Ep. 4x14 - "Living the Dream"

[beandelphiki]

House tonight:

Proving to me once and for all that I really, truly watch this show for Greg House/Hugh Laurie and no one else. I mean, Kutner's awesome, Thirteen was interesting tonight (I've decided I really do like her and the dynamic she has with House, which is NOT the same one he had with Cameron), and I'm always all about House and Wilson's relationship.

But ULTIMATELY, I just watch this show for House. They could get rid of all the other characters - yes, including Wilson - and I would still watch.

I know this now because the only other part of the show that I thought was REALLY important (i.e. Wilson) was not really there tonight. His scenes with House felt a bit forced, although as a fan I can write that off to him being distracted by his mattress dilemma.

But tonight the writers made Wilson/Amber a bit more believable, just for a while. We know their relationship must ultimately be doomed (if for no other reason than it's a sideplot that takes up a lot of air time), but it's clear to me that if he were truly into her, Amber would be good for Wilson. Because she's actually interested in seeing him being a whole, functional person rather than feeding off his dysfunctions in symbiotic self-destruction. If only for her own gain, but being with someone who only looks out for themself isn't new for Wilson. So I think she'd end up doing him good.

And well, damn the writers for actually making me root a little for Wilson/Amber, but I suppose that's their job. Still, it made clear to me that even without Wilson, House means as much to me as ever.

I loved the way he saw through Mr. I Can't Believe My Life Is A Soap Opera's bullshit and told it to him straight, even though it would mean the end of that character on his favourite show. ("Hope is for sissies.") Hugh Laurie is the most underestimated actor around, I swear. He's just utterly fucking brilliant (I can't say that enough), and I was grinning every moment he was onscreen.

Now. Back to Wilson and Amber for a second.

Why the hell can't RSL play straight men?

Because yeah, Wilson is SUPPOSED to be awkward in his relationship with Amber, I'm sure. But it's more than that. He never has any chemistry with any female co-star that I've seen, even if he has it in spades with the male ones. Watching him make out with a female character feels off and icky and wrong...like watching someone make out with their sister.

I could blame it on being such a H/W fan. Except that I've seen a video clip of him in a theatre performance (I sadly can't even remember which one...basically he was obsessed with a black woman, and it was period), and while I LOVED the female character his was meant to be seducing, I couldn't buy his eagerness to bang her. I cringed, actually. It felt fake.

And so then, I COULD blame it on his actually not being as good an actor as we've been told he is, and that I've been believing he is...

...Except I've also seen clips of him in The Invention of Love (playing a gay character), and he was totally brilliant in that.

So, uh, what gives? Is he so socially awkward with women in real life that he can't keep his nerves from affecting things in his performances? Is he SO monogamous to any female he's currently with that he can't, figuratively, "get it up," with female costars? Or is he just a repressed my-being-in-theatre-proves-nothing homosexual, a bit Ryan Seacrest?

Because you really have to wonder.

Comments

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

I think part of it is that Wilson is not compatible with women and dates them to make them happy (which we saw tonight, when he wasn't the one to cheat in his marriage with Julie, when Bonnie described him as worried about what the woman wants (but not himself), the affair with Grace, etc). Sex with women isn't just to be normal, closeted, conformist for him. It's a tool to make people happy, and Wilson wants to make women happy because he sees it as the right thing to do, being a gentleman.

But yeah. I'm pretty baffled at RSL's inability to bring sexy back. I don't think him and Gaby even have chemistry. Maybe he's asexual? Because, I mean, most gay people I know can fake or even feel at least a little short-term chemistry with other sexes. Also, Gaby's been in Israel/Germany the past few years, and they've been long distance most their relationship, and I'm not trying to judge, but it looks like a very poorly constructed beard. Like an Abe Lincoln beard you'd wear for Halloween. Obvious.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm just thinking...if he's asexual, why does he seem to have chemistry with male co-stars, then? It's just strange, I don't know. I mean, when people are generally non-homophobic and casual about sexuality, I prefer to take their word for it if they say they're straight. Some people just make it very difficult to believe.

"Homina, homina, homina," you know.

And ABE LINCOLN BEARD. I'm going to be repeating that.