“Son of Coma Guy” continued.

[bironic]

Oh, this is fantastic! It’s dark and raining and windy out -- perfect setting for a second viewing of “Son of Coma Guy,” especially the part where thunder rumbles while House paces.

I was going to do this all in one post, but Tuesday’s bits and pieces have got 30-odd comments -- have I mentioned lately that I love you guys? -- and I’m afraid that adding this to it will push up the count until threads start getting collapsed, and that’s not cool when you want to get discussion going, so the first half will stay over here, and the rest is below.



Yes, aspects of this episode were preposterous or contrived, i.e.: How could that kid know what kind of sandwich House was eating at a glance from that distance? How could FVSG be so coherent and otherwise healthy on waking? Why does he only have a day? Awfully convenient, isn’t it, that he enjoys power over people so much that he wants to play 20 Questions with the main character? And so on. But you know what? While that sort of stuff annoyed me in “No Reason,” here I could forgive it because the rest was just so damn gripping. Hats off to H/W master (mistress?) Doris Egan and director Dan Attias (who also did "Histories").

This morning I realized that what I liked best about this episode is how much it came to resemble a play. Three characters in an enclosed space -- first a car, then a hotel room -- for an extended period of time, deconstructing each other, engaged in a self-imposed game that descends from amused power play to the consensual taking of a life. Secrets revealed, emotions laid bare, backstories fleshed out. Scene cuts while time passes and the characters rearrange themselves (Wilson against the wall, then against the entertainment center, then on the couch; House sitting, pacing, sitting again; FVSG draping himself over the couch or the chair or the other couch; the three of them sitting around the uneaten sandwich). Late night. Rumbling thunder. Recurring themes, symbols and actions, and running jokes. Double and triple meanings. Intentional and unintentional confessions. And of course, building tension, followed by a twist and a heart-wrenching conclusion. Maybe that’s why Wilson seemed radiant: RSL must have felt right at home in this theater atmosphere.



Some notes, and then bigger stuff:

- I’ve seen a few people laugh about House’s Hannibal Lecter impression, but I laughed at his little “I can outdraw you, mysterious stranger” quip in the PVS ward. *shrug*

- Note to self: Patient’s name is Steve Gabriel Wozniak. Sticking with FVSG, though, because it’s funnier. Oh, and for anyone who wants a quick differentiation between “coma” and “persistent vegetative state,” go here.

- No explanation of where Chase disappeared to last week. Weird also that he got more worked up over the overweight patient than the alcoholic patient, when his mother was an established alcoholic and we’ve had no information on why he’s insulted two obese patients.

- FVSG even talks like House, aside from the different in timbre. Look at the bare dialogue: “Your barber sucks.” “If I’ve got one day to live, I’m not gonna spend it in a hospital being grilled.” He’s got cool delivery, too, particularly in the line about Cuddy telling him he’ll have two days at most -- dragging out words in odd places.

- Wilson yelling, “Oh, the HELL he does!” Hee. I love his tendency to talk about people as if they’re not there when he’s with House. He did it in the clinic at the beginning of “Love Hurts,” too, with “Who is this guy?” as if “this guy” weren’t sitting two feet away on the same exam table.

In other news, too bad he said “I’m coming” in such a resigned voice, or else it’d be great for people to dub into their fanvids. I’m sure they’ll do it anyway.

- As they peel out of the parking lot, House says with some glee, “So let’s talk about toxic exposure.” Sure, it makes sense for the differential, but how lovely is it that it also refers to the fact that they’re now trapped with each other in an enclosed space for several hours, minimum?

- “Now the only power I have left? Is the power to annoy you.”

So FVSG says he likes power. As far as explanations/apologies go for the plot device of How To Get House To Spill Some Secrets, it isn’t bad. However, it is odd that he’s so comfortable talking about himself in the past tense. I know he had the vague feeling he’d been out for a long time, but he slips suspiciously easily into this “I used to,” “I liked” phrasing.

