You really believe that they don't have a special bond? If Wilson felt so complete with Amber, then why not cut ties with House immediately? Why keep hanging out with him at all? House causes him a lot of grief, if Amber was his escape from that then Wilson would not have continued to hang out with House and he would not have been so concerned in House's Head. If he feels complete with Amber then there's no need for House anymore. If he's getting everything good that he gets out of his relationship with House with Amber then again, there's no need to be friends with House but he made no move nor gave any indication that he's interested in ending their friendship. I didn't say I didn't believe they have a friendship, because I agree, obviously they do. What I think is that when Wilson had to choose who really completed him, he chose Amber, not House. He was willing to use House as his means to the end of saving Amber. I'm not saying he dragged House off screaming to the DBS--he didn't. But he did make it clear where his priority was. Had these circumstances never occurred, Wilson may never have had to make that choice--most of us don't. But they did occur and now things have changed. I think that House felt that Wilson was the one who completed him to the extent that anyone does or that he lets anyone in. So there is the need for redefinition of the friendship here, and not because they've drawn closer. I think Wilson now knows that he needs someone other than House in his life and House knows that as much as he wants Wilson in his, he'd better be looking at others, too. Whether he finds any, of course, is very much a question. I think House and Wilson will be friends again, but not the same kind of friends.

Here's a meta question for you guys: How are the ducklings, old and new, going to be affected by the events of these eps? Not Amber's death... tragic though it may be, the death of someone you knew but weren't close to isn't unusual, and most if not all of them have already dealt with death in much more immediate ways. But House's and Wilson's actions throughout these eps, how will they affect the ducklings? How much of the meaning we assign to their actions is deducible only because of our role as the audience and how much of it will be clear to bystanders without our fly-on-the-wall view? I imagine Cuddy, in her role as their friend, will have much of the same information we do and will interpret things much the same, but will the ducklings? How will these events change their perceptions of House and Wilson? I'm particularly thinking of Foreman here. I'm usually the last person to want to discuss Foreman, but he seems to me the most likely to be affected. Throughout WH, he's the one reminding us that House's lack of objectivity is compromising his medical judgment, but prior to these eps he was always the one most firmly convinced that House didn't care about anything or anyone except his puzzles; that's the whole point of the resignation arc. Can he maintain that view after these eps, and if his perception of House does change, how will it affect his perception of himself? The old-ducks-at-the-restaurant scene is bugging me. Initially, I liked it because it took the time to include them in the emotional impact of the story, but now I can think about it, it just doesn't make sense. It did give the impression that C&C were supposed to be comforting Foreman, but Foreman's the one least likely of them to care about Amber's death (unless someone wants to wank some Foreman=House and Amber=House therefore Foreman=Amber meta), and at that point in time Chase and Cameron are both more likely to be worried about House than about either Amber or Foreman. I still want to read the scene where Chase is convinced to do the surgery. I don't think he'd feel guilty at this point; earlier-season Chase would, but I think 4th-season Chase would be more likely to just nod and say "House understood the risks, House chose it; it sucks but it was his decision". But that assumes House doesn't have any serious impairment when he wakes up; if he does all bets are off. And I'm not sure how long Chase's defenses against guilt would last once someone reminds him that House was concussed and generally a mess and otherwise in no condition to make life-and-death decisions (for himself or Amber -- that may be why her bracelet listed Foreman as attending). And although I don't usually care about Cameron, I really want to see the scene where she confronts Chase about the DBS.

I'm not sure what circumstances would give one a better measure than asking one person to risk his life in order to save the other person. It's pretty clear that Wilson thinks if he has to end up with only one of these people in his life, he chooses Amber. Of course, he doesn't want to be making this choice and he's got no good choice to make. But he does make the choice. I guess for me nothing about that request or the choice Wilson made was a black & white declaration from which to judge whether or not he valued House any less than Amber. He asked House to take that risk in a moment of highly emotional stress and panic. I don't think House would take that to be a measuring a stick for their relationship or his value. And I also don't think that it takes away from the importance of what House did for Wilson. I understand what you mean, in that House might view things that way but I don't agree that within the context of the situation he would come to that conclusion. Who knows maybe he will? I feel I'm rambling here, sorry.

