Reaction to 'Adverse Events': Wilson vs the P.I.

Yeah, I missed him. I mean, seeing the previews last week, I didn't expect to see him. But considering this is kind of his arc, I expected at least a mention, just to continue the storyline. This episode felt a bit like a commercial break from the real story. Out of the many awesome rumors and spoilers about this arc, one of the things I was most looking forward to was seeing at least House, if not others, missing Wilson. Other things I was excited about were seeing Wilson and having him as an important, central character for a few episodes, properly dealing with the fallout after Amber. This, for me, didn't seem to have any of that. Which seems to be such a sudden and complete turn around from the last ep, I almost got whiplash! lol I'm not bitter, though--a tad disappointed, but the excitement over the next ep kind of mitigates that. What I am bitter about--and why I might come across that way :lol:--is my DVR being eeeevviiill. Ruined the last two thirds of the show. :roll:

I missed him. I'm not a fan of PI, which is a shame because I really do like Michael Weston and this character is turning me off to my favorite nervous lawyer (best Psych guest star ever, except for Tim Curry). I'm fine with giving the Huddy stuff more fuel and back story, especially since SPOILER-->it's Wilson's turn for back story and loads of screentime in the next episode END SPOILER. It just seems like the middle of what was set up as a major H/W arc is the wrong place to put an episode like this in. It really felt like it was from some other season or something, like a weird continuity break. Anyway, I want Wilson and I'm just glad that SPOILER-->I'll only have to deal with the PI for one more episode, I do not intend to ever watch his spin-off because the character has already left a bad taste in my mouth.END SPOILER.

Wilson can stay away as far as I'm concerned. I've never cared for the character much and I like the acting even less. Yeah, I feel the same way about Foreman - not pretty, not sexy, and that whole angry thang is pretty much 1970s. Thank God for TiVo!!!

I confess I didn't miss him until the episode was almost over and I suddenly wondered if he was going to make an appearance. I'll also confess that I'm getting a little tired of Wilson. The thing is, I really like RSL, but Wilson gets on my nerves sometimes. I love the funny House-Wilson interplay, but we don't seem to see much of that any more. And you know what, when House made that crack about Wilson really milking the bereavement thing, well, I kind of agreed with him. Cripes, Wilson took more time off from work to deal with his loss than he'd even spent with Amber. His loss is a painful tragedy yes, but come on, he'd only been with her for a matter of weeks. It's not like he lost his wife/companion of 10 years or something. Grief counseling, quitting his job, moving away, dumping his best friend of many years? He's not dealing with his grief. He seems to be wallowing in it. I want Wilson to shape up and be House's friend again. Good times.

Wilson is my favorite character on the show, and I barely noticed he was missing in this episode. Which tips me off strongly that, in my opinion, the writers really dropped the ball on this one. For the last five years, haven't we been meant to believe that House's friendship with Wilson is the most important relationship House has currently got in his life? Aren't we supposed to CARE about their friendship? I think we are. And yet, when the writers are given an opportunity to show how much the friendship matters to each of the men, they drop the ball. For all intents and purposes, House seemed FINE in this episode! Some posters have pointed out little moments -- House's staring toward Wilson's office, House apparently looking for distractions, etc. But all those hints are so subtle that they can be argued away. Was House actually staring at Wilson's office? Maybe. Maybe he was looking at a cloud while thinking over his case. Was House really delving into the private lives of his team just so he could distract himself from Wilson? Maybe. Or maybe he was just being curious and nosy, like he ALWAYS is. The viewer shouldn't HAVE to delve deep just to find proof that House is missing Wilson. In my opinion, of course. I think part of the problem comes from the introduction of Lucas. I love Lucas. I really do. But by having him in these episodes, he is filling the gap that Wilson left, therefore making it look like there IS no gap. So what am I supposed to take from this episode? Apparently, House is making do without Wilson just fine. He's doing his job. He's playing his music. He's messing with his team. He doesn't even appear upset. So, as a viewer, it looks like House and Wilson's friendship really wasn't all that important at all. What else, as a viewer, am I supposed to take from this episode? And yes, I know the episode was a much-needed break from the angst. But I'm really not happy with just how much of a break it really was.

I didn't miss Wilson in the sense that I felt "oh wow, this episode is weird and off balance and it totally needs Wilson to put it right." Because, frankly, even with Wilson episodes feel weird and off balance to me. That plus the fact that it's obvious Wilson isn't gone for good. If it were really touch and go about the state of RSL's contract or something, then I'm certain I wouldn't enjoy episodes without him in it, long term. I actually think it's interesting to see House operate separately from Wilson once in a while. Wilson may think that House damages everything and is a perpetual drain on him, but I think it goes both ways and it was enjoyable to see House in a psuedo friendship with the PI who really seems to like him. (Although, having said that, I still think it would be even more interesting still to use some of the marginalized players in that role--see how well they do as "Wilson" for a short term stint.) On the one hand, I do like their relationship and going deeper into that examination, yet on the other hand, doing so caused that weird shift in the show that started towards the end of season 3. The fact that House/Wilson has trumped House's "one thing" and his dedication to medicine has, often times, made House a far less sympathetic figure and certainly a more childish one. (And not in an appealing way.) To Dob's point, as good as HH/WH were, I think the storyline might have been better served overall had Amber and Wilson been allowed to continue on as a couple longer so that her death and the aftermath could be more believable to large swaths of the audience. The S4 season finale could have had a number of other options that were perhaps not so huge! and dramatic! but certainly plausible in storytelling. What if Wilson proposed and the audience understood that this relationship really was a keeper? I'm not sure they covered that ground sufficiently to really make the full impact.

