wilson a lesson. Some things never change.

House surprised Cuddy — and himself, I think — by asking her advice on whom he should hire. Her choices: Taub (aka Plastic Surgeon Guy) and Kutner (aka 6/9); Taub because he would stand up to House, and Kutner because he shares House's unconventional approach to medicine.

My favorite moments were House playing a sweet lick on the piano — and listening to the POTW's music, which House described as a cross between "Thelonius Monk and the sound a trash compactor makes when you crawl inside it."

In the end, CTB and 13 were fired — CTB because she actually cared too much for the games, and 13... because she was a pawn. House managed to get a reprieve for her — he knew that Cuddy would never allow him to hire two men (and she admitted that she had suggested Taub and Kutner because she thought he wouldn't follow her advice). So now we're down to our final three, and their dynamic will have to switch from being competitors to being teammates.

At the end of the episode, Cuddy says to House, "Well, at least the games are over." To which he responds, "How long have you known me?" The new episodes, at least, are over until January. What are you guys hoping for in the new year — more of House's games, or more of the old medical-mystery-personal-drama formula that the show used to follow?

For House clips, visit our Online Video Guide.

The mysteries of life? They're maaagic — or at least, that's what this week's POTW would like you to believe. The sleight-of-hand artist was performing his trapped-in-a-glass-box-of-water trick when he started to bleed in the middle of act. Fortunately for him, "Big Love" and Number 6/9 were in the audience and came to his rescue.

Next day, House scooters in to the classroom and presents his newest game to the Wannabes: Which ever of them manages to get Cuddy's thong undies is immune from being fired, at least temporarily. And most insidious of all, the winner gets to nominate two other candidates to be on the chopping block. "Cut Throat Bitch" and Plastic Surgeon Guy try to get Cuddy soaked in order to get her undies (still not sure exactly how that would have worked), but in the end it's "Big Love" who hands over the red panties. "Cole has traveled through the forest of crustaceans and brought us a treasure," House declares to the Wannabes (oh, House, just 'cause you're jealous...) Later, when House was trying to deduce how exactly "Big Love" did it, he has a heart-to-heart with Wilson over a game of foosball. "You think it's remotely possible they had sex?" House asks. To which Wilson replies: "They're both single; it's still legal in the blue states."

Back to the medical mystery: At first, House doesn't believe there's anything wrong with the POTW at all. But when the key he swallowed for his trick is removed and the guy is still bleeding without explanation, House realizes he has something to solve after all. In the end, they had given the guy the wrong blood type, which was causing all his symptoms to shut down. House once again put himself in the line of medical danger by volunteering to get a transfusion from the same supposedly bad batch of blood that the POTW had received. He does in fact get sick — just a common reaction to the transfusion, he says — but the Wannabes want to use him as a test subject to see what their patient might have, and Number 13 spikes House's tea so they can get their organ biopsies (ouch!)

Speaking of Number 13, she's having some sort of medical mystery of her own this episode; House notices that she's being clumsy and having tremors and pokes around to find out her ailment. He finally gets it out of her that her mother died young of Huntington's Disease, which is often transmitted through the family, but Number 13 doesn't want to know if she has it or not.

Everybody took their shot at bribing "Big Love" into not nominating them except for Number 13, and when it came to it, House made quite a show of the ceremonial presentation of the panties on the pillow. When "Big Love" nominated CTB (no surprise) and 6/9 (his good buddy), House finally figured out how he'd gotten the panties off her — he'd made a deal with Cuddy, to put up the two candidates she most wanted to see go — and House fired "Big Love" instead. Breaking the rules is OK, was the lesson, just as long as you're doing it on House's terms. I must admit, I'm sorry to see "Big Love" go — he was charming, smart and provided an interesting element to the mix.

Next week the competition's over for yet another Wannabe; who would you most like to see stick around for good?

For House clips, visit our Online Video Guide.