Yes, House always has a reason for the risks he takes, but they are rarely for anything as noble as saving a life. He'll risk his life to distract himself from Stacy and get revenge on von Leiberman, but he won't risk his life to save a life? House risked his life for Finn and he risked his life for the unknown patient last week. He's risked his life to save a life. The issue here is that Wilson was willing to ask him to risk his life--asking someone else is different than risking your own. And it's not that Wilson is a horrible person to do so, in my eyes. It's that it reveals how Wilson sees his relationships with Amber and House. It's a revelation that to me changes what I thought I knew and that I think House thought he knew, about how Wilson feels about House. If Wilson does some major soul searching next year, I could buy that he didn't actually process what he was asking of House and what it showed. But if he doesn't have to, then the friendship has fundamentally changed for me.

But he did make it clear where his priority was. Saving Amber's life? I don't think that's a bad thing, nor do I think it means he loves Amber more than he loves House. He was not thinking clearly, this was not a black &white, clear-cut, thought out decision. This was a decision he made very quickly at the moment in the ep. when he was most desperate. It's not as if he sat down for a few hours, weighed the pros and cons and then decided that Amber was more important to him than House was. House may view it as Wilson not caring about him, but there was no indication of that in the episode, all he was concerned about wrt Wilson was Wilson hating him for causing (how ever indirectly) Amber's death. We're not going to agree here, I just did not read the situation as Wilson loving Amber more and he is "complete" with her so it's fine with him if House dies.

If Wilson does some major soul searching next year, I could buy that he didn't actually process what he was asking of House and what it showed. I agree this has to happen and I hope we get to see it play out. I'd like to see Wilson feeling guilty for this (even though I don't fault him for asking) but because it's such a reversal of his usual protective nature towards House. I think he would feel tremendously guilty about having asked House and that combined with his depression over Amber leads me to believe he will be in downward spiral next season.

Saving Amber's life? I don't think that's a bad thing, nor do I think it means he loves Amber more than he loves House. He was not thinking clearly, this was not a black &white, clear-cut, thought out decision. No, we won't, and of course that's fine :D . I do think we saw Wilson choosing to risk House's life to save Amber's and that does show how he is valuing those two relationships. House did make sure he put it to Wilson very baldly. If he was not thinking clearly, which is possible, though not necessary to the scene, then I hope to see him process that next year. I'm pretty sure we'll see House reaching out to other people next season as a result of the choices made during WH. I know the internet makes tone difficult, so let me just make it clear that this makes me sad, not happy. Still looking forward to next year, of course!

I agree this has to happen and I hope we get to see it play out. I'd like to see Wilson feeling guilty for this (even though I don't fault him for asking) but because it's such a reversal of his usual protective nature towards House. I think he would feel tremendously guilty about having asked House and that combined with his depression over Amber leads me to believe he will be in downward spiral next season. Word. I think Wilson will reflect on this next season and I think that guilt combined with grief is going to make him have a rough time of it. I'm pretty sure we'll see House reaching out to other people next season as a result of the choices made during WH. I think he'll definately be leaning on Cuddy a lot but I don't think he's going to be reaching out to everyone, I hardly think that what happened in this ep. is going to make him want to be friends with other people. I have a hard time getting that, the only other person in his inner circle is Cuddy so it makes sense that he relies more heavily on her when Wilson's not around. I don't think he'll be looking to expand his inner circle, just cling to what's left of it. Now logically, unless they're setting up Wilson leaving, it can't stay this way forever. I don't think Wilson is going to be in any mood to reach out to House next year. I think he's going to want to wallow in his grief. If House too cuts contact from Wilson forever, then what is Wilson's purpose on the show? Just show random shots of him in his apartment drinking and being miserable with nothing else? I think that House is going to be the one to initiate a healing here, YMMV.

