(S04E16) "Her heart won't stop racing. No idea what's causing it." Doctor in inferior hospital."Are you sure it wasn't the bus that landed on her?" House.
The season finale of House packed a wallop. I let my Tivo get ahead of my watching it so I wouldn't have to see the commercials, and I had barely begun the episode when my next-door neighbor burst into my living room exclaiming, "Have you seen House???" We barely had time to hit the pause button while yelling at her to leave and leave quickly without saying anything. But that is the kind of impact this kind of episode has. The season finale, which started last week, covered a bus-load of big themes: fear, wish-fulfillment, anger, risk-taking, the nature of friendship, remorse, and love. The episode was written by four writers, including producer David Foster: that was one of my first clues that this episode was going to be significant. They called in the big guns.
We found out last week that Amber is the patient who is dying. House and Wilson hunt her down at the hospital she was taken to. She has been unconscious since the crash, she has lost both her kidneys, and her heart is racing uncontrollably. House convinces Wilson to pose as Amber's husband to get Amber transferred to Princeton Hospital so they can treat her themselves. In the ambulance, Amber's heart goes into V-fib, and Wilson begs House to impose hypothermia, lowering her body temperature and putting her heart on bypass to give them time to find the diagnosis without risking possible brain damage by re-starting her heart and having it continue to race. They get to Princeton hospital and the ambulance doors fly open, revealing a blinding white light.
The blinding white light is a symbol, just as both of the two parts of the season finale are packed with them. Let's explore it a little. Does the white light symbolize enlightenment, the answers they will find at Princeton? Or is it something else? Next, we see Amber in a bright, white, sterilized room. None of the normal blue or shaded hues they usually use in the series are present. Does this denote simply a sterile environment, or are we being given clues along the way? Well, obviously, I think there is something else at work here, and I'll talk about it more as we go along.
There are so many puzzles within the overarching question: What is killing Amber? Why was Amber with House? Were they having an affair? Is it important why she was with him? How can House unlock his brain to reveal the symptom he saw, the key to her diagnosis? House, suffering from the exhaustion of his concussion and the heart attack induced by the Alzheimer's medication he took in the last episode, starts falling asleep. His dreams are a little different from the hallucinations of last week.
Because the writers have taken on a bus-ride, which also represents House's unconscious, let's stuck with Jungian dream interpretation theory. In Jung's case, dreams are wish fulfillment. These dreams operate on two levels simultaneously. Amber first appears to House whole, unblemished and unharmed, and dressed all in red. She is a wanton woman, the color of both passion and blood. She pours them a drink, sherry, which not only gives clues to the name of the bar where they met (Sharrie's), but also serves to lower their inhibitions. If everyone in a dream is also the dreamer acting out different parts (we saw this last week with the bus driver who had a headache and bleeding ear, because he was both the bus driver and also a part of House), then Amber represents the part of House that really wants Amber to be attracted to him, just as he is to her. But the real purpose Amber serves is to remind House that he can send jolts of electricity through his brain to access his memories directly. Of course, Cuddy refuses to allow House to try this, because House could die.
In the meantime, the team is running diagnostics, and breaking into Amber's house. Now that is an interesting metaphor. In Freudian analysis, a house represents the subconscious. the psyche of the dreamer, but in this case, let's just stick with the home as a place that gives us clues. Kutner and 13 break search the apartment, and 13 is clearly disturbed by the signs of normal living there: Nail polish, dry-cleaning. It's an invasion of privacy of someone she knows, someone she hasn't liked. She accuses Kutner of not watching the sex tape because he is friends with Amber, when it is she who shut the computer, claiming irrelevance. She is projecting her own inability to be professionally aloof onto him. Kutner, on the other hand, is the only one who is not bothered by treating Amber. We learn that his parents were robbed and killed at gunpoint in their store when he was six years old. He has had many years to learn acceptance. Everybody dies.
