House Premiere -- my thoughts :P

[darkdreamer]

Okay, wow....

*wipes the tears from my eyes so I can see to type*

I thought this episode was brilliant from start to finish, and while spoilers about how heavy it was on Thirteen's issues made me apprehensive, I actually loved her in this.

My first thoughts on House were that he seemed exceptionally hard and bitter, moreso than usual, and I knew it was all defense... He's more vulnerable than usual, and therefore must appear to be *less* vulnerable...

I loved Cuddy's attempts to reconcile them, and I disagreed with Foreman's assessment that it was purely for selfish reasons. Yes, her life gets harder if Wilson goes, but I think she genuinely cares about both of them -- as I think is oddly evidenced by her "Go to hell" comment to Wilson. I think his remarks assigning selfish motives to her efforts was so offensive and hurtful to her as to make her respond that way.

I actually wasn't angry at Wilson at all this episode, though I expected to be. I felt sympathy for him from the start, because he was cool, distant, with House, but wasn't being deliberately hurtful. Judging from the last scene, as well as the scenes before it between him and House, it seems to me like he feels like he's so deeply entrenched in this unhealthy, codependent relationship that in order to break the cycle and stop enabling, stop feeding his own addiction to being needed -- he has to just get away completely. I think he feels like he couldn't stay and try to change things, because they'd inevitably fall back into their same patterns.

House had one line that made me cringe, because I think for Wilson it only served to seal his decision. When House gave him his pager and Wilson made the comment, "You have to do what's right for you, and I have to do what's right for me" and House said "But I'm better at it"

Gah!!!

He couldn't have said a worse thing. All that served to do was to prove the point Wilson had already come to.

I feel like there was a lot of truth to Wilson's ending monologue, although it was painful. He's been enabling House for years now, and ultimately, it's not good for either of them. I think that he will inevitably come back to a place where they can be friends, but for now, it's probably good for House to have to stand on his own for a while. Addicts will take and take and take, and make no efforts to solve their problem, as long as someone is there making it easy and comfortable for them to do so. Sometimes the only thing that will help them to change is to have that support system pulled out from under them.

This did utterly break my heart, and yes, I wanted to hold both House and Wilson and make it all better - but it's going to take time, and I'm looking forward to the whole long, detailed, painful, angsty, beautiful process!! :)

*hugs*
DoS

Comments

[stlyn.livejournal.com]

Wilson's speech at the end made my jaw drop...and it stayed that way for a few minutes.

I actually thought he was surprisingly friendly toward House...and everyone else, really...throughout the episode. I kept thinking "WHY ARE YOU SMILING!?"...but figured "hey, maybe it's good and they can stay friends when he moves!"...which is heartbreaking now that I think of it, because House seemed to think pretty much the same thing at the end, right before Wilson yanked the rug out from under him.

I'm sort of pleased with how they're handling House's team...last season, I'd classified them as the "new" members of House's old team (Kutner is New Chase, Taub and Amber are New Foreman, 13 is New Cameron)...but 13 at least doesn't quite fit that category. I'm extremely glad she's not TOO much like Cameron...though she does seem to have a similar plot in some ways. I think I'll be able to look past it and still like her. Kutner is still like a baby Chase, though. :) Which is awesome, you can never have too much Chase.

I think we can know for sure, based on the promo, that Wilson will be back...maybe not, but I mean, he's leaving now and we know later they're in a car together. So he comes back for awhile at least...I figure getting arrested will either convince him that as miserable as his life will be with House, he likes it that way, or cement in his mind for certain that he can never give him another chance, and needs to get out.

Sorry if I went overboard here...I've been wanting to discuss this with someone since I saw it, and no one else seems interested. So I was happy to see your post. :)

[chickloveslotr.livejournal.com]

I just hope it isn't too long....or drawn out...
but then again I don't want it to end so abruptly.
like "*POOF* BFF's AGAIN!YAY!!!!!!"


lol..

I'm just worried how it will play out...
IMO s4 had a strange bumpy pace
(if that makes ANY sense...:-/)...
I hope s5 isn't the same way.