How does being beautiful — or deformed — make others treat you differently? That was the central theme in tonight's episode, and it brought out some unexpected twists and revealing moments for House, as well as the POTW.

Kenny is on his way to Princeton-Plainsboro for surgery to correct the major congenital facial deformity that keeps him from being "just another face in the crowd." The catch is that the entire experience is being filmed (and bank-rolled) by a documentary crew. Everything's set to go in the OR and Chase is about to perform the surgery when the kid has a heart attack, followed by a host of other symptoms that seem to jeopardize his facial surgery.

Meanwhile, Dr. Terzi (Michael Michele) has shown up for "class" with the rest of the Wannabes, who immediately start trying to figure out whether she's guaranteed one of their coveted spots. House, who clearly has the hots for her, can't stand the fact that he's sort of hired her, and has a little heart to heart with Wilson about it. "I think she may be an idiot," says House. "She can't be an idiot — she was in the CIA, for god's sake." To which Wilson retorts: "The Bay of Pigs was a daring triumph?" Ha!

A couple of the Wannabes started filling out a bit more as characters this week, especially Plastic Surgeon Guy, aka Taub (Peter Jacobson) — who spent much of the episode standing up to and going behind the back of House — and, to a lesser extent, 6/9, aka Kutner (Kal Penn), who revealed the extent of his bumbling, eager-to-please side around the camera.

Plastic Surgeon Guy pisses off House sufficiently that House goes snooping into his past and learns his dirty little secret, the reason he left his successful practice: PSG screwed around with one of his nurses, and was desperate for his wife not to find out. "Some people pop pain pills, I cheat," he said when House confronted him with his indiscretion. "We all have our vices."

The other "ugly" matter of the episode was House's behavior around the beautiful Dr. Terzi. She's... just not as bright as the other Wannabes, it seems, but House is so blinded by his own desire for her that he praises her ideas and needs Foreman to point out her faulty diagnoses. House finally recognizes that she can't be part of the crew and fires her — and then follows it up with an invitation to dinner. I honestly thought she was going to slap him.

Watching House and the crew "perform" for the camera was pretty entertaining — Chase was Mr. Eager; Cameron had a notable slip-of-the-tongue; Wilson cast various aspersions on House's character; and House was primarily just puzzled and irritated (what else is new). When all was said and done, Kenny's mystery ailment was diagnosed, he got his facial surgery, and the documentarians edited House's snarky comments out of context to make him seem like a sweet, Patch Adams-loving softie.

Perhaps the best thing about the episode was the amount of screen time given to old favorites like (Robert Sean Leonard) and Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). The show's most convincing writing has always been in the scenes when those two spar with House, and I was thrilled to see more of that.

For more on House, visit our Online Video Guide.

After last week's visit to the CIA, House is back at Princeton-Plainsboro, and while he no longer has Generic Guy on the team (thanks to his complete freak-out and borderline illegal behavior), there is one new face around: Dr. Samira Terzi (Michael Michele). House already tried luring her into bed with his crude yet oddly charming banter; how is he going to handle her as one of the team hopefuls? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, the POTW is being followed by a documentary crew, which should spice things up a bit. See you after the episode!

It took a little while to warm up, but once this episode got going, it had some of the juiciest stuff we've seen so far this season — hilariously bawdy dialogue, bizarre ailments and intense personal drama.

The primary POTW was a drag-racer who, after winning a race, passes out in front of her personal pit crew, aka her dad, and a reporter. As House and the Wannabes start talking through what might be wrong with her, a veritable man in black comes looking for House.

As he walks away with the doc, I loved the smug look on "Big Love" (Edi Gathegi), and Number 13 (Olivia Wilde) totally checking out the government man. House himself doesn't quite believe the CIA credentials and is convinced that wherever he's headed, there's going to be a lap-dance involved. House doesn't believe that he's actually been courted by the CIA until he sees the cushy black helicopter waiting for them on the roof. During the flight, House's cell phone rings — and it's Salt-N-Pepa's "Whatta Man" (hilarious!).