House’s little pleased smirk reminds me of the one he gave to Wilson’s back after the cane incident. Take that along with his rueful smile when FVSG later says, “Yeah. It didn’t help,” and you can add FVSG to the short list of people who’ve made House laugh.

- Foreman: “House is a junkie. Junkies do whatever they have to do to get what they need.”

Okay, we get that Foreman thinks House is an addict. We’ve gotten that since at least “Detox.” But what Foreman seems to be missing is that House has never had impulse control. The maybe-addiction is just one way in which House refuses to let anyone stop him in doing his job or dulling his pain.

- Heh, Wilson’s got the directions to Atlantic City memorized. I like how he pulls a Chase, munching and watching the two of them go back and forth in the front seat. He’s looking a little shiny, though, like an oiled animal ready for a show. Kind of disturbing.

Also, okay, I love Wilson in brown, but his tie is ugly in screen shots and kind of on the TV as well, but it’s a cream-colored shirt, and his hair’s ruffly in front, and he’s got brown pants and a dark coat. And he leans. And he gazes. And gazes.

- That story about the buraku seemed awfully perfect, but then when you consider that it’s House’s interpretation of what happened -- that he’s turned it into a story so he can tell his own story, to himself and to others -- it’s forgiveable.

- I didn't believe half of what came out of Kyle's mouth. Everything sounded suspicious or evasive: "Raised by a guardian," sees his father more than anyone, plenty of friends who wouldn't care he's in a hospital, last person he met was the pizza delivery guy, etc. But none of it went anywhere. Red herring, bad acting, unexplored proof that House's motto still flies strong, inconsequential character details...?




The abstract question of whether there’s such a thing as unconditional love did not interest me as much as the shift in House’s attitude toward Wilson’s love for him. And I do mean platonic love. See noydb666’s excellent post for a discussion on that subject.

House: The delusion that fathering a child installs a permanent geyser of unconditional love--
Wilson: Maybe your father’s feelings were conditional; not everyone has--
House: Yes, well, of course that would play into your romantic vision of human--
Wilson: Terms you would understand: We have an evolutionary incentive to sacrifice for our offspring, our tribe, our friends, keep them safe.
House: Except for all the people who don’t. Everything is conditional. Just can’t always anticipate the conditions.

Wilson Translation: You are my friend. I sacrifice to keep you safe. My love for you is unconditional, as proven by the number of times I have stuck by you and protected you to my own detriment despite you being a selfish jerk.

House Translation: Your (supposed) love for me is conditional. The only question is, what are the conditions under which you will leave or betray me?


They address the issue next in the car:

FVSG: You ever love anybody else?
House: No more questions.

There’s been discussion in comments in other people’s posts about whether FVSG intended to turn the discussion toward family or whether he meant Wilson. I suspect he wanted to weasel a confession from House that he cares about Wilson, especially since the man was right there listening. I thought they had cut right to Wilson there, but actually they (pointedly?) don’t cut back to Wilson until several back-and-forths later when the conversation has safely turned to mercury poisoning in the factory.


The next reference:

Wilson: Why steal my pad? [...] I associate with you through choice, and any relationship that involves choice you have to see how far you can push before it breaks. [...] And one day our friendship will break, and that’ll just prove your theory that relationships are conditional and you don’t need human connection or deserve it or whatever goes on in that rat maze of your brain.

Again, over at noydb666's we talked about the quiet tragedy of House and Wilson not believing they deserve love, how that influences their behavior with each other, and the different methods they employ to try to compensate.

Also notable, on a slightly different topic, is the bit of meta there with Wilson saying he associates with House by choice. RSL pointed that out in the cast Q&A at the Museum of whatever-it-was earlier this year, and he said it again in one of those Spanish TV interviews. I wonder if that line of dialogue was Doris Egan incorporating RSL's opinion of their friendship or if in that recent interview RSL was thinking of the script for the episode he'd already filmed.