[taricalmcacil.livejournal.com]

I'm still mad at Wilson. I felt like the "we never were" line was meant to be a deliberate dig at House, who clearly does/did consider Wilson a friend. He wouldn't have done the deep brain stimulation if he didn't. The line that really made me mad though was the line where Wilson insinuated that House wasn't in physical pain. We've all seen repeatedly in past episodes that House's pain is not psychosomatic. Why is Wilson the only person on the planet incapable of seeing (or perhaps admitting) that House's leg hurts? It's not like House wants to be addicted to vicodin. What he wants is to not be in pain. Wilson has spent so much time manipulating House and telling his just a misanthropic addict, that this is the result. He's ruined both of them.

And now I feel like I'm ranting and making 0 sense, so Ill just go away.

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

i see what you're saying, but i read that line a little differently i think... i thought that wilson was turning it around on house, not actually referring to house's physical pain... like, when house said, "you don't know what it's like, you haven't felt it" referring to his leg pain, i felt like wilson's "neither have you" was meant to refer to his own *emotional pain* as in -- "You don't know what i'm going through" "well, YOU don't know what I'M going through"

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

yeah, i want it to take a lot of time, i think...a gradual restoration... that's one thing they've done a few times, is to "fix" things too easily, or just not deal with them at all... and i want them to show this in all it's gory, painful detail :P

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

no, it's absolutely fine to discuss :) it's fun :)

i'd been spoiled, so i knew wilson wasn't going to stay :( ... and i think he's just being wilson, still trying to protect everybody, to do what he's "supposed to"... house just finally dragged the painful truth out of him :(

as for the newbies, i don't really see them as like the old ducklings all that much... and i like kutner much better than i liked chase... i think kutner's more idealistic, less opportunistic, than chase is... and yeah, 13's not quite as naive and idealistic as cameron... taub... i have yet to form a firm opinion on him.. :P hehe

and yeah, RSL has a firm contract for the next few years, so he's not leaving the show... but i think it'll take them a while to get through this... :(

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, the last line of the episode made me cry.

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

me too... how devastating for house to hear that, from the only true friend he's got :( it just broke my heart for them both

[taricalmcacil.livejournal.com]

Valid point...but based on what we've seen, House has way more experience with emotional pain than Wilson. Maybe not Death, but he's been dealing with loss since his childhood. How many times was he moved from country to country before he stopped making friends and started pushing them away because he knew he would just lose them when he left? Then there's the death of that part of himself we know he lost to the infarction. The part of himself that was athletic and didn't mind seeing patients. So no, maybe he hasn't lost someone to death, but he's lost so many other things. I think House knows better than Wilson thinks.

[chickloveslotr.livejournal.com]

I don't want it to drag out too long...
Not that I can't stand the thought of them not being friends...
but More along the lines of the fear that they will be constantly repeating themselves.

It already feels like
"13's got Huntingtons" & "13 is bi" is getting shoved down my throat...
I don't want
"House & Wilson are no longer best buds" shoved down my throat repeatedly.
I KNOW they aren't...at the moment.
I know it will be a huge theme for the season...
But a more subtle approach would be better than blatantly stating the facts over and over again
...while putting off the whole POINT...

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

I agree completely... I think House *does* understand better than wilson thinks, but I don't think wilson was trying to invalidate house's physical pain... and house tries so hard to cover his emotional pain, even if wilson sometimes sees through it, he has nothing concrete to reference, nothing he can point to and feel like yes, house definitely can get where he's coming from... :(

[stlyn.livejournal.com]

REALLY!? Oh, I'm excited now. I didn't know if he was staying on the show or not...I was mildly worried by pics of House and the PI and wondered if he was being replaced. Glad to hear that's not true. Thanks!

I agree with you on Kutner being idealistic and not opportunistic...though I saw those as good qualities in Chase. I sort of liked him being a jerk to the team tonight. :D

[chaoskir.livejournal.com]

Oh boy, while I read that I'm really sad living in Germany and don't know when I can watch the new epis. Well, I think next year when the DVD of season 5 is out there. *sigh*. Maybe I can watch a few epis earlier in the www. I do hope so. Thanks for your thoughts to the first epi of season 5.

[kimrae1977.livejournal.com]

Yeah, losing someone you shared a life with is a very specific and deep kind of pain, and you can't completely know unless you've been through the same exact thing. I think Wilson was reasonable in giving that touche moment to House.

[kimrae1977.livejournal.com]

Good ep. I'm glad they picked up where it was left off. Spoilers for the season are interesting right now. :) It's so House to get a private eye to spy on Wilson, lol. I'll like it at least for a while to see Wilson resist.

