5.21 - Saviors

Cameron had already told House the truth, that she was avoiding Chase because she was avoiding a proposal. The mystery was solved and the explanation fit the data. No reason for House not to believe her then. Cam was afraid of Chase’s proposal because she didn’t feel ready for it. But instead of confronting that fear, she justified avoiding the proposal by telling herself that he was doing it for the wrong reason, that is, because he felt vulnerable after Kutner’s suicide. House knew that she had commitment issues (“The Itch”), which is why he didn’t buy her explanation. When he went to give her the file he saw that she had still not admitted the truth to herself. That’s why he told her “Now you’re out of reasons to avoid him. Kutner was a dumb one to begin with, anyway.” As much as I adore H/W and used to like H/W/C, I must agree with those who don't think they've always been the emotional core of the show. Wilson and Cuddy had much, much smaller roles in the first season and a lot of the second. The focus then, IMO, was primarily on House and his team. History or not, they focused a lot more on the ducklings than on Wilson and Cuddy. Thinking about it, I guess it would be about mid S3 when I think the show really took a H/W/C turn. I like the H/W/C focus more than any duckling focus, so I prefer the emotional center where it is now as opposed to where it was then, but I don't think it was always H/W/C. I think that being the focus of the show is a different thing from being it’s emotional core. W/C got less focus or screen time in the earlier seasons, but it was clear from the start that they were the pillars of House’s world. The pilot opened with a scene of H/W walking together and it was Wilson who cared enough to trick House into taking that very first case. We got Cuddy as the strict administrator who nevertheless cared enough about him to make clinic duty worth his while by providing him with interesting patients. The scene at the end of “Detox” in which Wilson and House argued about his drug intake and the scene in “Skin Deep” in which he revealed his scar may have been short ones but they were so intense (to the point of being uncomfortable to watch) because he was totally letting his guard down with them. By the end of the first season, we had knew that Wilson sometimes manipulated House for what he thought was his benefit (Pilot, Detox) and that he cared enough about him to resign from his job to support him (Babies and Bathwater). He did more or less the same things during the Tritter arc. It wasn’t like the arc suddenly made W/C the emotional core of the show. It merely amplified a connection that existed from the start (and one that the audience had been shown) and gave it more focus and screen-time. Wilson's part got bigger during the Tritter arc, because of the role he played there, but it was in the post-Tritter period that they started the pranking and other stuff and made House get jealous about Cuddy and Wilson and then about Wilson. I preferred it at a S1 level, as that was IMO more mature and realistic. Especially on House's part. The pranking and the H/W/C games pre-date the Tritter arc. House and Wilson pranked each other in “Safe” (2x16). And they were very childish pranks at that, with House making Wilson pee in his sleep and Wilson retaliating by sawing his cane in half. And House screwed around with both Wilson and Cuddy when he discovered that she asked him out in “Forever” (2x22). ETA: Wilson pranking House in this episode was a joy to behold because it echoed the writing for them in the pilot – both times he tricked House to help him and it actually worked.

When you want to bust my chops about a little lost miniChase, Ari, just remember that Cameron said that she'd make an excellent step mom. :P Touche! :clap: When he went to give her the file he saw that she had still not admitted the truth to herself. Cameron: I told you I don't want to break up with Chase. House: No you want him to break up with you. Less guilt that way. The truth as House saw it is that Cameron wants her relationship with Chase to end even though she had twice told him she doesn't. Is she still not admitting the the truth to herself now since she told Chase she was hoping he would propose to her? We got Cuddy as the strict administrator who nevertheless cared enough about him to make clinic duty worth his while by providing him with interesting patients. When was this? In the pilot and Occam's Razor, she was going to make him do his hours whether he wanted to or not. The first time I remember her trying to make it fun for him was in OD,OR which was after the Tritter arc. the scene in “Skin Deep” in which he revealed his scar may have been short ones but they were so intense (to the point of being uncomfortable to watch) because he was totally letting his guard down with them. Or he was an addict jonesing for a fix and prepared to guilt Cuddy into giving him one. Before that scene in Skin Deep, House had let down his guard to Cameron about his parents in Daddy's Boy, he'd shown her his vulnerability about himself in Love Hurts and he'd explained to her his selection process in the pilot and how he felt about his birthday in Socratic Method. He asked her to join him in making fun of Cuddy in TB or Not TB, which says to me that he was closer to Cameron than to Cuddy then. In Merry Little Christmas, he lets Cameron into his apartment when he woudln't let Cuddy in, and allows her to bind his cuts as well as telling her his theory that he wouldn't tell Cuddy. I'm sure Chase fans can come up with examples where he'd opened himself up to Chase too. I think the House/Wilson emotional core was there from the beginning. But in the first 2 1/2 seasons, IMO House was more emotionally tied to the ducklings than to Cuddy. Cuddy as his old friend started in season 2 and as his BFF and jealousy over her dates with other men in season 3.

The truth as House saw it is that Cameron wants her relationship with Chase to end even though she had twice told him she doesn't. Is she still not admitting the the truth to herself now since she told Chase she was hoping he would propose to her? She admitted the truth to herself and went to Chase only after House pointed it out to her. As for the rest of it, I think we may be in danger of veering into off-topic territory, so let’s just agree to disagree

Wilson's part got bigger during the Tritter arc, because of the role he played there, but it was in the post-Tritter period that they started the pranking and other stuff and made House get jealous about Cuddy and Wilson and then about Wilson. I preferred it at a S1 level, as that was IMO more mature and realistic. Especially on House's part. The pranking and the H/W/C games pre-date the Tritter arc. House and Wilson pranked each other in “Safe” (2x16). And they were very childish pranks at that, with House making Wilson pee in his sleep and Wilson retaliating by sawing his cane in half. And House screwed around with both Wilson and Cuddy when he discovered that she asked him out in “Forever” (2x22). ETA: Wilson pranking House in this episode was a joy to behold because it echoed the writing for them in the pilot – both times he tricked House to help him and it actually worked. I stand corrected. I think, though, that the House and Wilson relationship as now constituted really did come to the fore in late S3, and was emphasized even more in S4 post Survivor.

True. I think that was probably when Wilson started obsessing with being House's conscience instead of just fulfilling that role naturally and more subtly. That led us to Alone, though, with the stolen guitar subplot, so I can't bring myself to frown completely upon that change.

We first meet Wilson as he's successfully (for a while anyway) lying to House about Rachel Adler being his cousin and snatching his cane in the scene cut from the broadcast version. In one of the Vogler episodes Wilson said that being House's friend constituted an ethical responsibility but even before that, back in Occam's Razor, Wilson was trying to make House a nicer person telling him not to make Foreman go home feeling like crap. In Detox, he was trying to get him to cut down on vicodin because he felt it was inhibiting House's ability to live a full life, taking care of him as he did in Saviors and minimizing House's worries about his life and sanity. Those themes are the ones of this season too. I think they are more noticeable in seasons 4 and 5 because House has stopped interacting with his teams (old and new) and so his interactions with Wilson and Cuddy are more apparent..

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