House has been brought in to treat an agent who seems to be the victim of an assasination attempt. He's initially unimpressed with the CIA facility. "Looks a lot better on 24," he says, then sees Dr. Samira Terzi (Michael Michelle). "I take that back." He just can't stop coming on to her throughout the entire episode. "You know, I happen to have a position available on my penis," says House. "Wait a second, I think I screwed up that joke." But Dr. Terzi is an able sparring partner: "As tempting as a position on your staff is, I like it here." Another favorite line of the evening (what's with all the genitalia talk?) is House's comment to a dumb-struck Wilson, once he realizes House is actually at the CIA: "You've got to get down here; they've got a satellite aimed directly into Cuddy's vagina. I told them the chances of invasion are slim to none, but...."

Back at Princeton-Plainsboro, Foreman dismisses the POTW's condition as nothing more than heat stroke, but then begins to believe that she has MS, while "Cut-Throat Bitch" (Anne Dudek) and Plastic Surgeon Guy (Peter Jacobson), go behind his back and start treating her for lupus simultaneously. Grumpy (Andy Comeau) leads the charge to continue testing, standing up to Foreman and getting himself kicked out in the process. Regardless, Grumpy tests her for polio, and the result comes back positive, to everyone's shock.

Cameron and Chase's first dramatic scene together this season (since Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer broke up) was full of sparks — and not of the romantic variety. The spat between them was riveting in its honesty. Guess sometimes an on-set breakup can actually do wonders for the actors' performances. Although Cameron's later scene with Foreman, in which she tried to get across that he's not always right, and that that's actually OK, was just so-so.

Meanwhile, in parallel, Grumpy and House are both trying alternative treatments: Vitamin C to treat the POTW's supposed polio, and Chinese herbal tea to treat the CIA POTW's supposed poisoning. The irony is that the CIA POTW was really only the victim of too many Brazil nuts (moral of the story, kids: Watch that nut bowl at the holidays), and the POTW was actually the victim of poisoning, at the hand of Grumpy, who faked her polio to bring attention to the disease, which primarily affects people in the third-world countries he's passionate about.

The scene where he was revealed was pretty amazing. It seemed like he had finally come out of his shell, until we discovered that he was in fact completely bonkers!

In the end, Michael Michele surprised House by taking him up on his offer — not that offer; the one to, ahem, take a position on his staff. We'll see how that plays out. Also, the next episode, with the deformed kid and the documentary crew looks like a doozy. I think things are starting to heat up on House, and not a moment too soon!

House is not exactly what you'd call a company man, so why would the ultimate Company — the CIA — come calling? Must be because of his one-of-a-kind diagnostic skills and winning charm (or maybe just the first). Looking forward to seeing him sparring with the lovely and talented Michael Michele — could House finally have met his match? We'll see!

This episode of House was kind of an exposition on the season's main players thus far, done in an interesting way.

The POTW was a mugging victim who started having some kind of fit during his attack. Fortunately one of the kids stealing his wallet has a conscience and calls an ambulance for him. But the guy has lost his ID, and as we'll see, that's kind of an issue.

Back at Princeton-Plainsboro, Cuddy interrupts one of House's medical story-telling sessions with the Wannabes to walk Foreman in and tell House that he's back on the team and will be her eyes and ears from here on out. Which leads "Cut Throat Bitch" to ask, "Does this mean there's one less slot for us?" At least she stays true to form!

The POTW, meanwhile, says his name is Martin, and he seems to have a whole host of bizarro symptoms, none of which make sense together. More so than usual. Foreman's diagnosis is Munchausen Syndrome — he thinks the guy is making it up. But House's take is a little more subtle: He thinks "Martin," who seems to have gotten his name from the name of the EMT who treated him on the way to the hospital, has mirror syndrome, reflecting whatever he sees around him. To test his hypothesis, House drags the POTW into a surgery room, where Wilson is about to make an incision. The guy picks up Wilson's mannerisms and tone pretty instantly, proving House correct. Now the issue is, why does he have this syndrome and what's turning his blood into sludge?