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

yeah, this is the first time i've been involved in a current fandom :P hehe... it's nice to be this eager, snatching up every little bit of info about what's to come :P hehehe

[misanthropicobs.livejournal.com]

I also thought that this was very well done. The H/W scenes were brilliant and Cameron was actually less annoying than usual. Foreman seemed as if he just had to get his subtle dig against House in even if he had to do it by saying something about Cuddy's motives. He continues to not favorably impress me.

They are starting to differentiate the personalities and roles of the new team and although there are some similarities between this team and the old one the differences are a lot more apparent now. It's going to be interesting seeing how they relate not only to each other but to House as well.

Although Wilson says he doesn't blame House for Amber's death his last lines about them perhaps never really being friends wasn't called for. It seemed to have no other purpose than to hurt. I'm in agreement with the poster who said that House is more acquainted with loss and the sense of grief this brings than Wilson, or probably any of the other characters know. Not only because of the loss inherent in growing up moving around and losing friends every 2 or 3 years but because of Stacy's loss. Yes, House did in fact push her away after the infarction and then again after her return but underlying that rejection is the loss of trust in her he must have experienced when she authorized the surgery on his leg rather than going ahead with what he wanted. Her action MAY have saved his life but he also MAY have survived by going ahead with what he wanted, there is no way to know at this point. The end result was another loss for House. That loss of trust colored everything that came after in their relationship.

One of the things I noticed in Wilson's lines was the one about how House manipulates everyone around him. Wilson conveniently overlooked his own manipulation of House on several occasions including the detox, the deception about the patient early in S3, and the manipulation of both House and Amber during the custody battle. Wilson is still seeing only House as the chief culprit and is overlooking his own instances of manipulation. Right now he still sees House as the "bad guy" who only hurts people and himself as the "good guy" who doesn't.

[kimrae1977.livejournal.com]

I don't search out spoilers like I did for BTVS/AtS/Alias anymore, but I do read them at E!Online. Getting wildfeeds of the eps the night before is a little too hardcore for me anymore, LOL. My boyfriend complains enough about me being glued to the TV season, lol.

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

hehehehehe....yeah, i've never gotten *that* good of spoilers, but i already know about stuff that happens later in the season, down to the specific episodes *when* it happens *sigh* ... and i kinda wish i didn't :P lol

[kimrae1977.livejournal.com]

hehe, it's a slippery slope, my friend. "Supernatural" could so suck me in, so I'm all lalalala when someone links me to a fan site. :D

[2cbetter2.livejournal.com]

The line that really made me mad though was the line where Wilson insinuated that House wasn't in physical pain. We've all seen repeatedly in past episodes that House's pain is not psychosomatic. Why is Wilson the only person on the planet incapable of seeing (or perhaps admitting) that House's leg hurts? It's not like House wants to be addicted to vicodin. What he wants is to not be in pain. Wilson has spent so much time manipulating House and telling his just a misanthropic addict, that this is the result. He's ruined both of them.

Hey, hon, there are times Wilson and Cuddy drive me crazy with take him and his pain more seriously if it were **anyone** but him with the damaged leg.

Having said that though I think there are have been times House's leg was made worse because he was feeling guilty about something. I'm not sure it was all completely guilt or just the general pain of having Stacey back in his life and leaving it again, but I'd say that in "Skin Deep" part of House's worsen pain in that was guilt. But even if that were so that did not invalidate he was indeed in worse pain.

It's not like House wants to be addicted to vicodin. What he wants is to not be in pain.

Quoted again because I agree with you. House doesn't want to be an addict but he likes being in pain even less and I don't blame him. I think about the times we've seen him try not to use morphine to get relief but then when nothing else relieves his pain he asks for it (Skin Deep) or uses it himself (Who's Your Daddy?). Skin Deep is one episode that really drives me bonkers when it comes to House seeking out help from Wilson and Cuddy in trying to get relief from the pain. Wilson thought it was all in his head and Cuddy pretty much agreed with him because she gave House a placebo instead of a real shot of morphine like he asked for.

[californiaquail.livejournal.com]

I was actually feeling sorry for Wilson, right up to the point where House basically bared himself and he stomped all over his heart.

I don't agree with Wilson's decision. I understand it. But I don't agree. Telling House that he actually tried to find a way to make Amber's death his fault is really quite sick and evidence that he's just as screwed up as House, if not moreso.

