Categories: Television

“House”- Episode 228: “Office Politics”

If you are looking for a good chuckle in the midst of one of America’s best medical dramas on T.V. then “House” is the show for you. Monday nights at 8 pm ET on FOX, Doctor House and his misfit team; Chase, Foreman, and Taub, at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital are faced with mysterious and challenging life or death scenarios, but never without a quirky twist from House’s witty personality.

In the recent November 8, 2010 Episode: “Office Politics,” Cuddy, who is ready for some estrogen back on the team, hires a female 3rd year medical student as House’s newest team member. Martha Masters is anything but what House was expecting. Graduating high school by the time she was 15, she has all the makings of a mini House, but with morals.

At first House isn’t too impressed with Masters, as she is quick to answer off the wall questions but intimidated at first when it comes to medical diagnosis. House views Masters as “like having the internet but with breasts.” She is just another distraction that Cuddy has pushed on him.

Foreman and Chase are quite excited to have someone on the team who can keep up with House. Foreman wants to give Masters a few tips on how to handle House because she is overwhelmed by House’s antics. Chase on the other hand wants to see “the entertainment factor” that “is off the charts. It’s like watching a bunny hop into a buzz saw repeatedly.” He is enjoying the amusement of watching House fire and re-hire Masters repeatedly.

Taub is intimidated by Master’s intelligence. He had interviewed her for a position at John Hopkins and was upset when she could mentally calculate a complex equation but didn’t acknowledge him on the first day. He is all for House’s abuse toward her until she tells Taub that she wanted to tell him she remembered him on her first day, but was too nervous.

House has dilemmas with Masters’ ability to lie to save lives and keep her mouth shut. When she tells the patient about the team breaking into his home, House fires her. He tells Cuddy that Masters’ principles make her “like the love child of Einstein and Mary Poppins” and she stands in the way of him treating his patients.

Cuddy makes him keep her on the team because she wants Masters’ genius at the hospital. After a pep talk with Cuddy, Masters finally speaks out and contributes to the diagnoses of the patient. House throws celebratory confetti on her telling her that she finally “popped” her “cherry; diagnostically speaking.”

When she once again tells House that she will not break the rules, House tells her that “rules are just helpful guidelines for stupid people who can’t make up their own minds.” After saving the patient, House and Masters come to an understanding of each other.

This marks the beginning of a new era of “House”. Masters is House’s match of medical genius, but his conflicting force of morals and values. What will Masters bring to the table and will she change the team for the better?

Watch the next new Episode: “A Pox on our House,” on FOX at 8 pm ET November 15, 2010.