The first thing to talk about regarding the brand new episode of "House" would be the hilarious opener. It is not amusing because of what happens with the patient of the week, who is a super nice fellow whose eye rolls up into his head. The funny part is that it begins on a picket line, and it takes several seconds before it is revealed to be the nurses of the hospital. Get it? Picket line, a nurse's strike, and this is the first episode since the writers' strike ended. Oh, "House" writers, your tongue-in-cheek humor is as sharp as ever. Welcome back.

The title of this episode, "No More Mr. Nice Guy," refers to the patient, a sweet tempered man named Jeff who House is convinced has a disease that makes him the nicest person alive. No one else shares his confidence that niceness is a symptom, but by the end of the episode they learn as always there is a reason the show is named for Gregory House.

For a time they diagnose Jeff with syphilis, and this leads to Kutner testing House for the disease as well. He argues that extreme jerkiness could be a symptom just as extreme niceness is, and he is rewarded by the positive result from the blood test. All the ducklings - both new and old - come together to discuss House's illness, and whether or not it will effect his genius as a doctor. Oh, ducklings, if only you remembered that House likes to play pranks.

At the same time, House is having a war with Cutthroat Bitch, a.k.a. Amber, over Wilson's time. After being forced to bowl with the very talented Chase, House demands equal time with his best friend. They fight back and forth throughout the entire episode, and Cuddy is made the judge on the matter. Wilson annoyingly just stands on the sidelines and enjoys basking in the glow of seeing two people fight over who gets to tell him what to do every day. Their war relates intentionally to a divorced couple and custody over their child, but it makes sense considering Wilson is acting like a helpless child. Way to be the most passive adult man on television, Wilson.

Everything is neatly resolved at the end, with the patient being diagnosed in the last few minutes as usual, but House is not the genius behind this decision. Ha! He is so wrapped up in teasing his crew by pretending to be sick that he misses the diagnosis entirely. Kutner is there to set things right, which makes this the second time that the young doctor is involved in the correct answer. The first was in "Frozen" when he put forth the bone break as a possibility. Is he the Chase of the new group?

This was an amusing episode if not an excellent one. The medical mystery was not very interesting, but that was because this episode focused more on the characters and their relationships. It would be impressive if one day an episode could have equal character development and medical intrigue. One of the weaknesses of this episode had to do with the same weakness seen all season: nothing to do for the old ducklings. Foreman is basically a joke on the team, and this was shown clearly in the performance review scenes. House gave them to him, and Taub practically laughed in his face. He has no authority and no real purpose to the show. Cameron and Chase put in strong performances, but again, their presence in the episode felt like the writers were just trying to make them do something. The prank House pulled on his team was amusing, but it seemed very unlikely that the original three would be fooled. They were under his thumb far too long for it to be that easy. The new actors are not on the opening credits yet, and this seems strange considering each separately has more screen time than the original three combined.

Next week House kidnaps his favorite soap opera actor, played by the incredibly yummy Jason Lewis ("Sex and the City"), and tries to prove that the man is dying. Hilarity ensues. This is all leading to the big two-part season finale, strangely titled "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart."

Are those two crazy kids finally going to get together?

Recap by Chelsea 'Dee' Doyle
Starpulse contributing writer