House-babble: Don't Ever Change

[recrudescence]

House-babble: Don't Ever Change




And breathe.

I was so afraid the promo was hyping this ep up too much for it to be anything but a letdown. Pleasantly, that turned out not to be true. Yes, there are still too many characters, the old ones could still do with some characterization of their own before the newbies get fleshed out further (hi, Foreman, you're making progress at last; Cameron, did you really get fired last episode or was Chase the only token blond they had room for this time around?), and it bothers me that we're still rehashing old plotlines instead of exploring new ones, but I was absolutely riveted through this one.

Okay. House vs. God. A-fucking-gain. Hasidic Jews are one group he hasn't locked horns with yet, though, so at least it's a bit of a change.

I really liked the texture and grit at the beginning—old-fashioned and kind of creepy, like an episode of the X-Files. And, fittingly, Motel and Tzeitel (Roz and Yeshua?) are not so happy.

Cut to House pushing the button with his flame cane as Wilson does so with his finger. Little moments like that make me happy, and we got plenty of them tonight. I've whined before about how I don't care for fan service when it seems as though the writers are just cramming in a bunch of elements for the sake of pleasing an audience, not even bothering to make them fit plausibly into canon. I didn't feel that tonight.

And Amber/Wilson lives! Can I take a minute to tip my hat to savemoony, whose spec fic Ultimatums was incredibly accurate?

I love that we got to see House poking into Wilson's love life, as we all know he does when he's got competition for his BFF's attention, and I also love that Wilson didn't fold under it and neither did Amber. It's interesting that every major H/W rift thus far has come about as a result of House refusing to back down in some way or another. The theme of tonight's ep was--obviously, as the line was repeated almost as frequently as the infamous ODOR's "I don't know!"--that people don't change. Yet, when faced with the prospect of being able to choose a job over Wilson, Amber chooses emotion instead of ambition. She's rearranged her priorities and found that the MO she's used to isn't the only way for her to live.

That said, House's dissection of the Wilson/Amber relationship essentially rehashed every fannish hypothesis that's seen the inside of an LJ. "Cross-species mating," "a proxy for me," and so on. Obviously, it does bug House that Wilson wishes he could change.

"You’re the long distance runner of neediness” says Cuddy, hitting the nail on the head. Cuddy also confronts Wilson for House's sake, even making mpreg references and saying Amber will eat him alive. Poor Wilson--you hang out with House and everyone assumes you'll end up miserable in one way or another. The look on his face was priceless.

"Amber and I have a lot in common," he tries to tell House, who isn't buying it. House claims Wilson doesn’t like strong assertive women, which Wilson doesn’t deny at first. Then he fires back with "I don’t need needy! I’ve broken the pattern, House, which means this has a chance!"

Mm, so he’s broken the pattern by dating women more like House. Interesting. Maybe the next step in breaking the pattern is dating an actual man? *throws in the plot bunny folder*

And how huge of a geeky, hormonal, Dungeons and Dragons playing preteen is Kutner? “I knew. I asked her out, she said she’d already started see someone," and then admitting Amber scares him but also has legs up to Canada. Oh, Kutner and your masochism.

Speaking of Canada, the look on House's face when Amber came in wearing Wilson's McGill shirt was just pitiful. So was the way he pettishly told her to give it back and then tried to play it off with a wisecrack about pit stains. And the way he accused her of toying with Wilson to piss him off? So adorable, in a very acerbic I-only-look-out-for-people-behind-their-backs House sort of way. He might as well have tattooed "IDK, my BFF Jimmy?" on his forehead.

House then points out that the PotW is a masochist, going from one extreme to another the way she did (and, um, it totally looked to me like Taub was pocketing that lingerie for a second). He continues to insist people don't change, claiming that recovered alcoholics are still alcoholics. So does he think he’ll always be an addict no matter what?

Cuddy says changing is a sign of mental health and leaves it at that. Now if only people would stop treating House's addiction like a cute little quirk instead of a life-threatening problem that very nearly brought down the entire hospital, we'd really be in business.

Back to Kutner the fanboy, who name-drops sci-fi titles faster than you can say hyperspace. He's such a sweet little perv, watching Amber drop Wilson off and then getting distracted by the lab tech with the tongue stud, then pulling his OMG SHE SAID SEX later on with Taub and the PotW. And House's remark about the male always driving the female...heh. Though I do feel bad for Wilson--everyone thinks Amber's doing to hang him up and leave him out to dry, and though his reputation with women isn't doing him any favors, it has to be frustrating not having anyone feel happy for him.

And the bar scene?

Guh. So many quotable lines. Let's start with House's frighteningly Queer-Eye-ish "Oh my God!" and Amber's “Hi, Greg, and I call you Greg because we are now social equals.”

Now, onto the real fun stuff.

"She’s the anti-Wilson."

"She has an annoying quality, maybe two. If I was perfect, I would date perfect." At least Wilson admits he's not as nice as he likes to look.

"You like it."

"It’s annoying, but she’s good at it," Wilson fondly watches as Amber bitches at a waiter and gets them seated.

Then House says Wilson is essentially sleeping with him and he looks freaked out and Wilson looks like a confused, kicked puppy and House gives him his girly little drink back and goes home to jerk off. Or something.

Still. Wilson's face totally falls when House says that, either because House has realized something Wilson himself has noticed but is trying to cover or because House is pointing out something Wilson didn't didn’t even realize. So many possibilities.

And, mind you, we are reminded that Amber is not just a female version of House--she changes. She isn't afraid of connection and taking chances and opening herself up. Pwnd.

AND OMG Wilson coming off elevator rubbing his neck, saying he's moved out of the hotel and “Why not date you? We’ve known each other for years and we keep coming back. We’re a couple.” And then discussing House's "self-loathing and thin crust of megalomania" (wow, I wish I'd come up with that description) and "flashing eyes" practically in the same breath.

House telling Cuddy to sleep with Wilson...I could've done without it. They dated, the tickets to a play, Bonnie coming by and House picking her brain, etc. And nothing came of it, so now we’re back here again. Writers, either wrap up your plotlines or don't start new ones that just repeat the old, especially if there still isn't a real resolution.

And Chase! He exists! For a second, I thought he had stubble. And I would’ve cried. I bet this meant there’d be no Cameron, and I was right. House admitting he needs Chase is cute, but yay Chase for having the guts to walk away...oh, but he comes back. And compares House to God, like he does. Damn it, Chase...good idea, but the ego-feeding needs to go.

Another cool House line: "Things aren’t where we want them to be just because we want them to be there." Meaning, of course, WILSON. And also a floating kidney.

Okay, I admit that I smirked at House's "You do it both ways, right?” and Thirteen's striken expression. And the fact that she's canonically bi just makes my femslash yen validated. If I can't get Wilson actually contemplating his own heterosexuality, I'll settle for Cuddy/Thirteen.

Wilson, appropriately, reappears in a horrible mint green shirt that is pretty darn gay. Does Amber like him in pastels or something? Whatev, House basically gives him his blessing and we get A SECOND CONSECUTIVE WILSON-SCAMPER.

"I’ve decided you could do worse than a female proxy for me.” So House is saying he disapproves of Amber slightly less than everyone else Wilson's dated.

Which of course throws Wilson for a loop: "I could form a long-term connection that isn’t with you—you’ve thought of all of this, but you’re going along with it.

So it follows that Wilson, being the need-eater he is at heart, knows that House is being self-sacrificing by letting him off the hook. By making sure Wilson knows that, House has as good as guaranteed Wilson will make sure not to lose him. And in knowing House wanted to be sure he knew it, Wilson will be sure not to lose him either. And that’s awesome.