4.16 Wilson's Heart

...how likely is it that a bus would happen by just in time as House left the bar, but it would sit there and wait long enough for Amber to catch up (she had to pay the bill)? Actually, in that part of the country, bus service can be very regular, so this didn't bother me at all. And I figured she actually grabbed the cane and got on the bus not too much after he did -- he walks pretty slowly and she can run. Could run. Damn. Past tense. Wah. Besides, we know from last week's episode that the bus driver had gotten out of his seat to help the old lady get on the bus. House was already seated by that point, so even more time would elapse, allowing Amber as much time as she might have needed to catch up with House.

...how likely is it that a bus would happen by just in time as House left the bar, but it would sit there and wait long enough for Amber to catch up (she had to pay the bill)? Actually, in that part of the country, bus service can be very regular, so this didn't bother me at all. Yeah, I'm not asleep yet. LOL I'm not sure what part of the country you mean. If you mean the Northeast part, that's where I am. I'm just north of Boston and even Boston's buses don't run THAT regularly at that time of night. After 6, service slows down. I'll take the "helping the old woman" theory for why the bus was still sitting there; thanks for that reminder.

The only thing that really bothered me about the whole thing...why on earth would they allow a man with a severe head injury who suffered a heart stopping heart attack to run off on an Amber fetching mission? Ok, so he was going to another hospital, but still.

My frustration lies entirely with the fact that Taub doesn't know House nearly as well as we do and yet our screen is littered with his presence precisely to send our thought processes down an illogical path for no other reason than clumsey storytelling. Yes, House's argument is often that we don't truly know the people closest to us, but if these sole missing 4 hours really contained character defying behavior from both House and Amber then that would have been the most appalling storytelling of all. Again, House is not a POTW. He's not a stranger to us, neither is Amber. Taub leaping to those rather extreme conclusions was a ham-fisting way of throwing a curve in the narrative. It was a clumsey and all too easy to spot macguffin. I didn't have any problems with Taub's actions or the storytelling there. That scene was telling us something about Taub and House. Taub's suggestion that they should test Amber for recreational drugs was exactly what House would do in similar circumstances--he always says leave no possible avenue unexplored--never assume, find out. Taub was acting as House would want him to act as a diagnostician and asking the hard questions. House would not see that as intrusive or harshly judgemental. He will give Taub House-points for following through on all possibilities. I also don't think it was impossible that House would take recreational drugs--we haven't seen him do that and I do not by any means think he is an out-of-control drug addict seeking any high he can get, as the Tritter arc raised but to my mind certainly did not prove. However, I also think that House has taken recreational drugs at some points of his life and in the conditions we saw him, desperately unhappy about Wilson's absense from his life, unexplained four hours of lost memory during which he and Amber were together for unexplained reasons that hint at some sort of intimacy, House not only can't be absolutely certain he didn't share recreational drugs with her, he can't even be certain he didn't initiate an affair with her, another area I think we know it's extremely unlikely he would go. But he doesn't know for sure. It showed how deeply he was questioning himself, and how much he was willing to assume guilt for what happened, despite there being no reason he should. It set up the end scene where he, in the form of hallucination-Amber, tells himself he deserves to have Wilson hate him. I think it was good storytelling all around. I also had no problem with her former team-mates saying goodbye to Amber. Amber referred to her relationship with her parents in the past tense in Games, so I can easily fanwank she is an orphan at this point. We know for sure she doesn't expect to be liked, from Mirror, Mirror, so the lack of friends is logical. I think what her former team-mates' goodbye gave her was the sense that even though she had lived most of her life as a cut-throat bitch, she was likable--she mattered to them. They weren't best friends by any means, but they cared she was dying. I don't think Amber took it for granted that anyone but Wilson would care. Rewatched the ending - does anyone think 13 wears a watch around her neck to remind her that her life is ticking away? Yes, I do. I didn't find anything tedious about how 13's storyline fit into this episode. I think it fit very well with what the writers were doing about loss of hope, and it fit into the season long exploration into what value hope holds. In this ep, even House wants hope, not facts, but no one gets to avoid the facts and everyone loses hope. Next season, everyone has to face what they have learned and find anew how to hope from there. I doubt House will be as certain as he was that learning facts is always better than wonder. But in the end, I think 13 will be empowered by knowing the worst. Typically House, I think there won't be one clear answer.

