Reblogged
Contextually Fucked: On House and Cuddy's Subtextual Sex in Occam's Razor
Or: No, actually, I am being serious; they're having sex in this scene v
okay i know we joke and jape about cameron’s perpetually nameless dead husband but. it is important to me that everyone understands this was a deliberate stylistic choice. it wasn’t bad writing or an attempt to devalue cameron’s trauma or whatever (both real arguments i’ve seen!); it was a conscious decision. it doesn’t matter what his name was, or what he looked like, or if he was sweet or smart or even if he loved cameron more than anything else in the world. it matters only that cameron married him, and that he died young—that’s what matters to cameron, and so these are the things we are told about him because he is only important in the context of cameron and how he affected her. if canon added any extraneous details about him it would only detract from his symbolic value. it would turn him into a character in his own right when he isn’t supposed to be one. sometimes less really is more, you know?
#house md#allison cameron#i specify ‘canon’ here because OBVIOUSLY the place for dead husband speculation/backstory is fanfiction#like it is valid and oftentimes necessary to fill in the sketch lines there#both because fanfiction is often trying to tell a different kind of story from the show#but also because it’s a written medium as opposed to a visual one and you can’t get away with leaving him nameless as easily#but every now and then i see people complain about the lack of dead husband lore in canon and i wanna scream#like actually i think canon told us everything we needed to know. it is a very deliberate and controlled form of obfuscation#we don’t know his name or anything else about him for the same reason we don’t know anything about chase’s mother#other than that she was an abusive alcoholic#what dead husband did (die) and what he symbolises (cameron’s damage) is the sole reason he exists as a ‘character’#which is not to say you can’t bridge the gap between symbol and fully fleshed character—#stacy does this quite successfully#(a strong character in her own right who nevertheless would still be important even if she never appeared onscreen bc of her symbolic value)#and rachel taub does this less so—#but there’s no need to do that with dead husband since he’s dead long before canon begins#we don’t need a flashback of him. we don’t need his name. you get the idea.
Reblogged oldmanffucker
Why is he so pathetic/adorable 🤣
Reblogged starburned-and-unkissed
@pscentral event 22: 2023 wrapped ↳ ✨ the house md renaissance ✨
Reblogged
#this whole sequence was so funny #like #they all think of each other as toxic manipulative bastards #and the funniest thing of all is that they all prove it #house (who did it) accuses cuddy to start drama #cuddy assumes it’s Wilson because Wilson is an enabler #Wilson ADMITS he is an enabler and lies and pretends it was him for manipulation purposes #Wilson tries to manipulate Cameron into feeling bad for him for being accused of doing a thing he didn’t do but confessed to doing #Cameron hears that the thing happened but wasn’t perpetuated by the one of the three people alive who are protective of house #immediately accuses chase #and accuses him of doing it NOT out of love or care like the others had been accused of herself included #but just to be a dick #and chase immediately works out ‘oh it was house all along’ and manipulates house into confessing #toxic workplace full of toxic people toxically codependent on each other #perfection (via @effloresoteric)
Reblogged starburned-and-unkissed
HOUSE, M.D. 1.21 — Three Stories
Reblogged
imagining a beautiful world of house md x reddit advice posts
u/drentrepreneur posted in r/legaladvice Hey, just wanna start this off by saying I know I probably screwed up. So I (28M) have this really cool job. My boss is nuts, but in a world-famous way, and he's been teaching me a lot since I started last year. He's kind of renowned in our field. It's awesome. A couple months ago, I had this great idea to make a website and take what I'm learning to the masses. I'm not breaking any NDAs or anything, it's totally kosher. It's like an advice/ask site where I can use my training to give second opinions on things. Here's where I might have screwed up. Since I'm sort of no one, and my boss is famous, I sort of used his name on the website's homepage. Like, who'd want the advice of some random guy, right? I kind of made it sound like my boss was the one giving this advice also. Here's the problem. My boss found out last week. He actually was surprisingly cool about it all things considered, and said I can keep the site running. Except he wants a cut of any profits I'm making (like 2-3k a week). He even wants me to give this random coworker a cut! I know I screwed up using his name, but seriously? I'm the guy actually doing all the work! Is there anything I can do about this?? helitoco1984311: lol you're profiting off this guys identity and you're mad he wants a cut?? you're lucky he doesn't call the cops. that's fraud drentrepreneur [op]: Wait, he can do that?? But the website is a positive, it's helping his reputation, right? felixdfghwotp: NAL, but you're so fucked my man drentrepreneur [op]: What about the rando my boss wants me to give money to? Can I at least get him out of this deal?
