This week’s episode of House, "The Dig," featured the return of Thirteen, who had been in prison for the last year or so. House had a martini in hand when Thirteen unexpectedly discovered him waiting for her upon her prison release.

The silent first moments of the show emphasized the strong bond between the two and their quiet mutual understanding. 

Throughout their journey to the spud gun competition, House obsessed over what crime Thirteen could have committed in the same way he usually focuses his energy on solving the newest medical mystery at the hospital.

As House slowly shared more information about his failed relationship with Cuddy, Thirteen seemed to become more comfortable sharing information about her crime.

Eventually, House used various clues to determine that Thirteen must have euthanized her brother who was suffering from advanced Huntington’s disease.

Thirteen emotionally shared her fear that no one would be available to help her die if she was in the same position and then became upset when House did not give her any feedback whatsoever.

I thought House’s statements at the end of the episode, when he told Thirteen that he would help her die one day if she needed him, showed the complexity of his personality in a way that the past episodes have not. 

I thought one of the best moments of the episode was when Thirteen waited outside of the local police station to pick up House who had violently shot his teenage competitor with a spud gun. Thirteen had a soft drink waiting for him, which perfectly mirrored the first scene of the episode.

I also liked seeing Thirteen and House work as a team once again, even if it was over something silly like a spud gun competition. This episode also left us with the knowledge that Thirteen will be rejoining the team at some level.  What do you think will happen with Thirteen’s medical license? 

The whole sub-plot with Foreman and Taub was not all that interesting. I did think it was surprising that when Taub tried to do the right thing and break things off with his wife, she admitted that she liked the new casual relationship and that Taub was not taking advantage of her.

The portion of the episode dealing with the patient and his hoarder wife was not incredibly exciting, but it did, once again, show us how much Masters emphathizes with her patients.

Now that Thirteen seems to be returning, what do you think will happen with Masters? Do you think the team dynamics will change dramatically?