Chuck Klosterman wrote an article with a passage that stuck with me:
"How big is your life? That is neither a rhetorical nor impossible question. The answer is easy: Your life is as big as your memory. Forgotten actions still have an impact on other people, but they don't have an impact on you; this is the entire point of Memento. Reality is defined by what we know, and we (obviously) can't know what we don't remember."
Yes, that's right, I'm sourcing a pop culture author writing in Esquire as a scientific authority. Give me some leeway here, since we're talking about a pop culture version of medicine. My favourite movie title ever (perhaps aside from a certain classic released long before I was born) captures the idea in fewer words, stolen from Alexander Pope: "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind."
Forgetting for a moment that House's mind is neither sunny nor spotless, he faces a Memento-like dilemma that the closer he gets to the truth, the more he fears he might discover something he doesn't want to know. And if it's so dire that the man who forged prescriptions on his only friend's pad and who experiments on unsuspecting patients doesn't want to face it, you know it's even more shocking than FOX could ever express in one of their breathless promos.
I don't remember my Film Studies 101 vocabulary enough to describe the visual style properly (maybe I should call Chase the hypnotist), but the episodes were beautifully shot by directors Greg Yaitanes and Katie Jacobs, particularly the scenes within House's head. Slow motion drew out the drama, as did the pulsing, blue-tinged lighting. The grainy faded colours, almost black and white with the blue of House's eyes or the red of Amber's scarf popping from the screen, or the overexposed whiteness with only the brightest colours popping, added to the surreal effect, as did the pulsing, blue-tinged lighting in earlier memory and hallucination scenes and the bright white of the afterlife-ish scenes.
Picking sombre rather than frenetic music during the climactic crash scenes — terrifying scenes with flesh and steel tumbling in slow-motion chaos — infused them with poignancy. The bus crash stunt didn't serve to merely pump up the action, but the emotion, hitting our hearts rather than our brains, triggering an empathetic reaction rather than an adrenaline rush.
The heart of "House's Head" is palpable in those crash scenes between House and Amber, between Hugh Laurie and Anne Dudek, especially their hands reaching for each other. I don't mean romance or sexual tension, but a tenderness and concern we have so rarely seen in House's expression, and never in Amber's.
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.