Wilson derides House’s games, but this is the same guy who suckered House into a bet about detoxing, lied to him about his success in diagnosing a patient at a time when House was terrified of the price he may have paid for a failing experiment with ketamine, slipped him anti-depressants in his coffee, and kidnapped and damaged his cherished Flying V guitar. Wilson’s a game player, too and his games have occasionally turned toxic. Wilson justifies all his games by saying they’re for House’s own good, but does that actually excuse him from accepting responsibility for his actions when his plans go wrong? House’s vulnerability tends to bring out the manipulator in Wilson as much as the enabler, as episodes like "Meaning" and "Cane and Able" show. In this episode’s confrontation, Robert Sean Leonard brought such painful rawness to his role, I couldn’t help but sympathize with Wilson, but at the same time, I think he was projecting his pain about Amber’s loss onto his relationship with House, seeing only House’s negatives and none of the positives.
If Wilson was indeed the martyr he describes, the relationship would not have been the source of so much enjoyment to viewers over the last four seasons. Both men are complicated, with House wearing his dysfunction on his sleeve and Wilson hiding his from view, and Wilson has been in charge of the friendship far more often than he's willing to admit. Wilson’s greatest flaw is his need to be seen as the good guy—that need helped sink his three marriages and now it threatens to sink his relationship with House. I’m not sure how the writers will repair the rift, but surely they will have to include Wilson reassessing what House offers him. It would be a fitting legacy for Amber if her loss was the catalyst for growth in both men.
The premiere’s theme of loss was carried through with the supporting characters, as well, and the exploration showed the writers have a much firmer grip on how to deal with the loss of the old team some viewers were feeling. Cameron draws on her own experience of bereavement in a touching scene where she counsels Wilson, while Chase refuses to endanger the patient as Thirteen deals with the knowledge of her Huntington’s diagnosis by desperately trying to prove her worth. Both are strong scenes that feel organic to the storyline, showing how Chase and Cameron’s new positions give them a different vantage point to interact with the rest of the cast. Kutner, Taub, and Thirteen begin defining their relationship as team members as they struggle both with the loss of House and Thirteen’s loss of a future.
Article comments
1 - Kit O'Toole
I thought that ending scene with Wilson and House involved some powerful acting. The looks on both Wilson and House's faces were simply heartbreaking, and you could see both sides of their arguments. As you said, Leonard and Laurie just work perfectly together. Those two really make "House" the quality show that it is.
2 - Debbie
I agree with the previous poster, Robert Sean Leonard and Hugh Laurie are a powerful acting pair. I never ever tire of watching them together. I absolutely loved the closing scene. RSL and HL just totally nailed it on so many levels. I need House and Wilson for House the show to work for me. So I hope the break-up doesn't last too long.
I am so looking forward to their make-up scene cause they totally nailed the break-up scene.
3 - Gerry
Thank you both for your comments. Yes, I think that Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard work beautifully off each other, both in the comic scenes and in the dramatic. And the break up scene was very moving on both their parts. I think Wilson was viewing their relationship through his pain, much as 13 was viewing her patient through her's, and there's more to be said on what he's gotten from the friendship. But Robert Sean Leonard was fantastic in showing the raw pain Wilson feels. And watching House take the risk we know he fears and open up to Wilson, hope for a moment that they could be alright, and then have his emotions rejected more thoroughly than even he feared: a punch in the gut. It will be an interesting ride watching these two try to find common ground to rebuild.