NOT FEELING THE H/W LOVE

[raietta.livejournal.com]

Well, watched "Top Secret" a couple of times, feeling bummed.

WARNING! Long rambling dissertation under the LJ cut! Possibly TL;DR! Also, spoilers inside!



It’s undeniable now. House and Wilson got divorced.

They were happily, wonderfully married throughout all of Season One (even during the Vogler mess!!). They were totally married throughout Season Two (balcony scenes anyone? House deleting the apartment message from his answering machine anyone? Still the gold standard of H/W love!).

Then along came the "Euphoria" two-parter, and then Season Three, and all my happy slashy dreams were shattered. SHATTERED.

"Euphoria" had open hostility between House and Wilson (or, more likely, hostility from House toward Wilson—here I’m thinking specifically of the scene where House snarls at Wilson, "I’ll bet you you can even have unprotected sex with your patients without even catching a damn thing. Boy I wish I had your job." YEOWCH!), and here we see House considering packing up his things and asking for his magic decoder ring back. Sad. Really, really sad. I started getting a queasy feeling in my stomach right then.

Then, somewhere after House got the ketamine treatment and Wilson started manipulating him (withholding information from House about his paralyzed patient, refusing to prescribe Vicodin, etc), House got a separation from Wilson.

The lovely sexy sparkly chemistry onscreen between House and Wilson just shuddered to a halt. Sad, sad, sad!

Then somewhere after Tritter finally got booted off the show, House filed for divorce from Wilson. Looks like the trial separation didn’t go too well.

Where’d the chemistry go? Where’d all the jump cuts focusing on Wilson and House giving one another sexy, significant looks go?

What the hell is going on, here?

In "Half-Wit," I felt more depressed. Here House is DYING OF BRAIN CANCER, and what do we get from House and Wilson? One half-assed scene with the upright piano in the patient’s room and one sneering, hostile scene in House’s office at the end. Gah!

House actually looks simmeringly angry with Wilson in that last scene. Man. It almost felt to me, on watching that scene, that House has filed for divorce in a fit of betrayed fury—and Wilson didn’t even know they were married in the first place. Bizarre! That scene actually reads to me like House is still furious with Wilson, and Wilson has no freaking clue that House is even mad. Wilson gets House flowers. House throws them out the window. Wilson cluelessly gets House chocolates. House throws them at his head. Wilson’s all like, "Pizza and a movie?" House is all like, "Choke on that pizza and DIE!!!"

Am I the only one who saw that? Just how crazy am I?

Is anyone else not seeing the chemistry?

It’s like the actors are no longer comfortable playing scenes together. It’s awful. I don’t see House and Wilson interacting on the screen any more; I see Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard pretending to be House and Wilson on a set. Awful.

And so now we come to the latest episode, "Top Secret."

I would have enjoyed this episode much, much more if there had been ANY chemistry between House and Wilson AT ALL. And I’m not even being greedy and asking for sexual chemistry. Just plain old "House and Wilson are bestest buds and Platonically LUV each other!" chemistry would have made my day.

But no. Nothing.

The banter in the bathroom? Not feeling it. Feels forced and half-assed.

The fights about House’s drug use and House’s patient? Feels like the bickering of a divorced couple, sad to say. Seriously. This is how my mom and dad used to fight/argue/bicker with each other, after they got divorced. I know firsthand how post-divorce arguments sound and look, and House and Wilson in "Top Secret" fit the bill.

But maybe it’s not just House and Wilson, HL and RSL.

The scenes between House and Cuddy weren’t all that sparkly with chemistry, either. Or, at least not the sexual kind. The scene in House’s office where Cuddy gives House the patient file for Riley (or whatever his name in the show is), I see ZERO sexual chemistry between Cuddy and House. House looks tired and distracted. He doesn’t even leer at Cuddy’s cleavage. In return, Cuddy looks tired and concerned. More maternal than anything. Odd. It’s that way in the end scene, too, where we finally get confirmation that Cuddy and House had been up to sexy shenanigans years ago, in what appears to be a one-night stand.

