House's connection to Sherlock Holmes.

Clever and introspective, House boasts a main cast that displays a range of depth and emotion that drives the story forward and creates tremendous tension. Dr. House is a tortured genius who pushes those close to him to their limits and away to protect himself, but the best episodes come from the exploration of his character and the relationships he holds dearest. There are plenty of standout stories, but there were clear times when the writers pushed the narrative even further to create something exceptional, propelling these stories to the top of the list of the best House episodes ever made.

20 “All In”

Season 2, Episode 17

“All In” is a great early episode of the series because it still features the typical mystery and the case-of-the-week, but it also puts the audience slightly off-kilter by not having the mystery during regular working hours. Instead, it’s happening while the hospital is hosting a charity event in their Casino Night.

Not only does this mean that the audience gets to see more context for the personalities of the characters as they interact outside of the usual medical mystery, but the actual medical mystery also helps to provide a very tense hour. One of Cuddy’s patients shows up at the hospital and is exhibiting symptoms almost exactly like a patient that House already lost. Cuddy doesn’t want House to take on the case, but he goes behind her back because he feels a need to understand where he went wrong the last time.

It’s a great episode to showcase the early dynamic between House and Cuddy. It is also an early indicator of how fractured the dynamic can become between House and anyone else around him.

19 “Frozen”

Season 4, Episode 11

When House gets to play outside of the standard hospital mystery box, it excels.

“Frozen” was the episode of House chosen to air after the Superbowl in 2008. Traditionally, when an episode of television is chosen to air after a major sporting event like that, it’s a big one. It’s usually one of the most dramatic. For House, it was also one of the most creative.

A scientist at a remote research station in the Antarctic is expressing strange symptoms, and since traveling is out of the question because of severe weather, House and his team have to rely on a webcam to examine her. That also means she has to do tests on herself or rely on the others there to do them for her, since the doctors themselves can’t be there. Supplies aren’t the same as they would be in a hospital, so even the testing process is out of the ordinary.

When House gets to play outside of the standard hospital mystery box, it excels.

18 “97 Seconds”

Season 4, Episode 3

This season 4 episode features House searching for new team after deciding to fire his old team. He pits the candidates against one another by dividing them into two teams - one for the men and one for the women. While the applicants are busy working one case (because he wants to see who can find a cure for a patient’s symptoms the fastest), he focuses on a completely different patient.

The episode is organized chaos for House. The audience has to keep up with both storylines, but the overall theme of the episode is really an exploration of death in the medical field. House, after all, is helping a patient who is trying to replicate a previous near-death experience while the other teams are trying to make sure the other patient doesn’t get close to death.

17 “After Hours”

Season 7, Episode 22

...a fresh way to tell a story, even seven seasons into the show.

Most episodes of House, even this late in the series, are set in the hospital. There might be trips to restaurants or to investigate a patient’s home, but by and large, the hospital is the primary setting of the show. That’s why this episode is interesting. It doesn’t take place during working hours at the hospital for the main characters, hence, the title of the episode.

Though the episode explores multiple characters, like Thirteen seeing someone on the run from the law showing up at her door, the main storyline of the episode is House himself. When he finds an experimental drug he’s been using has caused tumors to grow, House attempts to remove them himself in his own bathtub, which doesn’t go well. He has to get help from his team, but it’s Cuddy who rescues him.

Zeroing in on the personal lives of the main characters, though, ultimately, they do connect back to a medical issue with House, allows for a fresh way to tell a story, even seven seasons into the show.

16 “One Day, One Room”

Season 3, Episode 12

This particular episode of House is one of the most divisive of the series, but it is one of the best because of the risks that it takes. It comes on the heels of Cuddy committing perjury during a testimony for House. She wants him to pay her back by working in the hospital’s clinic. When he does, he meets a woman who was raped, and though he tries to her case on to another doctor, she insists on being treated by him.

Much of the episode revolves around conversations between House and Eve (guest star Katheryn Winnick) about her circumstances. In discussing her trauma, however, House also connects with her and talks about his own abusive childhood, something he doesn’t do with anyone else. It’s a rare moment of connection for House and a break from the usual format of the episodes.

15 "Euphoria: Part 2"

Season 2, Episode 21

There were a number of two-part episodes over the course of House's run with many of them standing out as some of the show's best. "Euphoria: Part 2" brings a close to one of the series' most gripping plots that raise the stakes of the show more than ever.

The episode follows the harrowing previous installment in which a patient was brought to House and his team with a variety of bizarre symptoms that the doctor could not figure out before the patient died. Not only did this present a rare moment on the show in which House was unable to succeed, but it sets up an even more tragic conclusion when Foreman (Omar Epps) begins to experience the same symptoms.

One of the things that happens in every House episode is that there is some mystery to the illness.

The episode is a thrilling race against the clock to save one of the main cast . One of the things that happens in every House episode is that there is some mystery to the illness, but this episode brilliantly set House in a losing position and made it clear that he would lose someone dear to him if he did not figure this out.

14 "Under My Skin"

Season 5, Episode 23

There is a riveting case at the center of this House episode involving a ballerina who collapses during her practice. As the team looks into her case, it grows more gruesome by the minute. However, it is not that case that makes "Under My Skin" so exceptional but rather the things House is dealing with in his own life. As his hallucinations grow more severe, he ends up turning to Cuddy for help which leads to something unexpected.

It is always interesting to see the vulnerable sides of House explored in this series and this episode shows him finally itting to a weakness that he cannot deal with on his own. However, the way in which the episode takes his relationship with Cuddy makes it an even more memorable episode that sets the stage for something even better between the two prominent characters.

13 Last Resort

Season 5, Episode 9

A hostage situation in a hospital seems to come up in every medical drama series at some point and can sometimes be a sign of the show running out of ideas. However, "Last Resort" uses this somewhat over-the-top concept to make a thrilling episode with some interesting ideas that link two beloved characters in the series. It focuses on a man who is tired of being misdiagnosed by doctors and his attempts to force House to figure out what is wrong with him.

The notion of this man forcing House to use other hostage patients as guinea pigs in order to find his cure is a disturbing and intense one. The episode also features a number of great guest stars, including Zeljko Ivanek as the hostage-taker, Wood Harris as the determined SWAT leader, and Evan Peters as one of the hostages.

12 Control

Season 1, Episode 14

Hugh Laurie's performance as House usually dominates most of the episodes, but the episode "Control" in the House is one of the rare moments in which a guest star steals the show from him. Sarah Clarke steps in as the patient of the week, a high-powered executive whose conditions are baffling. However, the truth at the center of it which House eventually reveals leads to a powerful moment.

House begins to understand that this woman's condition is a result of self-harming and an eating disorder which makes her ineligible for organ donations that would be needed to save her life. In a terrific example of how House is a rebellious doctor yet one with comion, he has the ailing woman it that she wants to fight for her life after all this destructive behavior and lies to get her the organ donations she needs.

11 Both Sides Now

Season 5, Episode 24

The idea of making House and Cuddy get together in "Under My Skin" was a somewhat risky decision that posed a lot of questions about how the show would deal with that decision. "Both Sides Now" is the following episode which opens the morning after and begins to reveal how things have changed. House is in a brighter mood, having sought help from Cuddy while also spending the night with her. However, he is annoyed to find her taking it in a casual way.

The episode explores how House can be a deeply frustrating character as he seeks to make Cuddy angry with him to make her acknowledge what happened between them. It shows him to be an immature and petty character. However, the realization of what really happened is a brilliant way of following up the previous episode with a heartbreaking revelation that takes House further as a character.