House S4 Finale

[swatkat]

I have watched the final House episodes.

I. Wow. Watching the two episodes, back-to-back, just... wow. I should be filled with RAGE, because they KILLED my Amber (they killed my Amber), but all I feel is sad. For House, for Wilson, for Amber (oh, Amber!)...

It was the note in the end that really killed me. I thought it would be a love letter or something, but it was a note, just a note. Saying she went to pick up House. And the House&Amber scene in the end, gah. (you can't always get what you want! that has always been this show's motto, hasn't it?) *weeps*

What a wonderful character arc this has been! Not only have they learnt to do arcs (which is a vast improvement, considering last season; I do love the Stacy arc, but it could've been better paced), they've actually done an arc with such a wonderfully well-rounded character like Amber (I am biased here, because while love Stacy, I LOVE Amber), who *changed* and *grew* and would not be angry in the end. Compare that to Cut-Throat Bitch at the end of 'Games', and you'll know. (And that parallels with the Ducklings' arc - Foreman's especially, but also Chase and Cameron. AND THEY CAME TO COMFORT HIM IN THE END! THEY CAME TO COMFORT HIM, BECAUSE THEY'RE FRIENDS, AND FOREMAN KNOWS IT! EEEEEEEEE!)

House is a show that revels in parallels. It's their favourite device (sometimes irritatingly so). But they did it well here, with Thirteen making her choice, and Amber making hers, and House having to make his (and he came back. he came back!). I loved the parallel with Honeymoon, except that he saved Mark and he couldn't save Amber, and this is Wilson. Oh, House! (Oh, Wilson!)

And the scene where House and Amber are being *nice* to each other? Oh, House! Oh, Amber! (Oh, Wilson!)

I love Thirteen, I really do. And AM I THE ONLY PERSON WHO SAW AMBER/THIRTEEN? I mean, COME ON!

Oh, Wilson! I felt VINDICATED when Cuddy hugged Wilson, because they're *friends* and they've been so through *much*, and that's the way it should be. That's the way it should be.

Speaking of Cuddy: "He's the attending. You're the family. Go spend more time with the patient." God I love her. Did anyone notice she was wearing the same dress as in the end of 97 Seconds when Foreman went to her and they decided to warm Amber up? I wonder if that was an intentional parallel? I love her working relationship with Foreman, I really do.

And the vigil by House's bedside. (And was House holding her *hand*? Please, TPTB, don't screw this up next season!) &hearts&hearts♥

House's face in the end. Gah. He really, *really* loves Wilson. I don't CARE if House/Wilson doesn't 'happen' on the show, because he *loves* Wilson, and he made his choice because of that. Now we'll have to see what he makes of it.

ETA: What is all this about House/Wilson being broken forever? It was House's fault. And it wasn't, because, as Kutner said, death is random. Shit happens. And Wilson knows that too. And he loves House, who's *alive* when Amber isn't.

What a season this has been!

ETA: jaybee65 is wonderfully coherent about Amber, here.

Comments

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Cuddy, I also loved that she had the sense to realize that Amber might actually want a chance to wake up and come to terms with what was happening to her. Cuddy has waffled a lot more than she used to this season -- to the point where House was actually disappointed in her for not standing up to him when it mattered -- but in this ep she finally stepped up to what she needed to do: be the clear-thinking, rational one. She and Foreman both.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! I found the developments in Cuddy's character interesting, actually, and the fact that Foreman stood up to House in that episode. It's as though she's delegated some of her insane responsibility to him, and it's...interesting. I need to think more about this. Watch the previous two episodes properly instead of fast-forwarding through them because I wanted to watch the two-parter.

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this, and the link to the Amber analysis. It picks up my spirits given that The Other Finale has thrown fans into a frothing rage.

And I totally saw the Amber/Thirteen too!

Thirteen: I don’t even like her.
Me: But you had hate!sex and now you feel guilty mwahahahaha!

;)

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

You can always trust jaybee65 to be coherent and thoughtful. What Other Finale do you speak of? Bones, I'm assuming?

AMBER/THIRTEEN IS CANON. PERIOD.

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

Yes, Bones. *sigh* The anger is strong there, and for good reason. I’m just waiting for epic wankery to commence. So that I can post it on FW. ;)

[leiascully.livejournal.com]

You are not the only one! Zulu and I are all for Amber/13 too! Hooray!

Wasn't that "you're the family" line a heartbreaker? DAMN. The whole episode, really.

Poor, poor Wilson. I can see how it might be broken together: Wilson saw how Amber changed, after all of that. House could/should change too, he might think.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Amber/Thirteen is FTW. Oh, show!

Poor, poor Wilson. He broke my heart into a million little pieces in this episode. It's difficult to outshine HL, but RSL and Anne Dudek did just that in some places.

Wasn't that "you're the family" line a heartbreaker? DAMN. The whole episode, really.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE HOLDING OF HANDS?? (Sorry, but I can't help thinking about this episode in CAPSLOCK)

[ijemanja.livejournal.com]

God, it was all so freaking depressing. Am not happy. But I did the fic-as-therapy thing and, I'm not feeling any more happy? But at least I think I can be coherent about it now. Sort of.