In search of more information, House sends "Big Love" to go track down the guy's car, and Number 13 volunteers to join him. Since the POTW imitates whomever he's around, House says, "Big Love" gets the assignment because if he gets near him, he'll "wind up singing Osmond songs and proposing to five nurses at once." So no "mirror, mirror" for him.

But most everyone else gets the personality-revealing treatment. When CTB takes the POTW's blood, he reveals her deep-rooted insecurity, which makes her feel the need to always be right; and apparently plastic surgeon dude has a thing for CTB, despite himself (and despite his wife). "Grumpy," or generic other guy, as I think of him, doesn't really want to be there, but rather wishes he were back treating people in the third world; and 6/9 has a driving need for new experiences (or masochistic tendencies, depending on whom you believe).

Foreman, it seems, is actually happy to be back, according to Mr. Mirror; and House tried to get a read on why Number 13 volunteered to go off car hunting with "Big Love" by saying that she didn't want to "take a look in the mirror." When she did finally have her moment with the POTW, all we learn is that she's very, very afraid. Of something. Which I'm sure we'll hear about later. Oh, and we got confirmation that House has the hots for her (no surprise there).

Finally House saves the day by pretending to be the POTW with the few items that came out of his car. And it works: The guy sells farm equipment and got some infection from pig poo. Case closed, patient saved, and Cuddy and House appear before him to see who's going to give in first, I guess, and somehow House came out victorious, though I'm not honestly all that clear on why.

Funniest/nastiest moment of the night goes to Cuddy, who replaced House's Vicodin with laxatives to get back at him for causing a panic in the cafeteria by announcing that the mayonnaise had gone bad and that everyone should go to the clinic and ask for her. But then House implied that he had replaced Cuddy's birth control pills, and she didn't look nearly as smug after that.

One note on the nicknames: House is a pig (no pun intended) who insults virtually everybody (perhaps with the exception of women he's attracted to) indiscriminately. In repeating his often nasty nicknames for the Wannabes, I'm simply holding my own mirror up to the complex, flawed, fascinating character that is Dr. Gregory House.

For more on House, visit our Online Video Guide.

Yes, folks, Foreman is back, and with that all is right again in Houseland — or is it? The other original Ducklings have all made their way back to Princeton-Plainsboro, in their various capacities, and now House’s onetime star pupil is going to return to the fold. Of course, House won’t be happy about it, given all the drama surrounding Foreman’s decision to leave at the end of last season, but then, when is House happy? Meanwhile, the Wannabes continue their quest to become the next Cameron, Chase and Foreman themselves. What dastardly deeds can House have in store for them this week? We’ll just have to stay tuned to find out. See you after the episode!

Humbled and happy just to have a job — sort of — Foreman is back this week. You can imagine what House's reaction will be when Cuddy tells him that his once and future flunkie will be her “eyes and ears” on the diagnostics team. And that won't be the only humiliation she has planned for the ornery doc. (Watch your pills, Greg!) Meanwhile, staffers around the hospital — candidates included — are betting on whom House will hire. — Paul Droesch

Episode Recap: "Guardian Angels"

What a weird way to introduce this week's medical mystery. For a minute there I thought maybe Bones had run long or something — our POTW, Irene, was seemingly attacked by the corpses at the funeral parlor where she's an aesthetician. It was definitely a spooky start.

Cut to the Wannabes waiting in the empty classroom for House. A phone rings — a phone none of them had ever noticed there before — and lo and behold, it's Charlie, uh, I mean House, with an assignment for his "Angels." He even has his own Bosley, in the form of Carmen Argenziano, who had a great episode tonight — which is fortunate, since we will see him no more, alas. When House turned from workplace Survivor to The Bachelor, there was no rose (or peony, actually) for the old fella. But at least he made the most of it, offering up keen medical insights and the kind of creative leaps usually reserved for House himself — which turns out to be exactly his problem. He's too much like House — he can't provide anything that the doc himself wouldn't already think of.

