Forget House's head and Wilson's heart – my head is swirling and my heart is breaking after the House two-part season finale. Enough so that some entreaties to share my thoughts and feelings were enough to bring me temporarily out of review retirement.
We get inside House's head every week, when his thinking processes are made visible with every case. It's also hard to imagine there's an unexpressed thought in there when the man lets escape socially inappropriate utterances like: “Trust me, I want to do very nasty, demeaning stuff to your girlfriend.”
Wilson's heart is likewise usually on display, right there on his neatly-pressed sleeve within easy reach of House's mockery.
Yet we've never seen either body part quite like this before. House's rationality is confounded by his injuries and his emotions, and Wilson's heart is trampled by House's irrational self-destruction.
The power of these episodes comes from an understated but riveting performance by Hugh Laurie; from searing ones by Robert Sean Leonard and Anne Dudek; from the non-linear narrative mixing hallucination, fantasy, dream, and memory; and from the disquieting sense that, like House, if I only taxed my addled brain I should be able to fit the puzzle pieces together.
But mostly, the power comes from the emotional depth of the story and of the character at its centre. House is always one of the most intelligent shows on television; it's at its best when it allows House's heart to see a tiny glimmer of sunlight before returning to its burrow. In this pair of episodes, it gets the airing fans have yearned for but never thought we'd see (and probably – even hopefully – won't see this much of regularly, or next season will be Marcus Welby, MD: The Next Generation, or In Treatment).
The cleverest twist of the finale is that despite a doozy at the end of "House's Head," there was no shocking twist at the end of "Wilson's Heart." I spent two hours wondering if I was reading clues to indicate some mind-blowing revelation, which distracted me enough that the quiet despair of House snuck up on me.
We've known his misery all along. It's never been clear he knew it. The ultimate theme of the finale, then, is facing the issue he's been denying all along, a misery partly of his own making, one that seems insurmountable by the end of "Wilson's Heart."
Article comments
1 - Jeffrey
Part 1 of these episodes was a bit gimmicky. The trailer for part 2 looked even more overwrought and gimmicky... So what a relief to find out that Wilson's Heart was the sort of thing that television does best. It takes years to evolve characters to a point where they are that nuanced and involving. There was one too many sappy-song musical montages - one of the first two should have been re-thought. But overall, was an incredible season finale.
2 - Josh Hathaway
I went for this two-parter hook, line, and sinker. I thought it was extraordinarily well written and executed by the writers, actors, and director(s). Brilliant.
3 - Jeffrey
And how 'bout that Fred Durst, getting billed in the credits for his bartender cameo.
Limp Bizkit in da 'House, indeed.
4 - Elizabeth
I thought "House's Head" was much better than "Wilson's Heart" for a few reasons: "Wilson's Heart", though extremely well-acted, was sort of corny. Everything played out the way it was expected, except, of course, what happened to Amber. But when 13 ended up having Huntington's? It was so unoriginal. And also, did it look like a new set in some places? One more thing--after the BONES season finale in which a main character got sent to an asylum at the end, "Wilson's Heart" was extremely depressing. However, I thought it was really clever the way they used the vocals to the song "Teardrop," the HOUSE theme, in the middle of the episode.
5 - SludgeFace
in my opinion the best house episode yet. It was simply so emotionally touching, especially as it neared the end, and i found myself crying... something i NEVER do for a movie/tv show, and amazing at how powerful this episode really was.
6 - bliffle
Wow! That was a thorough and engaging recapitulation. So many interesting characters. Thanks for all the effort and attention you've put into this material. It helps to elevate it above the usual TV program.
7 - Clara
LOVE this article. Very well written. Yea--I'll admit I cried my eyes out at the end, too. House is a great show. Already counting down the days to Season 5!
8 - Mary K. Williams
Ack, tried to leave a comment yesterday - but it never went through.
Very wonderful job on this Diane. Welcome Back!
9 - Diane Kristine
Thanks!
