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Fox’s ‘House’ benefits from new medical team, fresh characters

Nine episodes, several deaths, 40 candidates and dozens of House-isms later, there’s a new diagnostic team on FOX’s medical dramedy, “House.”

Avid readers may recall I pleaded for a new medical team last February. I felt that Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), Chase (Jesse Spencer) and Foreman (Omar Epps) were tired and, as characters, run into the ground. I was disappointed when all three remained this season just so that House could pine away.

Cameron and Chase remained at Princeton-Plainsboro, much to my chagrin — Chase has continued just being himself, while Cameron has actually flourished without the constant burden of House. I wouldn’t mind her staying on the show, albeit in a less prominent role.

And then there’s Foreman. I have never, ever liked Foreman. He has only two topics of discussion: his race and why he hates House. I was actually rooting for his death in the two-part episode when he contracted a life-threatening bacteria. Alas, the writers aren’t done with him yet; as it turns out, Foreman has become too much like House to find a job anywhere else, so he crawls back to Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) who hires him over House’s objections. I was worried Foreman’s return would mean only two new candidates, but, per usual, House cleverly persuaded Cuddy into letting him hire three, increasing his team.

So, let’s get to the new team. I enjoyed the style in which House chose the new fellows — sort of a cross between “Survivor” and “Flavor of Love.” In this column, I’m going to refer to them as House refers to them, be it their real names or nicknames. House’s three new employees are Thirteen (Olivia Wilde), an internist; Kutner (Kal Penn), a specialist in sports medicine; and Taub (Peter Jacobsen), a former plastic surgeon. I like all three.

Kutner is without a doubt my favorite. Besides the fact that I am a huge Penn fan, I like him because his character is fresh and captivating.

Kutner’s methods are perhaps even more outrageous than House’s. He seems to have a love-hate relationship with defibrillators — he once lit a patient on fire when he used a defibrillator in a hyperbaric chamber and also nearly electrocuted himself into a coma when he revived a patient with soaking wet clothes. He also suggested taking out a security guard while digging up a body and devised a clever liver stress test by drinking the patient under the table. I can’t wait to see what crazy thing he does next.

Thirteen is also an interesting character. I feared that at first she would be too much like Cameron, but thankfully her personality is drastically different.

In one of the earlier episodes, a patient dies after the team correctly diagnosed him, and Thirteen screwed up by not observing the patient taking the treatment (which instead went to his dog). House threatens to fire her (and in fact fires most of the other female candidates) for this mistake, but decides she won’t repeat the error.

Nevertheless, the writers seem keen on creating parallels between Thirteen and Cameron; just as Cameron was reluctant to get the results of an HIV test, so is Thirteen reluctant to discover whether or not she has Huntington’s Disease, a debilitating physical and mental disorder caused by genetics (her mother died of it) that has no cure. As much as I like Thirteen, I sort of hope she eventually develops the disease, as it would make for an interesting plot twist.

Finally, there’s Taub. I could have gone either way, between Taub and Cutthroat Bitch. Both were equally interesting, although Cutthroat Bitch may have been a tad too intense for the show.
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about Taub, except that he left his plastic surgery practice after an affair with a nurse. He could prove interesting, although his character needs much more development.

Cutthroat Bitch was fascinating because, well, just look at her name. I loved the intensity and competition she brought to the show. Ultimately House fired her because she couldn’t handle losing, although I have no doubt that if Cuddy had let him he would have kept her.

I do miss one other candidate: Bosley (Carmen Argenziano). He was the really old guy, the one everyone wondered about. It was revealed several episodes before he was fired that he did not have a medical degree, but had been auditing medical classes at Columbia for 30 years. Although he was an excellent diagnostician and brilliant doctor, he had no field experience, and couldn’t perform the simplest tests. Apparently, he was too much like House to stick around, but I wish he had stayed on in the “personal assistant” position House said he would create for him.

A great challenge exists, both for the new characters and the old; they have to find a delicate balance between the new areas of exploration they face and the established areas, such as the clinic, that provide both humor and insight. I think with this new team, they can do it.

Alex Guillén is an associate news editor. He really hopes Foreman kicks the bucket.