I was just going to toss this in with the screencaps, but I'm having downloading issues, so those won't be done for several more hours. Grr. I want to see drunken Wilson again!



See, this is why I'm not getting worked up over David Shore's comments. He's clearly a H/W fanboy - he neglected the patient and the medicine horribly just to write bucketfuls of the triangle of "affection." (Euphemisms are fun!) 'Course, I don't mind; I started watching for the character House, and the medical stuff was just a fun bonus.

Amber
Sorry, not playing the "let's hate the person that gets in the middle of our OTP" game. That's immature and embarrassing.

I still believe Amber was sincere in her "love and respect" speech. All the same, I think House trying to compete with her triggered her competitive streak - she has to win. I also believe she is horribly insecure about her relationship with Wilson, and rightfully so. Honestly, I think House would act exactly like her if he were in her position (they already were acting almost the same as is). I also wouldn't read into her calling Wilson a wuss or "controlling" his time - House insults Wilson all the time (with all the love in the world) and he was "controlling" Wilson's time, too.

Amber's not controlling Wilson. I'm sure she wanted him to move in and offered to drive him places, but I really think that tells us more about Wilson than her: he apparently can't say no to a woman.

I think House's comments to Amber in "97 Seconds" about Wilson have turned out to be important, as she probably became quite aware of his relationship with Wilson (and, hey, Amber did her homework - notice how she never messed with Wilson, other than walking through his office). I At the end of "Frozen," she seems to being paying quite a bit attention to House's reaction - not in a "sweet revenge!" way, but more curious. (Doing more homework?) On my first viewing of "Don't Ever Change," I assumed Amber was wearing Wilson's sweatshirt to get a reaction out of House. (First viewing and assumed being key words. Entirely up to interpretation. I'm not sure what I think about that, really.) Then, of course, in this episode, she repeatedly makes references to her and Wilson's sex life around House. Honestly? Makes me think of Bonnie. Maybe it's just them rubbing in House's face the one thing they get from Wilson that he doesn't.

I'm still betting Wilson's going to break her heart, though.

House
Once again House doesn't want Wilson having sex. (But he's all for "learning to love yourself," though.) So he gets him drunk. And gives him a pervy smile. Alrighty then...

Most of this episode? Not really subtext. But this was: "She's your girlfriend." "You're my friend." "It's not the same." House looked quite dejected at not being the girlfriend. Aw.

I love Amber, but this show is slanted in House's favor. (I know, shocking!) House is shown in a slightly better light. We never get to see Wilson and Amber alone, or even joking together. (And Wilson borderline glares at her after the "that was my fault" comment. WTF.) That doesn't look so great next to House counting the minutes that Wilson is late, making Wilson laugh and sneaking him out of work to go bowling, and looking upset when he finds Amber in Wilson's office.

My immediate assumption was that House knew Wilson was going to tell Amber, as a test. (That sounds like him, right? Do a test that will likely give him depressing results?) But House is still emo about.

Wilson
Wilson is not a doormat. Wilson is not a doormat. Wilson is not a doormat. For the members of the audience who ride the short bus, we had "Mirror, Mirror" spell this out. Wilson is also not as nice as he seems. Again spelled out in "Frozen." Then we get an episode titled "No More Mr. Nice Guy," in which Wilson sits back and enjoys Amber and House vying for attention. Logical conclusion: Wilson is the master manipulator. (Come on, watch some S1 episodes. It was true even then.)

Wilson is not a victim - at least not at the hands of Amber and Wilson. He's just surprisingly dumb for being so smart. This episode just served as further confirmation he's still in same old pattern with women. Whenever he and Amber kiss, she initiates; not only that, she's obviously into it, he seems apathetic. Amber wants to have sex constantly, while Wilson willingly gets drunk when he knows what alcohol does to his performance. So Wilson 1) Doesn't want to have sex with Amber, 2) Doesn't want to have sex with women, or 3) Doesn't want to have sex at all. I'm not ignoring RSL's acting choices (not just with Amber, but other women): I'm back to firmly disbelieving he's attracted to women (sexually, at least). He comes off as gay or asexual. Seriously, it wouldn't take much to change my opinion on this - he just needs to, you know, stop acting so apathetic towards the ladies.

This episode kept getting shots of Wilson smiling about the entire situation. He's loving it. What more proof do you need?

I also can't help but feel the patient's, "I wonder what else I don't like?" thing applies to Wilson, somehow. Hm...

Chase/Cameron
I always had an interest in this pairing. So I was very happy with their scenes; what I like about them is that they're not perfect together, but not a train wreck, either. I don't know if Cameron's opinion of Chase has changed in the past year, but in "The Jerk," she didn't think too highly of him. And Chase is still fixated on Cameron's Housecrush which won't seem to die. I really hope they work through this instead of breaking up, in part to prove that established relationships aren't boring. (And I think a break-up would actually be quite dull, and would kill their screen time.)

And, on a shallow note: confident Chase is very sexy, even though he desperately needs a haircut.

Predictions (Spoilers through finale!)
The next episode is going to be light (and rainbow-colored); the two-parter, I'm expecting drama, drama, drama and my head exploding for awesome. I'm convinced Wilson is going to have a heart issue (for a variety of reasons), and maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but the Cate/Sean thing might still apply. House does everything he can for Wilson, and Amber does everything she can, but ultimately it's less than what House is able to offer. For whatever reason, Amber exits (relating to what House forgot, maybe). House and Wilson are left in their ambiguous love as a temporary resolution before the House/Cuddy fest. (Fandom will then bitch that TPTB have then "forgotten" about House/Wilson, are homophobic, or are trying to shove het down our throats. I will laugh.)

And I also think House might pull Cameron and Chase because he trusts them more than the new fellows and he wants the best available for Wilson. Everyone will be happy.

(Although, I like the idea of Amber sticking around a bit more only to get ditched in the road trip episode. Her rage would burn hotter than a thousand suns.)