Though Jacobs doesn't hold out much hope of romantic success for House himself, she said "it would be hard not to" show him in future relationships. While she's cagey on the possibility of one being with a regular cast member, she loves the escalating tension between Cuddy and House in the second part of season three. "There's always been a tension there, and we have slightly more fun in dealing with that. "

"It's what he knows, to keep people at arm's length."

A hallmark of the character is his incredible talent for keeping people at a distance, romantically and otherwise. "He pushes those relationships that he does have pretty far," Jacobs said about "Half-Wit," which the FOX promotions promise will reveal something shocking about House.

Though a network promo that didn't use the word "shocking" would be shocking, the news release with the episode description reveals more than I wanted to know, and does seem fairly, well, startling. I put Jacobs in the thankless position of clarifying without spoiling further. What she had to say is far from surprising, and far from un-vague. "I think it's a turning point in the season, but not in the way you'd expect it. ... The ultimate reveal does change things slightly, but we'll never change him too much. His evolution will be gradual."

There is already evidence of that evolution, from the often downright depressed character in early season one episodes who had to be enticed to take every case, to the gleefully bitter House who often seeks out patients now. A large part of the tension of the series is the battle between House struggling to maintain his seemingly miserable status quo and those around him trying to force the evolution.

So is Wilson right, that House enjoys being miserable? Jacobs doesn't think that's the whole answer. "Being miserable is familiar and what he knows, so it's hard for him to get out of that hole and find his way out."

"But I think that is one of the many things that Hugh Laurie brings to the character. If you didn't see behind his eyes and behind his rough exterior into the wounded quality, you'd never love him and root for him and wish for him to find something other than the miserable existence that he lives."

His world view has been shaken in episodes like the season two finale "No Reason," which had House questioning his devotion to rationality over humanity, and the Tritter storyline, which further explored his relationship with drugs.

"I do think he's smart and he has learned. Whether he is capable of having all of that experience change his actions is quite another thing," Jacobs pointed out. "He is so deep in that hole and committed to that because that's the way he survives. I think slowly but surely he takes it all in, but I don't know that it affects the way he lives his life quite yet."