House

Alone

Season 4, Episode 1, Aired 9/25/07

Episode Summary

With his diagnostic team gone, House tries to diagnose a young woman who survived an office building collapse. With the condition getting worse, Cuddy puts pressure on House to hire a new team, but instead attempts a differential diagnosis with help from the janitor.

9.0

EPISODE RATING: Superb

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Cast & Crew

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Hugh Laurie

Dr. Gregory House
Lisa Edelstein

Dr. Lisa Cuddy
Robert Sean Leonard

Dr. James Wilson

Fan Episode Reviews (73)

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House tries to Diagnose a patient alone, without a team. If that's not interesting enough, he even consults a janitor.

10

"Perfect"

By texasislandr, Nov 22, 2010 Report Abuse

This Has to be one of the funniest episodes ever. My family and I were laughing non-stop through the whole thing. There was some great House/Wilson friendship interaction, mixed with hilarious comedic timing. We gave it two thumbs up, and add it to our favorite episodes list. I hope this season has more episodes like this one. The storyline was cleverly plotted, well written, and well played. I loved all of the character interation, and how they decided to bring back the original Diagnostics team (Cameron, and Chase) so far. I look forward to watching this episode again in the future.moreless

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2 0
Brilliant Season opener!

10

"Perfect"

By DonStants2, Nov 15, 2010 Report Abuse

I thought this episode was a fantastic way to start the Season! Season 4 is often critised as "jumping the shark" but I think this was a brilliant episode, where the presense of Chase,Cameron and Foreman wasn't too missed.

The case itself was interesting, simply because of how House dealt with it. The beginning part of the episode where he played his guitar highlighted just how witty the writing is, and he and Cuddy's dynamics were brilliant throughout.

I thought it was hilarious the way he used the Janitor to bounce ideas off of, especially using the famous "lupus" joke.

Wilson and House (my favourite pairing) were brilliant in this episode- I just loved Wilson stealing his guitar!

The ending of the case was brilliant- I never saw the twist coming, but, as Cuddy pointed out, House's team would have figured it out ages ago, highlighting not only to him but us as audience members just how important they are to the show.

To top it all, the end of the episode where a whole bunch of canditates sit in the room for House's interview was an inspired idea!

Overall, the best Season opening of House to date- witty, dynamic, dramatic, and, as always, brilliantly written and acted.moreless

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4 0
House alone is kind of boring.

7.0

"Good"

By Canogaparkcindy, Nov 10, 2010 Report Abuse

The only thing that made the rating not so good in this episode is that house had no team, I thought he was going to continue all of Season 4 without a team. Without a team, it was pretty boring. Just House, Cuddy & the janitor. House is seeing illusions of his old team, well at least Wilson is making him they are illusions, turns out they work in a hospital. I like House and Cameron's talk at the end. My favorite part was the end, when it turned out they were caring for the wrong girl! That was just nuts, how could that even happen!? But seriously very slow paced. The end opens the new season, a competition, who will be House's team?moreless

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4 4
Cant believe the number of 10s awarded to this episode! I must have some very, very, very high standards. Or maybe others have low standard!

7.7

"Good"

By AvatarBlue, Oct 19, 2010 Report Abuse

No team to fence with House. Thats what this episode missed out on. So if they wanted to get viewers realising what their missing out on with the removal of Chase, Cameron and Foreman - well done, it worked!

The kidnapped guitar was a good ploy, but it was a distraction at best! As for the actual case. Well that was a good change from the normal episode method/device, but in the end, the show isnt about the medical solution its about House. Its about his issues. Its about his interactions and relationships. Maybe they should move the setting to something other than a hospital! Anyway, I thought it was a mildly better than average episode. Hopefully it will get back to its winning formula. Im sure it will.moreless

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0 1
The best episode of House so far.

