Start counting down. "Chase" marks one of the last 10 or so episodes of House ever! I didn't love this one, but having Jesse Spencer in the driver's seat did make for a nice change of pace. Chase has always been one of my favorite characters and I think that's partly because of his religious background and his willingness to stand up to House in such a direct way.

In season six, we were given episodes from Cuddy's and Wilson's respective perspectives. Here, it's Chase's turn and we open with a nearly naked shot of the doc! Way to score some shameless points, House execs! 

I know this episode, at least in the beginning, was designed to make us compare House and Chase. Look, they both have limps! Look, Chase is sleeping with some random woman with no real attachment! And finally, wow! Chase gets inappropriately attached to a patient! Well, House has never slept with a patient (to my recollection), but he has done some truly reprehensible things for those people under his care.

But, in the end, we all know that these two aren't alike. As damaged as Chase would like to think he is, there's no way he comes close to House's level.

Throughout the episode, House and Chase both claimed at different times that it's not worthwhile to attach significance to unexpected events. And the stabbing was unexpected. It seems to me that he's not as haunted by the stabbing so much as what the stabbing meant regarding his relationship with House. As Chase mused, was he an idiot before the stabbing about House? Or after? Is House really there to forward the teams' best interests? 

The episode opens with Chase in bed with a one night stand. It's clear that he's uninterested, but what's nice is the contrast between that scene and the scene later in the episode when he sleeps with his patient (gasp!), the pre-nun POTW, Moira. One of the reasons I wasn't crazy about this episode is because Moira seemed far too designed as a character.  Like, Chase has a crisis of faith after his stabbing. Let's put him in a room with a beautiful almost-nun who hasn't quite gotten her calling yet! And... action!

After Moira - over-exercising a woman's right to change her mind - opts to go back to the church, Chase tells her he loves her and tries to convince her to stay with him. If this seems ridiculous, that's because it is. As Chase falls for her and leaps into her arms blindly, House willingly points this out to him. It's blind faith in both directions. And, as always, House is going to be the one to break that news without any hint of tact. 

In the strongest moments of the episode, Chase berated House, much like he's been criticized before from every other character but Chase. He suffers so he wants everyone else to suffer. He's in pain, so he wants that for everyone. And this is what "Chase" is really about. Does House want what's best? And if he does, why does he act the way he acts? Tonight, for about one minute, the series addressed what it hasn't really done yet this season. House, in order to keep Chase in his life and to prevent him from making a huge mistake, starts in before Chase walks out the door:

If I wanted you to be like me, I'd urge you to make a stupid, stubborn mistake that blows up your life and leaves you lonely and miserable. | permalink

Could I actually be right this week? Could the show actually be making a reference to last season when House's bitterness and anger drove him to drive through Cuddy's living room?  House encourages Chase to learn from his mistakes. And Chase does. After all, he's nothing if not an excellent student. And by the end of the episode, with two nods, all is right, or as right as it can be, in House-land. 

But before I finish, a gripe. What kind of doctors are Park and Adams? Why are they all surgeons? I know Taub was a plastic surgeon, but what about the rest of them? Are there no other surgeons in the hospital? And didn't most of them perform some surgery on Chase when they were all extra attached to his well-being? And are now getting angry at Chase for doing the same thing?  

There are about 10 episodes left of House and next week doesn't seem to be affording us any advancement in storyline. More poignant moments like the conversation between House and Chase? Yes, please! A contrived appearance by House's green card wife? No thank you. You're making it all the easier for me to understand why the series is ending. Give me a storyline that has to do with our favorite damaged doctor and his struggles and I'm there.

Anyone else wondering how it's all going to end given that we have no real story arc right now?