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 Knights' Tango although if Black wishes to play this way, the optimal move order is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nc6. This ambitious move is playable but rarely seen. Black normally responds with 3...Ne5. Then after 4.e4 (inviting 4...Nxe4 5.Qd4 winning a knight), Black struck back in the center with 4...Ng6 5.f4 e5 in the seminal game Sämisch–Torre, Moscow 1925. However, Orlov considers both Torre's fourth and fifth moves inferior. He and Palliser both recommend instead 4...e6, after which play can become extremely sharp. For example, Elburg–Simmelink, correspondence 1999 continued 5.f4 Ng6 6.Bd3 exd5 7.e5 Ne4 8.cxd5 Qh4+ 9.g3 Bb4+! 10.Bd2 (Better