5 to 9 much better than most of this season that [he] felt it deserved mention". Sepinwall praised Edelstein's acting and the episode's "day-in-the-life" format, citing "5 to 9" as proof that "there are still really strong elements to this series." Jonah Krakow of IGN rated "5 to 9" 9.2/10, signifying an "outstanding" episode. Kraków compared it positively to the earlier season six episode "Wilson", which similarly varied from the show's traditional format by depicting events from the perspective of House's friend James Wilson. He deemed the episode "amazing", calling it a "great showcase" for Edelstein and suggesting that a show centered on
Black Riders Liberation Party government authorities, who are said to have burst into the home of party leader Mischa Culton two days later with automatic rifles during what was later explained as a routine "compliance check" by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The Black Riders have adopted a party manifesto known as the Black Commune program which put forward many of the demands of the original 1966 Ten-Point Program, with the addition of new demands (for the proper medical care of AIDS sufferers and an end to the trade in crack cocaine in the black community). The group's founder and chief theoretician,