It's pretty clear that Wilson thinks if he has to end up with only one of these people in his life, he chooses Amber. See, I just don't see this... this makes it seem as though the choice was Amber's Life or House's Life. One or the other. I never had that impression at all. Wilson wasn't choosing which one would live and which one would die. For me it was more the type of choice a parent might make if they have two children, and one child needs a kidney transplant and the other child is a match. If you decide to use one child's kidney to save the other, does that mean you love one more than the other? Not in my mind. It just means the need of the one child is more immediate than the potential risk to the other. And again, Wilson did not ask this out of the blue - House had already offered once before. Granted, they have more information now, but the risk to House is still the same. THAT hasn't changed. What we all do seem to agree upon is that House and Wilson are going to have a lot of emotional baggage to deal with concerning this whole event and what has happened.

Provided one of the children has just had a heart attack and a cracked skull, so is already in jeopardy. But these are not children whose parents are making choices for them. And it's not black and white, that it's broken forever, or they'll hate each other. These are adults, and one is asking the other to risk his life for someone else. Everything about their relationship clicked into place and changed when House processed that request and it's never going to be the same. I hope it can be mended, but I doubt if either of them are in that place at the end of the episode. The creators referred to it as series-changing and I think that's what they meant. Well, I think jair has made excellent arguments that make total sense to me, and I think I've said whatI saw as well as I can say it, so I'll leave it there. And yes, we do agree that there's a ton of emotional baggage for the characters to deal with next season, and maybe for us fans as well, as we process this stuff. I love that the writing allows us the freedom to view this in so many different ways. It's interesting to see there are so many viewpoints that inerpret the series in ways that never even remotely occurred to me. And yeah, we're not all going to agree on interpreting that scene/situation, but I guess we can agree that it was a powerhouse finale.

But these are not children whose parents are making choices for them. And it's not black and white, that it's broken forever, or they'll hate each other. These are adults, and one is asking the other to risk his life for someone else. Everything about their relationship clicked into place and changed when House processed that request and it's never going to be the same. I hope it can be mended, but I doubt if either of them are in that place at the end of the episode. The creators referred to it as series-changing and I think that's what they meant. Boffle summed things up for me with this paragraph. It's not that I don't think the friendship can continue - I think it will, but I don't think it will ever be quite the same. A thought occurred to me. What if the positions were reversed in this story. What if House was near death and there was a life risking action that Amber could take that might help to save him. Would Wilson dare to ask her to do such a thing? Would she even consider doing it? I think the answer to the first question is probably not, to the second, almost certainly not.

What if the positions were reversed in this story. What if House was near death and there was a life risking action that Amber could take that might help to save him. Would Wilson dare to ask her to do such a thing? Would she even consider doing it? I think the answer to the first question is probably not, to the second, almost certainly not. I asked the same question about the role reversals some pages back. And I think the answer we may give shows how each one of us perceives Wilson's personality. For me the answer to your first question is yes, he would ask her, I have no doubt. The second we never know, but if she loved Wilson as much as House loves him I think she would.

The issue here is that Wilson was willing to ask him to risk his life--asking someone else is different than risking your own. And yet it was House who asked to do the DPS first, several hours earlier, and Cuddy and Wilson vetoed it. So again the "Wilson chose Amber over House" line doesn't hold up. House already knew the risks and had been expressly willing to take them - he HAD offered to risk his own life already. House didn't back off from the DPS because he was suddenly concerned for his own health, it was because he thought he had the answer of Amber's diagnosis. It turns out he didn't. This was not something Wilson thought of out of the blue and begged House to try - it was something House had wanted to try. Wilson's asking was more about him realizing that he was wrong to want to take the "safe path," that if Amber had any hope he needed to let House do what he wanted originally. And Wilson was right: the tragic thing was that they got the correct answer, but it couldn't save her life. If the answer had been a curable illness, then the issue would be moot and I think most people would be fine with the choice because it saved Amber.