I also do not believe House was having an affair with Amber, but of course Wilson's mind might go there - seeing his history and House's unwillingness (or inability) to explain WHY he was with Amber. When House found out that Amber and Wilson were living together, he made it clear to Wilson that he was going to confront Amber. Wilson just walked into his office. House asks him "Aren't you going to try to protect her from me?" or something like that and Wilson shrugs and says something like, "You're going to do what you do. Get it out of your system" blah, blah, blah. He is completely unconcerned about House and Amber being alone with each other. He knows Amber is direct, blunt and so is House and that they both can and will take care of themselves. If there had been any activity, I don't think Amber would have kept quiet. It would be in her nature to talk about it. I think she would tell Wilson and maybe she has and that is why he's concerned.

One more thing. I'm so confused! Is 13 bi or what?! Everyone allways calls her bi and she has never denied it but its never just been said "13 is bisexual". And then there is the fact that we don't know her name or if she is dying. 13 is soo maddening! In "Don't Ever Change," when Foreman and 13 were monitoring the patient (Roz, the Hasidic woman), Foreman guessed that bisexuality was one of 13's secrets. He took her silence-not-instant-denial as confirmation that he'd guessed right. Then later, Roz said "bisexual" in front of Taub and Kutner, indicating that she'd overheard the convo between Foreman and 13. And later, when House nailed Roz's DX and ordered another ultrasound, he said to 13, "You do it both ways, right?" and she got all flustered. He meant the ultrasound -- lying down and standing up, but winked and said "What else would I mean?" Then in a later ep, he called her "31," saying something about he thought she liked it either way. Topic, this ep: I was semispoiled enough to know that something was going to happen to Amber, but the ending still packed a punch. I did not see the mystery woman coming, but when I got a look at her necklace, I knew there was going to be an Amber clue/lightbulb moment there. I was one of those screaming at the screen, "Amber! Amber, you fool!" when she kept asking him what her necklace was made of. As a Hameron shipper, I was dreading the Cuddy striptease scene, but I loved the fact that House was too preoccupied with the diagnostic stuff to get into it, and that it ended up being about as erotic as root canal -- although Lisa does have a magnificent body. I loved "Three Stories," didn't care for "No Reason" except for the robosex scene (Ham shipper!) and was mesmerized by this episode. It was amazing television, but I need to see the conclusion before I declare it the Best. Episode. Ever.

As a Hameron shipper, I was dreading the Cuddy striptease scene, but I loved the fact that House was too preoccupied with the diagnostic stuff to get into it, and that it ended up being about as erotic as root canal -- although Lisa does have a magnificent body. :lol: :lol: :clap: :clap: I've had my share of root canals ( or is it roots canal?). Too funny.

The biggest hindrance to the effectiveness of the hypnosis is that Wilson was there. He shouldn't have been. And if he was going to be there, he should have kept his mouth shut because his blabbering was distracting the session. By talking, he was introducing himself into the hypnotic state so it would cast doubt on whether anything House associated with Wilson (like Amber) was part of the trance or part of the intrusion.

Then in a later ep, he called her "31," saying something about he thought she liked it either way. She also makes mention of dating the nurse on House's favorite soap. I still have no words but wowza, Lisa is smoking, Hugh is smoking, much watch again.

Wilson did his part to distract in the session (loved Chase's shutting him up!) and Chase had his own part in dismissing Amber rather than going with what House was seeing. But really, the problem was that House was not yet ready to confront what he knew, despite seeking it. I don't think at that point he would have been able to verbalise what he knew about Amber--he'd have redirected in some way. Even in the bus, when he's confronting the mystery woman, he's trying very hard not to say what's right in front of him--subconsciously I mean, not as a conscious strategy. Chase would have had to be an incredibly skilled therapist to draw Amber out of House before House was ready, but he could, and did, help him along the way.

I've come out of semi-retiredness to say... wow. This is why I love House. I have to say The Boy Skyped me during Wilson's last line and I was already freaking out so I began to type in all caps. He was so scared he nearly ran away. ;) I think I've been watching too much television. When Amber showed up at the bar, I began to suspect that it was her, but immediately discarded it from my mind with questions like, "Why would she be on the bus with House?" And both Anne and Hugh should be commended for that last scene. Hugh just broke my heart, and House doesn't often do that. The acting, directing, and cinematography was really quite amazing when he steps out of the bus and his hands are shaking. For a moment I felt it too. I need to rewatch it and pick up some of the clues I missed before. It's like No Reason, you can't just watch it once.

