(S04E09)"Well, at least the games are over" -- Cuddy

"How well do you know me?" -- House

It's over. After 8 episodes, 40 some-odd candidates, and one dead patient House's new team has been picked. And, I'm pretty sure the results weren't too much of a surprise to those who have watched the competition from episode two. So, the winners are...

Now, why would I want to mention that in the first two paragraphs of this review? If I did that then all of you who have yet to see this week's episode of House would be at the virtual doorstep of my virtual house with virtual pitchforks. If you haven't watched the episode yet but are dying to know who the finalists are then jump ahead. Otherwise, hold off a bit until you watch and then marvel at the way I make the episode come to life in my review. Or, just bash me like normal.

Gallery: House:Games

There was definite tension amongst the final candidates once they found out this would be their last test case. Most of the tension was brought on by Amber who, as usual, wanted to get the right diagnosis and win. She was in the thick of it with Taub and Kutner and especially Thirteen. In fact, the anger that these two had against each other was so intense that House had to hide behind his white board during their argument for fear of getting hit by an airborne object (or to get a good view of the potential cat fight).

Amber's case wasn't helped by her mistakes and personal feelings for the patient -- a over-the-hill punk rocker named Quidd. She screwed up almost immediately by letting him go to the bathroom by himself even though he was a known drug addict. I'm pretty sure once Thirteen mentioned that fact both Amber and the viewers knew what was going to happen to Quidd: smoking + oxygen tank = BOOM!. Then, since she was distracted, the patient overdosed on nicotine patches. On top of all this mess she pretty much hated the patient as well because he was a drug addict.

Because of what was happening to her we finally got a more-rounded picture of the person Amber was. The face that she put for House as well as her co-candidates was not just for them. She was someone who always wanted to be right and to be on the winning side. Even though she seemed to make up a reason why she was that way to House you could tell that there were some definite issues in her household that caused her to be this way.

Yet, despite that hard shell, there was someone deep inside who was a bit more human. The best example of this was her conversation with Quidd towards the end of the episode. She was honestly interested in how Quidd couldn't care about anything and had no regrets because she wanted to be that way. However, for just an instance, we did see that she cared about someone else's feelings. It was only a second or two, but you could see it in her face. The hard lines had disappeared. It was a bit softer. Then, the cold mask was put back on.

Unfortunately, her feelings about the patient were her demise. Well, that and the fact that she couldn't accept being wrong at one time or another. Really, it was a case of Amber looking at the cover of the book without going inside. All that Amber saw was the old drug addict who didn't care about dying. What she didn't see was the man who was a folk singer before his illness and worked with children afterwards. In the end, both Quidd and Amber could pretend not to care anymore, which made them a perfect match.

Oh, and the illness? Measles -- the childhood sickness that does a number on an adult. No, seriously. If measles are not treated quickly an adult can die from them. In Quidd's case his measles weren't treated because, frankly, he didn't know he had them. As House said, the high fevers and rash could have been chalked up to a bad reaction to an illegal drug Quidd was taking. So, it ended up reaching his brain and messing the man up a bit.

Back to Amber's firing. Now that she's gone the new team is set as Kutner and Taub. Oh, and Thirteen as well. See, Thirteen wasn't going to be hired at first since House could only hire two out of the four candidates. But, when Cuddy heard that two men were hired she suggested that he also hire Thirteen, which was actually what House wanted to do in the first place. If Greg had his way he would have hired Amber as well, but it just wasn't in the cards.

For House it was all about the competition this week. Point systems, the carrier of the magic eyeball being able to run diagnostic tests, paging out Foreman, asking others who he should fire and hire as well as the 'negotiation' with Cuddy were all part of the game that the candidates and we endured for several weeks. It was starting to get on everyone's nerves and it showed. Everyone was telling him to pick his team and be done with it, including Wilson. But, does Greg House really listen to anyone? If he did it would be a fairly boring show.

To House the thrill of the hunt comes not from the final diagnosis but how he and his team get to that point. They're pretty much playing a game with the patient's life until the lightning round where they have to get the diagnosis right or, um, game over. This, and the vicodin, keep House going. This is also probably why, in television land, he got rid of his old team and picked up a new one: he needed a new set of playmates for his games.

So, that was the House side of things. Amazingly, there was an actual subplot featuring Wilson and the misdiagnosis he gave to a patient. If I'm not mistaken this was the first subplot for Wilson this season and it actually fit into the show's main plot once House got involved. It seems that the cancer Wilson told his patient about was not cancer at all. It was actually very non-fatal. The patient didn't take this too well, since he was living in the present and spending a good sum of money and now had to find a way to get back into normal life. By the end of the episode he was suing Wilson.

This was caused by House, who persuaded the patient to sue Wilson so his friend would have less money that Greg could borrow. It merged into House's story because it all came back to the game again and that Greg needed to be in everyone's business in order to stay in the game. It was the first time in awhile that Wilson was actually angry with House about the way it all went down.

Welp, boys and girls, this ends House for the year 2007. When we return to Princeton-Plainsboro back in January or February the new team of Taub, Kutner and Thirteen will be fully ensconced into the wonderful world of Dr. Gregory House. Hopefully by that time we'll find out what Thirteen's real name is. Until that time, have a happy holiday season.