TVSquad

(S05E22) So, what's going on inside House's head? We left off last week with House getting a surprise visit from a very dead Amber and she's still around this week, running rampant and unchecked through his life, an eerie hallucination from House's subconscious. For a while it looks like House is onto something good, he has a direct link to the inner workings of his mind, which helps him solve cases and plan bachelor parties. But, that all comes crashing down when the Cut-Throat Bitch (as she was affectionately nicknamed) tries to kill Chase.

We start as we always do, with our patient of the week, a deaf high school wrestler, who, like House, lives in a singular world of his own that he doesn't want breached by a Cochlear implant. Opps. Then he shouldn't' have come to PPH. While the team is trying to figure out what's making him sick, House manipulates Chase into inserting one anyway.

That just felt so wrong to me. First off, House doesn't care about anyone's choices if he thinks his is better, so I'm not totally surprised that he did this, but...eek. It's just such a blatant disregard of what the kid wanted and it had nothing to do with solving the case. It's the last part which sends a shiver down my spine. Also, I'm sure that the deaf community probably has strong opinions on implants as well as whether being deaf is a disability or a lifestyle. These are all good points that get brought up but not thoroughly discussed in this episode. Does inserting the implant make the kid's life easier? Yes. Was House right to do it? No. Should Chase actually grow a pair and tell House to eff off? Also, yes.

So, while the team tries to figure out why this kid is hearing explosions in his head, House is busy being besieged by Amber. She's a nuisance at first, but House realizes that having such easy access to his subconscious is making him a better doctor. He decides to keep her around, playing off of her like he would the team. At first, she's helpful and insightful, allowing House to manage not only the case, but Chase's bachelor party as well. Seriously, House throws a pretty awesome rager. That party looked like a lot of fun, though it was highly embarrassing to see Wilson do a pantsless body shot off of a stripper named Karamel.

Anne Dudek, by the way, is awesomely creepy as House's subconscious. She plays off Hugh Laurie beautifully, but still retains that Amber attitude. Whatever happens with this story line, I'm glad they found a way to bring her back. The lighting in the episode is very well done too. Props to the lighting team for surrounding Amber in this odd, harsh bright light, that sort of looks like a halo, but isn't warm and soft, but something you want to shield your eyes from.

Sadly, Amber's helpful nature is only a disguise. Like House says, everyone lies, and apparently his mind is no different. Trusting the path she leads him down, House not only misdiagnoses the patient, but he almost gets Chase killed. Apparently, Karamel uses strawberry body butter, which throws Chase into anaphylactic shock. Thankfully, everyone survives, but House is visibly shaken.

And for what it's worth, Cuddy was totally ineffectual as not only House's boss, but anyone's boss. Her handling of the situation with the implant and outraged Mom was pathetic. How are we supposed to see her a strong character if they keep making her cave to House?

We had a similar set-up last season as well, with a two-part season finale that revolved around the inner workings of House's mind, and I feel like we're back there again. Yet, this time around, the consequences may affect House directly. We get a really interesting look at the way House's mind works through this conceit. Rather than just see the moment of insight when it flashes on House's face, we're shown the odd and non-linear way his mind works. Now, this is all fun and good, but it doesn't answer the question of why Amber has shown up in the first place and why she won't go away.

Is this a sign that House has a brain tumor, a la Izzy from Grey's Anatomy? Or is he just slowly losing his marbles? And did he really try to kill Chase because he hates other people being happy? I don't know about the last one, but I think not. The sad fact is that House doesn't trust his own head anymore, which can lead to real trouble.