9.8

"Superb"

By efc91, Oct 19, 2010 Report Abuse

When an office building collapses, House has to work fast to diagnose a young woman, Megan, who survived the disaster. Due to her injuries, Megan's only form of communication is blinking. House, without a team since Foreman and Cameron quit and he fired Chase, talks through his ideas with a janitor at the hospital. As House persists in diagnosing Megan by himself, he realizes that the case is not what it appears, and that solitude may not be the answer. I love this series more and more and I think thedirection this season is going is the right one, I loved the episode "Alone", it was a funny episode with the janitor and House loosing his guitar, I really, really cant wait to see more of this series. "Alone" gets an easy ten out of ten. Keep it up.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Trivia: In promo pictures for the show's fourth season, episode 1, it was revealed that Dr. Wilson received his undergraduate degree from McGill University in Montreal, QC. He also received a degree from Columbia University's School of Oncology. Edit
- Trivia: House is wearing a Omni Peace T-shirt. On the shirt there is the continent of Africa making the bottom half of a palm, and the rest of the fingers making the peace sign. Edit
- In the scene where House discovers his guitar has been taken hostage, the plug from the amp to the guitar moves mid scene. In the shot where House first walks in, the cord from the amp is plugged in closer to the middle. However, when they do a shot showing the amp to the kidnapper's note, the cord is coming from the very first plug on the left. Edit
Notes
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- International Air Dates: Australia: October 3, 2007 The Netherlands: February 7, 2008 on SBS6 Italy: March 2, 2008 on Canale 5 United Kingdom: March 20, 2008 9pm on five Denmark: April 5, 2008 on SBS Net Israel: April 6, 2008 on HOT 3/YES Stars 3 Bulgaria: April 15, 2008 on NTV Slovakia: April 30, 2008 on STV 1 The Czech Republic: September 1, 2008 on TV Nova Germany: August 26, 2008 on RTL Hungary: August 27, 2008 on TV2 Greece: September 20, 2008 at 18.45 on Star Sweden: February 17, 2009 on TV4 Poland: March 19, 2009 on TVP2 Edit
- The janitor's comment, "Maybe it's lupus" refers to the running in-joke on the show about how lupus is always suggested but it's never lupus. Edit
- Omar Epps, Jesse Spencer, and Jennifer Morrison are credited but don't appear. Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Dr. Wilson: What does the diary say? House: It's basically a list of her sexual encounters. Boys, girls, vibrating appliances. Dr. Wilson: If it was, you'd be quoting, not summarizing. Edit
- House: Give it back. Dr. Wilson: What happened? Did someone... kidnap your guitar? Your twelve-thousand-dollar 1967 Flying V? Or something? House: Where'd you hide it? Dr. Wilson: I'm flattered you would consider me this bold and brilliant. House: Yeah, it takes a cri... (stops, seeing pieces missing from Dr. Wilson's newspaper) It takes a criminal mastermind to pull off a heist from an unlocked, unguarded room down the hall. What do you want? Dr. Wilson: Me? Nothing. But I'm sure the kidnapper wants what every kidnapper wants. To see you interview five to seven well-qualified fellowship candidates. House: I don't need a team. Dr. Wilson: You were bouncing ideas off a janitor. House: And solved the case! Edit
- Dr. Wilson: So all you have to do is convince this kid that his girlfriend had a secret doctor, and a secret stash, and a secret life. It's been a while since a patient took a swing at you. Can I watch? House: I only have to convince the mother. (thinks for a moment) Actually... I don't have to convince anyone. Edit
Allusions
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- House: Did you ever see Raid on Entebbe? Raid on Entebbe is a 1977 TV movie starring Peter Finch, Charles Bronson, Yaphet Kotto, James Woods & Robert Loggia. It is based on a real event called Operation Entebbe in which Israeli commandos went on a successful mission to release hostages kept captive in Entebbe, Uganda. Edit
- House: You could be practically living with Sylvia Plath. Referencing the depressed and suicidal poet Plath (1932-62) who documented her numerous suicide attempts, miscarriage, and drug overdoses in a diary. Edit
- House: Am I in a M. Night Shyamalan movie? Referencing the director responsible primarily for supernatural/supranatural movies such as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, and Lady in the Water. Edit