Taub is set on by House right off the bat in "The Confession," but he, too, finds this job more rewarding than his old, plastic surgery, which he is practicing again when House calls. This is apparent as Taub investigates the scene of the medical emergency with Park (Charlyne Yi). Of course, House will not let Taub bring his two daughters, both from different mothers, to work, and gives him no time to make other arrangements. So Taub sneaks them into the building, and finds a poor SOB to stick them with. Yep, you guessed it: Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard).
House sees through this immediately, but one gets the sense that Taub never intends anything other than such. House and Taub have long been engaged in a back and forth, and neither reacts much to the easy bait. It's merely an opening salvo. The real contest is House manipulating Taub into checking the paternity of both babies. The entire goal of this exercise seems to be to prove House can still push Taub's buttons. To his surprise, Taub only temporarily rises to the bait, destroying the results without looking at them. Perhaps fatherhood has made Taub a more centered man.
Foreman (Omar Epps) has a much bigger struggle than Taub. Promoted to Dean of Medicine, Foreman is waiting for the other shoe to drop in "The Confession," now that House is out of jail and back in the hospital. Foreman wants to keep House from going back behind bars, but likely because it would be an embarrassment to him, rather than any concern for House's well being. After all, if Foreman can do the almost impossible by keeping the brilliant mind of House working, bringing prestige to the hospital, without becoming too much of a liability, he will win great praise from the board members and the medical community. It's personal, and plays to Foreman's frequent weakness: his ego.
Foreman immediately seeks allies in his battle against House, repeating the mistake of assuming that everyone else wants to get the better of House as much as he does. Wilson, who had been Cuddy's (Lisa Edelstein) ally during her tenure, refuses to play back into the game. It seems Wilson truly has learned his lesson. Or perhaps just doesn't have as much affection for Foreman as he does for Cuddy. Chase and Taub refuse to spy, as that would put Foreman in a superior position over them. Technically, he is their boss, but they are already used to blowing off his superiority complex, and it's no sweat to do so again. Which isn't to say that Chase won't be his friend; they go way back. But Chase also isn't going to be his sidekick.
Article comments
1 - Brighid45
This season has been fairly decent so far, and this episode felt as though everyone's finally hit their stride. Excellent review!
Some favorite moments:
~~The movable wall. It's pure House, as is Wilson's comment: "NO."
~~Chase and Taub standing firm against Foreman, catching him out on his 'welcome back' cheat sheet (yeesh, how stuffy can you get?) and refusing to become his spies.
~~House slipping monkey DNA results into Taub's test, and Foreman, well used to House's pranks, catching it.
~~Park and Adams moving the couch while the guys watch and House jerks them around.
~~House sharing martinis (Hugh's favorite drink at the moment, apparently) with the team.
If the rest of the season is this good, even if it's the last one it'll be a great way for a great show to go out.