-
u/unreasonablereactionthrowaway posted in r/relationships I [M37] have been dating a colleague [F31] for a few months. I know that isn't the wisest course of action, but until recently things have been doing well. Last week, I received a major promotion and started my dream job, and have as a result been placed in a supervisory position in charge of a team. I won't lie, even though I'm qualified and prepared, there's been a learning curve, but it's my first week! The problem is, my girlfriend has been weirdly resentful of me ever since I started leading our department. She's great at what she does, but she'd agree I was the better candidate. She insists she's not jealous, but I don't know, there's a weird vibe between us and I'm not sure how to address it if she completely denies there's a problem. I understand she might be resentful, but, is it too much to ask that she'd be a little supportive? I'm under a lot of stress as I adjust, and I'd really like to know my girlfriend has my back, you know? hardypineapple3435: i feel you man. try saying this to her? grfguk45: dump the bitch i-like-wild-mushrooms592: Umm can we address the fact that you said "leading OUR department?" are you her boss now? > unreasonablereactionthrowaway [op]: I am aware of how that looks and sounds, but I already took steps to address it by firing her last Wednesday.
-
u/surfer1975791 posted in r/amitheasshole Am I the asshole for reporting an ethical violation? I recently found out my boss did something unethical and against our organization's rules, so I reported him to his boss's boss. I was told it would by anonymous, but my boss found out anyway and has been harassing me ever since. Not just him either. One of my coworkers repeatedly makes snide remarks, and people in other departments all treat me like some rat. I don't want to quit my job and I did nothing wrong, but I suppose I'm starting to wonder if I actually did?
holsiticcowr3: CLARIFICATION: uhhh this really sounds like missing reasons. if you did the right thing some people would be mad, but "everyone?" did you have beef with your boss before this? >surfer1975791 [op]: No, I liked him. But he'd been threatening to fire me. >holsiticcowr3: So this was a revenge thing??? >surfer1975791 [op]: Yeah, to save my job. >octorhdg45: why was he threatening to fire you? >surfer1975791 [op]: I made a tiny mistake. It didn't even matter and it worked out fine anyway, literally insignificant. >holsiticcowr3: Soooo it was revenge?? octorhdg45: Why can't you quit your job? >surfer1975791 [op]: My dad got it for me, he'd be mad. >octorhdg45: LOOOOOL YTA
u/geneticinheritance197632 posted in r/relationships I (F35) recently got engaged to a great guy (M35), and we're actively planning our wedding! We've been dating for about three years and recently moved in together. We've had our ups and downs but we're so ready for this next step! :D There's just one wrinkle. When I was 20, I got married and just after the wedding, my husband discovered he had cancer. :( We'd talked about having kids, and so before he passed, we decided to save some of his sperm, so I could make use of it in the future. <3 The thing is… I haven't told my fiance about it, but now that we're getting married, I probably should, right? But he can be kind of insecure. :( Anyone have any advice for how to bring it up? demierector24: question: you've had some guy's sperm for 15 years?? > geneticinheritance197632 [op]: Closer to 14, but yes! And I don't actually "have" it. ^_^ It's in a facility, I pay them to store it. frankymydear355: >goes to history >sees post "how do i get my boss to go out with me" > GIRL > geneticinheritance197632 [op]: That was four years ago… > frankymydear355: did it work??? is your fiancee your boss? > geneticinheritance197632 [op]: No, I've changed jobs! Actually my fiance is a former colleague of mine I met in that job though. :) > frankymydear355: GIRL
-
Reblogged
imagining a beautiful world of house md x reddit advice posts
u/drentrepreneur posted in r/legaladvice Hey, just wanna start this off by saying I know I probably screwed up. So I (28M) have this really cool job. My boss is nuts, but in a world-famous way, and he's been teaching me a lot since I started last year. He's kind of renowned in our field. It's awesome. A couple months ago, I had this great idea to make a website and take what I'm learning to the masses. I'm not breaking any NDAs or anything, it's totally kosher. It's like an advice/ask site where I can use my training to give second opinions on things. Here's where I might have screwed up. Since I'm sort of no one, and my boss is famous, I sort of used his name on the website's homepage. Like, who'd want the advice of some random guy, right? I kind of made it sound like my boss was the one giving this advice also. Here's the problem. My boss found out last week. He actually was surprisingly cool about it all things considered, and said I can keep the site running. Except he wants a cut of any profits I'm making (like 2-3k a week). He even wants me to give this random coworker a cut! I know I screwed up using his name, but seriously? I'm the guy actually doing all the work! Is there anything I can do about this?? helitoco1984311: lol you're profiting off this guys identity and you're mad he wants a cut?? you're lucky he doesn't call the cops. that's fraud drentrepreneur [op]: Wait, he can do that?? But the website is a positive, it's helping his reputation, right? felixdfghwotp: NAL, but you're so fucked my man drentrepreneur [op]: What about the rando my boss wants me to give money to? Can I at least get him out of this deal?
