According to a FOX press release, the post-Super Bowl episode of House was “the show’s highest rated episode ever across all demos and the highest rated on any network in two years among Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers. Additionally, the episode was FOX’s highest rated scripted series telecast in over 10 years in Adults 18-49 as well as in 11 years in Total Viewers.” This comes as no surprise to me.

As a fan of this series, I expect House to dominate the ratings every week. I will defend the show from its detractors and will happily try to usher in new viewers who are unfamiliar with the character and intricacies of Dr. House. While “Frozen” was not the episode intended to air after the football frenzy prior to the writers’ strike, it was chock full of all of the elements that make House special – a compelling medical drama combined with amusing bits of comedy; a number of subtle psychological glimpses into the depths of its main character; plenty of visuals of blood, guts, needles, and internal organs to make the hardiest of viewers squirm; an engaging script; and, of course, brilliant acting by Hugh Laurie.

The patient of the week, Cate, was played by special guest star Mira Sorvino. Cate is a psychiatrist stationed at a drilling station at the South Pole. From the beginning, we see that she is something of a medical genius herself. We first see her coming to the rescue of one of the mechanics at the pole who had lacerated his femoral artery in a freak accident. Exhibiting House-like ingenuity, she uses glue to stop the bleeding, before succumbing to some illness of her own that renders her immobile and in need of the brilliant diagnostic skills of Dr. House. Unfortunately for her, she cannot be moved from the South Pole, and has to be treated via webcam.

House is presented with Cate’s case while he is preoccupied with the restoration of cable in patients’ rooms, not for the patients’ sake but for his own viewing pleasure. The hospital cut cable as an expense, so he sends his team away to pressure Cameron, a member of the budget committee, to bring it back. That leaves House and Foreman to diagnose and treat the patient.

From the start, we sense the chemistry between House and Cate. Not only is she beautiful, but she is smart, courageous, and has the ability to stand up to House’s bullying and cutting remarks. After refusing a dangerous method of removing a kidney stone with the geological tools used at the drilling station, she ignores House’s suggestion that she start treatment for the stone with an intravenous medicine. Cate tells House that she will not use up her sparse store of medical supplies for a possible diagnosis on herself, when she would rather save it for her patients who have definitive needs. House finds her self-sacrificing ways to be annoying, yet he watches with admiration as she treats herself, first by re-inflating her own collapsed lung with a syringe and then by taking full body x-rays and sending them to the hospital, even when faced with the prospect of having cancer.