House's head may be a strange place to visit, but it makes for some fabulous television. While nothing will ever top season 1's "Three Stories," this was easily one of my favorite episodes ever.

Where to begin with why I loved this? Well, the writers were obviously back on form this week, because they gave us a twisty turny plot with lots of great character moments as well as wonderful dialogue.

Not to mention...I can't help but love an episode that gave us half-naked Hugh Laurie and mostly naked Lisa Edelstein. (What can I say? I'm a cheap date.)

Seriously, the stripping scene was made of pure awesome, because it was so very House, combining his two favorite things in the world: sex (especially with Cuddy) and diagnosis. And the way his subconscious shut down the stripping was perfect.

But let me go back to the beginning and say that I knew I was going to love the episode almost immediately, with House simultaneously diagnosing himself and keeping an eye on the stripper.

And even though this episode was obviously about House, nearly everyone got a good moment, from Taub with his "Great idea. I'll build the giant submarine; you get the miniaturization gizmo" to Kuttner with the idea of hypnosis. I also adored the hypnosis scene, with poor Chase trying his best to not strangle either House or Wilson.

The bus driver developing an alarming symptom wasn't a deep shock, but I loved "Your biggest problem is that I don't know what your biggest problem is." Ah, House, could your ego possibly be any larger? But that's why we love you, I suppose.

I was also reminded of why I love Foreman so very much. "You guys go...sniff a city bus." Poor Foreman, possibly the only sane person in the room much of the time.

Then when we moved into the hallucination scenes, I was on the edge of my seat. They were beautifully done, a little creepy and fascinating and exciting. And, of course, sometimes funny. ("Stop arguing with a hallucination and get help!")

I also liked Thirteen (Dr. Hadley? A name? Wow!) having to choose between Cuddy and House and choosing to trust House. Because he's an asshole, yes, but he's an asshole who tends to be right at moments like this.

And when Cuddy stayed with House to make sure he rested, I melted into a happy pile of goo. ("I'll be on the couch. With a shotgun." Yeah, probably a good idea, dear.)

I knew that Amber was going to be important pretty much as soon as she appeared in the early hypnosis scene (and I loved Wilson's "You have...feelings for her. This is bad."). But I didn't guess Amber was on the bus until they did that tight shot on the necklace in House's dream and I realize it was made out of amber. Nice!

(I do have to admit that I didn't understand the reason for the dark-haired woman until someone on LiveJournal pointed out that Chase had told House to ignore Amber in that first hypnosis scene. Ooooh, very tricky.)

I loved the ending, from the reconstruction of the bus and its occupants, to House's returning memories, to Cuddy and Wilson (of all the doctors and nurses on the bus) saving him. (Although, to my knowledge, you can't actually resuscitate someone with CPR, only keep them alive until a defibrillator arrives. Whatever. See that up there? That's my disbelief.)

The memory of the accident had me on the edge of my seat, and I can't wait to find out what's really wrong with Amber.

However, to step back from the ending, there was one thing that bugged me, and that was the way Cuddy kept threatening to admit House, but everyone still let him run around and, for example, put himself in a sensory deprivation tank. I mean, he was bleeding from his ear, but Thirteen still let him go lie in water! Hello, infection? I would have expected Cuddy to tie him down for his own protection (as she finally tried later in the episode).

Which reminds me: I would have liked one sentence from Cuddy as to why she'd go to the trouble of hiring a security guard and then suddenly let House come back. I'm assuming the nurse told Cuddy that he was more likely to hurt himself finding a way to call his team, but I wanted to hear that from Cuddy.

But those are minor complaints in an otherwise great episode. I loved the acting, I loved the dialogue, I loved the pacing...I loved the whole thing.

Next week: Other than the injuries from the accident, what's wrong with Amber? (Who knows!) Can House save her? (I hope so!) Are House and Amber having an affair? (I'll bet not!)