-
u/unreasonablereactionthrowaway posted in r/relationships I [M37] have been dating a colleague [F31] for a few months. I know that isn't the wisest course of action, but until recently things have been doing well. Last week, I received a major promotion and started my dream job, and have as a result been placed in a supervisory position in charge of a team. I won't lie, even though I'm qualified and prepared, there's been a learning curve, but it's my first week! The problem is, my girlfriend has been weirdly resentful of me ever since I started leading our department. She's great at what she does, but she'd agree I was the better candidate. She insists she's not jealous, but I don't know, there's a weird vibe between us and I'm not sure how to address it if she completely denies there's a problem. I understand she might be resentful, but, is it too much to ask that she'd be a little supportive? I'm under a lot of stress as I adjust, and I'd really like to know my girlfriend has my back, you know? hardypineapple3435: i feel you man. try saying this to her? grfguk45: dump the bitch i-like-wild-mushrooms592: Umm can we address the fact that you said "leading OUR department?" are you her boss now? > unreasonablereactionthrowaway [op]: I am aware of how that looks and sounds, but I already took steps to address it by firing her last Wednesday.
-
u/surfer1975791 posted in r/amitheasshole Am I the asshole for reporting an ethical violation? I recently found out my boss did something unethical and against our organization's rules, so I reported him to his boss's boss. I was told it would by anonymous, but my boss found out anyway and has been harassing me ever since. Not just him either. One of my coworkers repeatedly makes snide remarks, and people in other departments all treat me like some rat. I don't want to quit my job and I did nothing wrong, but I suppose I'm starting to wonder if I actually did?
holsiticcowr3: CLARIFICATION: uhhh this really sounds like missing reasons. if you did the right thing some people would be mad, but "everyone?" did you have beef with your boss before this? >surfer1975791 [op]: No, I liked him. But he'd been threatening to fire me. >holsiticcowr3: So this was a revenge thing??? >surfer1975791 [op]: Yeah, to save my job. >octorhdg45: why was he threatening to fire you? >surfer1975791 [op]: I made a tiny mistake. It didn't even matter and it worked out fine anyway, literally insignificant. >holsiticcowr3: Soooo it was revenge?? octorhdg45: Why can't you quit your job? >surfer1975791 [op]: My dad got it for me, he'd be mad. >octorhdg45: LOOOOOL YTA
Reblogged
i'm just... thinking about how chase loves kids.... how he's the Kid Guy how even if he just has a single scene with a child he's talking in a sing-song voice or so enthusiastic: "this will make ya all betta!" he says in act your age, accent more than usual, because Kid and he wants to be reassuring... how he plays with taub's kids for hours and is so protective of children and gives gabe girl advice and tells clancy he believes him... he loves kids......
Anonymous asked:
do you have tips on characterising cameron/writing her dialogue?
beyond just rewatching certain episodes on loop (COUGH 2x7 hunting)…
- she never gets enough credit for this, but cameron is actually pretty hugely confrontational. look at articlegate, for instance, or her spat with wilson during the tritter arc; she might not be getting in their faces and yelling, but she has no problem when it comes to getting angry and telling people she thinks they’re wrong. she won’t blow up for no reason—she usually goes fairly cold and passive aggressive immediately before/at the start of this and has to be ‘triggered’, for lack of a better term—but cameron is not, by any sense of the word, nonconfrontational. the one exception to this is maybe chase, who she usually prefers to avoid or cold shoulder entirely, but everyone else? if cameron’s mad, she’s going to confront them about it and lecture them. don’t be afraid of the cameron lecture.