You do pick up so many things on the second rewatch. In the first DDX scene when House and the team are discussing the accident victims in their office, 13 actually picks up and reads Amber's file as one of the eight sent to the other hospital, and House says those ones don't matter. Her file says she's a 28 year old female with kidney (I think) injuries and an impalement. So House had her right at hand from the beginning of the ep, but he didn't know it. (And I will endeavor to make no comment about how absolutely incendiary Chase continues to be... *bites lip*) No, please, comment away :D . I'm really loving how Chase is emerging this season.

And I think that's another clue that the whole episode was hallucination/dream. That is exactly how they closed season 3. Do you think the writers would reuse such a large plot gimmick so quickly?

So House had her right at hand from the beginning of the ep, but he didn't know it. However, he does say it would be nice to have resumes for the passengers... why they didn't stick with hypnosis. It was working and was far less dangerous than the other methods House used to invoke memories. This was brought up on the house_chase comm at LJ. My answer there was that (1) House was concussed and not thinking straight, and (2) it's very like House to want to move right on to the next weird option that might give immediate answers rather than stick with an already-tried technique that might have worked but not quickly enough for him. Usually, "been there, done that" seems to be enough of a reason for him to move on. it was nice to have confirmation that Chase actually studied in Melbourne. It was even nicer that House actually admitted to being impressed. I so hope there's some House/Chase hypnosis fic in the works. That is exactly how they closed season 3. Do you think the writers would reuse such a large plot gimmick so quickly? Season 2, actually. I was actually impressed that a few people mentioned the possibility that the whole season was an illusion. In the past, such an idea would have been ridiculous, and any tv show that attempted it would have been immediately labeled as jumping the shark. It's a testament to how well done "No Reason" and the other illusion-reality mix episodes are that we could even consider the idea for a moment.

Manifesto Ahoy!
I think I have a new OTP: House/Answer. I don't think it's a coincidence that The Answer appeared as a woman with at least some resemblance to House's previous "true love" -- and gave us that rubbing herself against his hand scene -- in the same episode that Cuddy says he'd rather be seeking answers than leering at her. I don't think any woman -- at least not Cuddy or anyone we've seen in canon, including Stacy -- ever could be more attractive to him than the metaphorical Answer. Jair showed the progression of House learning to use illusions to solve problems in reality, and The Answer is the embodiment of that. Although I don't think they're planning to go this route, I could see her reappearing in the future, in the next step of the progression. It's simplistic to say that she can't reappear because she's Amber; she's not Amber the woman at all, but Amber as the answer to one particular question, the question he was asking at that moment. She also offers help with his diagnosis of the bus driver, though, and she does reappear once more after he remembers Amber's presence. (Amber's mystery isn't solved yet, just her identity as the mystery patient.) So the only real reason she couldn't reappear during future cases is if she ends up associated in his mind with some sort of trauma from the next episode, whatever that may end up being. And there's her answer when House asks if this dream is going a different direction now: she says it depends on what he does. So although at this point he's concerned with the urgent mystery of saving Amber and acts accordingly, the dream "going a different direction" is left as an open possibility for another occasion. And hey, she's doesn't charge and she's not going to blackmail him with his meds or turn him into the cops or cripple him or run away to Antartica, which pretty much automatically makes her a more attractive (i.e., emotionally safer) prospect for him than anyone else on the show. If the fic can -- and some can -- believably show us House having a successful and more or less emotionally healthy relationship with Wilson's ghost, I see no reason at all he can't have one with a metaphor. And it doesn't hurt that she's pretty hot.

I think I have a new OTP: House/Answer. Oh good, I thought I was just crazy. :) They're not my OTP but I enjoyed The Answer much more than I thought I would. The "what's my necklace made of?" and "misquito/fly" scenes were just fantastic.

Stayed up late last night to watch ep & hardly slept afterwards for thinking about it; I thought it was a fantastic ep, one of the few where I really got gripped by the plot & what was going to happen next. On a small shallow note I was delighted that the existence of 'Princeton General' hospital is now canon! :D I once referred to it in a fic and got pulled up in a comment by someone telling me there was no such hospital, and unless I've missed a previous mention (entirely possible) it hasn't been canon up to now.