5.01 - Dying Changes Everything

I did not see her aching for Wilson, no way. Her "Go to hell"? Who (other than possibly House) says that to a grieving friend? Let the man be snippy with you for a damn second, if you care about him at all. But I don't think she sees him as a friend, just as an employee and a House wrangler. I think she was just caught off guard. Wilson doesn't usually have such extreme reactions to things either of them say. Not that that excuse lets her off the hook -- I was more surprised by her reaction than his, but there is a reason. It was obviously more knee-jerk than calculated.

My first reaction was that there was definitely not enough House. What the hell? I know they have a bigger cast now and everyone needs their screen time and place in the plot but come on...there's gotta be more House than that from where I'm sitting. Not everybody will agree with that I'm sure but I definitely need more of him per episode. The last scene killed...I barely even heard what Wilson was saying I was so focused on House's face. He said more with that face than pretty much all of the other characters combined during the whole episode. Again though...might be alone on that one. He just looked totally wrecked. And the limp looked so bad when he walked back into his apartment after slamming the door on Cuddy...first clue I guess that House has been hurting emotionally the whole time. Not that I didn't think he would be...but I love that HL (and the writers and directors) always show that House's head and heart pain shows through his body movements. Those two scenes were my faves.

For the first time ever, I walked out of the room while the show was still on to do some things around the house. WAY too much 13. Meh on the POTW. Only thing I was interested in was the House Wilson stuff. I did like the scene with Cam and Wilson, and Chase's last scene. For a season opener, I thought it was a weak episode, other than the last scene of course This pretty much sums up tonight's viewing experience for me as well. It was bad enough that there was so much 13, but there were several consecutive scenes with her up front and center with no relief in between. That's definitely channel-changing time for me - I could watch the Indians bat during that time. Besides overdosing on Thirteen, the thing that bugged me the most about this episode was that House had been pretty much a jerk through the whole thing, but that last remark from Wilson was intended to make people feel sorry for him. I felt really manipulated because I don't want Wilson to be made the "bad guy" in order for House to get sympathy. Wilson needs to come watch Season 1 with me and see all that great friends goodness. They enjoyed each other's company back then - remember when House bought the Monster Truck tickets? One more comment about tonight's episode. If that had been the first episode I had ever seen of House, I would never watch another one.

House got the dx (though how? It went right over my head.) I disliked that they had him abandoning the patient because of Wilson, though. Give me back the old House who would do the job even while strung out or trying to detox. I wonder if he didn't have the dx before he bailed. During the pregnancy argument, after all, he seemed not to be paying attention -- but in fact already had the answer and knew where they'd gone wrong. The only other time I can think of where's he's seemed to be abandoning the patient (as opposed to being kicked off the case) is 97S, where he did know the diagnosis from the beginning. Would also explain why he showed up again when he did, even though Wilson hadn't capitulated and Cuddy hadn't come up with any new threats. Chase probably called him and reported that the new ducks were about to kill their patient with a misdiagnosis. :-)

Besides overdosing on Thirteen, the thing that bugged me the most about this episode was that House had been pretty much a jerk through the whole thing, but that last remark from Wilson was intended to make people feel sorry for him. I felt really manipulated because I don't want Wilson to be made the "bad guy" in order for House to get sympathy. 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.

Wilson needs to come watch Season 1 with me and see all that great friends goodness. They enjoyed each other's company back then - remember when House bought the Monster Truck tickets? And Wilson ditched him to have dinner with Stacy (such an asshole move), and House went with Cameron. :( :( :(

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. Wilson was absolutely right in his description of his relationship with House. House uses him and manipulates him and he enables House. And, if he wants to break the pattern he has to change something. What he didn't recognize is that "Maybe I can help" was House's way of saying he also wants to break the pattern but has no idea how to do it.

I really liked this episode myself. I can't say Thirteen is doing anything to endure herself to me and I have to agree with everyone else was there way too much of her in this show. But I did enjoy the flow of this episode and I loved Chase in it. Kutner was great and Taub is starting to grow on me. I really liked Cameron's part in it as well (it was a good use of her character). I have to say my heart broke for House in the final scene and I have to admit I am kinda mad at Wilson (don't hate , just mad at). I definitely feel for his grief and understand his need to get away from House, but it was one thing to tell House they were not friends any more but quite another for Wilson to tell House that he did not think they had ever been friends. You can't tell me that was not intended to be hurtful.

Wilson is far from being my favorite character, and when I think of Meaning and a few other eps, he has a nerve saying House isn't good for him. But even I was tearing up in their last scene together. In general, House isn't good for him. Wilson's not always good for House either, but there are far more episodes of House using Wilson than Wilson using House. Far more. In quantity, maybe, but I would dispute the quality of the bad treatment going from House to Wilson versus the other way around. House treats Wilson poorly, as he treats everyone poorly; Wilson is supposed to be the nice guy and is the nice guy with others. But he betrays House when House is at his most vulnerable. It seems more deliberate. I've never liked the character since Meaning. ETA, I truly don't understand the hate for 13. She didn't spoil the episode for me at all. I do wish they hadn't seen fit to give her a terminal diagnosis, but it's not her fault. IMO she handled the episode well. Sure, I'd rather House would be onscreen more than 13, but they brought this up in the last episode and it seems fitting to deal with it right away. One of the things I liked in this episode was that all of the characters seemed pretty organic to me. Chase and Cameron didn't seem forced into it, and I enjoyed their scenes without the jarring feeling I sometimes got last year. YMMV, of course.