- what cameron does is often at odds with what she says, and i think that in turn can often be at odds with with what she thinks. she’s someone who ruminates a lot; i find a lot of my better cameron fic is not actually that dialogue heavy, because a lot of the page gets filled with her thinking herself into circles/agonising over a decision/stewing over something. compared to house, for instance, who i usually write as very quick and reactive with a LOT of dialogue, i think what cameron doesn’t say (and why) is usually worth expanding on just as much if not more than what actually makes it out of her mouth.
- she has an…awkward sense of humour. think of her quip to foreman in the s1 finale honeymoon — ‘i’m being house, it’s funny!’. cameron is capable of having zingy one-liners, especially in response to someone else, but a lot of her jokes are just. bad. she’s kinda lame, although she makes herself laugh with them.
- cameron is a hypocrite, by pure moral necessity—it is impossible for her actions, or anyone else’s, to possibly live up to her optimistic version of the world and/or human nature—but she doesn’t see herself as one, and that’s important. she is never deliberately setting out to be a hypocrite, and nor would she call herself one. i think even when she’s doing something self-contradictory, it’s important to characterise both her actions and her beliefs as being equally genuine and coming from the same (usually) good place.
- see: she’s lame, but cameron isn’t really a schemer the way chase is, for instance. she BELIEVES she’s playing wonderful games of 4d chess at all times, but it is important that these are either 1) actually not 4d at all, or 2) so opaque that they fail to get her point across lol. it is important that she tries! but also she must fail or cause more conflict that the original thing she was trying to avoid, at least most of the time.
- she is ambitious and self-motivated. not on the same level as amber, obviously, or maybe even cuddy, but look at her career trajectory: fellow to er attending to head of an er in just a few years. cameron cares about this sort of thing in a way chase or house doesn’t (she’s a bit like foreman in this way, hence articlegate—you sure as hell wouldn’t catch chase writing up an article in his free time Lol).
- in a similar vein: cameron is Type A and Organised. she isn’t a scold, but she will take over things because she can’t bear to see them undone (this is in fact why she answers all of house’s mail for him!). in order to execute her sad 4d mindgames she will make lists and she probably is checking them twice. if cameron makes a careless mistake, i think you have to justify it—is she exhausted? emotional? is there a reason she doesn’t care? cameron cares deeply about the world around her, which is part of her big moral dilemma; there’s a lot of…justifying necessary to writing cameron, i think.
- cameron’s fine with kids, but she’s not fantastic with them like chase, and foreman’s kind of got the monopoly on idealistic teenagers/young adults.
- she is condescending, especially towards disabled people, but it isn’t…i’m not excusing this behaviour, but she won’t be doing it in a meanspirited way, you know? she means well, which is what makes it so insidious, but again: cameron has good intentions. i usually describe it as being ‘nice, but not always kind’—she gets a bit prickly when challenged on this behaviour.
- i actually think you can get away with just…not mentioning cameron’s family, most of the time. she has an older brother, her parents are still alive, she’s from the midwest. i generally think there’s a reason why we don’t get much info on cameron’s family in the show, and it’s probably because they’re kind of boring; they’re not exceptionally close, but also cameron’s happy to call her mom once a week.
