3x21 "Family" House treats Matty, a boy with upper respiratory symptoms as he prepares to donate his bone marrow to his brother Nick, Wilson’s leukemia patient. The team needs to isolate the infection, working against the clock while Nick awaits the transplant in a clean room.
3x22 "Resignation" House and the team treat Addie, a college student who is coughing blood. A series of infections leads House to believe that she suffers from Complement H deficiency, a fatal genetic condition. Her apathetic reaction upon receiving this dire news leads him to reconsider.
3x23 "The Jerk" House treats Nate, a 16-year old chess prodigy who beats (literally) an opponent to a pulp after winning a match. In addition to unexplained rage attacks, Nate suffers severe headaches. The kid has been an obnoxious brat for years, and now with these symptoms, House wonders if there’s a physical reason behind the bad attitude.
3x24 "Human Error" A Cuban couple, Esteban and Marina, risk their lives to travel in a small boat from Havana to New Jersey to see the famous House. He diagnoses Marina, trying to distinguish symptoms caused by the trip from symptoms caused by her illness.
Article comments
1 - rjw
Boy,picking a best from this season was even tougher than the previous ones.There were several that came in a close 2nd (especially "One Day,One Room "),however I had to pick "Lines in the Sand".What a beautiful portrayal of an autistic boy,and how House relates to him.The B story was disturbing,yet amusing.A terrific episode!
2 - MusicandHouse
This was the hardest one so far but I went with Son of Coma Guy for two reasons. First because I literally watch it every time its on and second because its the episode that got me hooked on House.
3 - 20V
This was the show's peak, and in my opinion, one of the best seasons of any television show in history.
The show had spent its first two seasons building these characters and establishing a bit of a status quo. That's all shaken here. The effect House has on his team becomes profound with the actions Foreman and Cameron make. They both end up killing someone and their already toxic relationships with House boil as he gets worse in body and mind.
And that's another aspect all to itself. House, the character and the show, got really dark this year. Patients died even when the diagnosis was found. House begins lashing out to higher extremes. A fine line had to be walked to keep this from being depressing, but it was the audience's attachment to these characters that maybe things will turn out alright for everyone.
I think I'll go with "Family". It starts a terrific final arc and does great things with Wilson, Foreman, and House.
4 - gg
son of a coma guy,merry little christmas,son of a coma guy,merry little christmas...:)
5 - lobentti
For sure, this was the best season, for me! It was really hard to pic one and leave the others: One day, one room, The son of the coma guy, Fetal position ( ohhh, my...), Half wit and the great Dave Matthews, Top Secret... and... and.. :)-but I voted for Lines in the sand .
6 - Max Durdy
I went with "Fetal Position" because it did something a lot of the truly great episodes do: throw House into a moral dilemma, and this, for me, is one of the best ones. I also liked it because it actually shows House caring for a patient, and visiting them. It's a side to House that I think, especially in the later seasons, has sometimes not been shown enough.
7 - BrokenLeg
Fetal Position, Son of a Coma Guy,One day one room, Merry little Christmas ( all moral dilemmas and dealing with emotions) and Airborne ( by GH-LC banter).
In the peak of the [H]series, hard election , although I did not like the Tritter arch ( unrealistic)
8 - Erica
I LOVED this entire season, so this was the hardest choice, but I picked Meaning, because it delivered on all the promise that No Reason had dangled in front of us. The sheer joy of that scene near the end when the patient rises from his wheelchair after the cortisol injection gives me goosebumps every time. And then the devastation we feel when House is kept in the dark by Cuddy and Wilson and deprived of the "Meaning" he is looking for... It's this kind of brilliantly bittersweet ending that has made House such an awesome show for 8 seasons!
But this IS my favorite season and I wouldn't feel right without mentioning some other favorites so I took the liberty of making a top-ten:
1. Meaning
2. Lines in the Sand
3. Merry Little Christmas
4. One Day, One Room
5. Son of Coma Guy
6. Half-Wit
7. Insensitive
8. Act Your Age
9. Informed Consent
10.Resignation
Loving these polls, thanks Barbara!
9 - Jane E
OMG! This was really tough. What a great season! I agree with you the whole Tritter arc was great entertainment. I loved Lines in the sand, since I myself have an autistic child. One day, one room was outstanding. Son of a coma guy, ugh! This was really difficult!
10 - legendary8
Merry Little Christmas, hands down.
11 - Barbara Barnett
Seasons three and five were my favorite seasons, I have to admit, and three had so many outstanding episodes: Half Wit, Son of Coma Guy, Fetal Position, One Day, Lines in the Sand, Meaning, and of course Merry Little Christmas.