I'm surprised to see some comments about that actually being Amber's ghost on the white bus. To me House was clearly talking to himself again, just as he was with The Answer. That's why Amber didn't offer any consolation - she gave the kind of brutal yet honest responses House would tell himself. Agreed. I've heard some comments that were upset that Amber didn't offer him any comfort but it wasn't really Amber. It was his own mind telling him he deserves to be hated by Wilson. Easily my favorite scene in the whole episode. I wonder if we'll see a bit of a roll reversal...maybe Wilson will be the cranky one for a while, and House will be a little more subdued. Maybe House will be the one to pick up the pieces for Wilson (as Wilson did for House during the infarction). I think it will be that way. I think Wilson is going to resist House's help and concern but House will stick it out anyway, the way Wilson always stuck it out with House even when House tried to push him away. They'll get through this, it's probably going to take a while but I believe that they'll get there. I too, wonder where exactly next season will pick up from. I wonder where Wilson will be emotionally, I kind of want to see him more closed off and bitter, but I hope he's not that way with his patients.

Oh God. I think I was sobbing through the last half hour of that. I can't even... it was just perfect. In every way possible. And I think I actually like 13. Which is nice. Ah. Right now I'm just not capable of being coherent. Just... not.

...how likely is it that a bus would happen by just in time as House left the bar, but it would sit there and wait long enough for Amber to catch up (she had to pay the bill)? Actually, in that part of the country, bus service can be very regular, so this didn't bother me at all. I'm not sure what part of the country you mean. If you mean the Northeast part, that's where I am. I'm just north of Boston and even Boston's buses don't run THAT regularly at that time of night. After 6, service slows down. I was thinking of New Jersey, where I used to live. But if you don't like the regular bus theory, how about this: Amber's death was caused by a whole series of little things that if any one of them had happened differently would have left us with a different outcome. • If House hadn't gotten drunk. • If the bartender hadn't chosen that moment to take House's keys. • If he’d called Wilson's cell instead of the home phone. • If Wilson had been home. • If Amber had called Wilson to come get him. • If traffic had been particularly bad (or good) on the way to bar, which would have had her arrive at a different time, and therefore leave at a different time. • If Amber hadn’t taken the time to have that drink with House. • If House hadn’t left his cane behind. • If the bus hadn’t been there. • If Amber hadn’t noticed the cane. • If Amber hadn’t decided to get on the bus. • If the bus driver hadn’t taken the time to help the old lady. • If someone else had sat in that seat. • If Amber hadn’t had the flu. • If Amber hadn’t decided to take the amantadine • If the garbage truck hadn’t hit the bus (or hadn’t hit it in that spot). • If the bus driver had responded differently. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, but I’m sure there are more. The bus was just one of a series. On a different subject: Did anyone but me think about the fact that in these two episodes, when he’s hallucinating about being on the bus, House is walking without his cane… and it gets commented on? I realized in retrospect that it was a clue. His subconscious was trying to get him to remember why Amber got on the bus.

The part that really got to me was when Wilson half rolled over on the hospital bed to turn off the life support machines. He hesitated just a split second before banging the off switches...nearly killed me while I ramped up the tears, yet again! Over all an Emmy winning effort by RSL...

I think it will be that way. I think Wilson is going to resist House's help and concern but House will stick it out anyway, the way Wilson always stuck it out with House even when House tried to push him away. I'm in a different place with House and Wilson. I'm not hating Wilson by any means, but I also don't think House is in any way to blame for the garbage truck hitting the bus, and Wilson needs to process this. It was a random act of the universe and not anything that logically followed from House getting drunk because he misses Wilson and calling him for a ride. Wilson didn't even ask, rather demanded, that House give up his life for Amber, without much soul searching on whether he has that right or even really would like to live with that if the worst happened. I want to see that soul searching from Wilson next season. Right now he needs to grieve, but at some point, he needs to really think about what he asked--and got--from House. I'm not sure Wilson would do the same, not that House would ever ask him.

