by Sandra Parker

Created on: March 24, 2009

I started watching House a few months ago, in syndication by the way, one Friday night when my husband decided it was time for a boy's night out. I was hooked instantly. Previously, I had pledged my allegiance to ER, but having divorced myself of that albatross, I was searching for a replacement. I have found what I was looking for.

Episode 17 of season 5 starts as every other episode of House has ever started, with someone doing something routine in their lives. Something goes terribly wrong, they collapse and then we find ourselves in the hospital, awaiting the brilliant Dr. House to save them. What many people may or may not see is that every patient that Dr. House patches up has an affliction that mirrors Dr. House is some strange way. For instance, in episode 17 the strange, life threatening illness shows up as a man who begins suffering from temporal disinhibition, allowing himself to say whatever it is he's thinking without the normal filters of normal society. Sound like anyone we know?

Our endearing hero, Dr. House is plagued by the fact that Dr. Wilson is keeping something from him. House is driven to find out what that is, including sending a member of his own team to gather information from Wilson's computer. Wilson has lied to House about his extracurricular activities, feigning an after-work schedule of racquetball with another member of House's diagnosis team, and he has made it his mission to find out why.

It is slightly uncomfortable watching House force Taub to confess by forcing him to attempt racquetball in the morgue while giving an update on the condition of the patient at hand, though House does show a sliver of humanity by keeping the session private. I'm sure the dead guy on the gurney isn't telling anyone how terrible Taub is.

After Taub steals emails from Wilson's office, House discovers that Wilson has been consulting with outside doctors about a patient file. We are led to believe that Wilson might have cancer and possibly be suicidal, though most of us who know Wilson would only entertain this for about a moment. This show wouldn't work nearly as well without him.

All the while, the patient is being worked up and randomly treated by House's team. Of course, several schools of thought and several treatments go by the wayside, before anyone starts getting really concerned about the patient. He is continuing to spout pretty much anything

that comes to mind, seriously damaging his relationship with his wife and daughter. Maybe brutal honesty

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