Wilson's Heart (House)

"Wilson's Heart" is the sixteenth episode and season finale of the fourth season of House and the eighty-sixth episode overall. It aired on May 19, 2008. It is the second and final part of the two-part fourth season finale, the first part being "House's Head".

Plot

In the second part of the two-part season finale, House remains inhibited by injuries sustained from a bus accident that has also left Amber Volakis rapidly deteriorating from a mysterious condition. Clues inside House's head hold the key to Amber's condition, and House's friendship with Wilson is tested beyond limits as murky memories from the bus accident the night before threaten to change their lives forever. House suffers a seizure during an deep brain stimulation treatment after it succeeds and he recalls the symptom which he saw in Amber before the bus crash.

The symptom House recalled was that Amber had taken a heavy dose of flu pills moments prior to the bus crash. The crash trauma caused damage to her kidneys which made them unable to filter out the Amantadine the pills contained. Wilson suggests kidney dialysis, however House tearfully tells him that when unfiltered, Amatadine binds to proteins in the body and becomes poisonous and there is nothing they can do to save Amber. After his seizure, House falls into a coma.

Chase wakes Amber so she and Wilson can say goodbye and Amber dies in Wilson's arms. Meanwhile in his coma, House has a vision of he and Amber on an all-white bus. Amber's cuts and bruises are gone and she is wearing normal clothes while House is still wearing a hospital gown however is walking normally without the use of his cane and apparently without any pain.

House tells Amber he wants to stay with her on the bus, which presumably represents death, because "it doesn't hurt" where he's at. House also confesses he doesn't want to be in constant pain or so miserable. House also laments that Wilson is his best friend and the last thing he wants is for Wilson to hate him, which he feels will happen if he goes on living. Amber tells House you "can't always get what you want" as House gets off the bus and wakes from his coma.

Wilson returns home and finds the note Amber left him in their bedroom saying she went to pick up House and would return home soon. Wilson lays on the bed clutching the note and breaks into tears.

Thirteen discovers she has inherited Huntington's disease.

Cultural references

While Thirteen is in the bathroom you will see a sticker in the background that says "VOTE FOR CHANGE '08". This is a reference to Barack Obama's presidential campaign slogan. In the same scene, House slides his foot under the divider into Thirteen's stall and taps it, and subsequently apologizes with the excuse "Sorry - wide stance." The former is a reference to the alleged behavior of Sen. Larry Craig which led to his arrest for lewd conduct, and the latter a reference to his self-professed excuse for the contact.

While House is comatose, imagining a conversation with Amber, he tells her he doesn't want to be in pain, to be miserable, or for Wilson to hate him. Amber replies, "Well, you can't always get what you want," in reference to the Rolling Stones song of the same name. In the first episode of the first season, Pilot, House makes the same quotation when Cuddy tries to get him to catch up on his walk-in clinic duties.

Critical reception

Mara Greengrass of Firefox News praised the drama and acting of this episode, including the performances by Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard. She thought certain other aspects were not as well conceived, such as the sub-plot involving Thirteen's discovery she has the Huntington's gene (Greengrass thought it seemed to be an effort to parallel Amber's illness, but didn't quite fit). She also thought the revelation of Kutner's back story — that he was orphaned as a boy — felt "shoehorned" into the program. A medical review at Polite Dissent similarly praised the drama as being powerful, "if a little overwrought," but said the medicine was sloppy: the protective hypothermia suggested by Wilson would not really have been workable for such a long period, and the deep brain stimulation used on House could not have so easily targeted specific memories (among some other criticisms).

The episode increased viewership from the previous week, with 16.358 million viewers tuning in.

Music

Two songs play towards the end of the episode: Bon Iver's "Re: Stacks" and Iron and Wine's "Passing Afternoon". A cover by José González of Massive Attack's "Teardrop", the show's theme music, is also heard during the episode. "Light for the Deadvine" by People in Planes is heard when House awakens in the white bus.

External links

• "Wilson's Heart" at IMDb
• Medical review of "Wilson's Heart"