Review: House - The Down Low

(S06E11) "You're OK with that right? You're not gonna put a pillow over his face?" - House

After a short hiatus, House was back last night with one of the better episodes this season that still followed the old "mystery patient" formula. However, it expanded upon just the patient du jour with three very entertaining storylines and the hour made a good argument for why Thirteen and Taub deserved to come back.

While the show can still be nerve-wracking at times, if only because you know it's all building up to House's light bulb moment at the end, it's good to know that the journey to that moment doesn't always have to be the same.

With Ethan Embry on board as a sick undercover cop who's trying to maintain his alias while bringing down a drug ring, there was reason to be excited about the episode before it even began. I had visions of Declan Giggs from Brotherhood running through my head and Embry didn't disappoint. While his subplot was the weakest of the three, it was still a solid tale and it ended well as we watched him die, feeling satisfied that he was still able to nail the bad guys without wasting his last breath by blowing his cover to save himself.

House's machinations were the highlight of the case though. Channeling both Jack Bauer and Jimmy McNulty, House yelled and screamed during an interrogation and he even planted a bug under his patient's mattress. Very funny stuff.

As for the team, it was incredibly enjoyable to see Taub, Thirteen, and even Chase try and knock Foreman down a few pegs. For Eric, someone who's been riding his high horse so long his ass must be blistered, seeing him get knocked off was long overdue. But his status as team leader was more than justified when it was revealed that he had been on to their scam for some time.

While Chase hasn't had much to do since Cameron left (House's "haircut" and "pillow" comments were great though), this really highlighted Taub and Thirteen. Like 'em or not, those two are funny together, period.

By far, though, the best plot of the episode was everyone in Wilson and House's new apartment building thinking the two of them were gay. While it became annoying very quickly that 3B (Nora, right?) didn't just believe Wilson in the first place, her lack of common sense led to some incredibly funny scenes as House did all he could to act gay in an attempt to "touch her boobs."

Because it doesn't always happen, seeing Wilson stoop to House's level was hugely rewarding and the only thing that would have made the scene at the restaurant better would have been House accepting the proposal and trying to make out with Wilson.

However, no explanation as to why exactly Wilson knew what coolots were. Hmm...

[Watch full episodes and clips of House over at SlashControl.]