This dance they do is intriguing. Wilson seems insightful enough to see through House's games, and yet he continues to play them for years. Until his girlfriend dies suddenly and that shock makes him realize he's been enabling House all of these years. And so he leaves his job, and the hospital, and House. This is just some background.
House's father dies and he refuses to go to the funeral because he disliked him so much and does not want to be a hypocrite about his death. House passes out in his office as a result of Cuddy drugging House at Wilson's request and House regains consciousness on the road in Wilson's car being driven to the funeral. Wilson is emphatic that he is doing this for House's mom, not House. That nothing has changed between them.
House does everything conceivable to sabotage Wilson's mission, and you'd THINK that after years of being manipulated by House - that's why Wilson left in the first palace - that Wilson would see through House's behavior. He does not.
House even causes Wilson to speed - by putting his cane on the accelerator when a cop is nearby - and gets them pulled over. But the delay tactic works better than House intended - Wilson has an outstanding warrant in Louisiana and they are both arrested.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, there is a 25 year old Chinese American girl who is at first believed to have SARS, due to a trip she recently took to China to find her biological parents. She has had addictive behavior for years - smoking, drinking, drugs. Her adopted Caucasian parents just think it is a prolonged crisis of identity due to being adopted. The team tries to carry on without House, but struggles.
In the end this episode is playing out a tired message in a very new way - We're all screwed up by our parents in some way. Maybe it is because we are so much like them and we literally can't live with ourselves, or maybe they really do something that is monstrous. That's one half of the episode. The other half is the road trip of House and Wilson, and how these two really need each other. Wilson is attracted to House's risky side yet dogs him about it. House is attracted to Wilson's caring side yet dogs him about it. Both get in trouble when they explore this unfamiliar territory - riskiness and caring - alone.