Fact: The old team was better than the new team. The latest episode of “House”—possibly the strongest medically based episode of “House” since the second season—is proof of this. Part of what makes “House” unique is that even though it is a medical show, it is more about the truth. “The Tyrant” is layered in its exploration of the concept, and the manner in which each team member’s action forces another action makes the episode flow beautifully.

SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP

Summary:

Dibala, an oppressive dictator, spouts out blood from his mouth while going to visit his son, who attends a prestigious university in the US. He is taken to Princeton Plainsboro, since he is a guest of the US government and is speaking at the United Nations. The case goes straight to the new new team, which happens to be the old team—composed of Foreman, Chase and Cameron.

Of course, as they walk into the diagnostic room, they find House already looking at the case. Foreman is hardly happy, and less so when Cuddy determines that even though House does not have his license back yet, the team would be stupid not to have him around. Thus House is there—to stay.

Meanwhile, Cameron is having ethical trouble treating Dibala, who is about to instigate a genocide. She becomes more anxious when Dibala orders a US-residing woman to give him blood since she recovered from the illness the team suggests he has. Chase continually tells her to just treat the patient, though he too soon discovers the horrific crimes Dibala plans to commit.

All the while, House promises to let Foreman do his job of running the diagnostic department. As such, most of House’s appearances are in a subplot involving him and his downstairs neighbor. House realizes something is out of place when he notices Wilson’s behavior has changed. It turns out their downstairs neighbor is a decorated Vietnam War vet with a short temper who’s hypersensitive to House’s and Wilson’s noises (apparently House’s rubber-tipped cane by itself is enough to keep the vet from sleeping). Oh, and the vet suffers from chronic pain on his missing right arm due to phantom limb.

The vet really doesn’t care much for House’s newfound kindness and bluntly tells him to either stop making noise or face the consequences. House is certain the man is not just looking for quiet neighbors and is hiding something else. After accusing the man of faking his veteran status (the man is Canadian, House finds out after breaking into his apartment, and “Canada didn’t send troops to Vietnam, you idiot,” as House says), House broods over his next move—all while Wilson tells House he’s getting kicked from the apartment.

Eventually, House breaks into the vet’s apartment (again), sedates him and ties him to a chair. While the man’s scared out of his mind, House tells him to clench his fist as hard as he can, then release it a few seconds later. When he does, the man’s chronic phantom limb pain finally goes away for the first time in 36 years. He thanks House and stops bothering House and Wilson.

In the end, Dibala dies after Chase deceives Foreman into giving him the wrong treatment. Foreman finds out and confronts Chase, asking “You really think you can kill another human being without any consequences to yourself?” “Nah,” Chase responds. Foreman decides not to turn Chase in, implying the new new/old team will stick around for at least another episode.

Character Development:

Three characters are the focus for character development:

House–This episode presents a challenge to House’s newfound bliss. The writers make you doubt House’s commitment to his treatment during the episode by using the Canadian to pull him back to the dark side with jeers and insults. You feel distressed because you think he will revert; when he doesn’t, however, you are assured that he is sticking with the new mindset.

Chase–This episode is a huge leap in Chase’s character development. Chase has usually been the apathetic one. Remember, this doesn’t mean he wasn’t a risk-taker; in fact, his treatment suggestions were often the most unique. But on this episode, he takes a stand on an ethical issue. We thought that was Cameron’s territory, but here, it is proven that Chase was always the one who would act on his strongest beliefs.

Foreman–Foreman is usually level-headed. He has been since the beginning. When he burns the paper proving Chase was in the morgue at the end of this one, he disintegrates a part of his personality. Where Foreman goes from here, especially after losing Thirteen because of his arrogance and egotism, will be especially fascinating.

Medical Mystery:

Mostly revolved around the ethics of medicine. What do you do when any sane person would take the opportunity to stop an oppressive genocidal dictator, yet the circumstances when that opportunity arises keep you from doing anything but work to save the dictator’s life? In no episode have medical ethics been featured quite as much to the point where personal feelings override professional tendencies to the point of—what some would say—committing murder.