As I've said, I've been watching through S1 this week on DVD and it's really amazing how much House as a character, and a show, has changed in six seasons.
If all this experience did is revert House back to something closer to his S1 self then I say it was worth it. S1 house is abrasive, brilliant, and misanthropic, but he's not the "cartoon character" he would become in the later seasons going as far as to lighting bodies in the morgue on fire and playing "Survivor" with his choice of new fellows.
I really do want to get back to the medical-mysteries though as they were always interesting, mostly with House's diagnostic process, and I'd like to see more clinic patients.
I suspect that once House's licence is back in check he'll be back in-charge of his team at PPTH, again because he's a world-famous diagnostician who brings people and money to the hospital. Forman? Not so much in that area.
As I've also said this show is pretty damn formulaic despite the possible changes that may be made to House's character I suspect we'll be back to the status quo before too long.
And I want it that way, House's character pulled me into the show and I don't want to see him changed too greatly and what interests me most about him is his diagnostic process/way of practicing medicine.
Episodes like this one are good for their drama-sake along the same line that made "Three Stories", "One Day, One Room" and the Season-Two Moriarty cliff-hanger interesting, great, episodes. But the show still needs a "premise" to run on and it can't just be House being miserable/recovering and the "premise" of this show from the begining has been Medical Mysteries. A CSI for medicine, of sorts.
I'm on the train of feeling we do not need any major changes to this show's formula or format, though I will agree to maybe needing stronger Fellows/Doclings/Young Guns/Cottages as Taub doesn't interest me and while Thirteen is stunning she doesn't interest me as much as Cameron did (and the focus on her and her dealing with Hutchingtons was a bit much last season). Forman I could go either way on, he's almost more arrogant than House is without the advantage of charisma and charm.
As House told him once regarding why there was a patient complaint against him, "What'd you do [insult her]? Believe me, you're years away before you have mad-skilz like that."
But I reccomend anyone who has access to any Season One episode either on DVD, TV OnDemand, or in syndication to watch almost any one of them and notice how much the show and House as a character has changed since then.
The first season had good drama, passion, and realism to it over time the show has "evolved" to something more "cartoon like" where House is less miserable jerk and more caricature of a miserable, eccentric, jerk. It's really interesting how the show made that change.