I was up until 1 AM squeeing again. And then I woke up late and almost missed the bus this morning. And I forgot to watch Nip/Tuck.

But I don't care.



WE FUCKIN' WON.

The first thing we see after the credits: Wilson.


I don't think I can even provide a goofy commentary for this episode.


So I won't. Just serious analysis.


And quotes. This episode is very quotable.







"You don't like strong, you don't like assertive, you like needy."


"She's not dying is she?"
"Yes. Go away."


Naturally, House follows, as he's been doing lately.


"I give it two months."


"Hundred bucks."


"It's not really fair. You're not objective. But I'm all about the--"
"We're at four months."


Pause.
"You hid this from me?"


"I was wrong, okay? I thought you'd be upset."



"I thought you'd track me down in hallways..."


"She's not needy. I don't need needy."


"Are you going to talk to her?"


"I don't see how I have a choice."



"You're alright with that? No impulse to save her from me?"


"I've broken the pattern, House, which is why this has a chance." Okay. No. You hooked up with Amber when she was "in a bad place, emotionally" (Bonnie's words!) and you're moving in with her after four weeks. Gee, this sounds eerily familiar. Let's guess how this will end.


"Go ahead. Get it out of your system."


"Did you guys know Wilson's dating Amber?"


House's face after Kutner said he knew.


House at Amber's place.


"I promise to hire you if you dump Wilson."



House theorizes.


Amber fucks with his head a bit by agreeing with him and flashing Wilson's sweatshirt.


This is where the sexual tension begins.


House comes up with a new theory.


Amber agrees with him again. House reformulates his theory, yet again.



Amber agrees with him. Again.



"What is it, House? Am I in this for you, or am I in this for him?"


"Give Wilson his sweatshirt. It's pit stains don't suit you." If House had absolutely no sexual feelings towards Wilson, why would it enrage him to see Amber wearing his shirt? Goddamn, HL scared me in this part. The lack of music, the lingering shots on their faces...





"Did you know Wilson's dating Amber?"


House and Cuddy are totally going to end up in the sack again. And now I'm looking forward to it, because it will actually be all about Wilson.


"Saw Amber drop off Wilson this morning."
"Yes, the male always drives the female." ....another tranny/genderbending joke? SERIOUSLY. ADDRESS HIS OBSESSION.
Interesting how the new fellows are teasing House, whereas the old ones never did that.


"How do we know that the real Roz isn't who she is now and who she was then? Can't we say her previous life was true without making her present one a fraud?" Rewatching this scene, I see the hint about her bisexuality. I love that it's brought up in this episode, hinting that this applies to House and Wilson. I like Thirteen a bit more now, both as a person and a character. She's going to bring House and Wilson together somehow.


House's obligatory date-crashing scene. It's about to get quite awkward.





"Hi Greg. And I call you 'Greg' because we're now social equals."


"I assume you'd like to join us. It'd be easier to observe our interaction if you're at the same table."


"If we ever get seated."


"NO!"





"Any minute now, she's going to hit him the face with your testicles."



"She's the anti-Wilson. She's a force for evil."
"So she has an annoying quality or two. If I were perfect, I'd date perfect."






Amber gets the goods.





"You like that!"


"It's annoying, but she's good at it."




"Wait a second..."


"This isn't just about the sex. You like her personality, you like that she's conniving. You like that she has no regard for consequences. You like that she can humiliate someone if it serves--"





"........"






"Oh my god. You're sleeping with me." House looks so rattled by what he just said. And more awkward silence.






And he leaves without saying anything or looking back at Wilson.



Wilson thinks about this. Probably trying to repress.






House returns to the hospital. "Give me ten bucks."
"No."
"I missed lunch."
"I thought you went--"
"I missed. Lunch." In case you didn't catch that House was rattled by that little realization.





More on bi!Thirteen. "We simplify people. That's how the human mind works. Everything's got a category."
"You don't like it. You don't want to be oversimplified."


"I'm sure you have many reasons to keep yourself a mystery. Besides the fact you're bisexual." I wonder how Foreman knew? Also, I love that the reveal wasn't dramatic at all.


"Denial would have worked before the long, vacant stare."


"People who have a problem with boxes are people who don't fit in them."


"I would ask if this is going to be lunchtime gossip, but luck for me--"
"I don't give a damn." I love you, show. I really do.


House, again, gets distracted from work because he's obsessing over Wilson.




He hears the elevator ding and must check to see if it's Wilson. God, he's so lovesick, it's sad. (Is that Wilson's mythical assistant?)







