After a string of solid episodes that included Mos Def's guest turn as a patient with locked-in syndrome and the unexpected and brilliantly unexplained suicide of Dr. Cutner (Kal Penn, who left the show to go work for President Obama), House capped off its season with an installment that put the titular doc's very sanity on the line. In recent weeks, House (Hugh Laurie, perhaps the best actor currently working on TV) has suffered from hallucinatory visions of Wilson's dead girlfriend Amber. Acting as his subconscious, Amber (the much-missed Anne Dudek) proved useful in helping House crack cases, but her presence was a mystery that even House couldn't figure out.
To rid himself of these apparitions, House detoxed from Vicodin with the help of Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), who ended up sleeping with him. Or did she? We learned last night that these events never occurred; they were nothing more than hallucinations as House actually ramped up his drug use rather than curtailing it. House has long been a sad, lonely man, and he is made even more so now that his best friend—the drug—has become his lover.
The hour ended with House checking himself into a psychiatric hospital, an incredibly humble—and no doubt humiliating—admission for an indefatigable man whose greatest asset is his mental dexterity. The show's writers ended last season with a mind-blowing two-parter featuring a bus crash that ultimately led to Amber's death. This year, they've managed to top that riveting feat with a reveal that puts the very nature and future of our "hero" in question. Where does House (the doctor) go from here? Where does House (the series) go from here? I haven't a clue, but this show, which has taken great strides in breaking up its formula of late, has me eager to find out.
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