Well, this. To me there was a ... what's the word I'm looking for ... a cognitive dissonance (?) in the storytelling, in that the parts with House's team (which were like a funhouse mirror of exaggeration) came across as more real to me than the problem with Cuddy. Those team bits were more like "Three Stories" than anything else in the episode, and they're what we got the least of.

One other thing I was thinking was that perhaps House was playing the school principal when he said "I need her in my life" and asked her if she'd ever needed anyone. People know that Wilson can be a master liar and manipulator, but House is right up there with him. It's what Tritter said -- addicts will do and say anything to get what they want, and House quoted Tritter not two episodes ago. Maybe House said what he knew would elicit sympathy from the principal, not some heartfelt confession. *throws up hands in bemusement*