Steven Helmer Publications

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. Th...

Synopsis: Foreman's ( Omar Epps ) supervision over House ( Hugh Laurie ) is put to the test when House insists on treating Anica ( Cynthia Nixon ), a woman who had a seizure shortly after meeting him at a horse track. House is confident Anica is sick but faces opposition from the rest of the team, who believe she is suffering from Münchausen syndrome and faking her symptoms to get attention. My Thoughts: Having Foreman being House's boss was one of Cuddy's ( Lisa Edelstein ) worst decisions . Even on a temporary basis, it just didn't make sense. I know the other options were limited, especially since both Cuddy and Wilson ( Robert Sean Leonard ) would also have been bad choices, but there had to be some other doctor from a different department that was knowledgeable enough to look over House's shoulder and report anything that wasn't above board. It's not like his supervisor needed to be able to diagnose people, he/she just needed to make sure he wasn't...

Synopsis: Cuddy ( Lisa Edelstein ) offers to give House ( Hugh Laurie ) a month off from clinic duty if he can go a week without pain killers. The bet seems to compromise House's ability to diagnose a teenager ( Nicholas D'Agosto ), upsetting the boy's father ( Mark Harelik ) and making his team question his judgement. My Thoughts: I get the point Cuddy was trying to make about House's use of Vicodin , however I do question the overall execution of what she was trying to prove. Having him be in pain the entire week seemed counterproductive, especially since he was still trying to practice medicine. Why not help him by demonstrating pain managing alternatives at the same time? You know, like Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) did with that "masseuse?" House's team really wasn't much of a help either. Yeah, sure, he was compromised because he was off his meds and that was maybe causing him to make poor decisions. However, I didn't see anyone else stepping...