Seriously, there was so much interesting stuff between ALL the characters. Cuddy and Foreman rocked the house. Cameron and Chase were fabulous and fascinating, for what little they were there.

And you were so not alone in Amber/13 town. Like that was all about her Huntingtons? No, sorry, that was about her losing her secret girlfriend.

Interesting, though, did you notice how they handed not one but BOTH new female characters death sentences in one episode? I DID.

(Okay, maybe I'm not so coherent when it comes to the gender issues at play here. Too many women in too many of my shows have been killed off lately. I am both sad and rage-y.)

As for the House/Wilson doom and gloom - HAH. The whole freaking POINT of Amber dying was to create conflict and angst for those two boys, making for much drama and manpain in the new season as they make their way back to each other. And because House needed a new growing experience, and Tritter didn't cut it in season three.

I think my next fic-as-therapy project is going to be happy fluffy Amber/13 where NO ONE IS DEAD OR DYING.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

I saw your fic! And I'm going to read it nownownow!

Interesting, though, did you notice how they handed not one but BOTH new female characters death sentences in one episode? I DID.

(Okay, maybe I'm not so coherent when it comes to the gender issues at play here. Too many women in too many of my shows have been killed off lately. I am both sad and rage-y.)

You don't have to be coherent, because yes, they did. While I can accept the dramatic significance of Amber's death, and even the dramatic significance of Thirteen's illness, it doesn't change the fact that there is a larger pattern at work here.

As for the House/Wilson doom and gloom - HAH. The whole freaking POINT of Amber dying was to create conflict and angst for those two boys, making for much drama and manpain in the new season as they make their way back to each other. And because House needed a new growing experience, and Tritter didn't cut it in season three.

Yes, exactly. And while they both broke my heart to PIECES, it's less important to me than the fact that they *killed* my Amber.

I think my next fic-as-therapy project is going to be happy fluffy Amber/13 where NO ONE IS DEAD OR DYING.


I was planning to write Amber/Thirteen/Kutner myself.

[ijemanja.livejournal.com]

Yes. Because while I like and care about House and Wilson as characters, the fact is this happened at Amber's expense and that's not cool. I'd like less award winning drama and more of my girl, please.

Same with Thirteen - on one hand I'm like, this is going to be really interesting for the character, on the other it's - they didn't give Kutner or Taub the terminal illness, you know? They gave it to the pretty girl. And I've really grown to love and adore 13, but this feels too much like Cameron's dead husband. The pretty girl has to have a DEEP DARK SECRET, while the other characters can just be characters. Or something. It's difficult to pin down why this bothers me so much. Which would be why I'm rambling on about it.

In conclusion: NEEDS MOAR AMBER.

I was planning to write Amber/Thirteen/Kutner myself.

I will have your internet babies if you do this.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Yes. Because while I like and care about House and Wilson as characters, the fact is this happened at Amber's expense and that's not cool. I'd like less award winning drama and more of my girl, please.

And it's always at a girl's expense, isn't it? I love me some House&Wilson manpain, but I love Amber bitch-slapping Wilson into sanity MORE.

It's difficult to pin down why this bothers me so much. Which would be why I'm rambling on about it.


It's difficult because this is a part of a larger pattern, where female characters necessarily die so that the show(/movie/book/text in question) can revel in angsty man!pain (I mean, even Kara's 'death' was all about the emo Adamas and emo Sam, and BSG treats its women better than most other shows). And I'm not one to limit female roles within a certain framework - female characters, like male ones, should be allowed to die. But given the larger pattern, given the way these things always happen, given the way these deaths occur and there fallouts are dealt with, you can't help being disturbed and angry. (On a tangent - I once wrote a paper that dealt with something very akin to this, and a friend pointed out that it was 'reductive'. And maybe it was, but I stand by my point: when the larger pattern involves female characters dying, repeatedly, so that the men can be emo, you have a problem.)

[ijemanja.livejournal.com]

I love Amber bitch-slapping Wilson into sanity MORE.

Oh god I loved the waterbed thing. The entire bed-buying experience. (We can't afford that! Not with a baby on the way!) Seeing Wilson with Amber, the way he was with her, actually made me like him more. She was SO GOOD FOR HIM. It's one out of NUMEROUS reasons this SUCKS SO MUCH.

But given the larger pattern, given the way these things always happen, given the way these deaths occur and there fallouts are dealt with, you can't help being disturbed and angry.

Yes, thank you. Exactly. Because we're really not just hyper-sensitive feminazis jumping at shadows. This is HAPPENING. And the really difficult thing to understand is -- how are the people making these shows not aware of it? But it's not just about the killing off of women characters, it's a systematic bias towards male characters and their development, the male = neutral, women = women thing. We need cuddy_fest for a REASON.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

And the really difficult thing to understand is -- how are the people making these shows not aware of it?

Because, possibly, they stem from assumptions so deep-seated that they don't question it at all. Because there is a formula, and, on occasions, the formula does produce great stuff, like the Amber arc. But there's still a problem with it.