It's too bad, really. I was sorry to see him go. Bosley, aka Father Time, was also cultivating a sizzling professional tension with Plastic Surgeon Guy (Peter Jacobson), which I'm going to miss. And I can't believe that Generic Other Guy (Andy Comeau) got to stay over House's non-doctor doppelgänger.

One Wannabe who's still in it, despite slugging House for insulting the founder of his religion, is "Big Love," aka "Dark Religious Nut," as House calls him (Edi Gathegi). Interesting evening for him, too — a still-blond Cameron made a bet with House that "Big Love" would stand up to him, and boy did he ever. We also discovered that "Big Love" is a single dad.

Meanwhile, "Cut-Throat Bitch" ( Anne Dudek) is trying to bring down Number 13 (a still uninspiring Olivia Wilde), because she clearly sees her as a threat, and because she realizes that House can't resist a mystery. CTB planted the idea of a wheelchair-bound "ghost" to the hallucinating POTW, who then repeated to Number 13 that the man blamed her for killing his dog (which was upsetting enough the first time, thank you very much). She even went so far as to leave a dog's collar in the procedure room to screw with Number 13's head.

Which brings us back to the POTW, whom I nearly forgot with all this Wannabe-talk. In addition to her mother, whom she sees by her bedside throughout the ordeal, she tells House she sees an old man in a jaunty three-piece suit, hat and cane named Walter — which leads House to stomp off to Wilson's office to "pretend to be spooked" by a fake Grandpa Walt, so he could convince the POTW that he believed her hallucinations were real. Based on his "interview" with the POTW's mother (who died when Irene was a child), House diagnoses her with Parkinson's disease. But when the neurological symptoms only get worse after they begin treatment, the team is left to come up with another explanation. Resulting in the requisite gross-out shot(s) of the night: the eye-procedure close-up and the open-body-cavity surgery after Irene starts throwing up blood.

It was only after Irene, now a disturbing shade of yellow, tries to grab "Big Love's", um, big love and starts foaming at the mouth that the real diagnosis comes to CTB: The POTW has been tripping, basically, thanks to eating organic bread made from moldy grain. The scene of her saying goodbye to her long-dead mama as the medication starts to work was actually quite touching.

The Foreman subplot was also compelling; despite excellent credentials and qualifications, the guy can't get a job because he's... too House-like. Which led me to wonder: What would become of him, and the other Ducklings, out in the wide world of non-Princeton Plainsboro? His obvious genius aside, if House has such a reputation for being a loose cannon that it would taint the CVs of anyone who worked for him, why would the candidates be lining up — and robbing graves in the middle of the night — just for a chance at that? Regardless, Foreman's back! But only because he was blackballed everywhere else. From the preview for next week's episode, it looks like House is going to try to aggravate him into quitting. Sounds like good fun to me!

What did you think of this episode? Which Wannabes are growing on you the most? Leave your comments below!

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On the last episode of House, we saw the good doctor exploring the boundaries of life and death — by sticking a knife in a light socket to see what it felt like to have a near-death experience. This week, the mortality question lingers, with a patient who claims to see dead people. So of course, what is House to do? Why, send some of his remaining intern hopefuls to investigate her claim, of course! Should be interesting to see how this one plays out. My full write-up after the episode...

Seven candidates remain as this week’s edition of Survivor: Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital begins, and House is sticking six of them with graveyard duty. He wants them to dig up a corpse for a case involving a woman who's seeing dead people — so it looks like House has caught Halloween fever, just like every other show this side of Charlie Rose. Meanwhile, Cameron's back in House's life, and bringing him coffee. (But otherwise she's not so compliant.) And Foreman's looking for a job — he was fired from New York Mercy in the last episode, in case you missed it. Where, oh where, might he end up? — Paul Droesch