House already subscribes to the Philosphy of Jagger, but it's definitely timeless and bears repeating: "You can't always get what you want."

So Betty discovered this week on Ugly Betty, after tying up all her social loose ends in a neat little bow, hoping to say Sayonara to poor annoying Walter and hello to adorable Henry from Accounting.

But of course the course of twue wuv never runs smooth, especially on television, so Betty is faced with tragic consequences: Because she would not speak up, because she would not tell Henry her real feelings (no matter how well-intentioned she was toward Walter), that ship sailed right away.

My heart broke when Betty blithely informed Henry that she could now go to "Wicked" as "more" than Just Friends, as if Henry's life was waiting for hers to begin. She'd lost her chance. She'd had it, she lost it. It's not just a fact of network TV, but truly a fact of life. I know (at least I hope) that Betty will recover and eventually get the adorkable Henry (even if she has to beat his girlfirend over the head with her fake designer bag), but the latest episode certainly provided a look at why we can't always choose safely, hoping life will ait while we make the right decisions.

Meanwhile, House discovered similar things, well, no, not really... since he got the parking space he wanted, and all he had to do was make Cuddy feel guilty in the process.

There's still the sense of a downward spiral though, in House -- at least this week, with its battle of wills over a handicapped parking space, was a welcome respite from the overly talky "OD/OR" of the previous week in which House was basically locked in a room (in a contrivance thanks to a supremely unlikeable victim in "Eve") with a rape victim to talk about his feelings, past, etc., until he gave her a hug, a bear, warm fuzzies, and his secret signed copy of Dr. Phil's latest book. (I mean, come on.)

So this week, while a welcome improvement, nevertheless wasn't as fabulous as I was hoping. While the main plot of the Romany kid struggling with tradition (and a toothpick to the gut) was fascinating, except not so much, the real story lay in House's battle for dominance with Cuddy (oh, do it already, you two) while Foreman continued to show his softer side in his kind and perceptive dealings with the patient of the week.

I know so many people talk about how they hate the "story arcs" on House -- whether they're about Vogler, Stacy, or Tritter respectively -- but I love them, because they seem to require at least some semblance of continuity from the writers. The "Stand-alone" episodes, meanwhile, seem to feature shoddy or inconsistent writing, and worst of all, tons and tons of people lecturing House on what's wrong with him, or why he should be a better person. In last week's case, we had a rape victim holding House psychologically hostage, even attempting suicide so he would, I don't know, not talk about her rape, the weather, or anything else, but would still sit in the room with her. I am completely sympathetic to any victim of violent crime, but this episode's "victim," a young and impossible beautiful blonde victim, just felt like overkill (and for the record, how many times do we need to see House stalked by some teenaged Lolita type this season? We already know Hugh Laurie is hot, we don't need hitting over the head with it. It's a little creepy, folks).

And keep in mind, I agree that House should be a better person. But sometimes I think that's not why we watch. Isn't the truth somewhat more complex, that House is the id inside so many of us, saying what we would never say, and doing what we would never do? As long as House is unleashed, talking trash about Cancer Kids, Orphans, and Heroes, we aren't such bad people for occasionally thinking the wrong thing, right? At least, he says 'em out loud.

Hugh Laurie is still brilliant in every way, and I'm liking Season 3. I just think that perhaps the story arcs bring something to House that these standalones don't deliver -- a commitment even in the most cursory sense to a story that's true to the characters, and ongoing. I don't always get that from House otherwise.

But I did love Robert Sean Leonard's look of outrage to House last week, as House told Wilson the rape victim's tale of woe. "I'm not supposed to be you in this scenario, am I? I don't want to be you!" Worth watching twice. Seriously. Awesome.