I'm a sucker for any episode that centers around House's skepticism about religion and the supernatural, so I was pretty much going to love this episode unless House became a born-again evangelical preacher at the end. Add in House lugging a cat around the hospital, and I enjoyed myself, even though this wasn't a particularly meaty or clever episode.

The Patient of the Week was a bit...well, I'd have to go with Cuddy, she was a bit of a nutjob. Of course, as House noted, "Nutjobs get sick too." Like Cuddy and House, I found her credulous and overly sickeningly sweet and I'm simply incapable of understanding the idea that there had to be a "reason" for the death of her stepson.

But I enjoyed the effect the PotW had on House and the rest of the team, so that made up for it. House lugging around the cat and trying to prove the cat didn't predict deaths was hilarious, and Kutner's fear of cats cracked me up. For some reason, I found his superstitions more palatable than Chase's little speech about fate.

I didn't buy Wilson's theory that House had somehow started to give a damn, because it seemed obvious to me that House's actions fit nicely into his usual dislike of magical thinking. It wasn't clear to me what Wilson was basing his theory on, although he was rather amusing.

I loved the scene of House testing the cat theory on the coma patients, although I have no idea why a cat allergy would be listed on a patient's chart. For that matter, I can't believe that Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital doesn't have an electronic medical records system and Thirteen had to check his allergies on a paper chart at the foot of his bed. They need to join the 21st century already.

The solution to the cat mystery was great. I had a few moments where I was afraid they were going to leave the answer in doubt, but the cat looking for somewhere warm to sit was a clever answer. And it's so typical that nobody else would notice something so obvious because they were too busy seeing the mystical instead of the practical.

On the other hand, I found Taub's storyline a bit odd. I thought we'd resolved his doubts about his work and his marriage, but they just seem to keep cropping up. I did feel terrible for him getting scammed, poor guy. It was a clever scam, but I hated watching him get his hopes dashed for the millionth time. (Best Taub line: "Sorry I was late again. I have a long commute from the poorhouse.")

I think part of my problem with the story was that I just couldn't quite work up the energy to feel sorry for Taub's money problems. He's a doctor, probably making at least twice what my husband and I make, with a nice house and nice cars and no kids to set aside college funds for...so my sympathy was rather lacking. I never could work up any energy to feel bad for the troubles caused by his cheating on his wife, either.

However, I did love Kutner trying to help Taub. Kutner's a sweetie, if occasionally a bit clueless, and I like that he considers Taub a friend and will tell him so. Also, House's reaction to Taub at the end was interesting. He looked like he was diagnosing Taub and not coming up with an answer he liked.

The PotW and Taub's storyline didn't tie together particularly well this week, but I suppose the general theme of the episode was whether the universe is blind or there are reasons for the things that happen. I would say that Taub and House are both very skeptical of any argument that there's a higher purpose for the bad (or good) things that happen to us. In fact, I think House finds that argument offensive, which is why he was so annoyed by the PotW. ("I didn't come here for thanks, that would be ungracious. It's more about gloating.")

Overall, this episode was fun but not especially memorable. I was happy there was lots of fun dialogue (see: "Cats make terrible doctors. Wait, that's women." and "Genetically modified for tastiness") and thrilled to see Kutner getting a little revenge on House. Hey, House deserves to get pranked now and then, considering how often he does things--especially to Kutner--like pretend to collapse or bleed.

(I must apologize for my long absence from these corridors, oh faithful readers. However, on March 7, my son decided to make a premature entry into the world, and what with me having surgery and blood transfusions and my son staying in the NICU, I've been a bit busy. The case wasn't nearly interesting enough to get House's attention, but personally, I found it rather riveting.)