In quantity, maybe, but I would dispute the quality of the bad treatment going from House to Wilson versus the other way around. House treats Wilson poorly, as he treats everyone poorly; Wilson is supposed to be the nice guy and is the nice guy with others. But he betrays House when House is at his most vulnerable. Ooh I agree with this so much peggy!! I still like Wilson and his friendship with House is important to me as a viewer but I totally agree with your take on this. And I haven't been able to look at Wilson the same exact way since Meaning either. I feel for him that Amber died and I don't think he's wrong to wanna change his life but when all is said and done...my main sympathies just don't lie with him. Crushing House like that never endears anybody to me...what can I say? I'm predictable that way! :D

In some ways, I was happy to see the writers put POTW back into her old job. ... Here, they threw us a twist that is probably more in keeping with reality. It was depressing but it was real. And made it feel like a House episode. It's too bad the 13-POTW connection never really clicked. I disliked that they had him abandoning the patient because of Wilson, though. Very out of character for House. Was it supposed to prove that Wilson is the most important thing to House? He already proved that when nearly died trying to save Amber!!! Maybe TPTB thought it was necessary to show us how determined 13 is, but it just made House look like a jerk. His dedication to his work is one of his most redeeming qualities. Did TPTB forget that Cameron married in college? It was a glaring error. And the line about a scarf reminding her of PDH's eyes made me cringe. But I still liked the scene between Cameron and Wilson. It worked in spite of the bad writing, due to the back story of the characters.

I also appreciate the fact that at least she tried to get them talking, even if the attempt failed. I sympathize with her, but I kind of blame her for the ending mess too. Invariably, when she tries to use either House's or Wilson's methods against either one of them, she causes more damage than she cures. Here, she tried to use both methods against both of them, and the result is massive fail. If House had gone with his instincts that apologizing wouldn't do any good, Wilson would still have left, but House's heart wouldn't have been quite as shattered. You manipulate people because you can't handle any kind of real relationship. A rather ironic judgment coming from the thrice-divorced master manipulator. Not to mention that he's enjoyed the games and played his fair share of them, and haven't we seen him drunk just as often as House? I'd almost rather he said he was leaving because he blamed House. Blaming House would be wrong and inappropriate, especially when he's had two months to come to his senses, and his line about trying to blame House is much more believable. But blaming him would still make more sense to me and be more sympathy-inducing than his speech here, which I can't make myself take at face value. I can't help thinking that speech is just more running away from what he's really feeling. I almost wish Wilson would leave. From the audience standpoint, I'd be disappointed to lose him, but if this weren't a show and just a 'verse, I'd want him to leave. And come back a couple years later, when he's learned the hard way that friends whose homes you can show up at late at night with a suitcase and no prior warning aren't quite as easy to come by as Wilson apparently thinks. No matter how good a cook you are.

Oy. Talk about being underwhelmed.... Things seemed off to me. Too much melodrama, bordering on cliched for me. "We were never friends." :roll: One more comment about tonight's episode. If that had been the first episode I had ever seen of House, I would never watch another one.Sadly, I agree Lilly. I miss my show!! :(

I thought the last scene with House and Wilson was worth the price of admission. They both did a wonderful job and good for the writer for having Wilson say a few home truths to House. It won't last but it was good to hear for once. I was meh on the patient story. And I'm tired of the subplot of the doctor who needs to save the patient because of her own personal issues. We saw it with Cuddy in Humpty Dumpty, Finding Judas and Fetal Position and Cameron in Acceptance. Can't they come up with something different for the women doctors? Also, I don't care about 13 so her dilemma isn't going to touch me. Chase was great in the second scene when he refused to do the surgery and told them to stop standing there like idiots. Cameron was good in the scene with House and JM nailed the scene with RSL. Her statement to do something if he has to but there's no right answer was what Wilson needed to hear, also that she had told House to go to hell. I see why Shore thinks Chase and Cameron are more effective in their current roles but we don't see enough of them. Even Foreman was good when he told Wilson to do what was best for him and get out. Maybe Cameron changed colleges while she was quitting her job. More likely a case of bad canon. while there was a little too much 13, at least she has a reason -- Huntington's -- to self-personalize everything, compared to Cameron with Cindy Lou Who, which bugged me far, far, far, more.) When things bug you, you can give them more weight than they deserve. Cameron's time with Cindy Lou was about one third of 13's with this patient, most of the episode was House/Stacy and House/Foreman/patient. Cameron's problem ws dealing with death but she resolved it in 3 episodes over 3 seasons. Thirteen will take many more episodes.

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