But it's not just about the killing off of women characters, it's a systematic bias towards male characters and their development, the male = neutral, women = women thing.

Oh, yes! This is exactly what we have been struggling to articulate, I think. It's not that female characters shouldn't have tragic endings, it's just that the tragic ending for the female character is almost always, in this particular formula, designed towards emo angst for the male. 'Development' for the female character, in this formula, is to be instrumental towards the 'development' of the male character, which is ultimately of more consequence in the larger scheme of things.

[ijemanja.livejournal.com]

Because, possibly, they stem from assumptions so deep-seated that they don't question it at all.

No, they don't, they don't HAVE to question it. They have teh privilege, they can make their own show or watch someone else's and never ever have to wonder why there aren't more characters who look like them/share their gender. And why the characters who ARE like them are produced using a different set of standards. Even when they're really great characters.

'Development' for the female character, in this formula, is to be instrumental towards the 'development' of the male character, which is ultimately of more consequence in the larger scheme of things.

Yes, that's it exactly. Which is... depressing. You know, sometimes I recast shows in my head, with the gender of every character reversed. House becomes a show which would never have been made. No one would make a show about a miserable, physically disabled, craggy old vicodin-dependant woman. Every (always younger) male character on the show would not be attracted to her. A focal point of the show wouldn't be her screwed up relationship with her (female) best friend. Her genius would be considered ludicrous, her attitude unbearable bitchiness. She wouldn't be a sex symbol.

But you know what? Meg House md would be an awesome show. Especially if Meg was played by Allison Janney and her best friend Jane Wilson was played by Felicity Huffman. And ESPECIALLY if Cuddy was the one character who didn't get gender-switched. I would watch that.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

and never ever have to wonder why there aren't more characters who look like them/share their gender. And why the characters who ARE like them are produced using a different set of standards. Even when they're really great characters.

Word.

But you know what? Meg House md would be an awesome show. Especially if Meg was played by Allison Janney and her best friend Jane Wilson was played by Felicity Huffman. And ESPECIALLY if Cuddy was the one character who didn't get gender-switched. I would watch that.

Oh God. I would watch that show.

Not that it would be made. Ever.

[shutterbug-12.livejournal.com]

I think Stacy and Amber are my favorite women on the show. Cuddy's awesome, too, but God, I loved those two. *sigh* And, yeah, I spent so much of the finale going, "Oh, House. Oh, Wilson. Oh, Amber. Oh!" I'm slightly more coherent about it now, but it still just KILLS ME. THE LAST TWO EPISODES SLAY ME.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Oh Amber! How could they do this to her? *weeps*

[hihoplastic.livejournal.com]

I'm still having a hard time talking about it. Pathetic? Yes. Care? Not so much.

I giant WORD to everything you said, 'cause my brain's still not working properlys. I loved the Cuddy/Wilson scene. And the Amber/13 undertones (which were ttly there, kthnx) and the bus and RSL RIPPING MY FREAKING HEART OUT. And Cuddy, oh Cuddy. (Biaswhat?)

BUT AMBER!!!

I want my Amber back. In a notdead way :( :( :(

And the shirt! I noticed that too. Sneaky, PTBs. Very sneaky.

I need watch it again, but can't quite make myself do it yet. I will but. Gah. OUCH.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

I want my Amber back too! In a notdead way! I realise I'm being melodramatic here, but I cannot imagine the show without her now. How will they ever put Wilson back together? Or House, for that matter? How on earth is Cuddy supposed to stay sane *and* pick up the pieces, for *two* of them?


And the shirt! I noticed that too. Sneaky, PTBs. Very sneaky.

The entire episode is full of parallels! Amber brought House back in that episode, and House... couldn't. And Cuddy was awesome in both episodes.

I watched it once more (and will undoubtedly be watching it again), and HL rocked my socks off. If he doesn't get an Emmy this time, I don't know what to say.

[hihoplastic.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine the show without her either. Or Wilson without her! And House without Wilson! There is just too much woe for me to handle. And Cuddy! That woman has seriously had an awful two years. I hope they lighten up on her next year, maybe give her a (successful) date or two.

HL totally deserves an award. And RSL need a hug. A really, really big hug.

... Or possibly another naked!cuddy scene. That would certainly make ME happy...

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

I hope they lighten up on her next year, maybe give her a (successful) date or two.

Seeing how they're *definitely* heading towards House/Cuddy now, I don't think so. It seems tailormade for more gloom and doom. God, I hope they don't ruin it.

... Or possibly another naked!cuddy scene. That would certainly make ME happy...

Oh, that scene! We haven't talked about it after I saw it, have we? It was amazing, and nothing like I expected it to be! It was head!Cuddy, which is of course just a figment of House's imagination, and she was so awesome, "I'm distracting you." And then the real Cuddy slept over! Have you *seen* their interaction lately? I've been wanting this ever since Humpty Dumpty, because they're friends, dammit, and while S3 sort of sealed that bit, it's nice to have more confirmation on screen. *SQUEE*