One of the elements of success for Seinfeld was the edict that there would never be any “hugging or learning” by the shallow cast. In many ways, House lives up to that modus operandi by avoiding any real normal human emotions out of the good doctor. There are moments when you think House might break down and actually care about someone, but those moments never really materialize. This was one of those episodes.

The crew are presented with an impossible problem, as usual. Several people who received organs from one particular donor are turning up dead. The aliments of each patient seem completely unrelated and utterly confusing to House’s merry band of peons. As the group scrambles around trying to pinpoint the cause before the very last patient dies, House hires a stunningly perceptive private investigator (played by Six Feet Under’s Michael Weston). Mostly he hires the P.I. to follow around his moral compass Dr Wilson now that he’s rebuked House. Through ridiculous subterfuge the P.I. informs House that Wilson seems to have completely moved on from House and is focusing on dealing with his own grief. House tries to provoke Wilson into coming out of hiding to help him find the epiphany he needs to finish the case, only to have Wilson literally slam the door in his face. You’d expect some emotion from House. In typical fashion, any emotion is denied to the bitter end. Even the complete rejection by someone House respects and admires isn’t enough to crack the facade.

As usual, House eventually pulls an absolute miracle out of his hat just in time to save the final patient. What is unusual is that the surprisingly brilliant P.I. is the foil for House’s epiphany rather than Wilson. Weston’s portrayal of Lucas the P.I. is fresh and well played. Hugh Laurie’s House demands so much of the attention from the audience its impressive when anyone can steal the spotlight from him. Weston pulls off that feat with surprising ease. Rumor has it that Lucas the PI is to eventually have a series of his own spun off from House. In the time being, Lucas seems to be an excellent foil for House and I for one am really looking forward to seeing them work together.