I think the only people who will interpret the last scene as Wilson being the bad guy are the people who want to see him that way. If they didn't have that scene, they'd find another reason. Yep, like I said earlier, the haters are going to hate him no matter what he does right now. It doesn't really matter. Though I do find it interesting that when all the characters were against him during Tritter, most of the fans were sympathizing with him and now that most of the characters are on his side, a lot of fans are against him. We just can't seem to get on the same page. Best premiere? After my initial joy at so much Wilson, I realized I wasn't a big fan of 'Alone' so it's between this (I did love the H/W stuff, W/Cam, and Chase, but the rest bored me) and 'Acceptance,' I don't know why I like that ep. so much cosidering there's Stacy and a lot of whiny, obnoxious Cameron.

House almost got Wilson fired! He got Wilson's car and money taken from him, and his DEA license suspended! In both cases, because House was being stuck on himself and wouldn't bend. That's on top of a thousand other indignities. True story. And Wilson almost got House killed. That's a biggie too in my book. You can get a new job if you're alive and all...but if you're dead? Not so much. House uses Wilson because House can, because it makes House's life better. THAT IS THE CONCEIT OF THE SHOW. Did you hear the POTW this week? Clear House-Wilson parallel. Yep...I saw and heard and got it. And I know the idea of the show. But Wilson manipulates House cause he can and to suit his own needs too. They're good and bad for each other.

By Meaning, Wilson was desperate to save House from himself. He'd been trying since Detox, through the Stacy arc and beyond. What he did was wrong but he did it with House's best interests in mind. Other than WH, I don't recall House ever sacrificing himself for Wilson. As Foreman said, Wilson needed to protect himself, that's what the others (especially House) would have done. Protecting himself means leaving House and PPTH behind. And as Cameron said, he may leave it physically but he can't leave behind the feelings. Am I giving the writing too much credit? I posted on this at the "Sports Medicine" ep. thread, and someone suggested that the reason the dinner with Stacy was so important was that she wanted to talk to him about having House examine Mark, and wasn't sure how to go about approaching House. That doesn't sound like Stacy, who always thought she knew House best, or like Wilson, who should have known that House is not a person to be broadsided. I think he'd made a commitment to Stacy and thought he should keep it. Of course, I didn't know at the time that Short Hills was so close to PPTH.

Overall, I generally liked this episode. I didn't feel bored, I liked the PotW, and all in all, it felt like the show. We had to split up watching this due to DVR constraints, and at first I wondered why anyone thought there was too much Thirteen. She had the most OH HOLY CRAP story from the last season, after all. What actually bugged me was that I found the discussion inherently classist in some way - like Thirteen gets to determine whose work has meaning. I mean, really, Thirteen - you treat one patient a week. Whole countries benefit from this woman making her boss' work happen. But hey. I'd have been psyched to see all those different countries and my boss was TWICE as crazy as that woman. (Seriously. It took me a while to realize House was a *bad* boss.) Loved Cameron's scene with Wilson (enough to overlook the massive continuity fail), Chase shooting the team down, and I for one, enjoyed Cuddy gathering her resources and cutting off House's cable. House and Wilson's scenes together were splendid, particularly the last one. There was just so much hurt in that scene.

Re: Who's the worse friend... I am preemptively deleting my response before it gets written because the Tritter arc and other past indignities are not _directly_ relevant to this episode (also because my unwritten response would involve ranting and banging my head against the desk). I know I'm not as much of a regular here as others, but I would nonetheless gently suggest that flame-attractant arguments be kept to other places, such as the relationship or Season 3 general threads.

OK, sorry. It probably does belong in a general thread, as it spans seasons/episodes. And I didn't mean to be flame-attractant , honest!

I didn't see Cameron's comment as a continuity error. Had she said "I moved to a new town and started medical school. That was my version of taking a new job at the time because I was just finishing college when he died" everyone would be crying "It's always about you." I assumed that what she said was shorthand for "I changed the external things about my life, just like you're planning to do."

I disagree. I don't think the last scene made Wilson out to be a "bad guy" at all. That last scene made me feel deep sadness for both House and Wilson. It made me cry... for real. As much as Amber's death (and Wilson's crying) made me cry. I feel pain for both of them, and I don't see either one of them as "bad" or "at fault." They're going through a major crisis in their relationship I'm relieved that you said that. I don't see Wilson as being the bad guy either, but I've seen some Wilson hate here and there (not so much HERE, thank goodness), and I think it might be too easy for some people to judge Wilson solely on that last scene. It was certainly gut wrenching and well played.

Bedawyn, I agree that 13 was being classist but that the show was not being classist. We can't all be the equivalent of House. If we were all the leader in our profession, well... that would just be impossible, wouldn't it? Some of us have to be the "woman behind the woman" or the "man behind the man" or the "woman behind the man" or the "man behind the woman." We can't all be president of a corporation, but some of us can be the do-er who helps the president get everything done. Some of us are just "grunts" getting our jobs done for the company. We may not get any glory, but our work is meaningful too. And it doesn't make our lives inherently less worthy or less fulfilling. I think most of us can find meaning in our work. We don't have to be the person behind an important person. Teachers, police, personal shoppers, stylists, interior designers, MOTHERS... there is meaning in all these jobs. Just because 13 thinks that you have to be at the top of your profession in order to have "made it" doesn't mean that the show thinks that way. So, not only do I find 13 boring and irritating, but I also find her kind of stupid.

Well, that was... depressing. Chase was fun, Kutner is my favorite new team member, and Cameron did not grate on my nerves. The POTW did not catch my interest(other than leprosy, again). And the House/Wilson... just depressing. (But good.)