The members of the team seem to represent the different stages of grief: 13 is denial; Taub is bargaining (maybe you had an affair; maybe you did drugs; maybe something can make a difference); Kutner is acceptance; Wilson is anger. 13 is unable to separate herself from Amber, who is the same age, female, and dying, because she might also be dying, albeit a great deal more slowly, from Huntington's Disease. House calls her on her inability to address her own mortality, and tells her to get past it and do her job or leave. The fact that 13 correctly calls House the king of his own inability to deal with his life head on doesn't matter in the power differential between them. House's neuroses don't interfere with his job, though the line "House is killing the patient" does seem prescient. Is he killing her with his inability to diagnose her, or because she was with him on the bus when it crashed?
They think Amber has lime disease, autoimmune disorders, Hep B. Everything fits; nothing fits. In House's next dream, Amber reveals her back to him. In this dream, she is bruised, blue, battered, and hooked up to the wires and machines that are keeping her alive. House and the team look at her lower back and see a rash there. The rash is a clue-- but it's not the only thing significant about her lower back. Her kidneys are also gone, destroyed, but this is never acknowledged as important, which is a red herring (or lack of one). I immediately thought of her kidneys when she revealed her back, but the rash threw me off, and it threw off the team, too. They correctly identified the flu, but they missed the important part.
Another small clue was the diet pills hidden in her vitamins: What other drugs was Amber taking? Wilson, in his grief, doesn't think of what else she could have been taking. He misses what is important -- not that it would have mattered anyway.
House and Wilson visit the bar and House vaguely remembers dancing with Amber, his arm draped over her. The bartender, played by Fred Durst, lead singer of Limp Bizkit, tells House, "She was your girlfriend last night." Girlfriend is defined as buying him drinks and leaving with him. However, this is all very misleading as well. Context is everything. It turns out that the most significant thing the bartender has to tell them is that Amber sneezed and he gave her a napkin.
As time passes without a diagnosis, Foreman becomes increasingly frustrated with both House and Wilson. He thinks Amber's heart needs to be re-started to check to see whether she is responding to treatment. Wilson goes ballistic. This episode brings home why doctors shouldn't treat members of their own family. They can't make rational judgment calls. For Wilson, everything hinges on stasis, keeping Amber suspended in time, on his not breathing, not moving, not acting, not deciding, because moving forward might signal her demise. But time is not on his side, and eventually, something is going to happen.
In a last, desperate attempt to save Amber, to find out what is locked in House's head besides the rash, Wilson reminds House about the electric voltage directly to his hippocampus, to reveal detailed memories. House asks Wilson, "Do you want me to risk my life to save Amber's?" This was a beautiful piece of acting between the two actors, as Wilson summons every year of friendship, every favor he has ever paid to House, and collects in one long look and a short nod. House acknowledges this with an even briefer nod of his own; he owes this to Wilson, and he knows it. However, we could also argue that House is in love with Amber, too, and that he is never altruistic: House is doing this for House.
Chase drills a hole into House's brain and House begins to put together the rest of the pieces of the puzzle. House was drunk; the bartender took his keys, so he called Wilson. Wilson was on call, so Amber came to give House a ride. She said she was doing it for Wilson. She had a couple of drinks with House at House's insistence, and then House walked out on the tab, so she ended up paying. Not exactly the role of a girlfriend. She followed House onto the bus to give him his cane. Her fatal error: helping House in Wilson's stead. She sneezed again on the bus and mentioned that she had the flu. She took her prescription for it, sealing her own fate.
The bus accident destroyed her kidneys, so the medicine couldn't be filtered. It was toxic. It adhered to proteins in her blood, so there was no way to filter it. She was dead before she was even transported off the bus, or really, as Foreman says, at the moment she went into V-fib in the ambulance to Princeton Hospital. When the doors flew open to reveal a white light, that showed us she was dead. She just had a few goodbyes to say first.
