Directed by: Deran Sarafian
Written by: Doris Egan and Leonard Dick
Air Force Captain Greta Cooper (Essence Atkins) has a strange experience in a flight simulator, seeing sounds, hearing colors. Rather than go to the infirmary, she lashes out at the engineer who programmed the simulation.
Dr. House has the forty or so applicants discussing a medical case from history, what could have caused Buddy Ebsen, the original Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz to have had his allergic reaction that almost killed him. But then Captain Cooper shows up at House's office with some bundled cash. She wants to be treated "off-the-books," because if NASA finds out about her condition, she loses her shot at becoming an astronaut.
House decides to put the applicants on the case. The patient is code-named "Osama bin Laden." House splits the applicants into groups. One group will run certain specific tests, another group will take samples, another will break into her house looking for medically relevant evidence, and the last group will wash House's car.
Dr. Volakis, #24 (Anne Dudek), tells the car washing group that this menial chore is beneath their dignity and storms off. Most of the other applicants in the group also leave, while Dr. Cole (Edi Gathegi) continues washing the car. A short while later, Dr. Volakis comes back having stolen House's keys and she and Cole take the car to a car wash. She just wanted to thin out the competition.
House also sees Chase and a now blond Cameron but is told by Dr. Wilson that they're in Arizona and House is seeing them because he feels guilty about them leaving. Turns out they really are working back at the hospital, Chase as a surgeon and Cameron in the ER, and have been for weeks, and House never noticed. He also sees Dr. Foreman but that really was a hallucination but it's left unclear if it's out of guilt or was caused by House being drunk as part of an impromptu liver test with the patient.
Also introduced in this episode:
- Dr. Kutner, #6 (Kal Penn), specializes in sports medicine and rehab.
- Dr. Hadley, #13 (Olivia Wilde), an internist who tells the other applicants "Call me Thirteen, I'm not getting invested."
- Two doctors, never named, #15A and #15B (Melinda Dahl and Caitlin Dahl)
- Dr. Dobson, #26 (Carmen Argenziano), the oldest applicant. He's not actually a doctor, but claims to have attended medical school in his capacity as an admissions officer. House decides to keep him for a while as a consultant.
- Dr. Desai, #32 (Meera Simhan), a former veterinarian.
- Dr. Brennan, #37 (Andy Comeau), used to be with Doctors Without Borders.
- Dr. Taub, #39 (Peter Jacobson), a plastic surgeon.
The rest of the applicants don't make it to the next episode.
Chase and Cameron are revealed to be working at Princeton-Plainsboro (in the O.R and E.R respectively), Foreman at New York Mercy.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Dream-Crushing Handicap: Defied by Captain Cooper, who seeks medical treatment off the books to keep NASA from finding out about a condition which would disqualify her from being an astronaut.
- Gaslighting: Wilson attempts to convince House that he's seeing Dr. Chase and Dr. Cameron out of guilt that they're gone. Turns out they really were there and had been for weeks and House just never noticed.
- Spotting the Thread: House works out that Mason was the doctor who spilled the beans about Greta's identity, as the only three who even knew it were the ones who entered her apartment. And of those three, Dobson is asleep and thus clearly not feeling guilty or worried about his actions, while Askha wouldn't have confessed because she'd admitting to a criminal act, which would get her visa cancelled. Though House adds that Amber silently fingered Mason as the one responsible anyway.
- Hiding the Handicap: Captain Cooper insists on being treated off the books to keep NASA from finding out about her condition, which would disqualify her from being an astronaut.
