House episode 6-7

[deelaundry]

For once, I mostly want to reflect on the serious in this episode. It really bothered me that they kept calling what Wilson did "murder." He didn't murder (kill with intent) anyone; he provided the means for someone to commit suicide. That's still something you (and he) can debate the right and wrong of, but it's not murder.

What Chase did, on the other hand, is murder. First-degree murder, by US law: "murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation." Is linking it to Wilson's almost-euthanasia intended to be a comparison, downplaying what Chase did, or a contrast, highlighting what Chase did? I don't know, and that bothers me.

It's also interesting that Chase, who committed the more serious act by US law (and by my own moral judgment, although that's less relevant to the discussion) is trying to avoid taking any consequence, while Wilson with the less serious, less culpable act is trying to take on more consequence than, I can argue and House does argue, he deserves.

Does this mean that Wilson is more moral than Chase? I don't think so. I think they both went to extremes and tied themselves into knots due to their own pathologies. Wilson had the benefit of a good friend getting through to him (albeit in an underhanded, twisted way) and being there for him. Chase has been avoiding letting the one who's closest to him be there for him, and I think it's because he knows what the priest told him is right. He won't feel he deserves absolution until he both faces the enormity of what he did and accepts the just consequence of the murder he has committed.

Comments

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

I heard "murder" used once to describe what Wilson did, at the end of the episode. How many other times did I miss it? Also, I didn't think Wilson's tone when he said it suggested that he seriously saw it as murder -- more that he figured plenty of other people would.

But it's the same as the way this show can't seem to differentiate between addiction, for House, vs. legitimate need for medication.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

House said it at least twice. Once on the dock and once at the end of the episode. I can re-watch to see if there's more. But I think the word was deliberately used to parallel Chase's journey.

The show definitely has a problem with parsing out addiction vs. legitimate need for medication. The complication to that is that Greg House has both, and he can't figure out where one ends and the other begins.

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll look for that when I re-watch.

I don't think House believes it's murder, either. He does, however, believe that people in general are idiots and that encounters with the legal system are apt to not go well.

And I still want this show to take on the addiction-vs.-need thing, although I've just about given up hope that they ever will.