Clara, I'd be counting the days too but do we know the premiere date yet? They'd better not make us wait until after baseball.
Elizabeth, I'm not sure how Thirteen having Huntington's is unoriginal, but I hope they deal with the aftermath of what it means to live your life with that knowledge. I haven't seen that in an ongoing role before.
10 - Clara
Found this on Housemd-guide.com, don't know if you've seen it yet:
"May 17, 2008: Fox announces schedule change for House next season.: For the first half of the season "House" will be on Tuesday nights in the first hour of primetime 8/7c. Then in January the plan is to move "House" to the first hour of primetime on Wednesdays. Scheduling for January is always very tentative since the network doesn't know which new shows will succeed and which won't."
Also, read somewhere that House might return in August... gotta keep my eyes pealed for more info.
11 - Diane Kristine
Right after I posted that comment I saw an interview with David Shore saying September 2. (It's a funny interview too.) It's not August but it's early-ish at least.
12 - Boffle
Thanks for the review, DK. Beautifully written. I so much agree with the love for these two episodes. The first: cerebral, dreamlike, haunted, like House's head, and the second: fierce, confused, torn, broken like Wilson's heart. I join you in trusting the instincts of this stellar creative staff: they keep throwing House into new situations where he is forced to grow, we think, and then he has his own surprising take. The scene where Wilson asks House to have the brain stimulation despite his severe injuries will, I think, have changed how they see each other: it will never be the same.
I loved how the rest of the staff responded to Amber's dying and then, the parallels with House and 13, the one facing a damaged life, the other an early death. And even though he was "barely coherent" from the beginning, he still found time and energy to notice 13's response (or lack thereof) and mentor her by getting her to face it, and then she got him to face his own.
Sept. 2? Looking forward to it. Hope you continue to post about House from time to time: your take adds a lot to the enjoyment of this brave and amazing show.
13 - swatkat
this was absolutely beautiful. like you, i'm avidly anticipating season 5... why isn't it september yet?
14 - Grace
13's first name is Remy.
15 - Diane Kristine
Yes, as I said, any fan who wants to know her name and can use the Internet already knows. But the first name hasn't been said on the show yet.
16 - Della
What a fantastic review. Thank you for posting that. Your review was so good that I could picture in my mind each part of the episodes you commented on and because your review was so clear and precise, that when you got to the heartbreaking moments of the episodes you made me cry again.
*ahem* Aaaanyway, having watched a few finales that were on offer from some of the other leading shows out there, these two for House were, in my opinion, just exceptional. Far, far, far, far, far, far better than all of them, including the Numb3rs finale, which I thought had a lot going for it as well.
"House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart" contained everything that I enjoy watching in an episode. I don't mean the high-drama and the angst, though, you know, every once in a while it's a wonderful thing, but it was more to do with the fact that both episodes were so character driven.
They were episodes which managed to cater for all of the characters, which is a huuuuge feat all of itself given how many characters House has now.
But what I truly liked about these two episodes was that there were no fancy shots (like one finale I could mention), just a confidence in the acting abilities of the actors involved in conveying the truly heartbreaking scenes at the end. No fancy tricks, just simple settings with a bit of music, and a whole lot of exceptional acting and writing. Wonderful!
The only thing that confuses me is why several people are adamant that Wilson is angry at House. I didn't see that at all. Hmm, maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, or maybe, just maybe that by that point I was sobbing so hard that I just *couldn't* see - chuckle.
Thanks again for such a wonderful review.
Take care
Della
:-)
17 - Diane Kristine
Thanks so much Della, that's really nice of you to say (and Boffle too - sorry, I missed you last time).
Wilson's emotional reaction is up for interpretation, of course. His anger, if that's what it is, is definitely quiet, and of course combined with grief. The fact that he couldn't talk to or approach House at the end, and that House thinks he has earned Wilson's hatred, makes me think that anger is at least part of it. I guess we'll find out Sept 16 - that's what Fox is saying is the season premiere date.