Sexual chemistry? Zip.

Cuddy’s still looking and acting motherly towards House, not sexual at ALL, and House acts like Cuddy is a sister or something.

This is so weird.

So maybe it’s not just House and Wilson that’s lost its zing. Maybe it’s ALL the grownups of the show.

Cameron and Chase were kinda hot in the supply closet together. Foreman was fun and engaging in the ep. Has the end of the world come about? Am I actually enjoying the scenes with the kids more than the scenes with H, Cuddy, and W?

Please counter my arguments ramblings if you can. Please let me know if you DID see any chemistry between House and Wilson in the last few eps. Really. I’d like to know if anyone agrees with my view, that the chemistry is alarmingly absent from H & W these days. I’d also like to know if anyone disagrees, if they DO see chemistry. That would make me feel a lot better.

So. Anyone else with problems with the show and the H/W relationship? Anyone else thinking the thrill is gone? Or do I need to start going to therapy to resolve my issues with over-analyzing a stupid show? (I mean, seriously. It's just a show! This much obsession can't be healthy.)

........send help!



ETA: Removed a few refs to "Top Secret" outside the LJ cut just in case.

Comments

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

Sexually abused? That's a bit strong of a term for two consenting adults.

There was a really interesting discussing a couple months ago, I believe in house_md, about the ethics of the Grace ordeal that, while it may not change you mind, does shed light on all sides. I'll link to it once I find it...

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

I lied, it was right here in H/W! http://community.livejournal.com/house_wilson/996253.html

[earlwyn.livejournal.com]

SUH-WEET. More meta.

Ta for that.

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

I understand that's what's on the books. Looking at it on a case-by-case basis lends me to a different conclusion.

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying it was a good idea, or even right, but it was a relationship in which I can see no emotional or physical damage endured by Grace. Grace was a terminal patient, the only job Wilson had left was to ease her pain. She was in need of companionship, Wilson eats neediness. The diagnosis or medication wasn't at risk of being biased by Wilson's relationship with her.

[earlwyn.livejournal.com]

Just because Wilson might be legally culpable for having sex with Grace, that does not mean he is necessarily ethically wrong about it.

The cool thing about morals and ethics is that there is tonne of grey space. It differs situation from situation - despite current laws of the land.

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

The law is there to address concerns that I've pointed out were significantly lessened by the details of this particular situation.

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

A 13 year old is not an adult, Grace was. This would hold true if there was some sign of neurological damage in Grace, but there wasn't.

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

There's no reason to get defensive. We just have different views on the doctor/patient relationship. I don't want to change your views so much as let you see where I'm coming from.

[earlwyn.livejournal.com]

What is legally wrong and morally wrong are two seperate things. Just because it states something in a policy as being prosecuted under the law doesn't mean it's wrong necessarily.

So no. I don't see how it's that terribly wrong, given specific circumstances.

[earlwyn.livejournal.com]

But... she could consent to sex. She did. And even if there was grey area as far as consent goes (which we have no proof that there was) the fact that it wasn't mentally damaging keeps it from being abuse. That's the definition of abuse.

(And I bander 'ethical' and 'moral' around too freely. I should try to be more precise next time. Apologies.)

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

But she wasn't a kid, she was a mentally functional adult. On medical issues, Wilson was in a position of power. But interpersonally? They're equals.

[earlwyn.livejournal.com]

Dubious consent aside (because I could argue that but -- hrmg; why bother? It could be argued that as House's prescribing physician, if House and Wilson entered into a romantic relationship, Wilson could be charge with sexual abuse against House. Would that be true? Of course not! But anyway), there is no evidence that the sex was mentally damaging either because of lack of canon evidence. In fact, all canon evidence that is available points to Wilson and Grace having an emotionally satisfying relationship.

[idonmatrix.livejournal.com]

It's called sexual misconduct/sexual harassment not sexual abuse. Sexual abuse refers to sex between a legal adult and legal minor. Wilson did not sexually assult or abused the patient. They were consenting adults. The problem is that the doctor/patient relationship ethically precludes a sexual relationship.