By Buzz Byrne

Season three of HOUSE M.D. ended with Gregory House’s team leaving him behind. Some willingly and some not (hello Chase).

Season four opens with a building collapsing. This show loves puns almost as much as medical mysteries. Could it be a “House” that is really collapsing? Please, the man survives on opiates and bile. He made it through guest shot run-ins with Chi McBride and David Morse. This House is built on a sturdy foundation.

But onto the story. After fighting with his girlfriend over the cell phone from the parking lot, the boyfriend calls her back at work and apologizes. It seems fine until her building crumbles and crushes her. Miraculously he pulls her from the rubble. Once under medical treatment though, her problems really begin.

Chief of Staff Dr. Lisa Cuddy is back, of course, as determined and beautiful as ever (House, you scoundrel, she doesn’t deserve your barbs! If you treated her that way in front of me, why, I would snap your cane…and she would still harbor that secret desire for you). She puts House on the case but insists he needs to assemble a new team. Can you see the set up rolling down the middle of the street? House counters that he is fine on his own. The compromise is that if he can successfully treat this woman alone, he can remain alone.

Best friend and occasional doormat Dr. Wilson is back as well and he agrees with Cuddy’s assessment. His approach, though, is to kidnap and ransom House’s new guitar. At least Wilson is learning. House retaliates by erasing Wilson’s TiVo and kidnapping one of his patients from the oncology ward. Who says you can’t make cancer funny?


House is pigheaded enough about remaining the Lone Wolf that he recruits a hospital janitor to be his team. The janitor does exactly what his old team did for him: makes wrong medical assessments (“It could be Lupus.”), objects to his methods on principle (“I’m not breaking and entering…for less than fifty.”) and tries to make the family sign consent forms (“Please sign the consent form.”). At this point, I am fully on House’s side. So long as someone is standing there for him to abuse, it really could be anyone.

The medical mystery was really light on this episode. They practically gave it away with a throwaway character introduction close to the fortieth minute in. Rarely do I try to outthink these shows because I am so rarely successful but this was easy and not worthy of their normal skill at script cleverness.

That is probably the only downside to the season four opener. Next week we get to start meeting the new applicants. House told them all to wear a cup. I’m only worried that Fox will turn it into a reality game show.

It’s good to have HOUSE back.