The absolute kicker, of course, was House's "Maybe I don’t want to push this until it breaks," because in House-speak, that's a declaration of love, beyond the confession of caring in his quiet "They mattered" in "Babies & Bathwater."


Then:

Wilson: Alibi.
House: I figured.
*More sustained eye contact*

Wilson translation: This is me saving your ass again. Because I care about you and want to keep you safe. And this time you wanted to protect me too. So you do care. And this is the most we're ever going to talk about it.




Oh yes, the investigation.

Tritter & Cameron: Where? Somewhere with blinds. Both sitting. Tritter taller. Cameron’s hands folded in her lap.
Key statement: “It’s odd -- you defend him, and he won’t even tell you what’s happening in his life.”
(Reminiscent of Vogler to Chase in “Heavy,” trying to instill hurt and/or mistrust among the Fellows by implying that others are keeping information from them: “Foreman never said anything about talking to me? Interesting.”)

Tritter & Chase: The lab. Tritter standing, leaning on the shelves, stroking his ear, Chase swiveling in a chair; then Tritter pulls up a taller swivel chair.
Key statement: “I think you are stuck lying to the police to cover up something you didn’t wanna do.”
Tritter smirks a little, Chase loses his.
(Discussed this a little with usomitai over in the first post.)

Tritter & Foreman: The lab. Tritter sneaks in behind him, slinking past and standing at his shoulder, a little behind him, half a head taller.
Key statement: “Everybody lies.” He says it and he looks at Foreman until he sees that Foreman’s affected, then leaves to let him stew.




I said to someone this week -- nightdog_barks, maybe -- that I wanted to look at the questions that weren't answered, see who asked them and why the target didn’t answer and where it could have led. This is what I found:

Wilson to FVSG in the car: “Why would a man’s first instinct be to drive away from the only family he’s got?”

House interrupts with a whiny, “Nooo! This isn’t the time for you to do your thing.” (See also Doris Egan’s “House vs. God”: “Wilson! Need you to do your thing.”) Why cut him off? Perhaps because if they’d followed that line of questioning, they would have gotten to the heart of the matter too quickly for us to learn much about House in return, and also avoided the assisted suicide: kid caused the fire, how’d the kid cause the fire, link to maternal line’s genetic condition, bingo, kid’s heart’s still in good enough condition that FVSG doesn’t have to sacrifice himself.

There were two more fruitless attempts on the same topic, both by Wilson:

- “What could he have done that you won’t forgive after ten years when this is your last chance?”
- “So why did you leave?”

It’s not until 48 minutes into the hour that House finally asks, “What happened on the night of the fire?” and gets his clue.


The other big one -- and thank you, nightdog, for pointing out my omission -- was this:

Wilson: Why steal my pad? [...] Why my pad?

We never did get an answer; Wilson launched into that fabulous little monologue about association through choice and House's need to push and push until people leave him, and afterwards House dodged the issue with, "You ask the questions, you answer them, and you make tasty treats!" (quoted from memory)

Why steal Wilson's scrips? I think other people have answered this already: House was punishing Wilson for The Lie about House actually having cured Wheelchair Guy. (ETA: pun pointed out that House stole the pad before finding out Wilson lied to him, so that reasoning doesn't work.) Stealing from his underlings wouldn't have been as challenging or as perversely satisfying.

The next question would be, why have Wilson's question go unanswered in the episode? Does House's "I don't want to push this until it breaks" also work as an apology? Or does he still want Wilson to regret denying him his medication? Or both? Or something else?


The only other unanswered question I caught was from FVSG to House: “How often were you in my room?” I’d like to know the answer, since we’ve only seen House with “our” coma guy, but I don’t think the aborted line of questioning here was going to lead anywhere critical. And Wilson’s alternative certainly did turn out to be better, as he’d claimed.


Oh, and there was also this misdirection I wanted to bring up:

House: Deep down, Wilson believes that if he cares enough, he’ll never have to die.

