My Thoughts - House MD: House vs. God (2006)

Synopsis: When a teenage faith healer, Boyd (Thomas Dekker), becomes House's (Hugh Laurie) patient, the doctor thinks the boy is a fraud. However, when Boyd seemingly cures a cancer patient (Tamara Braun), he shuts down House's attempts to diagnose his ailment, believing God will choose to cure him instead.

My Thoughts:

I wasn't overly crazy about the intro to this episode. I prefer it when the show tries to throw a bit of a curve ball, such as having one person be out of breath only to discover someone else is sicker. This intro, in comparison, was very predictable and seemed to choose irony over any sort of attempt at a surprise.

The part about Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) and Foreman (Omar Epps) feuding was way too much of a storyline. I wasn't crazy about it in the previous episode but could have lived with it if it were just a one-and-done thing. Having it carry over to other episodes was overkill because it just isn't that interesting of a story.

The "cured" cancer patient was probably the most interesting part of this episode. Most of Boyd's other "miracles" could be easily explained but a terminally ill cancer patient suddenly going into remission after speaking with him was intriguing. I especially liked the twist involving House's team trying to figure out why someone is getting better rather than sicker.

I bet Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) regrets joining House's poker game. The show always hinted at Wilson sleeping around but House figuring out Wilson was sleeping with a patient took that to a whole new level. You could even question whether Wilson's loyalty for the rest of the series was because he was afraid of House revealing that secret.

I liked how the ending found a balance between God and science. Yes, there was a scientific reason for everything but, as Chase (Jesse Spencer) pointed out, the odds of the patient coming into contact with someone that transmitted just the right disease to attack her specific form of cancer were astronomical enough to justify the belief there was a greater power behind it.

That being said, if House's patient had herpes and passed that disease to the cancer patient Wilson was sleeping with, shouldn't Wilson be concerned? I kind of feel like maybe he should be getting tested, especially since he has a history of not keeping it in his pants.

Final Opinion: The Cameron/Foreman thing still doesn't work for me but, overall, I thought this was an entertaining episode.

My Grade: A