The teaser alone this week hooked me: a fast-paced chase scene that rivaled a James Bond movie.  Our Patient Of The Week (POTW) typically parallels House in some way.  This POTW was no different.  A man with a self-imposed expiration date and nothing visibly wrong with him was forced into House's hands by the damaged puppy lover, Cameron.

While the ducklings work to crack the case, House and Wilson are still sharing a space and hilarity ensues with one of the best House lines to date: "I'm digging lint out of my bellybutton."  While the two of them are managing to coexist, House starts to hear whispering in the Amber-shrine room Wilson has created since her death. 

Scared he is starting to unravel after making such strides in his recovery, House sets off to investigate by taking a hearing test at the hospital. Psychosis? No worries. We're only 20 minutes into the episode.

House did the crime and now needs to put in the time.  In order to get his license back, he needs 120 hours with newbie med students.  Huddy fans rejoice.  We not only get one, two, but four Huddy scenes in this episode based around this storyline.  Not only that, but the two are flirtatious and show why we love the pairing in the first place.  I personally could have done without "Captain Obvious "medical students pointing out the banter, but I'll let it go since the rest of the episode was so satisfying.

So House is worried about voices, Cuddy's playing teacher to her rebellious student, and how about our favorite Aussie murderer in the flesh?  Chase is wrestling with his demons in "Brave Heart" and the last place he wants to be is the ICU, where he did the deed.  House, keenly aware of everything, takes Chase under his wing, forcing him to go back to that room and do his job, all the while encouraging him to get some help. After all, it worked on him.   

Chase claims to be fine, but a priest at a confessional got a tasty earful when Chase confessed to killing a man.  No mercy here.  A "Hail Mary" ain't gonna do it.  Chase has to turn himself in, says the priest.  What would you do if you were the priest?  Chase ends up drinking alone, coming home to a worried, but aware, Cam.  The jig is up, Chase.  You may not want to turn yourself in to the cops, but it's time to lay your sins out on the dinner table.

In a heart-wrenching turn, House realizes that the whispering he's hearing is Wilson, talking to Amber. Soon he's back at the hospital in full swing with Cuddy --after nearly quitting for fear of psychosis-- and with the patient.

What's happening to our POTW, you ask?  He was spoon-fed a placebo, died, came back to life, found out he had a son, and was correctly diagnosed by House.  The parallel to our protagonist comes with House realizing that this man never wanted to take real risks like accepting love, making connections with people, and would rather spend time risking his physical life by jumping across buildings and chasing gun-wielding criminals.  By the end of "Brave Heart," we're witness to House calling the police officer's bluff, and for once, House can do so without hypocrisy, as he himself is trying to change. 

The bravest heart of all goes to our tin man Dr. House, who, as all of us already knew, had a heart to begin with.  With Cuddy, he manages to truthfully address their relationship.  The look he gave Cuddy when he mentioned he was hot for teacher threw me for a loop and telling her she makes him feel "funny" makes me feel funny.  We even got to see House trying to connect with his dad, before realizing whispering to the dead was a Wilson thing.

Final tally:

Cam figuring out Chase isn't fine?  Check.

Enough Hilson to keep us laughing through baseball? Double check. 

A Huddy scene for us to salivate over for nearly a month?  Triple check.

Well done, House crew. Is the World Series over yet?