- her dress sense: in s1-3, cameron dresses very conservatively and very restrained. lots of high-collar blouses, vests with a million buttons. she almost never wears skirts. when she moves to the ER and makes things official with chase in s4 and 5, all of this relaxes; sloppy ponytails, jeans and jersey sweaters. there’s a pretty clear inverse correlation between cameron’s emotional wellbeing and how nicely she dresses; i mock the hell out of it, but cameron’s beautiful princess curls in 5x21 saviours are very genuinely a distress call. whether you want to make this conscious or subconscious is up to you (i usually lean subconscious), but if she’s going through it she WILL be setting her alarm an hour early to get the heels and curling iron out lmao
- see above point, but cameron isn’t really that happy in diagnostics. she’s good at it, and i think she enjoys the diagnosing part, but from s2 onwards she’s…stuck in the mud. she actually doesn’t get as much catharsis from holding her patients’ hands and watching them die as she claims she does; it’s a form of suffering for her. she will never admit this openly, and maybe not even to herself, but the contrast between how dour she is in s1-3 (she is genuinely just…sad, a lot of the time) to how happy she is in s4-5 is important
- DEAD HUSBAND: you can call him whatever you want, he doesn’t have a canon name (ignore ‘bob’, that’s made up). see the above point about how cameron doesn’t actually enjoy watching people die and being there for them At All—i think it’s important that this overshadows any love she had for him (if she really loved him that deeply at all, which i think is a matter of debate; i think she did, eventually, but i think ‘staying with him because he was dying’ came first). she was very young when it happened, and it fucked her up immensely, and she’s not as shy about acknowledging that as some people think. the way cameron speaks about him in canon is very much like it just happened yesterday; the hurt is fresh for her, and while you can write stories without mentioning him (i have!), i don’t think you can handwave him completely.
- cameron’s kind of a killjoy, the stick in the mud of the OG3 pre-s3. she doesn’t date; chase jokes in hunting that she has some fun scheduled for february. we know she has a friend she sees regularly, but according to chase the friend is insufferable. i think she’s a lot more isolated than she lets on, although she does seem much friendlier with the other hospital staff than everyone else in diagnostics. she’s not having heart to hearts in the cafeteria with just anyone, but she (thinks she) is pretty good at small talk and remembering peoples names.
- cameron is a Sexual Freak when the time calls for it, but do not mistake this for enjoying being objectified by just anyone. think of her speech in 1x14 control: ‘people dismiss me because i’m a woman. because i’m pretty. my opinions shouldn’t be rejected just because people don’t like me’. she has a real bee in her bonnet over finding out house hired her because she’s beautiful—cameron worked hard to get where she is. she doesn’t like being undermined, or not being taken seriously. she is earnest, but she resents having that earnestness mocked.
- she walks away. cameron isn’t—she’s deeply stubborn, and she is willing to fight for things (see my literal first point), but she can and will cut her losses, and while some of this is fear driven (especially where chase is concerned), it isn’t always. at the very least, cameron always thinks she’s being pragmatic about it, and…y’know. sometimes she is.
Reblogged iicraft505
house serves cunt as often as cuddy serves penis. wilson serves neither but he does serve something. maybe liver
Reblogged
Anonymous asked:
Do you have any tips on writing cuddys dialogue ? Other than watching cuddy centric episodes again?
ok um i can’t be normal about anything so i compiled a bullet-point list of quirks i’ve noticed in cuddy’s dialogue and went back and reviewed multiple transcripts to make sure i got them right. i hope this helps you or someone ever.
general
- cuddy is very very blunt. she tells it like it is
- contrary to this, though, she is also extremely deflective when it comes to personal matters — she will rarely be forthcoming with vulnerability. basically, she’s straight-forward with everything but her feelings.
- likewise, she tends to (want to) keep her personal life personal. even for trivial stuff. say, for example, one of house’s fellows asks her what she’s doing on the weekend: she’s much more likely to say it’s none of their business or deflect than she is to answer honestly.
- ^ she’s a big fan of “no problems” and “nothing’s wrong” when she's upset
- very sarcastic, very deadpan, very dry humour.
- out of the cast, cuddy swears (uses ass or bitch, as per tv standard) the most out of anyone aside from house
- (and this is more of a general tip when it comes to the characters in this show, but use “screw” instead of “fuck” in most scenarios, especially if they take place in the hospital)
- very apologetic, in that when someone expresses being upset, even if not towards her directly, she goes for “i’m sorry” pretty often.
- she brushes people off. A lot. think about how often she tells masters “I’m busy” in s7. that’s her go-to.
- she WILL talk over/interrupt other people
- she, too, psychoanalyzes people (house). most of the time she’s just able to see past bullshit well
- not sure how to put this, but she’s very… well versed in assurance. from what we see of her interactions with patients and donors, she definitely has the whole spiel memorized — she knows how to come across as very caring, so to speak.
