Two notes on 4-14

[deelaundry]

Most things have been said, so here's two five other comments/questions on 4-14, Living the Dream:

1. I think House smiled more at Soap Opera Dude than he did in all of Season Three.

2. Wilson's eyebrows got seriously ruffled in that make-out session. Which is cute, given that it's him, but how does one do that? How?

3. Is this the first time we've seen Wilson have a scene away from House that didn't involve talking about House? I think so.

4. Someone pointed out that the waterbed is a metaphor, and a tiny conspiracy theorist in my head immediately started to shout, "Waterbed=Gay Sex." I don't like that idea, TCT! Shut up, shut up, shut up!

5. I didn't get what House's point was about the plane. Was he arguing that that Soap Opera Dude should change his life? Or that the guy can't change his life? Or something else? Usually House has a clearer point than that when he talks to patients.

Comments

[rivers-bend.livejournal.com]

1. Totally
3. Huh. I think you're right
5. I was a little 0.o too, but he did get interrupted by the guy suddenly going into melt-down, so maybe his point got lost?

all in all, two thumbs up on this ep from me.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Two thumbs up from me, too. They have a few too moving parts on the show overall now, but I'm getting used to it.

One thing I left off my list above was that this was also the episode of good-looking breasts. Cameron, Amber, soap opera nurse -- I'm a straight girl, but even I was going, "Ooh, pretty."

[genagirl.livejournal.com]

#5 I thought he meant you were in the plane and the only option was jumping to your death or staying on it and enjoying the ride (or in House's case, being miserable because some kid is kicking your seat and they've run out of peanuts). But even with a kid kicking your seat it's better than jumping (however, he's probably never flown on Lufthansa).

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Oh, that makes sense! It fits with House's philosophy, cetainly, and how he seems personally offended by death most times. Remember him arguing with Wilson that the multiple sclerosis guy in the wheelchair (with the dog -- that was MS, right?) should keep fighting to live even if he was in pain? Partly that was so House could do his procedure, but partly it's House's philosophy. It was in the pilot, too, when he yelled at tapeworm-brain girl that she shouldn't just go home to "die with dignity."

[purridot.livejournal.com]

Good questions! However, it is too early in the morning for me to be thinky. For now, may I ask if you found RSL's "making out" acting improved this ep (after HL's tutoring? ;-)

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the kisses and found them more believable - although I noticed no tongue. Hmm.

RSL's problem, I believe, is more with the social kissing. Or it could indeed be, that HL gave him a bit of tutoring in between. : )

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I have had sex on a waterbed. it was fun. They're hard to sleep on, I've heard. P.S., I'm not a gay dude, I'm a straight woman who has a lot of friends who are gay dudes.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

My parents had a waterbed when I was growing up. Sleeping on them is a matter of getting used to it, I think. Also, Wilson purchased the waviest bed I've seen since the 70s -- the beds they sell today are firmer, with a much more gentle motion than that.

But if they'd used one of those, it wouldn't have been TV, right?

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I'm having House on a waterbed fantasies now.

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

Hee! Dee, as an '80s child I can tell you that all of us '80s children wanted waterbeds. I totally envied my good friend when her parents actually got her one.

I think it's precisely what Wilson said it was, a thing he wanted as a teenager but couldn't have.

I got over the idea as an adult, after sleeping on one for a while in someone else's house. Wilson, I suppose, never had that opportunity.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

My parents had a waterbed when I was growing up. You had to get used to the waves, but they liked it. The biggest problem was when the heater went on the fritz and the bed would get way too cold.

The conspiracy theory that saddened my slashy heart was this: The waterbed was something Wilson secretly pined for, covering up his feelings and not telling anyone, going along with a regular mattress his whole life. Then he finally decided to act on his impulse, reach out and take the thing he wanted so much, and... he didn't like it. Hated it. If the waterbed is a metaphor for gay urges, then it implies if he ever acted on those secret urges, he wouldn't like it, and therefore would never act on them again. : ( Waaah! I don't like that idea!!