"I went by your hotel this morning. They told me you moved out. Moved in with CB?"
"No, apparently I moved in with you." His deadpanning confused me - I thought House had moved all of Wilson's stuff to his apartment or something. And that kind of sums up what the rest of this is like...



"The fact that you're resisting my insight proves--"
"House, you're right." From this point on, the show effectively uses his deadpan to keep it ambiguous how much was sarcasm and how much he meant. Because, really, take it out of context, it sounds serious.



Apparently, House is confused for a while, too.


"Why not? Why not date you?" ...well, why not? If we take Thirteen's comment into consideration, supposed heterosexuality doesn't make a difference. And they're compatible in every way.




"It's brilliant: we've known each other for years, we put up with all kinds of crap from each other...and we keep coming back. We're a couple!"
Poor House. He's still trying to figure out if Wilson's serious or not.








"...are we still speaking metaphorically?"



Wilson insists Amber is what he needs. *shakes head* I'll talk about his clear denial some more later.





"I was wrong."
"House! You're right."


"She's not me. Well, she is me - but that's not why she's attractive. She's a needy version of me."



"....hard to imagine such a mythical creature."



"You started seeing her right after I fired her."
"I started seeing her four months ago."





"She told Kutner it was four weeks." Pwned.


"You lied to me. There's money on the line."
"Because I knew how you'd react and I knew you wouldn't pay me anyway!" ...feeling trapped in a corner, Wilson? Eek.





"You knew that I was right."
"She wasn't needy. She was...in a...bad situation. There's a difference." Are fuckin' kidding me? Denial. It's very powerful.





"Not to your libido." So, neediness gets Wilson off? Thanks, confirmation that House gets Wilson off.




"Wait a minute, wait a minute...Why are you doing this?"



"Every time I agree with you, you find a new argument." BECAUSE HE CAN'T FIGURE YOU OUT. Never could, never will. (Okay, I have to have a "my mom said" moment - after reading my Big Gay Wilson essay, one of the things she said is, "Wilson is House's biggest puzzle.")



"What are you trying to avoid?"





"Well, if you'd looked at me with those flashing eyes before I was involved...*shrug*" Ow. That actually came off as mean, at least to me. I'm sure House didn't enjoy that comment.




"C'est la vie."


"And I use the French...because you're an ass." He desperately doesn't want House to ruin his last shred of denial.




Nope. House did not enjoy that.



"I need you to sleep with Wilson." Say what? "He's involved with...an inappropriate woman."


"He's combined two of his worst qualities - his love for me, and his love for need." Who didn't squee, just a bit?


"Wilson has a pattern with women: he saves them, then he betrays them. Which then causes guilt. Which then causes him to save somebody else."


"I get that 'sleep with' is your way of saying I should talk to him--"


"No, I really mean 'sleep with him.'" I wrote a meta comparing Nana's Nana/Hachi to House/Wilson. And one of the things Nana does is manipulate Hachi into a relationship to someone more her liking, someone who will keep Hachi tethered to her. And that's what this reminded me of.


"You're not worried this relationship will fail, you're worried it will succeed, that Wilson will no longer be at your beck and call 24/7." Bullseye, from that look.


"You'll never lose your friend, House. You're the long-distance runner of neediness." Is that...S1/S2 Cuddy talking? So true but so very blunt.




Wilson isn't even involved with the case and he's dominating this episode.


"Are you sure she doesn't wanna just...take you back to her lair, hang you upside-down, and deposit her eggs in you?" Cuddy's character is very enjoyable in this episode =)


"House, excellent disguise."


"You two are really that serious?" ...Cuddy ships House/Wilson. Along with Chase and Foreman.


"She's pretty. She's funny. Maybe she's a little more..."
"Evil?"
"...aggressive than you'd expect for me."





"I'm happy. Can't I just enjoy what that feels like for a while?"
...I'm pretty I read a fanfic that said something along the lines of, "You just like the idea of being in love."


"How many people have looked at you trustingly while you gave them a fatal prognosis? You knew it was kinder to tell them the truth. Amber compulsively looks out for #1, you compulsively look out for the person that you're with." One of the possible downfalls of H/W. Oh, except that House put Wilson before himself in this episode. Hm.


"Your needs are going to feed her needs until all that's left is a Wilson chalk outline on the floor."



"Sorry." He's clinging tightly to his last bit of denial.


".......Wow."


"You wanted to see me?"
"...And you came."


"Solve this case, and the job is yours." Damn.
"Is there a 'drop Wilson' clause attached to that?"
"Standard contract all employees sign."


This scene is heartbreaking on all fronts.