House had a seizure that put him into a coma, so, while he was unconscious, Cuddy convinced Wilson to let Amber wake up so they could say goodbye. I don't know about you, but when Amber figured out that she was doomed, I was sobbing. It really sucks to have to sit down and write a review when you feel completely emotionally ravaged by the episode you just saw. Amber and Wilson have a very touching farewell: She tells him it is time to go to sleep, and he asks for more time. She says they will always want more time. He asks her why she isn't angry, and she says that she doesn't want anger to be the last thing she feels. He turns off the bypass machine, and she goes to sleep in his arms.
The team, before this, has all filed in to say goodbye. Number 13, the one who hated Amber, is the one who hugs Amber. Psychologists call this reaction formation: You act so far against what you really feel that maybe nobody will notice your true feelings. Taub goes home and embraces his wife (bargaining); Kutner eats a bowl of cereal (acceptance), and 13 tests her blood and finally comes face to face with the fact that House's diagnoses are always right: She has Huntington's.
Everyone said farewell to Amber, but the only person who keeps a vigil by House's comatose self is Cuddy. "I'm here," she tells him when he opens his eyes briefly. House ends up back on a brilliant white bus (remember the brilliant white of the hospital room? Just like Heaven) with Amber. He wants to stay with her where there is no pain, where Wilson won't hate him for living when Amber died. Amber, who is still Amber even in death, tells him he deserves to have Wilson hate him. And then she tells him to get off the bus. House wakes up, and Cuddy is sleeping nearby. Wilson is standing and staring. He stays long enough to see that House is going to live, and then he turns and leaves without a word. Wilson=Anger. Let's see how long it lasts.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
5-20-2008 @ 1:28AM
Brandon said...
A brilliant episode. Easily one of the top three; hell it may even top Three Stories. Props to all the writers and cast.
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5-20-2008 @ 1:30AM
eugene said...
I loved this episode.. it was made even greater by the disapointing Bones finale I watched right before. Best show on network television.
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5-20-2008 @ 1:45AM
Charles said...
It was an amazing episode. I normally don't feel this shell-shocked after an episode of HOUSE. Shoot, normally I don't feel anything after an episode, except maybe "that was kind of silly." This two-parter was, barring future episodes, the pinnacle that the show should always be remembered for.
It also marked a great turning point for the show: House actually admitting he doesn't want to be in pain. He wants to get better. And with Cuddy actually by his side, that could happen... eventually. And Wilson is in a dark place right now, allowing for perhaps both characters to "switch places" for next season; House trying to be a better person, with Wilson sinking deeper and deeper. Or they can go in other directions, too. This left many possibilities for those two characters for the rest of the show.
And that's about all I can muster at this time... All I can think about this episode is "wow." Just... wow.
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5-20-2008 @ 1:47AM
Mike Davis said...
House used to be a show I watched every week and enjoyed. This year-and especially these last few episodes have made it my favorite show on televsion. Bravo to the creators of the show. It has never been better.
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5-20-2008 @ 1:51AM
Midnight13 said...
Really great episode. "House" by far and away, came back the strongest post-writer's strike then any other television series this year. The series took a character that they wanted the audience to hate when they introduced her, and by the season finale we were heartbroken to see her go. The ending of the episode was very "Six Feet Under"-ish.
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5-20-2008 @ 1:59AM
Brad said...
It's strange, I didn't exactly feel sad when Amber died, I felt more anger. I know you can't have those miracle saves every episode, but I was sort hoping it would be in another episode, not here. She was an interesting character whom I thought would be a good personality rival to House, and she didn't so much of that in the second half of the season until the very end. Would have liked to see more.
Very good episode, but last weeks was better (but that can be saying a lot since I thought last weeks episode was the best of the whole series). They really stepped up with the end of this season, and I hope they are able to keep this up with the next season. Can't wait.
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5-20-2008 @ 2:22AM
Ari said...
All I can say is that the episode was AMAZING!
It was intense and just amazing, I can't wait till the fall.
In regards to the show and its future I think the finale left so many possibilities for House/Cuddy/Wilson. This episode was dark - only a couple of jokes and I love the balance the writers traditionally establish between drama and comedy so I hope that will remain a constant in the new season. It also leads me to believe that House/Wilson relationship can't be as devestating as it currently seems.
