"You're a doctor?"
"I own my own stethoscope."

Most of the episodes i love usually diverge from the usual formula of the show, but you can't really appreciate those episodes without experiencing the usual format of the series. So my first recommendation is one that follows said formula and is somehow one of the episodes that stuck with me despite years of not watching the show.

"He likes crazy people. He likes the way they think."

Lucy Palmeiro, a schizophrenic mom suffering from deep vein thrombosis, is rushed into the hospital with her son after she experienced chest pain and collapsed. House, intrigued by her schizophrenia and the fact that she is too young to have deep vein thrombosis, takes the case. House, who usually doesn't interact with his patients (until things get really bad), decides to talk to Lucy right from the start.

This case wasn't particularly one of the most intense ones, but the episode highlights and establishes further the dynamic between the team. House is curious about puzzles/seeing people as puzzles, using underhanded ways to get what he wants. Cameron, being the empathetic one in the team, remembers House's birthday and checks on him and is curious about his avoidance. Foreman, disagreeing with House and doing what he thinks is best for the patient, and Chase, despite being sort of a yes-man to House, still questions his diagnosis and believed there was more to the case. It's a solid episode that perfectly sticks to the formula of the show. It also stuck with me because it was one of the earlier episodes i watched, and it's essentially what got me into the show.

House begins his lecture

This episode is beloved among the fanbase and has won awards, so it's no surprise that i also love it and recommend it too. This is one of the first times the show takes a break from its format, and it's genuinely engaging and has some good writing.

Carmen Electra, the Baywatch Thespian herself

The hook of the episode is that House has to be a substitute for a professor who got sick, but House, being House, declined until he was offered that 2 hours of his clinic duty would be removed. House then goes to the lecture and presents to the students 3 cases where each patient suffered leg pain. He then tasks them with diagnosing each of the 3 cases and to decide the next steps as if they were actually treating the patient. The episode jumps between the 3 cases frequently and how the 3 cases were shown was pretty creative. I mean in a bit of an outdated but still kinda funny scene he disguised certain patients as Carmen Electra so we get shots of her leg, and there's this meta scene of him kind of breaking the fourth wall mentioning how time is not a fixed construct in his scenarios.

"I find it more comforting to believe that this isn't simply a test."

There's also the reveal of why he is sharing the 3 cases, which is a big insight into House as a character, and you begin to understand the tragic portrait of him that the writers are creating. It would probably be my favorite episode of the series if it wasn't for another episode, but this one is genuinely great even outside the series. It's just such a well-executed and fun piece of storytelling.

Post-season 3 House needed something to revitalize the show. We already had 3 seasons of the same characters and formula and people needed something new. So, of course, at the end of season 3, House loses his team and is left all alone in his Diagnostic Department at the start of season 4. After barely avoiding a disastrous result in his previous case by trying to solve it alone (S04E01 Alone, which is also a fun episode imo), House reluctantly decides to hire replacements and does it in the most "House" way possible.

House and the applicants

He invites 40 applicants and puts them to the test in solving a case whilst also firing applicants depending on his whims. Got a wrong answer? You're fired. Come back again as another applicant even though you were already fired. House approves of your shamelessness. Welcome back. There's a funny moment on the show where Cuddy confronts him about the 40 applicants since his budget can't accommodate all of them. So, he fires a row of applicants only to take them back once he finds out there's an attractive woman in said row and fires another row instead. It's just pure fun chaos.

"Which of you gets to live to be abused another day. And which of you goes home and rationalises being fired as character building?"

Chaos further ensues, as the patient in this episode is a pilot suffering synesthesia affecting her training. She can't let details of her condition get out to the public since NASA will fire her as she would not be fit for flying. Thus, the treatment must be done off the books by the 20+ applicants remaining. You get to learn more about certain applicants who would eventually be a part of House's new team and i wish i didn't know which ones were going to be mainstays (i was spoiled since there were lots of clips of the new team on YouTube), since there were some characters who were actually interesting and had a chemistry with House but were fired too soon. It honestly was pretty refreshing to see a new cast of characters surround House, and the reality show aspect of it with characters getting eliminated made it fun. It was also nice to see House being a mentor, for someone who hates people, he is oddly somewhat an effective teacher and provides great lesson to some applicants.

One of the best openings of any series ever

Broken is my personal favorite episode of House. From the moment it opens with House suffering from withdrawal and showing his miserable life in a psych ward with "No Surprises" playing in the background, I was in. After a heartbreaking season 5 finale where the consequences of House's addiction finally caught up with him, season 6 picks up with his recovery as he comes to terms with his flawed nature, hence the title. The episode is a 2-hour special and almost works as its own movie.

"I want to get better. Whatever the hell that means."

House, among all things, is still, of course, House. He is reluctant and uncooperative at the start. After the initial detox in the opening scene, House is relocated to Ward 6, where he meets his roommate, Alvie, played by Hamilton himself, Lin Manuel Miranda, and we also get to meet the other patients at Ward 6 each with their own issues and insecurities. The episode spends alot of time with the patients and nurses of Ward 6, so you actually grow to like them, and it starts to feel like a small community. Ward 6 is also so disconnected from the rest of the world of House MD, it brings a different, more somber vibe to the show that it almost feels like a different show entirely. Of course, House still quips and insults people, but throughout the episode there is that big elephant in the room. That is House's issues: how he thinks his brilliance is brought about by him being miserable or his inability to move past failures. The episode essentially breaks down House, unlike the usual episode where he seems to be always in control as things go his way at the end, this episode takes that power away from him and shows how that aspect of him that obsession to fix things can be unhealthy.

"People already think we're gay"

This episode just means a lot to me. It's honestly pretty inspiring with its theme of finding self-improvement. Seeing the different outcasts in Ward 6 do their best to be better despite their issues is heartwarming. The conversations between House and Dr. Nolan, played by Andre Braugher (R.I.P) hits hard. I agree with the general sentiment that this works as an ending for House as a series. House is actually better off at the end of this episode than in the actual series finale.