I'm in a different place with House and Wilson. I'm not hating Wilson by any means, but I also don't think House is in any way to blame for the garbage truck hitting the bus, and Wilson needs to process this. I'm not saying House should be blamed, I don't think he should, it was an accident, not something he planned, not something he could have known would happen. And I do think that Wilson knows this but blame is placed when a loved one dies and it's natural (to me anyway) that he would direct that blame on to House (although, I didn't take the walking away as a sign that Wilson hated him. To me, at that moment it was jus too much and he had to walk away. Better to do that than stay and say something he'll regret) as irrational as it might be. I agree that Wilson needs to process this and I think he will. All I meant was before he gets there (because I do think it could take him a while) I think House will be trying to make amends anyway, whether Wilson is ready for that or not. But again, I'm not blaming House. I can feel for both House and Wilson, they're both in impossible positions and I get both sides. But I don't think Wilson demanded that House risk his life for Amber. It looked like it was hard for him to even ask. I didn't get demanding out of that scene.

I was a little creeped out with Cuddy at House's bedside (I like her less and less with each passing season) Why is that creepy? Cindylouwho mentioned Wilson being a constant in House's life, well, so has Cuddy. You don't think that she would support and help care for the man who's probably also been the one constant in her life in the past decade? I don't see how Cuddy being there for House in his time of need could give someone the heebie-jeebies. I do think the writers came up with a realistic way for House and Wilson to be estranged without it being impossible for them to reconcile, but I don't see them having consults about buxom clinic patients for a long, long time. Very true. This one's going to be a lot harder to bounce back from than Tritter. Hey, and just a personal request (obviously you don't have follow it, but someone needs to say it), but can we stop calling for Thirteen's death? I understand that a lot of you don't like her, and I also understand that this is fiction, but would you say that to her in real life? Would you say that to Olivia Wilde? Of course not. It's nowhere near polite or nice or the right thing to do. Okay, . (I meant that with all the love in the all in the world. :) )

Again, House is not a POTW. He's not a stranger to us, neither is Amber. House is a manipulative drug addict who couldn't remember an entire evening in a bar with Amber, who Taub personally knows was a cutthroat bitch. I'd believe they did something more than I would most POTWs we've seen accused of illicit drug use (like teenagers with straight A averages). I'm not sure what Taub was supposed to say: "House, I know you're a drug addict and you're missing a huge chunk of time because you were at a bar with a woman I have personally seen be a conniving bitch, but I'm just going to assume you guys didn't do anything untoward, since her life could depend on the answer"? Precisely because we as viewers know more about House, I am not as confident as you that he is an angel who would never do anything like that. Aside from Vicodin, we as viewers have watched him consistently abuse use other prescription drugs for illegal uses (inflicting a migraine, then taking LSD to alleviate the migraine, shooting up with morphine, stealing Oxy from a dead man to OD, ODing on Alzheimer's meds, etc). We've also seen him drink to excess while on drugs, and the show has hinted that he has used recreationally: he tried to steal joints from Wilson, and when he snorted the antihistamine it was heavily implied that he has past experience with cocaine. So precisely because this is House, the drugs question was a fair consideration. If the boss you know as an opiate addict was also out getting drunk in the late afternoon, why would it be a leap to think that maybe he also dabbled in a little something else at the same time? (although, I didn't take the walking away as a sign that Wilson hated him. To me, at that moment it was jus too much and he had to walk away. Better to do that than stay and say something he'll regret) Word to your entire post, LMC. Already I'm puzzled by reactions I'm seeing elsewhere which are indignant at Wilson for walking away and "blaming" House. I see no indication that act was him blaming House - is it so hard to believe that Wilson just needs some time alone to grieve and deal with things himself, rather than dropping everything to make House feel better? Even House realizes that, I think: this is one situation where House is not going to come first. As traumatized as House is and however much survivor's guilt he holds, he knows that he's not the one suffering the most because of Amber's death.