The second half turns the first into a joke, and right afterwards House and Wilson bicker for a moment about "normal." But look at the first half and imagine where it could have gone if Wilson got more attention: "Deep down, Wilson believes that if he cares enough," then what? He'll be loved? Forgiven? Redeemed? Worth something?




Questions:

1. When he’s telling FVSG that he gets one big question after the next round of family history-taking, House concludes with an invitation to “Destroy my privacy. My dignity,” and shoots Wilson a significant long look. Why?


2. Why did Wilson make that sandwich?

House: You thought that this guy was emotionally confused and the hoagie was just a mask to hide his real feelings towards his son.
Wilson: It was.
House: And yet you moved Heaven and Earth to get him that mask with mustard and prosciutto. [...] You think that my addiction is out of hand -- your need to be needed is so strong that you’ll give people what they want, what they need, what you think they need...

Wilson has to keep everyone appeased. He gets on the phone again because the sandwich ingredients were brought up with white bread slices, not a hoagie roll. But there's more to it here -- something about FVSG in particular that had Wilson "moving Heaven and Earth" to get his mask.

FVSG: Why are you so concerned about me?

All the attention was supposed to be on how much House was like FVSG, but being a Wilson-watcher, I was fascinated by the ways in which Wilson saw himself in the man. Following that logic, Wilson was so determined to get the man his sandwich in part because he was helping himself keep that mask on.

I mean, did anyone hear Wilson’s “You’re a disappointment” without thinking that he was talking about himself? Wilson has said things before that indicate he views himself as a disappointment, such as (surprise!) in “House vs. God” when he says, “It is possible to believe in something and still fail to live up to it.” Conveniently, his next statement this week draws the attention away from himself and onto House, as he accuses FVSG, “You act as though you don’t need anybody.”

This comparison is strengthened when FVSG breaks down and says, “I failed to keep my family safe. I couldn’t stop the fire, I couldn’t save my wife. Now you want me to stick around watching while I fail to save my son.” Reimagine this as Wilson and you can see where he derives his sympathy from, whether consciously or not. Wilson failed to keep his brother safe. He couldn't save his marriages. Now he's failing to save his friend. He’s a disappointment to himself, and he may think he's a disappointment to his loved ones, whom he thinks he's let down. Again, the focus was on FVSG as a father and on House's relationship with his father, but I wish we'd had a glimpse of Wilson's relationship with his father and/or other family members.

And Wilson urging FVSG to meet with his son could echo Wilson's own regret that he didn't have a chance to say goodbye to his brother before he disappeared, trying to get this guy to reconcile with a family member in a way he didn't have a chance to or didn't take advantage of: “You might be able to have a few minutes with him before you lapse. [...] this is your last chance...” One might ask, what did Wilson's brother do that he hasn't forgiven him after ten years?



3. Why did Wilson come along? In the meta sense, that is, not the "oh my God an unstable license-less patient is taking my Volvo for a joyride with a reckless drug user as the only other passenger" sense. I keep coming back to that shot of the three of them sitting around the sandwich on the table. Why these three? Why not just FVSG and House or just House and Wilson?

- FVSG was a catalyst and kept House honest.

- Wilson was a witness to House's confessions, so that they meant something (as opposed to only going into the ear of a man who'd soon lapse into a persistent vegetative state – remember House's comment in the car earlier that it didn't matter that he'd revealed that Wilson had lied to the cops because there were no repercussions for this doomed one-man audience). And he secured the alibi.

- House needed to be pushed to that admission of love.



Okay, it's now Friday morning and I've got meetings to go to. Will come back.

(The usual list of commentaries & post-ep fic will continue to be updated at the bottom of the first half of the recap.)

Comments

[theninth.livejournal.com]

I think both House and Wilson have issues with their families. It's been hinted at with Wilson and more obviously stated with House, but we've never really seen the scope of it. Obviously House feels like his dad thinks he's a disappointment. It's been ages, so I'd have to go back and rewatch the episode where House's parents come to dinner, but I think Wilson even says something about it to Cameron when she asks why his parents would be disappointed in him.