"All my life, I thought I had to choose between love and respect. And I chose respect. And with Wilson, I know what it's like to have both." She's sincere. She's also completely under Wilson's spell. Her heart will be broken, as his pattern goes...


House also knows what it's like to get both love and respect from Wilson.


"And that beats a fellowship."


She's tempted...



"Could be DIC." And she bites. The seeds of doubt have been sown.


"You've changed."
"I hope so." Either way, her and Wilson's relationship has been set up to fail.


She leaves. House thinks about this conversation.


"The husband's blessing his wife. He calls her a [sorry, I don't know how to write it], a woman of valor. Strength and honor are her clothing, and she laughs at the future. Because she's an idiot." Gyah. Pure heartbreak on his face.




"Things aren't we want them to be just because we want them to be there." Oh god.


"You do it both ways, right?"
"What?"


"The ultrasound. You do it standing up and lying down."
"....yeah."


"What else would I mean?"


Wink.


I think this came off as a "I'm totally bi, too" wink because he didn't seem very sarcastic or malicious; it seemed more playful than anything. Since these last two episodes have emboldened my theorizing, I'm going to assume this is confirmation of the "House is bisexual" idea. (As far as I want them to go.) And, no, I don't think he just realized it.



"Waiting on a Friend" starts playing, in case you didn't get the plot to this episode.


"I've decided you could do worse than a female proxy for me." And then he runs off before Wilson can respond.




Yeah, I thought he was running after House to kiss him, too. Because that was a classic romance movie moment there. =)


"You're going to acknowledge people can change?"
"Nope."
"You think I've changed, or Amber's changed?"
"Nope."


"Then you've changed."


"If you do change, can it be the part of you that chases me down halls trying to get me to change?"


"Do you know what this means?"
"That you've made one good dating choice."




"My world could expand. I could form a long-term connection with someone who isn't you." Come on - even Bonnie didn't place all the blame on House.


"And since you put the darkest possible construction on everything, you could be losing a friend."



"...you've thought of all this."




"And yet you're going along with it."





"...are you being self-sacrificing?"



"I'll sacrifice a lab rat, I'll sacrifice a fly, I'll sacrifice a [I can't hear this part]...I don't sacrifice self." But your expression tells a different story.



(I meant to ask last time - is RSL beginning to gray?)



"Shabbat shalom, Wilson." It's like "Good night, Wilson" taken to the fiftieth power. I think I almost cried.



"Shabbat shalom, House." Oh god ;_;



Feel the love, Wilson?



The End. For now.


Again, these are more highly concentrated House/Wilson caps that usual. Addition Amber caps will appear on my Cut-Throat Bitch website sometime this week. I have to shift gears first, though.

THIS IS THE BEST WEEK EVER: I GOT TWO EPISODES THAT MADE A PAIRING I'M FAR TOO INVESTED IN TEXTUAL. MY MOM BOUGHT A HOUSE. AND I JUST GOT ACCEPTED TO SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN. WOOHOO!!

Some thoughts:
- Big Gay Wilson not only survived this, but is even supported. Goddamn.
- I think this episode showed House changing and not changing at the same time. It depends on how you look it. Wilson hasn't changed. Period.
- The self-sacrifice? The only other person he did this for was Stacy. Let's all think about that.
- I hope Amber shows up on-screen from time-to-time. The potential friction/awkwardness between her and House could be interesting. Anne Dudek's great.
- I assume this means House isn't going to (or at least try not to) monopolize Wilson's time. That puts the ball in Wilson's court, which actually follows the pattern of the series: S1, Wilson had to be prodded into saying "he cares about me" and risks his job for House; S2, House lets Wilson live with him, sabotages him to keep him around, and wants him to move back in; S3, well, we all know how much Wilson sacrificed in this one; S4, House makes a lot little changes for Wilson, and now this.
- I feel like Wilson is one nudge away from finally releasing himself from denial, and I think that nudge is this relationship with Amber failing. (But damn, unless the show's about to end, they're going to have to find a way to prolong the inevitable H/W end. I think BGW could do that.)
- I really hope there aren't a bunch of evil!Amber fics. Really. She's complex, Wilson's complex, House is complex. There's so much to play with here. I know I'm inspired to write.
- I can't believe this happened =)

EDIT: I forgot to mention this. Someone much cooler than me posted about the triangular theory of love once. And I love it, because it's much more fluid than the strict "platonic love," "romantic love," etc. compartments, which this episode seems to want viewers to break from. I've always thought of House and Wilson "loving" each other, in a broad sense. What they do with that love is up to them =)