Brave Heart

This episode is a lot different than the ones before and takes it to a whole new level. It's not so much House's hallucinations, but this episode does a great job of showing us the weight of things. It revolves around death: Chase's remorse, Wilson's dead girlfriend... I think it shows that the season is slowly, reaaaalllly slowly moving into a darker direction. Hugh Laurie's performance is simply breathtaking in every scene, and as it turns out a sane, drug free House, appears to be way darker and human than the cracked up maniac before. Although some events, especially in the beginning of the episode may seem like a jigsaw puzzle hammered together, it all makes sense in the end. Really nice episode.

A cop takes a bad fall while pursuing a suspect, and is convinced he will shortly die due to some undiagnosed congenital defect, like his dad and granddad before him. House is still staying with Wilson and begins to hear eerie voices. Is he regressing? Chase is feeling increasingly guilty about the Dibala death. It's a real mess. House gives the fatalistic cop a fake diagnosis and sends him on his way. This proves to be a very big mistake. Oh, and Amber is back! Can't keep a good actress down, I always say! House continues to sport a crew cut, which I guess we will just have to get used to. Foreman takes a backseat in this one, thank heavens!

The case is unique. A reckless cop uses the fact that his father and grandfather died around the age of forty. He feels he is doomed. What transpires is some really weird medical treatment, including sending him out with a placebo where he nearly dies.

Chase continues his guilt trip. Obviously, his religious beliefs get in the way. He goes to a priest for confession. He won't level with Cameron. The priest wants him to go to the police to get absolution. What claptrap. The guy who died was a monster--like Hitler. He killed thousands of innocent men, women, and children. The thing with being a medical man is he will be judged by his wife--the doctor. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Is House finally back in charge? Foreman is good as comic relief, but he has no business being put in charge remember he was fired when he tried to go it alone in season 4). He really has't improved as a physician over the last 3 years. Chase has become an excellent surgeon since he left House's group, while Cameron has drifted away into making beds and washing bed pans. Cutty is like a yo-yo, there is no logic in her decisions. I watch House to see Hugh Laurie practice medicine, The pain medicine House takes is relatively mild. If he were taking oxycontin, dilaudid, fentanyl or demoral I could understand all the fuss, but vicodin is considered to be a mild pain reliever. The shows creators and writers should have done some better research before hanging the term addict on House (and wasting 3 seasons on his addiction problem.) Now that House can practice again, I hope he joins the staff of a new hospital - leaving the old gang and their baggage behind - so he can again practice his medical specialty and be the old House again. Or better yet get rid of the hospital staff that is there and bring in some new writers (there are plenty out there now that NBC has killed off 5 hours of drama shows with Leno.

I don't suppose that anyone might know who the city jumper at the very beginning of this episode was?

I can't seem to discover who the actor (stuntman, since there wasn't much call for 'acting') who was playing him was. No idea if what he was doing was particularly 'impressive' from an enthusiasts point of view, but from the average person, it certainly looked pretty darn amazing, and a great lead-in to the start of the episode with a bit of curiosity about what was going on/who would shortly be the one under House's tender-loving-care!

Any help would be fantastic, thanks!