As fall season ends, ‘House’ finally in order

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One new character that is pushing the bounds of credibility — but is, so far, staying on the right side of the line — is “Thirteen,” whose real name we'll eventually have to learn. (Right?) Actress Olivia Wilde is bringing just the right amount of mystery, eagerness and sadness to the doctor who we've already seen kill a patient (and his dog) because of a silly mistake and who we now know might have Huntington's Disease, a hereditary condition with no cure that causes physical, cognitive and behavioral symptoms that worsen over time.

Thirteen has never been tested for the disease, saying she prefers not knowing because it inspires her to do things she'd otherwise be afraid to do. But there's a 50 percent chance she inherited it from her mother. House secretly ran a test last week and put the results in an envelope for her, which she didn't open. So now House knows, but she doesn't.

All that combines to make Thirteen at least 10 times more interesting than Amber (Anne Dudek), who remains pretty one-dimensional as the resident “cutthroat bitch” who will do whatever she has to do to get the job. She's a decent doctor, as far as we can tell, but she's been more intent on winning than on showing her medical prowess, leaving viewers to wonder what her motivation would be if she actually got the job.

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That leads us to Kutner, who's developed into the wild child — the one who'd sooner take an electrical jolt of his own to save a patient, and who recommended filling a patient with tequila shots to test her liver. Kutner's character falls into the mold fans would expect from Kal Penn, who is best known for playing Kumar in “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.”

He's a doctor who operates outside normal bounds, who thrives on the most dramatic aspects of the job. Although little else is known about him, he's expected to stick around to bring some comic relief to Princeton-Plainsboro. And, don't forget, in the absurdity of the Cuddy's thong episode, it was Kutner who was revealed to have been one of the two candidates Cuddy wanted to have dumped. The other was Amber, and, at this point, at least one of them will remain a permanent member of the team. That should make for some interesting exchanges in the future.

What still remains to be seen is how the old team will figure into the show's future. Foreman, as viewers saw last week, seems to be in place only to occasionally throw a glare at House and play “The Cuddy card,” meaning he'll just speak up when he sees something happening and he knows Cuddy wouldn't approve. Cameron continues to make only occasional appearances to help the job candidates, but what will she do once the candidates are hired full time? And Chase has become the most pointless series “regular” on television.

Each has his and her own history with House, which makes them rich sources for material. Here's hoping the old team can find its place in the background to provide the type of intermittent but effective appearances that Wilson and Cuddy have mastered in the past three and a half seasons.

Victor Balta is a writer in Philadelphia.

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