And the good times keep on rolling. "Instant Karma" was another excellent episode of House for the same reasons as last week's episode. A lot of the action centered around a patient with a weird illness, the drama came from some really serious business and there was plenty of intrigue without it feeling soapy. Even though so much of these past couple episodes has felt like the best of the early seasons of House, there's also a sense that the main characters have really grown. To be honest, I had serious doubts at the end of last season about the continued longevity of this series. Now I think it may just have a season or two left in it.

Our patient this week is the young son of a billionaire who has gone through (if I remember correctly) seventeen different doctors, none of whom know what's wrong with him. After a stern conversation with Cuddy, the father gets the as-yet-unlicensed House on the case. This shifts House one step closer to being the boss again, at least officially.

Foreman might have spent more time this week butting heads with House if he hadn't been so preoccupied with a routine investigation into the death of last week's patient. He and Chase are climbing the walls worrying about the panel discovering the faked test results that led to the patient's misdiagnosis. Foreman and Chase walk the halls of Princeton-Plainsboro like two shady conspirators, which was a lot less hokey than that sounds.

In inconsequential C-plot land, the still-fired 13 finds her travel plans to Thailand surreptitiously canceled, which of course brings her to the conclusion that it's House trying to get her back on the team. When she investigates, she can't seem to find the culprit. In fact, neither do we. Wilson confesses, but then immediately goes to House and admits that he isn't guilty, either. In the end it doesn't really matter. 13 boards her plane to Bangkok in an episode-closing montage and presumably flies out of our lives anyway. We'll miss you, hot doctor.

I was a little bothered by how much about the patient's father went unexplained in this episode. We could have spent more time learning what he did to push his wife away, or for that matter exactly what he did at the end to give up all of his money in a (maybe) misguided attempt to balance his karma. House cures his kid at the last minute, as he is wont to do, and they celebrate in their health and poverty. If there was supposed to be a lesson here, I missed it.

And because he must, House also saves Chase and Foreman by digging up some obscure info on their dead African dictator. How? I dunno, I guess House is just magic. The point is clear, though. Nobody, not a seasoned Foreman, a hardened Cameron or a radical Chase can take House's place. The real twist is that House wishes that weren't true.

Best Moment: 13 in the cab. Life with House has made her jaded and paranoid. Call it a going away present.

Notes: I've caught on to a code. Chase's level of anxiety is directly proportionate to his degree of stubble. I guess everybody has inherited something from House.

Episode Rating: 4/5- Little, nit-picky problems keep this episode from being as good as it could be, but it still felt balanced and it had some awesome character interactions, plus the patient didn't get short shrift. Keep up the good work, House team.