I didn't miss Wilson at all this ep, but I know I would if he left for the long term. But at the same time, their relationship as it was had gotten a bit tedious and was long overdue for a change. And I like the PI and think House developing new friends is one of the needed changes, so I don't see it as an either/or thing. I'd rather have Wilson and Lucas both!

Some posters have pointed out little moments -- House's staring toward Wilson's office, House apparently looking for distractions, etc. But all those hints are so subtle that they can be argued away. I thought he seemed to be popping more Vicodin than normal this episode, anyone else think that? People are saying that the House/Wilson friendship seemed to be more about enabling than about being friends - people, that's why Wilson left! That's the point!

Some posters have pointed out little moments -- House's staring toward Wilson's office, House apparently looking for distractions, etc. But all those hints are so subtle that they can be argued away. I thought he seemed to be popping more Vicodin than normal this episode, anyone else think that? Oh, definitely! I think his limp has been more apparent in the past couple of episodes as well.

I think the episode was designed to make us miss Wilson a little Maybe that was the intention - and I really want to believe it was - but I had the feeling that it didn't work that way. I picked up House's stare, but it was so quick that I was unsure if it was supposed to imply how much he misses Wilson - they could have shown the balcony, for instance - or if he was just, well, looking outside the window. If they intended any kind of subtext, they failed (IMO). That's what I meant. Thanks, Lully, for saying it better! To Dob's point, as good as HH/WH were, I think the storyline might have been better served overall had Amber and Wilson been allowed to continue on as a couple longer so that her death and the aftermath could be more believable to large swaths of the audience. The S4 season finale could have had a number of other options that were perhaps not so huge! and dramatic! but certainly plausible in storytelling. What if Wilson proposed and the audience understood that this relationship really was a keeper? I'm not sure they covered that ground sufficiently to really make the full impact. The funny thing is that the producers have said that if not for the strike, Wilson and Amber would've had FEWER episodes together before her death, and it still would've been the precipitating incident for breaking up House and Wilson's friendship. Shortcuts like this and timeline oddities (like two months bereavement leave) make it harder for me to interpret the characters and their behavior. TPTB made Wilson's bereavement leave two months, but he's acted like the grief's fresh. Are we supposed to take it that he's wallowing?

I agree that the show was designed for us to miss Wilson a little...and I think it was also designed to give the feeling of time having passed, that this isn't something that they can get over in day or a week. I definitely miss Wilson. RSL rocks.

The funny thing is that the producers have said that if not for the strike, Wilson and Amber would've had FEWER episodes together before her death, and it still would've been the precipitating incident for breaking up House and Wilson's friendship. Shortcuts like this and timeline oddities (like two months bereavement leave) make it harder for me to interpret the characters and their behavior. TPTB made Wilson's bereavement leave two months, but he's acted like the grief's fresh. Are we supposed to take it that he's wallowing? I think what we'll see is that there are other things even more significant troubling Wilson beyond Amber's death. That shock will clearly be an issue for him likely into the foreseeable future. But it is not the true reason Wilson left. It's even more about what it represents and that has to do with House. That, according to the writer, is a lot of what Wilson spent his two months thinking about. What does he want and what is he capable of doing regarding that relationship. I still think there are more feelings and issues beyond the misery, manipulation and enabling already expressed by Wilson that he is still coming to terms with and that House and we will learn about in the near future. As for AE I was accepting of the see no, hear no , speak no Wilson situation but it allowed me to drift in an out of the room while the show was airing. A first and I hope a last. No, No Wilson, ever again!

I think what we'll see is that there are other things even more significant troubling Wilson beyond Amber's death. Agreed. Right now, if he's wallowing, I don't think it's about Amber anymore. I guess he reached the acceptance with her death, but he seems to be still in denial of some others things... And by the way, I think the time they spent together (only two months?) made his acceptance of her death even more painful, not less. You can't measure any kind of love by counting the days. And, seriously, what's up with everything on this show having a time frame of two months? House's recovery of the shooting wasn't also two months?

And by the way, I think the time they spent together (only two months?) made his acceptance of her death even more painful, not less. You can't measure any kind of love by counting the days. And, seriously, what's up with everything on this show having a time frame of two months? House's recovery of the shooting wasn't also two months? I think how long W/A were together is 6 of one half a dozen of the other. Yes it would have been crushing if the two of them had expressed intentions of having a future together with an engagement. But being together a longer length of time doesn’t always mean you have a greater love. Wilson was married 3 times and seemingly loved his wives less the longer they were together. It being so early in the relationship is likely why Wilson will be able to recover from the loss quicker then he might have otherwise. That I think was needed so that his character does not become mired down in this period. Still W/A were in that very heady period of just beginning to fall in love and living together then just as suddenly one of them is snatched away. That is in part why it is so wrenching because the time was so brief and the whole experience is tinged by what might have been. As for the two month default I guess the writer's room as settled on that as being a significant period of time with out going overboard. Maybe it's an in joke for them. Instead of six degrees of separation everything takes two months.

I love Wilson and I had no problem with him being missing in AE. I think we had enough "tells" to show that House was finding distractions the same way he did when Stacy left, and the lingering look out the window at Wilson's balcony was not about the view. I think it was also a nice parallel with what we learned last week about Wilson: Wilson is going about his business, and reaching out to people and talking, but not talking about House in any way to any one. House is the elephant in the room he will not acknowledge. In AE, House is going about his business, jumping into people's business and reaching out--and not talking about Wilson in any way. Wilson's the elephant. Wilson set this detente up and he has to move a little to break it, so they can talk. I like the PI and don't think he's supposed to replace Wilson. He just shows that House has more to offer than just misery and Wilson's summation of him and their relationship is filtered through his grief.

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