Another season has begun and it was nice to see the writers try something a little, or rather a lot, different. Although "Broken" wasn't an unqualified success, it had enough to cheer about to make me feel good about the rest of the season.

The writing in "Broken" was, as usual, a little uneven, but this episode was saved by its amazing cast of actors. Of course, we expect no less from Hugh Laurie (still no Emmy, thus proving the Emmy voters are blind, deaf, and not very bright), but from Andre Braugher on down, the cast made it all believable and touching.

Let's be honest, this could have been a "Very Special Episode," but somehow it managed to be just a bit more. We the viewers have always known that House was broken, but to see him come to understand and accept it was very powerful.

The detox scenes were well done, which is no surprise, since this show loves montages! And it was equally no surprise that House would assume he was ready to leave as soon as the Vicodin was out of his system. (By the way, some day I will write my meta about how badly this show handles the concepts of addiction and chronic pain. Today is not that day, however.)

I thought Dr. Nolan's blackmail was brilliant, because nothing less than the threat of losing medicine forever could have compelled House to stay. It was, however, completely in character for House to resist and make a ruckus, although it was painful for me to watch. House has never spared his scorn for people who deserve it and can handle it, but to unleash his full intellect on people suffering serious mental illness is low, even for him. (Although, as I said, it was completely in character. I think the writers played that exactly right.)

Even while I was wincing, I was impressed by just how much havoc House can cause. I think I (and Wilson, Cuddy, et al.) have gotten so used to seeing what he can do at Princeton-Plainsboro that it took a change of venue to show just how dangerous the man really is. He is, as Dr. Nolan points out, a natural leader. It's easy to forget that, because he treats his underlings so terribly, but...why else would so many people continue to follow him, no matter how badly he treats them?

This week's stand-in for the ducklings--Alvie--was great, fabulously manic and an interesting contrast to House's grim anger at himself and other people. He continued to follow and trust House, and his final moment proved Dr. Nolan's point: House managed to be a good role model despite himself.

I really enjoyed watching the team of House and Alvie. The fake fight cracked me up--even if competent doctors would have a) given him a shot not a pill and b) locked the door or posted an orderly rather than leave House lying around in an empty room in an empty corridor. But the two of them and their relationship were hilarious and touching. The rap was awesome, the "I hate you" lines were funny, and generally, Alvie was a perfect foil and accomplice.

I honestly don't know how I felt about the Lydia storyline. As a character, she was fairly interesting and she and House had great chemistry together, but some things about the story just didn't make sense. The sex scene, for example, was plain weird. Personally, I would have thought that a facility like this would have just a tick better security.

And I was quite bothered by the fact that Dr. Nolan knew what was going on with Lydia and let it continue. That was somewhat squicky. Of course, that wasn't the only ethical problem in this episode. The biggest one, the one that ruined an otherwise powerful scene for me, was when Dr. Nolan asked House to come look at his father's records. Wow, I can't even count the number of ways in which that broke ethical guidelines for therapists of all kinds. And for Dr. Nolan to continue to be his doctor...yikes.

Once I suspended my disbelief a few miles higher, I adored the team of Nolan and House and found their scenes together powerful and moving. If I tried to quote my favorite lines, this would become a transcript, so I won't bother. But I enjoyed the doctor's insights into House and their quiet banter, so different than what we usually hear.

I think my favorite thing about this episode was House realizing that he's not always going to be the smartest person in the room (just most of the time). Seeing him outwitted by Dr. Nolan was a thing of beauty and a joy forever, let me tell you. It will be interesting if the writers can do something with House's newfound understanding.

I thought the Freedom Master storyline was powerful in some ways and very weak in others. On the one hand, it was beautiful to see the way House tried to protect the young man against the doctor's blatant pushing against his illusions of being a superhero. Yeah, House is a jerk, but he usually uses his powers on people who are in the wrong and that moment was a first turning point, a moment when House remembered why he needed his medical license back.

But...the problem is that I can't imagine that any competent doctor would just walk up to someone with such delusions and start hammering at them with a hammer of obviousness. House's method actually makes significantly more sense. Of course, he should have considered the possibility of exactly what happened, and his collapse when he realized it was all his fault was well done. Considering his reactions to losing patients, it made perfect sense.

However, I was annoyed by the facile ending to the story of Freedom Master and Annie. After all that time and energy talking about how you have to work to get better, they get better because of magic? I didn't mind that House didn't come up with a brilliant solution, but I had a big letdown when it felt like the Story Fairy flew by and sprinkled magic dust over the characters.

I suppose I understand why we never got a diagnosis, but...it left me with a twitchy feeling. The apology to Freedom Master was nice, though. That's a theme that's come up periodically over the seasons and it made sense that House finally managing a sincere apology was a sign of his recovery moving along.

As you can tell, I had some difficulties with "Broken," but many of those occurred to me after the episode ended. Thanks to excellent acting from everyone, this was an episode to remember, and--one hopes--a turning point in House's life. Here's to an interesting season ahead!