Like you, I'm a Wilson-watcher. I think the secondary storyline is really more about him. It's "House MD" because the focus is on the medical, but the continuing underlying storyline seems to be "What's up with Wilson". It probably doesn't hurt that RSL is a childhood friend of Bryan Singer's, and it really doesn't hurt that RSL and HL are both amazingly good actors, but even the writers know (have always known) that the core of the stories are House and Wilson.

We've never met Wilson's parents. We don't know how they feel about him, but the evidence seems to point to Wilson thinking they're disappointed in him. They might not even be disappointed, but he at least assumes they are. He probably does feel responsible for the missing brother. He feels responsible for the end of his marriages.

He's clearly not happy and is punishing himself by living in a hotel. House is clearly not happy and copes with it by keeping his mind active. It's probably how he always was, but he overcompensates for his now limited physical activity by increasing his mental activity. He adds and Wilson subtracts.

The only thing House and Wilson really have that they can rely on is each other and I think they hate that as much as they love it. That's why House is always pushing. Stacy left. His father thinks he's a disappointment. How long will it be before Wilson goes, too. House doesn't form attachments and when he does, he does what he can to destroy them. Wilson even said it. "And one day our friendship will break, and that’ll just prove your theory that relationships are conditional." And House tells him bluntly that he doesn't want it to break. That's as close to "I love you" as either of them will (or should) get.

This is why I 'ship House/Wilson. I don't even care if it's never a romantic/sexual 'ship.

Even with all the unanswered questions, a lot of questions were still answered. This is really one of the best episodes they have ever written.

Sure the medical stuff was basically fluff. Big deal. This episode wasn't about the medical. It was about the relationships.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

"This morning I realized that what I liked best about this episode is how much it came to resemble a play. Three characters in an enclosed space -- first a car, then a hotel room -- for an extended period of time, deconstructing each other, engaged in a self-imposed game..."

Weren't you the one who told me you disliked Tape? O.o


"However, it is odd that he’s so comfortable talking about himself in the past tense."

I think some people are just ... like that. I do it sometimes. Talk about myself as someone who doesn't really exist anymore, even though I clearly am. It's kind of sad, now that I think about it... I'll have to tuck that thought away to bring up at my next therapy session. Heh. x_x


You know... While I was watching, I had an answer to your Question Number One. It made sense to me at the time. And now that you've brought it up again, I'm wondering why, too. Dammit... Hopefully I'll remember eventually, or something someone else says will trigger my memory. Fingers crossed.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Weren't you the one who told me you disliked Tape?

Yeah, but that's because everyone was obnoxious and the direction was too frenetic and the camerawork was at times headache-inducing. The dialogue itself, the concept, the setup, were great. I think I'd have liked it on stage, just not in Richard Linklater's hands.

I had an answer to your Question Number One. It made sense to me at the time.

*Musing...* House making sure Wilson acknowledges the significance of his willingness to let FSVG probe his innermost insecurities in front of Wilson?

[theninth.livejournal.com]

I thought House was hoping FSVG would say "Why did you steal his prescription pad" or something relating to that topic.

[silsbee329.livejournal.com]

Hi- I'm looking forward to reading this later, but just wanted to pop in and answer the ep title question: It's "Son of Coma Guy". I think it's a play on old B movie titles like "Son of Kong".

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

... that I wanted to look at the questions that weren't answered, see who asked them and why the target didn’t answer and where it could have led.

I don't believe Wilson's question as to why his prescription pad was ever answered, either. I think House either made a quip or turned the conversation in another direction, but I don't think the question was ever ultimately answered.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks. I checked a few resources on Tuesday, and some said one and some said the other. Now the Fox recap is up and it agrees with you.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Oh, jeez, did I leave that out? *checks* Yep. And that was the big one. Will fix.