I think it would be interesting for them to have a break for a little bit. I actually think it would do House more good than Wilson because I think Wilson holds House back in a lot of ways. I think he makes House feel miserable about his misery instead of "enjoying" it. I think Wilson experiencing pain would be good for him to understand the constant pain House lives with. I think it would also be interesting to see Wilson hooked on some pills so House can experience the concern his friends have for him.
As a House and Cuddy lover I was THRILLED with the ending. I thought it was interesting when Cuddy told Wilson to tell Amber he loved her before it was too late and I wondered if she would do the same with House. Although nothing was shown to that effect the fact she was by his side and holding hands gives me hope of a House/Cuddy relationship.
I think House and Wilson briefly parting ways would give House time to examine his life and see what is there particularly with Cuddy. She accepts him and supports him more than Wilson does and while Wilson tries to get House to see the error of his ways Cuddy tries to heal House and help him.
Finally, I hope that Chase, Cameron and Foreman are used more next season. I was glad they were in the finale but not very much and while I don't mind the new team I don't feel the same passion of the characters as well as I do with the old team.
FOX has a definite winner on its hands and I think House deserves to do some sweeping at the Emmy's this year.
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5-20-2008 @ 2:23AM
Ian said...
I don't often get emotional with my television watching, but this episode of House did the job. I had to hold in the tears, because it felt so...well, real. The emotions were all right where they should be when someone you know is close to death. And poor Wilson is doomed to a life of loneliness, after finally finding a woman who got him better than his own best friend gets him. Will he still be around at the start of next season? Perhaps it is time for Wilson to take some time for himself and return when he feels he can face Princeton-Plainsboro, and House, again.
This is my favorite season to date, eclipsing Season Two, which was on top until now. The new staff revitalized the show, while giving House's former underlings a new important status quo. I'll be counting the days until next season, which will hopefully keep the good coming. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go watch something fun to wash the sad out of my face.
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5-20-2008 @ 2:33AM
Mark Kawakami said...
Astonishing episode. I love it when a show like House digs deep and shows us how compelling it can be when it goes for broke.
Brilliant point about the stages of grief personified by the characters, but you forgot a very important one in the context of this episode: Self-pity. It usually sits between anger and acceptance, and in this episode, self-pity is House's state. Amber even calls him on it in their final scene together. But there's an even larger point: Self-pity stands between anger and acceptance. True, Kutner portrays acceptance, but so does Amber. Self-pity between anger and acceptance, Dr. House between Wilson and Amber. It even factors into the decision to tazer House's brain: Wilson, filled with anger, thinks House should risk his life for Amber. House, filled with self-pity and guilt, agrees.
The writers really weren't screwing around on this episode.
Finally, I really have to give Anne Dudek a hand here. They left the camera on her for the entire time Wilson was telling her about the seriousness of her injuries, as she realizes she's dying. The power of the scene, really of the whole episode, rests on her reaction to realizing she is about to die, and she has to act it almost entirely without dialogue. It's easy to make a scene like that sad and moving, but making it devastating is something else entirely. She was so good, I'm scared to watch that scene again.
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5-20-2008 @ 2:38AM
sorahn said...
What amber said to house on the bus is significant "You can't always get what you want." That was the song at the end of the very first episode of house, and what house used as a "philosophy" quote to Cuddy. Coming full circle eh?
5-20-2008 @ 2:52AM
Wii60 said...
Amber saying "I'm dead" was one of the most powerful moments in TV ever. It was a great ep and seriously powerful stuff, but I wish that they'd made Amber a part of the team, such a good character/actress.
And she's so hot too. Though Amber may be a little cold now. What, too soon?
I've also gotta give props to the recap here, nice catch of the five stages. I'm kicking myself that I missed it.
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5-20-2008 @ 3:56AM
btarlinian said...
This is definitely the most emotionally jarring episode of House I have ever watched. Before I watched it a friend told me he nearly cried, so I was kind of prepared. I even got through Amber's realization of the fact she was dying and her actual death.