- ^ and to this, when talking to patients, her talking points tend to lean specifically towards “this is gonna make you better”, things to that effect.
- in “going to”/”gonna” or “want to”/”wanna” situations, she typically opts for the latter; this is more dialectal than it is an indication of formality
- ^ similarly, in places where it feels like she could say “ya” instead of “you”, she probably would. think about “pretty sure i can outrun ya” from the Pilot.
- she lowkey assumes everyone has an agenda in every interaction and assumes what it is and she’s usually right
- she has so much self-doubt and self-deprecation in her. the catch is that these things only really come out when she’s alone or with house or wilson. she’s not going to show these insecurities to someone she isn’t close with, but they’re definitely there. think about her convo with wilson in Finding Judas, for example.
- when nervous or upset, like actually upset — she stammers, “um”s and “uh”s find their way into her speech
- this isn’t just dialogue, but she’s definitely a fan of a good over-dramatized reaction from time to time. think about her stacy impression in Need To Know and her faux-admission in The Itch.
- like most of the characters, she’s a big fan of the sarcastic “Right.” when she thinks someone’s BSing her
- she frequently (though not always) forgoes the subject marker in a sentence. for example, saying “could be” instead of “it could be”, “procedure’s done” instead of “the procedure’s done”, “gotta go” instead of “i’ve gotta go”, “give us a minute” instead of “can you give us a minute”, etc.
- if someone’s being cagey about what they mean (talking around something) she’ll point at exactly what it is. she doesn’t have time for it!
- she WILL call something insane, crazy, or stupid if it is insane, crazy, or stupid
- in more casual conversation, she will trail off every so often
- WILL repeat what you said back to you, changing the meaning only with emphasis (see: “you’re only here because you have the hots for me” “you’re only here because you have the hots for me” in Let Them Eat Cake)
- coded language. guys. coded language. saying one thing but meaning another, especially in banter with house; bonus points if it’s basically a bit they’re both in on (see: hooker/patient coding in Paternity)
- this isn’t dialogue, but she talks with her hands. a lot. she gestures while talking. a lot.
- NAMES: cuddy, for the most part, refers to everyone as Dr. [lastname]. she calls thirteen, dr. hadley. she refers to stacy & amber by their first names, will very sparingly call wilson “james”, and does not call house “greg”
in romantic context
- INNUENDO. innuendo is key
- demanding. take that as you will. think of her “ignore it” then more frustrated “ignore it” to lucas when they’re trying to have sex in 5 to 9
- she isn’t afraid of the word “sex” or mentioning things to do with sex (see: Insensitive and The Itch), but she’s definitely not the type to openly discuss the details of her sex life (see: 5 to 9) and there is a difference!!
- this probably isn’t something to get into, but when house and cuddy are together cuddy uses the word “nice” to describe how she wants the relationship to be, to feel
- less dialogue, more inflection: her voice gets a lot softer when she’s being genuine and vulnerable
- for her relationship with house specifically, she calls him juvenile and compares him to a child a fair bit LOL
- she’s definitely a lot more… awkward, contemplative, maybe, with her love interests. this is so super reflective in her dialogue. you’ll see what i meannn
in famillial context
- in Family Practice she calls julia “jules” and julia calls her “lise”. USE THESE SPARINGLY.
- arlene is hypercritical, but a lot of her criticism leans specifically towards slut-shame-y and professionally belittling
- arlene uses her fair share of yiddish words and phrases in her typical speech — cuddy is more likely to use them around her (see: her use of “yenta-ing” in Family Practice)
- the cuddy family “tells each other the truth when asked directly” (per Family Practice)
aaaand i know you said “other than rewatching” BUTTTT if you’re going to rewatch any episodes for her dialogue specifically, i recommend Finding Judas for upset, vulnerability, and patient interaction, Joy for just… general emotion, lots of it, 5 to 9 for interactions of all kinds, but especially professional, non-house interactions, and Now What? for cuddy-in-love)
that’s a lot. i’m sorry. i got excited. some of these may just be general house writing quirks not just cuddy but. these are things that have stuck out to me. i write all of this but really when i’m writing fic i’m just like “ok can i hear her voice in my crazy head” and if the answer’s no it’s not good enough
Reblogged
kind of diverging from the amber defense day which i fully agree with to talk about my other favorite thing: doyalist readings and the mess of season four.
