House: 97 Seconds

ORIGINAL EPISODES, TUESDAYS @ 9PM ON FOX

The numbers are getting old, so thanks House for letting the fellows take them off. But the team idea is definitely NOT getting old. This weeks patient provided the perfect opportunity for House to divide the fellows into teams once again. This time House knew the diagnosis before he split them up; otherwise it wouldn't be fair to the patient. To use him as a guinea pig without knowing what was wrong with him would unfairly risk his life as Cuddy nicely pointed out. The whole episode we weren't exactly sure if House knew the diagnosis but in the end it turns out he did; one of the fellows just dropped the ball big time.

Olivia Wilde (formerly of "The O.C.") plays Thirteen (her number), possibly the brightest and most adept fellow of the group. She is always quick with a diagnosis and generally has great instincts as well. Unfortunately she messed up BIG TIME. She came up with the correct diagnosis but didn't watch the patient take the pills that would have made him better. The pills fell on the floor and rather than getting better the patient deteriorated and eventually died. If not for her slip up the fellows and House would not have concentrated on coming up with a new diagnosis and he may have lived. Sadly, the dog ended up eating the pills and died with his owner, the patient. I have to give Olivia credit. She didn't do the best acting job on "The O.C." and so I was expecting her to be terrible. Instead, she has shown great talents and an ability to adapt to an entirely new character. She is by far one of the best actors in the entire group of fellows and she fits in perfectly on this show. I'm hoping she'll be around for quite a while and since House didn't fire her despite her mistake it appears that she will be.

Favorite moments: 1) House calling the annoying fellow the "cut throat bitch; 2) House setting up a tribal counsel to fire half the fellows - this was absolutely hilarious!; 3) Chase standing up to House at the end of the episode and Cameron just smiling at House afterwards.

I thought it was interesting to see Foreman in the same role as House in the New York hospital. Unlucky for him his boss there doesn't tolerate the same sort of insubordination as Cuddy. I think what Foreman didn't realize is that he would need to establish himself as one of the foremost doctors in the country before he could start defying direct orders from his superior. This will probably leave the door open for his return to ____ Hospital. In what role? Who knows. I doubt he would go back to work with House but you never know.

While all this is going on House is struggling with the idea of whether there is an after-life. A patient of his had a near death experience and claims to have seen a life after death in the 97 seconds that he was technically dead. To "relive" that moment he stick a knife into an electrical socket at the hospital, which as it turns out, kills him. Now you know House can't be upstaged and with his patient believing so deeply that what he saw was real House decided he should stick a knife in the electrical socket also. Whether he saw something or not he wouldn't say. Maybe Wilson will get it out of him somewhere down the road.

This was more of a funny episode than anything else. The patients disease wasn't all that interesting since the first diagnosis turned out to be correct. Although the green blood was very weird. Good show overall, great acting, and it left a door open for Foreman's return so all-in-all not too shabby.