12 - tipitinatoo
"One Day, One Room" was my favorite episode, equaled only much later in the series by a few episodes I'll identify when we talk about Seasons 4 thru 8. For me, this episode revealed a never before shown vulnerability and depth of sadness in House that was stunning and engaging, but that allowed the POTW, Eve--a character name that I took to represent all womanhood--to finally see the authenticity in him that allowed her to trust him and open up about her rape. An unforgettable script, brilliantly portrayed by Hugh Laurie. Having seen this episode at least 7 or 8 times, I am always moved by Laurie's flawless interpretation that takes the viewer through stages of House's long-buried grief and shame around his own abusive childhood. It's as if Eve's wounded-ness actually gave him the strength to finally confront it openly and honestly--no wisecracks, no jokes, no glib metaphors. Then, we get a glimpse of his soul searching, of whether he dealt with Eve appropriately, which results in his closing comment to Cuddy, that "maybe all we did was make a girl cry." This episode had it all without ever becoming cloying or maudlin. A very honest depiction.
13 - rbrown205
Meaning
Lines in the Sand
Fetal Position
14 - Susan
Fetal Position was the best overall, the scenes where House interacted sincerely and seriously with the patient, the scene where the fetus held his finger, the music at the end where House rips up the plane tickets that Cuddy gave him and sits on his couch and rubs the finger......
But I also loved Insensitive, where House trails Cuddy on her date and at the door of her house she asks him "Do you like me House?"
And Top Secret because House can't get the patient our of his mind because a few years before he had seen him kissing Cuddy, and at the end there is a fantastic flirtatious bit with House and Cuddy where they mention their past and "one night I gave you everything you wanted.......", and she says "that ship has sailed" and he remarks about her ass that the "supertanker has sailed", as she walks away from him with a memorable radiant smile.
Seaason 3 was great because I saw the development of House and Cuddy's interest in each other. Foreshadowed in Season 2 - Who's Your Daddy.
15 - ann uk
12 tipitinatoo
I couldn't express better the reasons that I picked " One Day, One Room"I have always loved this episode and I agree that Hugh is heartbreakingly perfect in it.
16 - Sally
Half Wit. Best kiss EVER on TV. And second favorite episode: Informed Consent.
17 - Erin
Half Wit, Lines in the Sand, and Son of Coma Guy, just perfection.
18 - Alex
I voted Airborne because it was the first episode of House I remember seeing. Funny enough, I didn't watch the whole episode, or even one scene -- I was passing by the TV and only caught a meager glimpse of the show through one of Greg's witty caustic retorts.
But reflecting further on season three, I'd have to say Half-Wit was my actual favorite. I love episodes where Hugh gets to flex his musical muscles, and the brain cancer arc kept me captivated the entire time.
I don't want to comment too much on the ending, in case some readers may not have seen the episode, but I have to say it was a very affecting conclusion.
Come to think of it, Half-Wit would probably rank toward the top of my all-time favorite episodes of House.
19 - The Other Barnett
One Day, One Room is my favorite because it shows the human House, without making him follow the TV cliche of trying to feel one's pain or share that whole "I care for you" vibe...which would ring false as a show of emotion.
However, there was his two-three minute part of Son of a Coma Guy that made me hesitate...when he explains the story of the janitor in a Okinawa hospital....it says it all about House.
20 - Ladybelle Fiske
How I will miss this great show! This is painful-- remembering all that we will no longer get to see.
21 - Ladybelle Fiske
By the way, how come no review for the last Season 8 Show? I can't find it-- the one with the sex doll?
22 - Judy Myers
Choosing a fav from the excellence of Season 3 is tough. I chose 'Airborn' because the 'A & B' stories were so cleverly related. And funny.
The 'Lady From Caracus' was a hoot. Plus "Dive 'til you can club baby seals out the window" and House checking out Cuddy's ass, priceless.
Makes me smile just thinking of it.
Judy Myers,
Oregon
23 - Chris
Without a doubt, One Day, One Room has got to be one of the crowning moments for not only season 3 or for House but for television as a whole. Everything is so wonderfully and meticulously executed. We've come to expect much from Hugh Laurie in past performances on the show but never have we seen a patient who can really put him off kilter or an actress as powerful as the young woman who portrayed the raped victim.
The acting is jaw dropping, from their first encounter to their final fading words. The talk is just that - talk. They banter about some philosophical topics, delve into personal trauma and in their own semi-reclusive and damaged ways, still try and connect. In the end, the episode closes perfectly in a heart wrenching ambiguous fashion. We wonder if anything has changed at all. Eve hasn't recovered, House hasn't changed but perhaps just talking was enough.
This is undoubtedly the best episode of House I have ever seen and I'd compare it to the top episodes of Boston Legal and West Wing to crown it as one of the most touching episodes in modern television history.
24 - Addison
I agree with Susan. House and Cuddy's flirtatious interactions in Insensitive and Top Secret are the epitome of the Huddy relationship before it was destroyed in season 8. It's so obvious that they both care for each other a great deal, but hide behind sarcasm and snarky remarks.