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

Does House's "I don't want to push this until it breaks" also work as an apology?

I think House might have been showing regret here--because IIRC he says this after he tells Wilson to leave the room so he can counsel PVSG on suicide methods. To me it seemed he didn't want Wilson to get into any more trouble than he already is, on House's behalf. Perhaps a throwback to the "two things that work anymore" speech in "Babies and Bathwater," because if Wilson stayed, he'd be willfully risking his job. (Which, as it turns out, he does, simply by setting up the alibi.)

PVSG's the catalyst for us too, the viewers, so that we now know what is at stake for House if he continues on his downward spiral. (If we didn't know it before.) Hammers the point home. Anything that House does in later episodes to alienate Wilson, will be like cutting his own throat. I think (hope) that House realizes what's at stake now too.

I'm struck by how Doris Egan used this particular plot device to ferret out the truths. The hotel room felt remarkably claustrophobic. House and PVSG are huge personalities, so something had to boil over.

And the sandwich? I hope I don't sound trite, but the proverb "The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach" seems to ring here. Food is one of the strongest declarations of love. Wilson wasn't doing it for PVSG here, he was doing it for House, saying "you care about PVSG and I care about you, so I will get him his sandwich." Clumsy and indirect though it was.

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

What a great list of questions for discussion! I'm in heaven.

1. When he’s telling FVSG that he gets one big question after the next round of family history-taking, House concludes with an invitation to “Destroy my privacy. My dignity,” and shoots Wilson a significant long look. Why?

My initial take on it was that House was worried the "big question" would be about his relationship with Wilson. But it could also be that, like Wilson, he's a very private person and revealing any personal information is painful to him. Revealing it to Wilson at a moment when their relationship is strained might be scary to House because his sense of self-worth is all wrapped up in his pride and need to be right. He could fear that any real info he reveals would be the straw that broke Wilson's back and drives him away.

2. Why did Wilson make that sandwich?

I think your analysis hits the nail on the head. Wilson sees himself as a disappointment and so identifies with FVSG. And as House almost says, Wilson seems to think that if he cares enough, somehow everything that is wrong in the world would be put right (Wilson would be worthy of being loved, House would accept that love, and people wouldn't betray you or leave you in the many ways they do).

I would love to know more about the Wilson family dynamics. I suspect the missing brother was older and had always been a problem in the family, and that Wilson probably ended up overcompensating--trying to be the perfect child to make up his brother and to spare his parents pain (and also, of course, to make himself worthy of having some attention paid to him, since he was most likely ignored or passed over because he wasn't a problem kid).

The absolute kicker, of course, was House's "Maybe I don’t want to push this until it breaks," because in House-speak, that's a declaration of love, beyond the confession of caring in his quiet "They mattered" in "Babies & Bathwater."

Very true. I didn't go far enough in my analysis of this, I think. I wrote about how it showed that House cared very deeply, because I was thinking of the situation through House's eyes. I don't think he would ever use the word love to himself when it came to his feelings for Wilson. He's so committed to the idea that it doesn't exist (or at least not for him), that it wouldn't be in his mental vocabulary. But I agree that his statement here is really a declaration of love. That's why this episode was so wonderful.

Sorry about the long comment!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I think Wilson even says something about it to Cameron when she asks why his parents would be disappointed in him.

Yes, "Daddy's Boy" – and Wilson says it's because there's nothing worse than seeing your son be miserable.

It probably doesn't hurt that RSL is a childhood friend of Bryan Singer's,

Is he really? (Source handy?) That's promising for continued attention to Wilson.

and it really doesn't hurt that RSL and HL are both amazingly good actors,

(Both in spectacular form this week)

the continuing underlying storyline seems to be "What's up with Wilson". […] even the writers know (have always known) that the core of the stories are House and Wilson.

Well, that's certainly the way I've been watching the show, but I'm not always convinced the writers intend to focus on Wilson as much as we do. He gets brought up a few times a season and then he's dropped again. Doris Egan is one who knows how to treat 'im right.