The god damned note was what did me in. When I read it I just moaned. Even now when I think about it I shiver.
Truly, in my opinion, one of the high points in television.
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5-20-2008 @ 5:01AM
Paul said...
I stand by my belief that, despite the utter crap that resides on hundreds and hundreds of channels, the top echelon of TV today is better than any era of television ever.
Between last week and this week, the 2-part "House" season finale was probably the best thing on TV in years, surpassing some amazing moments on some great shows. I'm continuously impressed by the high quality of writing and acting on this show, but these last 2 weeks totally pushed it over the top.
Wow. Just wow.
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5-20-2008 @ 5:08AM
Cj said...
HIGH QUALITY SHOW. LOVE THIS SHOW GOOD ACTING. I WISH SHE WOULDN'T HAVE DIED. POOR WILSON. WILL IT AFFECT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HOUSE. CAN'T WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR.
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5-20-2008 @ 5:32AM
stjohnob said...
Great episode as always. These last two have shown what a great show House is. Talk about emotions! Wife and I both so tense and not saying anything till the end. WOW!
One thing we noticed and nobody has commented on yet:
When 13 was in the bathroom stall upset, there was a sticker on the back wall that said "vote for change, 08". Isn't this Obama's campaign slogan?
Also, when House's foot touched 13's foot under the stall. Shoutout to the Idaho senator?
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5-20-2008 @ 6:10AM
Rob said...
This episode seemed like a letdown after last week's killer, but Amber's death scene may be the most raw scene I've ever witnessed on television. It managed to be beautiful and horrific at the same time. Anne Dudek's eyes conveyed fear, terror, incredible sadness, and even disappointment. If that scene doesn't win her some sort of Emmy, there is no justice. I've been moved by episodes of House, but this one brought me to tears, and not in a cheap Grey's Anatomy way either.
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5-20-2008 @ 6:17AM
jds65 said...
Personally I don't think I would want to be waken up like Amber. Doesn't everyone want to die in their sleep, and here we are waking someone up to tell them "hey you have three hours to live!".
I liked the callback of House's dream-Amber at the end telling him (or was he telling himself?) that "you can't always get what you what".
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5-20-2008 @ 7:23AM
keithnl said...
"I let my Tivo get ahead of my watching it so I wouldn't have to see the commercials"
I do that all the time too, Im in a permanent 15 minute lag. Reading the comments Im not the only one who was waiting for a miracle cure. I kept checking how much time was left, waiting for someone to pull something out of thin air. Great episode.
I thought last weeks episode would of served as an excellent "cliff hanger" season finale. So this episode almost felt like a bonus. Tragic bonus. I kinda like this style better, its fun to dick around the audience and make us wait, but this was kinda the buffy model of finale, where we get resolution of major story arc or plot point like the defeat of the big bad, but then are left to deal with the emotional repercussions of what happened.
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5-20-2008 @ 7:28AM
Alicia said...
This episode taught me a very important lesson.... not to take anything but advil when you have the flu.
I have to disagree with some of you guys about why House agreed to the electricity to the brain thing... House loves Wilson. I think he did it because Wilson is one of the few that he really cares about. Not saying that guilt didn't play into it, but I don't think it was the "push" over the edge as it were.
I lost count how many times I said, "Poor Wilson".
My husband looked at me, and serious for once said, "Don't wake me up." I LOVE how Amber said that wasn't the last emotion that she wanted to feel. And I was teary throughout that scene and it started again when Wilson got home.... and I know my husband thought it was good when he didn't make fun of me for getting teary.
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5-20-2008 @ 10:51AM
khamel said...
i totally agree. he might love amber and clearly loves himself but he did it for wilson. considering how self destructive he is naturally, doing something in a controlled setting surrounded by doctors that could kill him is the least he could do.
amazing episode, i even started to tear up a few times. this puts it on the same level as the end of rudy and the finale of six feet under - great company in my book.