Guess that I'm more in agreement with Jair here. The fact that Wilson, the only person who House cares deeply about asked him to risk his life for someone who would have potentially taken Wilson away from House has got to have hurt House very deeply. He's not going to show that hurt on the surface but that doesn't mean that he isn't hurt pretty badly nontheless. Wilson effectively told him by asking that question that he matters less to Wilson than Amber. When he's hurt House seems to react by throwing up all the walls he can find and by retreating from the source of that hurt. Even if that doesn't happen on the surface I think that will probably be his reaction again. Wilson's grief is completely understandable but blaming House for Amber dying because she went to pick up House is unjustified. His act of asking House to risk his life effectively told House that he doesn't matter to Wilson as much as Amber did and that House is as alone as he always has been. So by asking him Wilson has effectively driven House further into isolation.

Hey, and just a personal request (obviously you don't have follow it, but someone needs to say it), but can we stop calling for Thirteen's death? I understand that a lot of you don't like her, and I also understand that this is fiction, but would you say that to her in real life? Would you say that to Olivia Wilde? Of course not. It's nowhere near polite or nice or the right thing to do. Okay, . (I meant that with all the love in the all in the world. :) ) No, we can't. I find 13 a mostly awful, retread character with a convenient life threatening disease that could easily be employed to exit her from the show. Hoping TPTB pull that trigger doesn't indicate impoliteness. Considering how many times--on this board, even--that the death of Cameron has been wished upon, now is hardly the time to get sensitive. House is a manipulative drug addict who couldn't remember an entire evening in a bar with Amber, who Taub personally knows was a cutthroat bitch. I'd believe they did something more than I would most POTWs we've seen accused of illicit drug use (like teenagers with straight A averages). I'm not sure what Taub was supposed to say: "House, I know you're a drug addict and you're missing a huge chunk of time because you were at a bar with a woman I have personally seen be a conniving bitch, but I'm just going to assume you guys didn't do anything untoward, since her life could depend on the answer"? Precisely because we as viewers know more about House, I am not as confident as you that he is an angel who would never do anything like that. Aside from Vicodin, we as viewers have watched him consistently abuse use other prescription drugs for illegal uses (inflicting a migraine, then taking LSD to alleviate the migraine, shooting up with morphine, stealing Oxy from a dead man to OD, ODing on Alzheimer's meds, etc). We've also seen him drink to excess while on drugs, and the show has hinted that he has used recreationally: he tried to steal joints from Wilson, and when he snorted the antihistamine it was heavily implied that he has past experience with cocaine. I don't for a moment think that House is an angel. But the suggestion, planted purposefully, that House was off having a wild, drugged up fling with Amber was too stupidly obvious to take seriously. Never mind what I might personally think about House, the fact that the show has given us zero indication that House had any romantic interest in Amber or that he leaves work at 5pm to freebase. (All of your examples above are of House either medicating, or counter medicating in the pursuit of finding the Answer.) House couldn't remember the previous 4 hours because he had a concussion, not because he was drugged to the gills. Either way, it hardly matters because it was also Amber's behavior that was under the microscope and while Amber could rightly be considered something of a mystery character, conveniently having her out drugging with House at 5pm just that one time would be an anvil of stupid to the head. But on the brighter side, did Wilson just score a new apartment? And why on earth was House dialing Wilson's "home" phone anyway---does he even have one? He hasn't had a home in forever and I doubt he's carrying a landline phone around with him. Why wouldn't House just always call Wilson's cell?

No one has mentioned the sex tape Amber and Wilson made. For a split second I thought we were going to find that there was one of Thirteen and Amber. Thank goodness that didn't pan out. Did JM have any dialogue in the episode? I find it strange that CC&F didn't check in on House at some point.

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