Heh. Now I'm the opposite of all those "House likes women not men 100% ALWAYS; OMG slash is so wrong!" people. Heh.

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

conspiracy theory

Oh, please.

The thing that irritates me? Is that people develop such theories to begin with. It's ridiculous; it's finding "hidden intent" where none exists. No WAY does Shore, or the rest of the writers, put that much effort into convoluted hidden metaphors. Their sins tend to be of the other extreme, conking us over the head with OMG TEH SUBTEXT!1!!!1

Wilson's just a geeky '80s kid who always wanted a waterbed, and if he didn't tell anyone, it was because he knew it made him a geeky '80s kid. I loved the whole thing, personally, but not because I had any notion of it having any meaning other than that. Mostly because 1) ADORABLE! and 2) as a fellow geeky '80s kid, I can totally relate.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

I know! I know! But my brain wouldn't stop. : (

The waterbed is not a metaphor, but it is a symbol. Wilson needs to be true to himself, to act on his wants with a lot less care as to what other people would think. There's being a responsible adult, and then there's denying who you really are. Wilson comes down on the latter side way too often. I think I read a fic about that one time, about House helping to chip away at Wilson's outer layers to let the true Wilson breathe. Who wrote that? Horse-Somebody, I think...

*hugs you*

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

*hugs you back*

Off-topic but:

Have you SEEN what Nightdog is up to in the Distress Call 'verse?! Have you? You must. I am, like, doing the mondo schoolgirl squee thing that I basically never ever do, except OMG SQUEE.

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

Also. I loved the whole waterbed thing because it fits right in with my observation that Wilson has never allowed himself to just be himself. And as a corollary to that, he needs House because House brings out his true nature.

And that nature is something that Wilson himself still has a lot to learn about. He still has to figure out who he really is and what he really wants. For starters: not a waterbed.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Cross-post! See my reply above!

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

The one difficulty with the waterbed not working out, though, is that people like Wilson tend to say to themselves, "See, that didn't work out. These other things that I want probably wouldn't work out either, so I'll keep doing what's safe." I hope that doesn't happen.

On the bright side, if it does, Amber is there to knock him over the head and tell him to cut it out.

To go meta on the writing now, one new aspect of Amber-as-House-proxy emerged this episode: that Amber can say things to Wilson that House would never be willing to say outright. "I need you to take care of you." House wants that of Wilson, I'm 100% sure of it, but he'd never say it that way. He tries to tease and coax Wilson into it, but House won't be that overt. Amber gives the writers the ability to say it explicitly. It's interesting.

Did you read my drabble collection I've Got a Song (http://deelaundry.livejournal.com/20653.html)? (It's all gen, except for brief references to past het.) This makes me think, through strange connections in my brain, of the "Lovers' Cross" drabble in there.

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

"See, that didn't work out ... I'll keep doing what's safe."

Good point, but Wilson already said he was still glad he'd done it. I sense a shift.

[hirenkoi.livejournal.com]

1. lol! I have t agree. :D

2. Don´t ask me. I have no idea. :P

3. I tried to remember another one, but nothing comes to mind. ^^"

4. It´s only me who thinks that a water´s bed is so... gay? XD
Anyway, enfermeira_chan commented that Wilson compared the bed with a giant vagina. So... he bought it, used it and.. hated it. :P You can´t deny she has a point. :D

5. I think he said that life is shit, everything sucks and you can´t change it at all. And... I don´t know if I have to take even more antidepressants that I´m already taking, but I totally agree with him.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Very true about Wilson saying the waterbed was a vagina. That was very silly and hilarious. OK, I'm going to go with your interpretation. Much happier!

[daisylily.livejournal.com]

1. You could well be right - he really was very smiley.

2. CB putting her hands all over his face? I can't tell.

3. I think so. In the makeout scene, though, I thought that Amber had stopped because she'd detected the presence of House in the room XD

4. Why is the waterbed a metaphor for gay sex? I don't get it! *whines*

5. I think he was saying that it doesn't matter what you do, since nothing matters anyway. He might have been meaning to say something else but Soap Opera Dude went a bit doolally and had to be cooled down.