He could have just left and said that they could no longer be friends. Telling a normal person that they were never friends, might have a positive effect, might make them re-examine the relationship and rethink their behavior. Telling House this will be an invitation to either freak out or shut down. From the preview, we see that he freaks out.

Deep down, I think when and if House actually does stop trying and lets Wilson go, Wilson will actually be like wtf? Hey! You're supposed to be obsessing over me.

It's going to take a lot on Wilson's part for him to get back any credibility with me anyway. The droves of people that are singing his praises for being so strong and telling House like it is are just mind boggling to me.

I am actually appalled by the position the show writers are taking with this. If the next few episodes are similiar to the premiere, I am not sure if I will watch the rest of the season. I am not even sure if I will want to write about it.

[californiaquail.livejournal.com]

Makes perfect sense to me.

I'm not sure how much more I'll be willing to discuss this, though. I am watching the rest of the season with a huge grain of salt.

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

Actually, his trying to find a way to blame House is not all that unusual. It's natural to try to find someone to blame when you're grieving, and in such a tragic accident like this, the easiest target was House... :( I don't think it makes him sick, I think it's just a result of his grief...

I agree that telling House they were never friends is likely to do a lot of damage to any progress that House has made. At the same time, in the context of the rest of the conversation, I think I understand his meaning better than I did from the spoilers. To me, it seems that Wilson is looking at their relationship over the years, and seeing how codependent and unhealthy it was for so long, and I think that's what he's referring to. I think he's saying maybe it was never a genuine friendship, but rather a situation that arose out of their mutual, unhealthy needs.

I don't necessarily think Wilson is doing the right thing. But I can totally see why it makes sense from his standpoint. It doesn't make me angry at him or make me dislike him. It's painful, yes, but I think it's realistic and genuine, and it actually served to get me emotionally involved right from the start :)

[californiaquail.livejournal.com]

"I think he's saying maybe it was never a genuine friendship, but rather a situation that arose out of their mutual, unhealthy needs."

But that is NOT what House will hear. House will hear "you are bad" "you are unwanted"

It will confirm his existing belief that no one can be trusted, that everyone eventually leaves and that he is unloveable.

It is completely possible for Wilson to have communicated that same idea in a much nicer way. He could have actually said "in hidsight, maybe our relationship wasn't so much of a friendship as a codependence" or "what we have is unhealthy and I need to get away from it"

The way he phrased it, makes it House's fault. Even though he said he enabled it, he still looks at House as the bad guy who has caused all his problems and suffers from the delusion that they will all get better when he leaves. He doesn't seem to have realized that in all of his failed marriages and affairs, he is the common denominator. When he goes, his problems will go right with him and he will see that House is the least of them.

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

But that is NOT what House will hear. House will hear "you are bad" "you are unwanted"

It will confirm his existing belief that no one can be trusted, that everyone eventually leaves and that he is unloveable.

this is absolutely true... that's what's so sad about it :( poor house is going to end up hurting again, with no one there to support him, now that his only support is gone (except maybe cuddy, we'll see how that goes)

and yes, i agree, both with house and with wilson -- ultimately they are the source of their own problems, and only they can *solve* their own problems... wilson can't fix house, and house (or the lack thereof) can't fix wilson... they may discover that over the next few episodes...

[californiaquail.livejournal.com]

The thing is that I don't think Cuddy was supportive of House OR Wilson. She wanted them to go back to normal so that her life would more convenient.

But her "go to hell" was totally warranted. Wilson was being a bitch.

I don't think Cuddy is capable of being supportive to House in the way he's going to need. I'm glad the PI is coming, because I think House might somehow find comfort in him, in some weird way.

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

i disagree about cuddy's motives.. i think she cares deeply about both of them... and i kind of see her "go to hell" as coming from that caring -- when wilson basically accused her of playing games with them, manipulating, etc., it was offensive to her because she really *did* care and was trying to help, and i think that's why she responded with such uncharacteristic hostility....

i think she's going to prove to be a support to him, but i'm also glad for the pi, because house still needs a guy friend around...

[californiaquail.livejournal.com]

I don't know. Cuddy has been dishonest to House, unsupportive of his pain, shown him that his role as a doctor is more important to her than anything else. She might care, but House has no reason to believe it.