Agree with your analysis of Wilson, as usual. Some of my favorite fics explore his guilt and loneliness, and the way his insecurities feed off House's and vice versa.

He adds and Wilson subtracts. -- Cool way to put it.

I think Wilson's heading for rock bottom this season, and if that's the case, it'll be fascinating to see how he builds himself back up. I'd say the same for House but he was supposed to have hit bottom at the end of last season and, well, the building-up sort of happened off-screen and the leveling-off leveled too quickly afterwards.

Stacy left. His father thinks he's a disappointment. How long will it be before Wilson goes, too. House doesn't form attachments and when he does, he does what he can to destroy them.

Because if he pushes them away, he's in control of the relationship; he's not getting left, he's forcing them to leave, saving himself the heartbreak of someone else making the decision that he's not worth staying around. That's what we saw in "Need to Know" -- having manipulated Stacy into admitting her feelings for him and saying she wanted to stay, House told her to leave. And that's what we've seen all through the series with his shoddy treatment of Wilson, especially when they were living together. It's very sad to think that it's all stemming from his depression and lack of self-confidence. Nothing new, of course, but it was handled so well this week.

That's as close to "I love you" as either of them will (or should) get. / This is why I 'ship House/Wilson. I don't even care if it's never a romantic/sexual 'ship.

YES. This episode was all about the love that House won't outright admit to or let Wilson admit to. One of the reasons I've (so far) avoided pointing out all the slashy subtext is that that stuff is mostly silliness, whereas here we've been given insight into/confirmation of the actual (platonic, caring) relationship they've got. The romantic/sexual stuff can happily remain in the realm of fanfic. (Though I have always gotten a vibe off Wilson that he's nursing a thing for House, and I am convinced, no matter what RSL tries to pass off in interviews, that HL and RSL play with that sort of subtext when they shoot.)

This is really one of the best episodes they have ever written.

Ohhhh, yes. Between this and "House vs. God," Doris Egan has my undying love. This episode's dramatic impact may lessen over time, but you know we'll be pulling things out of it for a while, not to mention coming back to it in later episodes. And in fic. I hope the somewhat more complicated nature of this episode's explanations for Wilson's behavior will produce equivalently more complicated fanfic than the wash of "Wilson needs neediness!!!" stories we got after "House vs. God."

[theninth.livejournal.com]

Oops. Bryan Singer's a childhood friend of Ethan Hawke's. I do know he has a friendship with RSL though. I'll have to check when I get home to see if it's on the DVDs or on something from YouTube, but I'm pretty sure he said something about reading for the part of Wilson, wanting the part of Wilson, and knowing they already had him in mind for Wilson. He said something along the lines of "For once I was actually reading for the part I wanted".

I do think Wilson has some sort of a thing for House. I don't know if it's Wilson thinking if he can save House he can atone for his missing brother or if it's anything more than platonic, but it's so obviously there. Just the way they look at each other and the body language between them. That would have to be a conscious decision on the part of the actors. Which again just points out how good they are (unless they really are smitten with each other (kidding!)). I also think that if they ever want to introduce it on the show it should be in the final episode. The last episode ever. "And then House and Wilson realised they were in love. Fade to black and send the crew home."

[bell]

While that sort of stuff annoyed me in “No Reason,” here I could forgive it because the rest was just so damn gripping.

Like Doris Egan said, "I will tell you frankly that if running with a long shot will get me House, Wilson, and an interesting guest character into a hotel room in Atlantic City, I will run all day." I do love her. :D

Oooh, I like your interpretation of the play scenario. This episode did feel different from a House episode, with so much of it taking place outside the hospital. (I was excited during the entire convenience store scene for no reason other than it was in a CONVENIENCE STORE. That, and I was laughing at House & his hat.)

Hee. I love his tendency to talk about people as if they’re not there when he’s with House.

