Last season's finale ended with a long-awaited kiss between Drs. House and Cuddy, and this season's premiere extended that 'shipper fan-service into an entire episode of Hugh Laurie and Lisa Edelstein in flagrante delicto.

In the immediate aftermath of last season's construction-disaster finale, Cuddy helps House clean the wounds he suffered while trying to save a trapped survivor who ultimately died under his care. This tenderness leads to some predictably-metaphorical whoopie-making, best captured by this clip involving House's infamous leg wound:

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The two doctors then call in sick and spend the next day together in House's apartment, discussing what to do with themselves now that they've found each other. There's also a great deal of the afore-mentioned whoopie. The camera loves showing as much of Lisa Edelstein (or her body double) as FOX allows, and if it is Lisa herself, the formerly-notorious NYC club-girl is aging spectacularly.

Of course, with House not showing up for work the day after losing a patient, his entourage begins to worry that he's fallen off the wagon. In this next clip, Wilson the Pooh demonstrates that concern by attempting to break into House's apartment.

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Previews for the rest of the season reveal that House and Cuddy do, in fact, go public with their affair. What they do not reveal, however, is whether such a dynamic-altering plot development will ultimately make the series unbearable. Stay tuned!