Thinky thoughts about the season finale of House
House, Amber, and character arcs - contains spoilers for the season finale!
We've been told by TPTB -- repeatedly -- that Amber is House in a skirt. (I know that some people don't buy it, and by no means is it a perfect parallel, but the series definitely made enough of this theme that it's worth chewing on.) After seeing the finale, the interesting thing for me is not that Amber was (past tense! *sob*) a female House, but that she was a better-adjusted House. In other words, Amber was the person House could have become had he learned certain lessons earlier in life.
I thus see a distinct difference between Amber the fellowship candidate and post-firing Amber, and I don't think it was necessarily all due to the magical healing power of Wilson's lurrrrve. Fellowship candidate Amber, better known as Cutthroat Bitch, would do anything to win, do anything to be right, and she didn't care what the consequences were to the people around her. Post-firing Amber was still aggressive in going after what she wanted (Prompt seating at restaurants! Mattress discounts!), but she also seemed to have developed a more nuanced sense of perspective. She insisted, for example, that Wilson stand up to her, that he fight for what he wanted from their relationship instead of just capitulating to her every whim. (House does this in his professional life -- he's made it clear multiple times that no matter how often he belittles his team's opinions, what he really wants from them is to be argued with -- but in his personal life, he's unrelentingly needy.)
House, appearing shocked, told Amber that she'd changed; she herself ascribed the change to having discovered (thanks to Wilson) that it was possible to have both love and respect at the same time. I think she was partly right in saying so. In my opinion, however, she never would have been open to Wilson in that way had she not first learned another lesson: that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you still *fail* -- and that the world doesn't come to an end when you do. If she hadn't gone through that experience, she might very well have approached her relationship with Wilson in the selfish, manipulative manner that Cuddy tried to warn Wilson about. Instead, Amber learned that "you can't always get what you want" (as dead!hallucination!Amber told House on the bus-to-the-afterlife). That experience changed her to the point where, by the end of the season, she had matured enough as a person to realize that she didn't want her last moments alive to be wasted feeling angry and bitter, no matter how justified that reaction might be. Cutthroat Bitch would have been angry; Amber, however, chose not to be.
Unlike House, Amber learned this lesson early enough in life to make a difference (thus resulting in the inevitable end of her character arc, but that's another discussion!). The irony is, of course, that it was House himself who taught her the lesson by firing her.
The question that remains, then, is whether House can learn this lesson, or whether his neediness, misanthropy and -- ultimately -- self-loathing are too ingrained. He's certainly had many instances of "not getting what he wants" throughout his life, but instead of learning to accept it and move on, he engages in self-pity disguised as misanthropy. He's had ample opportunity to see how his behavior can wreak havoc in the lives of the people close to him, and yet he never really changes -- not even after the Tritter experience, which should have been an enormous wake-up call. Despite what appear to be repeated epiphanies that lead one to believe that maybe he'll finally change this time, he reverts back to his old habits. And thus, by the end of the season, we found him alone, drunk and feeling sorry for himself at a bar, expecting Wilson -- once again -- to drop everything to come take care of him. Whining and acting petulant when it was Amber who showed up instead. Stiffing the bartender on the tab. Staggering off onto a bus while Amber paid his bill, without even bothering to think or care that she might feel responsible enough to follow him.
This is why House feels guilty. He didn't kill Amber as House, the doctor -- the episode made a great point of letting us know that there was nothing he could have done, medically, that would have made a difference. Instead, he killed Amber as House, the fucked-up person -- not directly, but because his refusal to change his old, familiar habits -- his refusal to grow as a person -- set in motion the circumstances that led to her death. And while Wilson might have -- eventually -- forgiven House for a medical error, he's been asked to forgive House for his personal flaws so many times already, that well may finally be dry.
This is House's greatest fear.
It may also be his last chance to really change.
If he can face up to his own failings as a person, if he can learn from this experience instead of just falling back into the same old pattern, then maybe Amber will have taught him a lesson, too. In which case the character arcs will be complete.