I just watched the episode again, and it's the first one in a long time where I got bored in places. I'm not sure why, because it wasn't particularly bad, it was just rather meh, I think.

I did enjoy both scenes in the bed store (I wonder if anyone will now be thinking that Amber actually is pregnant) - I am particularly liking being able to see how House acts around a Wilson-wife (or living-in-her-apartment, anyway).

When Amber woke up alone on the water bed, I thought that Wilson had fallen on the floor in his sleep and the camera would pull back to show him fast asleep there...

I bet there will be H/W photomanips before we know it, probably made by taking the Wilson/Amber bits and superimposing House.

Have you seen the promo pics for Wilson's Heart? I'm suspicious that there's more to Wilson's sleep problems than the mattress/water bed.

Also, having seen the trailer for next week, I WANT IT TO BE NEXT WEEK NOW PLEASE. Nearly nekkid House - yes please XD

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

4. Why is the waterbed a metaphor for gay sex? I don't get it! *whines*

I don't want this to be true and am quite cross with my brain for handing it to me: The waterbed was something Wilson secretly pined for, covering up his feelings and not telling anyone, going along with a regular mattress his whole life. Then he finally decided to act on his impulse, reach out and take the thing he wanted so much, and... he didn't like it. Hated it. If the waterbed is a metaphor for gay urges, then it implies if he ever acted on those secret urges, he wouldn't like it, and therefore would never act on them again. : ( Waaah! I don't like that idea!!

5. I think he was saying that it doesn't matter what you do, since nothing matters anyway. He might have been meaning to say something else but Soap Opera Dude went a bit doolally and had to be cooled down.

That makes sense and I love the word "doolally."

When Amber woke up alone on the water bed, I thought that Wilson had fallen on the floor in his sleep and the camera would pull back to show him fast asleep there...

Hee!

Have you seen the promo pics for Wilson's Heart? I'm suspicious that there's more to Wilson's sleep problems than the mattress/water bed. - Which ones? Tell me more.

[daisylily.livejournal.com]

But didn't Wilson say that he was happy he'd at least tried the bed? If so, he'll be happy to try gay sex :D

When I commented I hadn't seen all the promo pics, as it turned out - now I've seen that one of some female or other lying on a sickbed. It does look rather like Amber. Hmm.

I was thinking that maybe Wilson having a bad back and not sleeping was due to illness, not just a bad mattress, but now I suspect I'm wrong. Unless Amber (or whoever) is a red herring issued by the promo people. I want a sick Wilson and now I don't think we'll get one *grumble*

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

There's another promo pic that shows injured Amber in a hospital bed with Wilson holding her (and not looking at her, which is odd). I don't think we'll get sick Wilson but we will get angsty Wilson in spades.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

PS. Did you see that queenzulu asked for House/Foreman domestic fics? Here (http://queenzulu.livejournal.com/336103.html). phinnia wrote a baby ficlet! Heh! I wrote a ficlet too, which I'm thinking about posting later -- if you have any beta notes on it, let me know

[xaipw.livejournal.com]

1. Yes he did and I loved it!

2. I wonder if the make-up people have ever tried to pluck his eyebrows. Or maybe RSL has a stipulation in his contract that no one is allowed to groom his brows.

3. Yes.

4. Waterbed = Gay Sex? Someone mentioned that on HHoW last night. I stuck my fingers in my ears and yelled, "La la la la!"

5. I think that the writing in that scene could have been, um, tighter, maybe? But I agree with genagirl's interpretation.

HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW PROMO PICS? OMG!

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

I have seen the promo pics. I am afeared for Amber. Yes, I am.

I realized after I saw the pics that I'd been planning on a sick!Wilson episode. Seems strange to think it won't happen.