[misanthropicobs.livejournal.com]

I think that Cuddy does care about both of them. Yes she wants things back to normal because she has a hospital to run but also because she views both of them as people she cares about on a personal level. Wilson's attitude towards her may, in fact, be influenced by his memories of how he and Cuddy together have played the manipulation game on House quite a few times and his thinking here may have been because of that. In his view it may have been something along the lines of - she and I manipulate House so it's probable that they (or Cuddy alone) is attempting to manipulate me.

[misanthropicobs.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree that House will take this as more validation of his basic attitude towards people - that they all leave and that he is someone who does not deserve to be cared for. In House's eyes Wilson has now done what everyone else has - he left.

Wilson's thinking that House is responsible for all of his problems seems to be pretty typical. I think he has said in the past that House was a part of why his marriages broke up too. Wilson has never seen that he has a responsibility there that was a large part of his marriages failing. Right now he is again deluding himself in thinking that his life will be just fine without House in it. His basic problems and attitudes are going to go with him wherever he is and now he can't hold House accountable for them as he has done in the past.

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

i think there's a lot of truth to that... usually someone who suspects someone else of lying, etc, without any clearer reason, it's because they would have lied themselves in that situation... you're absolutely right that wilson has seen that side of her aimed at house, and now he expects it from her himself... makes a lot of sense :)

[2cbetter2.livejournal.com]

House had one line that made me cringe, because I think for Wilson it only served to seal his decision. When House gave him his pager and Wilson made the comment, "You have to do what's right for you, and I have to do what's right for me" and House said "But I'm better at it"

Rewatching right now and yeah that made me cringe too.

[californiaquail.livejournal.com]

If I don't see some reflection of this in the next 4 or 5 episodes, I will probably have to stop watching.

[kick-back-80s.livejournal.com]

i think if i was as active in finding ALIAS spoilers as I am with House spoilers, the series would have been ruined for me

(of course, it got kind of predictable to say "o, so-and-so's not really dead. they'll be back... next episode" >_>)

sorry so offtopic, hah. XD

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

lolol...buffy was like that a lot... someone might be dead, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be back :P hehe

[kick-back-80s.livejournal.com]

well...

i feel like a bad fan now, hah.

I laughed more than I cried (I actually didn't get teary eyed at all o_O)

o well...

maybe it's because i watched it at four in the afternoon?

XD

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

the end made me cry...just the look on house's face when wilson told him they were never friends.... when he said those lines about spreading misery everywhere he goes... gaahh.... it just made me so sad for both of them... and of course, when wilson cries, i cry :P hehehe can't help it :P

[kick-back-80s.livejournal.com]

well, haha

i was like "Well... that... sucks. It's not entirely true [what Wilson was saying], but it sucks..."

:/

can't wait to see him arrested though XD XD XD

[kick-back-80s.livejournal.com]

mebbe Joss and J.J. compared plot devices!!

...

omy

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

hehehehehe.... that'll be great....

i actually agreed with a lot of what he said... i expected to be able to be angrier with wilson than i actually was, when it came right down to it :P

[kick-back-80s.livejournal.com]

that sort of self-analysis is something that i highly doubt wilson will get around to thinking about

unless, of course, they go somewhere with the anti-depressant side story from a few seasons ago

[kick-back-80s.livejournal.com]

i don't think i could be angry with him...

think he's being an idiot and chicken, yes

but angry? not so much

[dreamsofspike.livejournal.com]

yeah, i am just slightly angry, because i think he's laying too much of the blame on house's problems, and not enough on his own... and the "never friends" thing... just cold... even though i think i get what he meant, it was just cold to throw that at house as a parting shot when he's already hurting... *sigh* i'm more sad than angry, really....

I interpreted that line differently

[oliviazaratinga.livejournal.com]

I didn't interpret that line the same way. I thought Wilson was saying that although he hadn't had his leg chopped off or had an infarction there, neither had House felt the pain of a girlfriend dying. He's absolutely right. He's right. House and Wilson just don't have enough experience with each other's type of pain. This is why they fail each other over and over, and always will until they do experience it.

Hm.

[oliviazaratinga.livejournal.com]

Losing your friend or lover due to moving away, breaking up, or divorcing is not the same as your loved one dying. Not even close.

If someone's moved away, you know you can visit if you want, or write. The someone can move back. Reconciliation is always a possibility after a breakup or a divorce, however remote a possibility it may be. Death is the end of all hope.

That's something that's only really understood emotionally, not just intellectually, until it's experienced.