FOX’s House Returns with a Vengeance

FOX has been running polls on its website all through the holiday hiatus, asking viewers their opinions. One survey laid out the possibilites; House goes to jail, goes to rehab, or strikes a deal with Tritter. In the last new episode of 2006, "Merry Little Christmas," we saw House go to Tritter and accept his terms, conceding the battle, but the determined detective rejected the surrender. It’s been a tense storyline, and everyone has been hanging on to see what will happen.

TV Guide ran wild with theories of whom the Judas would be when a big betrayal was announced in previews during the fall run. And in the end, it was the most likely suspect, House’s friend, confidant, and occasional unwitting hostage and victim to his madness, Dr. Wilson. Over the last three years, constant issue is taken by Wilson and those surrounding House with his excessive use of painkillers, namely Vicodin. FOX’s latest poll asks viewers if they believe House is an addict, and currently, the numbers favor "No" by 58% of approximately 181,000 votes. It’s surprising considering even House himself has admitted that he is an addict, only denying that it is a problem.

When "House" comes back this Tuesday, the storyline will be brought to a head. House’s long-standing albeit nearly parasitic friendship with Wilson is at its most unstable and has suffered a rough shock. Meanwhile, both of their jobs are on the line, and jail is the big threat on the table, and rehab is a compromise House is beginning to accept though Tritter seems to be blocking any deal involving that now. FOX will air the Fall finale, "Merry Little Christmas" again on Tuesday night, January at 8PM Eastern Time, directly followed by the 2007 premiere, the new episode we’ve been waiting to see called "Words and Deeds."