We'll see next season.
We've been told by TPTB -- repeatedly -- that Amber is House in a skirt. (I know that some people don't buy it, and by no means is it a perfect parallel, but the series definitely made enough of this theme that it's worth chewing on.) After seeing the finale, the interesting thing for me is not that Amber was (past tense! *sob*) a female House, but that she was a better-adjusted House. In other words, Amber was the person House could have become had he learned certain lessons earlier in life.
I thus see a distinct difference between Amber the fellowship candidate and post-firing Amber, and I don't think it was necessarily all due to the magical healing power of Wilson's lurrrrve. Fellowship candidate Amber, better known as Cutthroat Bitch, would do anything to win, do anything to be right, and she didn't care what the consequences were to the people around her. Post-firing Amber was still aggressive in going after what she wanted (Prompt seating at restaurants! Mattress discounts!), but she also seemed to have developed a more nuanced sense of perspective. She insisted, for example, that Wilson stand up to her, that he fight for what he wanted from their relationship instead of just capitulating to her every whim. (House does this in his professional life -- he's made it clear multiple times that no matter how often he belittles his team's opinions, what he really wants from them is to be argued with -- but in his personal life, he's unrelentingly needy.)
House, appearing shocked, told Amber that she'd changed; she herself ascribed the change to having discovered (thanks to Wilson) that it was possible to have both love and respect at the same time. I think she was partly right in saying so. In my opinion, however, she never would have been open to Wilson in that way had she not first learned another lesson: that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you still *fail* -- and that the world doesn't come to an end when you do. If she hadn't gone through that experience, she might very well have approached her relationship with Wilson in the selfish, manipulative manner that Cuddy tried to warn Wilson about. Instead, Amber learned that "you can't always get what you want" (as dead!hallucination!Amber told House on the bus-to-the-afterlife). That experience changed her to the point where, by the end of the season, she had matured enough as a person to realize that she didn't want her last moments alive to be wasted feeling angry and bitter, no matter how justified that reaction might be. Cutthroat Bitch would have been angry; Amber, however, chose not to be.
Unlike House, Amber learned this lesson early enough in life to make a difference (thus resulting in the inevitable end of her character arc, but that's another discussion!). The irony is, of course, that it was House himself who taught her the lesson by firing her.
The question that remains, then, is whether House can learn this lesson, or whether his neediness, misanthropy and -- ultimately -- self-loathing are too ingrained. He's certainly had many instances of "not getting what he wants" throughout his life, but instead of learning to accept it and move on, he engages in self-pity disguised as misanthropy. He's had ample opportunity to see how his behavior can wreak havoc in the lives of the people close to him, and yet he never really changes -- not even after the Tritter experience, which should have been an enormous wake-up call. Despite what appear to be repeated epiphanies that lead one to believe that maybe he'll finally change this time, he reverts back to his old habits. And thus, by the end of the season, we found him alone, drunk and feeling sorry for himself at a bar, expecting Wilson -- once again -- to drop everything to come take care of him. Whining and acting petulant when it was Amber who showed up instead. Stiffing the bartender on the tab. Staggering off onto a bus while Amber paid his bill, without even bothering to think or care that she might feel responsible enough to follow him.
This is why House feels guilty. He didn't kill Amber as House, the doctor -- the episode made a great point of letting us know that there was nothing he could have done, medically, that would have made a difference. Instead, he killed Amber as House, the fucked-up person -- not directly, but because his refusal to change his old, familiar habits -- his refusal to grow as a person -- set in motion the circumstances that led to her death. And while Wilson might have -- eventually -- forgiven House for a medical error, he's been asked to forgive House for his personal flaws so many times already, that well may finally be dry.
This is House's greatest fear.
It may also be his last chance to really change.
If he can face up to his own failings as a person, if he can learn from this experience instead of just falling back into the same old pattern, then maybe Amber will have taught him a lesson, too. In which case the character arcs will be complete.
We'll see next season.
(Anonymous)