I hadn't noticed that! He's in his own world with House, even if House isn't there with him

The second half turns the first into a joke, and right afterwards House and Wilson bicker for a moment about "normal."

I guess we'll never know. But we can speculate away! I'd say that the answer, based on what the series has had so far, is that if he cares enough, he can protect/help those he loves. We could also say that if he loves enough, he'll be loved back?

I do not know what to make of Wilson's shininess. I took it as another sign of his inherit dorkiness. (Get the man outside of his natural habitat, the hospital, and all his grooming skills go to waste.)

why have Wilson's question go unanswered in the episode?

Because it's far more interesting this way? Because there's not a single answer? (We get two in this episode: Foreman's "he's a junkie" and Wilson's "to test me.") Because House would never answer that fully and honestly? No wonder Wilson gave the answer, because if he doesn't come up with his own theory, House would provide him with something like "I was dying to dot your 'i' with a heart."

I mean, did anyone hear Wilson’s “You’re a disappointment” without thinking that he was talking about himself?

Oh! I thought he'd be snidely alluding to House, but yours makes much more sense.

Love your point three, about needing Wilson there so that House's confessions wouldn't evaporate into thin air as soon as FVSG died. Without the witness, it would have felt empty. (During those scenes I kept wondering how much of all this Wilson already knew.)

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

I loved the 'translations'. Also, drawing the parallels between FVSG and Wilson. Hmmm - very interesting! Everyone tends to focus so much on House that it's easy to miss possibilities like this. Although I suppose the 'hotel room' comment was a bit of a hint - I actually almost didn't listen to the second half of that sentence because I was instantly convinced Wilson was talking about himself.

[stephantom.livejournal.com]

That, and I was laughing at House & his hat.

lol I love House's hat so much.

[stephantom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you're right. It was contrived, but... Let's face it, House pretty much always is, and for some reason I didn't mind in this episode.

The FVS guy talking about himself in the past tense - he did say that he felt like a lot of time had gone by, that he knew he didn't just wake up the day after the fire. So he had enough of a sense of time for him to feel natural talking about the time when he had a job in past tense.

But what Foreman seems to be missing is that House has never had impulse control. The maybe-addiction is just one way in which House refuses to let anyone stop him in doing his job or dulling his pain.

Mm, good point.

And about Kyle sounding suspicious... I think, it wasn't that he was lying, it was that he knew the facts of his life sounded pathetic and was trying to be nonchalant about it and state them like they were vaguely amusing.

Very good point about Wilson getting close to what would have solved the case several times. And even before the guy left, Wilson was curious about him not wanting to know about his son - and that's when that unconditional love argument first came up. It's frustrating that House could have overlooked the answer so long - you'd think that the father not wanting to be near his son would be something out of hte ordinary enough for him to think, "Huh. Odd. Significant?" However, it's his belief that it's not really out of the ordinary for a father to not care about his kid that makes him overlook it. House's negatively skewed perception of the world hurts his problem-solving. It's interesting because in the past, the show has tended to portray the opposite.

[thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention, I love getting real!Wilson in the presence of somebody not House (or Houselings). He was uncharacteristically critical of this guy, especially as the man was a patient. Your theory of identification sounds as good an explanation as any for it.

[costarring.livejournal.com]

A few disorganized thoughts on reading this, having followed a fic to your journal:

My impression, and I feel this was bolstered by House's antics with the envelope diagnosis this week, was that he strongly suspected and indeed was putting Wilson off from getting to the heart of the matter too quickly.

I might have missed it...did you touch on what, to me, was the most significant unanswered question? FVSG asked if he'd loved anyone besides Stacey, and House was very quick to refuse to answer. I think there was a cut to Wilson, in fact.

I don't think House was dodging when he said "you answer the questions", but that he was agreeing.

I think that House blames Wilson for violating his dignity by holding out on him -- forcing him to steal and forge to get what he needed. And he considers it a huge breach of loyalty for Wilson to use his power in that way.