because i think there is a case to be made that, all else aside, the reality of how amber's death was written aside: she kind of was meant to be a "fridged side character." which is to say: amber was not, actually, a main character of the show and not intended to be.
we know that the showrunners fell in love with anne dudek, and contrived to keep amber around after her elimination. in retrospect, this seems like a clue: amber was designed to be a temporary character like cole or brennan, a fun antagonist for the early part of the season. then she became wilson's girlfriend, in part to keep her around longer, but it was still meant to be temporary. she's... tritter. she's vogler. she's stacy.
her death is meant to matter, and be sad, but it's primarily about house and wilson and thirteen because they're the real characters and amber is the guest. she was never part of the team; she was never part of the main cast. and it's still fridging and awkward writing, but...
the writer's strike, i think, accidentally had the effect of elevating amber's importance in a real way. think about it. the show lost 8 episodes; not only that, but amber was originally meant to die mid-season, around episode 11/12 out of 24. (thanks @eliotquillon!) that s4 ends up being largely about amber is a mistake and a coincidence, not part of the plan: she went from a character in 8 episodes who would die in her 9th, to a character who is in 8 episodes and then part of the season's major subplot in the remaining 8; she goes from being part of 1/3rd of s4 to basically theeee character: a major part of the hiring arc, a source of conflict and drama for house and wilson, a victim of a tragic death.
and to be clear: i like amber a lot and i do prefer her as a Major Character. but it's clear she wasn't intended to dominate s4 the way she did; it's clear that a lot of her later appearances were ... padding, for want of a better word, keeping her at the edges of the show until her end. and so her death is not about her, because it never was. and her being killed sooner wouldn't have made it any better -- but it might not have felt as jarring. we're used to unimportant side characters dying to further the story, after all. but amber wasn't an unimportant side character! wasn't she?
Reblogged all-pacas
damn it now I’M having thoughts about the s4 finale and how Amber was done so dirty
I don’t think I can articulate this quite the way I want to but. My personal grievance is that it’s never really about Amber.
The woman is dying—dies—and it’s never even about her. We don’t get to see her loved ones, her family. The horror of Wilson waking her up to say goodbye is glossed over, it’s closure for Wilson, and “it’s what she would have wanted” is such a bs excuse. Nobody wants to be woken up from the dead to be told they’re dead. The sheer horror of that is unimaginable.
The episode revolves around House and Wilson desperately trying to find a solution, an answer to the puzzle—House because he’s House, and Wilson because he doesn’t want his girlfriend to die. The episode focuses on Wilson’s grief, House’s need to solve the puzzle and going to self-destructive lengths, and Thirteen going through her own stuff (which—hot take maybe—I’m not sure belonged in this episode, but I’m on the fence about it). Not once does it focus on Amber’s life beyond her relationships and how they’re affected.
Which makes sense if you see Amber purely as a patient, because we never really get much backstory on the patient of the week, but it’s Amber. We got to know her, to love her. The last scene we see of her before HH/WH is her and Wilson cuddled up on the floor of their apartment after the whole bed-debacle.
And she’s killed off for what? To further the plot of House and Wilson’s relationship? To spark Thirteen into actually getting tested?
And the montage at the end, where all of the team is saying goodbye to her: it’s as if everyone here cared deeply about Amber, but where is that shown otherwise? The montage feels weird from Amber’s perspective (and it mostly is shown that way), everyone giving her weird halfhearted smiles and looking at her like she’s an animal in a zoo. Thirteen hugs her, but why? They never liked each other! We couldn’t even get any slight exposition about that, beyond Thirteen’s projecting about it? No dialogue at all? Meanwhile, Amber’s sitting there, essentially already dead, terrified, while everyone comes in to say their goodbyes. It doesn’t matter who Amber would have wanted to see, who she would have wanted to have one last conversation with—it’s about everybody else’s closure.
And at the end, with Wilson, she’s comforting him. “We are always gonna want just a little longer.” It’s more about Wilson, once again. Her last moments, and it’s about Wilson. His grief. Like she only exists as a plot device for his character arc. And that will never sit right with me.
the woman dies, aoko matsuda