I could certainly use some happy pills this morning, RSH. I see I also missed Namaste and Chippers discussing this very thing up thread. ::mod smacks self, pours another obviously much needed cup of coffee:: Mea culpa, y'all.

But, but... he bought Wilson's breakfast and delivered it in a cute, hilarious and very Housian way. He was sincerely happy because Wilson was back and he tried to pretend to be supportive about that whole 'new someone' - yes, it was an act but he tried his best to control himself in Wilson's presence. They have plans to spend more time together - bowling, poker nights. Like Poeia said he was making an effort, and this counts! House will always be House and their relationship will always be screwed up, but there are some changes, it's subtle, but it's there. ITA, of course they're relationship is not going to drastically change. They're still going to play games, House is still going to be possessive, but I think they're making little steps to improving and that's what I was hoping to see. House buying Wilson a doughnut was great to me. He was so excited to have Wilson back and he showed it in a very Houselike way, but at least he showed it, he made an effort. He didn't fly off the handle when Wilson gave him the "I'm dating a prostitute" line. Yes, he followed him around, but in the past he would tell Wilson how wrong he was for dating whoever, (Wendy, Cuddy, Amber) and this time he kept his mouth shut. And Wilson happily played along and told House the truth at the end. No major changes, but I don't expect there to be. Last week, Wilson told House that he does have fun with him, so it makes sense that they spent this week actually having fun messing with each other, they both enjoy it. As has been said, Wilson was only lying for Cuddy. All that says to me is that he was respecting her privacy, not that he wanted to shut House out of his life. Personally, I'm gld they didn't drag out the "Wilson's gone" part any longer because based on AE, I saw no indication that House was going to give it anymore thought, let alone take anymore action to change it. Maybe things aren't perfect for them, they never will be, but I'm seeing an improvement in their relationship and I hope this pattern continue.

In particular House realizes Wilson's fear of losing House and Wilson admiting that and also that he does have fun with House. House will hopefully take both into consideration and tone down what he does that jeopardizes things and puts more emphasis on enjoying and being enjoyed by Wilson. That would make them both happier and on its own lessen House's need for or indifference to playing fast and lose with his health, well being and life so much of the time. Although I imagine that he will risk himself in some way in the future and then we'll have to see Wilson's response to that.

House will hopefully take both into consideration and tone down what he does that jeopardizes things and puts more emphasis on enjoying and being enjoyed by Wilson. That would make them both happier and on its own lessen House's need for or indifference to playing fast and lose with his health, well being and life so much of the time. Yeah! That'd be great. I didn't mean that I wanted them to majorly change their relationship, but if House takes both into consideration then that could be a "big enough" change to show that he (and even Wilson) is trying to make their friendship just that little bit better than it was. Maybe I was jumping the gun in saying that their friendship hasn't shown much change. After all, it's only been one episode since Wilson's return. But, in regards to their friendship, I hope this season shows alot of growth between them. The season is going good so far, but that'd be the icing on the cake for me.

I really liked this ep. It had a lot of crazy shit in it, but none of it rang false to me. Def not something I wanted to watch with my Dad! OW manages to make lesbian sex boring. I fear this is such a clear cut case of a drop dead gorgeous actress being hired cause she's just that. And not much more. I certainly don't hate her or mind her all that much. But just no charisma. She could be written out and I don't even think I'd notice she was gone.

....I think that one mistake the writers are comitting this season is giving way too much screentime to boring characters like Thirteen and Taub, and not enough screentime to characters who are actually pretty funny. Like Kutner and Lucas. Specially Kutner. He needs his own special episode where he saves the day NOW!

I watched the episode again, and I liked it better. Still not one of my favorites even in this short season, but the acting wasn't as bad as I thought at first. Nor was the writing. I actually thought OW did okay. It has to be accepted that, having given her a terminal diagnosis, they can't just let it hang there. That would seem really lame. My question would be why they gave such a big plot development to a character who is and should be a support. They virtually guaranteed that she would have to have a major presence in some episodes. I think they revealed the HC too soon. They should have developed the character in others ways first, so there would be more of a personal investment on our parts. IMO this, rather than acting ability, is why some feel the arc would have been better coming from another Duckling. I keep wondering how different things would be if it hadn't been for the strike.

Didn't we miss some episodes that would have taken place prior to HH? We did, and I think that was unfortunate for the development of the new characters and the integration of the old ones. Both DS and KJ said that they had to cut storylines they had intended to develop for both teams in order to concentrate on the House/Wilson/Amber storyline--they cut the Huddy for the same reason. With the Huddy, it didn't matter--that storyline hadn't really been raised in any significant way and House and Cuddy already have a relationship viewers are familiar with and most appreciate. With the old team, it left them dangling and unintegrated into the episodes in a disturbing way, and with the new team, it left them with their initial characteristics without any development for too long. With Kutner, it didn't matter as much because he's obviously going to follow the Chase pattern of development--not a lot of big storylines but consistent small development that the actor makes the most of. With Taub, it mattered a little more, because we needed to get invested in his marital woes and we had to wait a long time past Ugly to see what his arc is going to be. And with Thirteen it mattered most of all because she was supposed to be closed off and pushing everyone away, which is fine for her arc, but the audience needs to see into her to connect. I think this season we're getting that closer look at all the newbies, but it would have been a lot better to have gotten it the second half of last season. Nonetheless, I think now that we are getting it, more viewers will find their points of connection with the team. Many already have it with Kutner, I noticed a lot of positive posts on various forums for Taub after his big episode and this last ep has drawn more posts from people who like Thirteen's story--not necessarily here :D . I liked last ep and thought Olivia Wilde played it very well. The biggest issues for me were the writers deciding to give so much screen time to her, which I don't think is necessary, and the argument House gave for her choosing women was not as well constructed as it might have been.