A House Finally in Order

House returned last night with a sharp and propulsive episode that really hit the mark. It’s the best episode of the season thus far and gives me hope that the showrunners know what they’re doing and have the rest of the season in hand. The quality is due in no small part to the presence of guest star James Earl Jones. In a bit of inspired casting, he plays a foreign head of state named Dibala who has committed genocide in a fictional African country (clearly modeled on Rwanda). He’s in the U.S. to speak at some UN conference when he starts vomiting blood. Oh no. He is admitted to Princeton-Plainsboro, House’s domain.

But House quit, remember? Oh yeah, until the end of last week’s episode when he realized that he needs his job to give his life purpose. But Foreman is in charge now…even though he fired his girlfriend Thirteen…and House doesn’t have his medical license back yet. Knowing it would be stupid not to listen to any of House’s diagnostic advice, Cuddy makes him a deal: he can work at the hospital informally, offering his opinions, but no operations or patient contact and Foreman is still in charge. House accepts, because what other choice does he have?

Of course the theme this week is,  should the team treat a murderous monster knowing full well that if he gets better he will return home and continue to massacre innocent people? Should they throw out the Hippocratic Oath or adhere to it more than ever? Because this is a moral question, of course the writers are going to throw Cameron into the mix, because that’s who she is: a holier-than-thou, obnoxious twit. At least this issue with Dibala does provide her with a worthy context to navigate in.

Wisely, the episode stays mostly with Dibala and all that entails. There is a little bit with Foreman and Thirteen, but at least now that he fired her there is some worthy conflict for them to explore. I mean that’s pretty dramatic, firing your girlfriend. That’s not gonna get you a lot of points. Even I know that.

The other subplot is more entertaining: a jackass neighbor is complaining about House and Wilson, saying that House makes too much noise with his cane (even though it has a rubber tip on it), and that they use too much garlic and the smell irritates him. Because the neighbor is disabled and claims he is a Vietnam veteran, Wilson feels that he can’t confront him at all. House of course isn’t concerned with such social standards and engages the neighbor in his own special way. House doesn’t believe he is a Vietnam vet, he thinks he’s faking it, so he goes to war. It’s fun in just the way you would expect. We’ve all experienced living with or near obnoxious people, so it’s cathartic to watch House stick it to him.

But there are a couple more layers to the whole thing than you might expect. House thinks he’s right, but then he is proven wrong, but then he is proven right again. At one point it looks like he’s going to have to move out or face serious consequences, but then he does something that you think initially is even more irresponsible and is going to get him in more trouble that actually does the opposite. It’s a great House moment that speaks volumes about how the character sees the world and how his mind works. Bravo.

James Earl Jones is great. I know most people associate him as being the voice of Darth Vader (that is, before George Lucas emasculated the character in those infernal prequels), but I always think of him as this benevolent, grandfatherly, wholesome figure, like in Field of Dreams. So I found it really interesting to see him play a villainous character, and more than a little disturbing. But he succeeds in making Dibala a three-dimensional character. What’s interesting is that House has virtually no interaction with him. He’s still largely on the sidelines, but he continues to assert his power over Foreman yet also to support him in surprising ways.

The most interesting interaction comes from Chase, surprisingly, and involves a surprising, complex decision he makes involving Dibala. So in summary, this episode was strong because it pushed the characters into uncharted waters, and the writing was a little more bold and a little more unpredictable. Performances were solid too. Put all that together, you’ve got television worth watching. I hope they keep it up.

For another take on this episode, read The Tyrant by Stephanie Jaar.

Season 6, Episode 3: The Tyrant (originally aired October 5, 2009)

For more on House, click here.

Tuesdays 8/7c on FOX