Dr. Jessica Adams

Jessica Adams arrives at Princeton-Plainsboro as one of a fresh crop of candidates competing for a spot on House's team. Sharp, ambitious and unwilling to be pushed around, she balances the pressure of the job with a life outside the hospital that most of her rivals don't have to juggle. She wants the position badly, and she wants it on her own terms.

Odette Annable gives Adams a steadiness that stands out against the more theatrical personalities she's competing with — she doesn't perform her intelligence, she just uses it. The writing lets her be competitive without being cutthroat, which makes her one of the more grounded, likable additions to House's ever-shifting bullpen of hopefuls.