NOT FEELING THE H/W LOVE
Mar. 29th, 2007 10:20 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
raietta.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
house_wilson_ghcWell, 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 myarguments 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.
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
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.
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Re: WOW WAY TL;DR
Date: 2007-03-29 09:06 pm (UTC)In all honesty, I blame the writers.
I do, too. The writing on this show is very erratic. It's like the folks behind the show can't keep an even keel on anything. Spotlight on Cam, and Foreman and Chase disappear. Spotlight on Cuddy, now Cuddy looks like an incompetent, ineffectual fool (that stupid carpet debacle, the parking space nonsense), as well as having that out-of-nowhere baby subplot that comes and goes like the full moon. And so on.
Of course things are going to seem strange & weird after the Tritter arc; ... and then dismissed it with an absurd foppish gesture & a puff of purple smoke. I'm STILL pissed about the way that storyline ended.
The ridiculous and nonsensical Tritter arc was just painful to watch. That and, as you mentioned, post-ketamine House gleefully running again. Good Lord.
Anyway, moving on.
A television series is never going to achieve the seamless beauty of a novel, or even a film; it's a collaborative effort that's often stretched too thin over too many episodes, writers, and influences ... The obvious downsides are plot contrivances, awkwardness, strained & confusing characterization; the upside is, the show becomes a constant companion, something to obsess over and think about; and I'm willing to bet everyone who takes the time to participate in this community NEEDS that kind of presence in their life. Hey, nothing wrong with a few abandonment issues, LOL AMIRITE?
LOL! 2RITE.
Oh, very well! Be logical and point out that as House is a network show, it will by necessity have plot holes, poor writing, nutty characterization, and other agendas getting in the way of good continuity and storytelling.
I was also a Buffy fan, and ohmygod, were there painfully bad spots in that show. I'm wondering which ones you're thinking of as you reference the show. Still, IMO, Buffy at its worst was still better than some of the insanity that House has been showing. Buffy feels a lot more cohesive, a lot more fluidly written, and managed a large ensemble cast with flair, something the House folks simply CANNOT seem to do.
In that Rolling Stone interview, HL was asked "Are you afraid of the show becoming a parody of itself?"....
That part in the interview made me smile. Both the interviewer and HL made me smile.
I think his concerns are valid. I think Season 4 will be very telling, in terms of how the show will go. I'm extremely worried because I love this show, and don't want to see it die horribly. ... I saw the last episode as an attempt to START to repair some of the damage, INCLUDING the H/W dynamic (which DOES feel strained to me, but I at least get the sense they're finding their footing once more).
Good point about the ep being an attempt to start to repair the damage. Crossing my fingers.
Yes, I agree about the importance of S4. I was a big, big fan of The X-Files (shocking!) and I remember thinking that Seasons 3 and 4 were the X-Files' best seasons, where it was so smooth and funny and well-done.... I also remember being less than impressed by Buffy's Seasons 3 and 4. The third season is often where a show hits its stride and really settles down and solidifies the type of show it's going to be from then on out. So imagine my unpleasant surprise at how House is turning out this season. Oh well. Maybe Season 4 will be the clincher. The make-or-break season. I'll be watching and hoping. ;)
I hope the H/W dynamic doesn't fall prey to the adverse effects of the Heisenberg principle (now that writers & actors KNOW there is such a large H/W fanbase, that observation may effect how the relationship shows up on screen), but only time will tell.
That's been bugging me lately: the uncomfortable feeling of fan-service permeating the show. Maybe that's why all of the H/W scenes feel so off to me, so forced. It's like the writers and so forth know we're there, watching, and are putting on a very self-conscious little show, but the heart behind it is gone. Wow. That's really maudlin. I think I'll go watch old X-Files eps and figure it could be much worse: at least House hasn't descended to X-Files Season 7 horrors.