Season Four House M.D. Finale
A Review of the Fox Drama House's Head and Wilson's Heart
The entire cast of House M.D. did an astonishingly poignant performance in this two part season four finale, bringing the ultimate in emotion and drama to prime time TV.
In a two part show, Season Four of House M.D. was brought to an end. In perhaps the most amazing production brought to TV in decades, this perfect ending was suited for the big screen.
House's Head
In the first of two parts House, played by actor Hugh Laurie, witnesses a symptom locked inside his head. As bizarre as this may sound, the ensuing hour is spent trying to find the victim of a large scale bus accident House is certain must be dying somewhere. After a long night of drinking, the memories are fuzzy at best. House begins a series of dangerous and questionable unethical treatments to unlock his own brain and solve the case. The buildup, though being shot with amazing camera work and set design was typical of any House episode. Find the ailment, sift through a multitude of potential cures, bring the patient close to death and then ultimately save him. It isn't until the last ten minutes that a previously overlooked, but blazingly obvious plot line comes to life and literally changes everything.
Wilson's Heart
At the end of the first installment, House realizes that he'd been treating the wrong patient. In fact, Amber had actually been on the bus with him and she was the patient who lay dying and had been haunting House's memory. In a life threatening experiment to release his memories, House realizes that he had been trying to reach Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) for a ride home when a bartender had confiscated his keys, and had reached Amber in error. This placed her on the bus with him, as she persistently accompanied him out of respect for Wilson, and Wilson's unfailing devotion to House. Once the bus was hit, Amber suffered trauma that was irreparable.
Through memory restoration, House realizes Amber's fate and tells Wilson. House then suffers a seizure placing him in a debilitating coma. Wilson elects, after consideration, to bring Amber out of anesthesia to be able to share her last moments with her, aware that her death is inevitable. Holding her close, one of the most touching and significant moments captured on film unwinds leaving even the least likely in tears. When Amber finally passes, you see her sitting on a bus fully restored to her pre-accident state, next to House. House makes the decision to return to the world of the living, albeit with some guidance from Amber, and the show ends with Wilson looking in as House wakes from his Coma. The look on Wilson's face is a mixture of hatred and relief.
Anne Dudek
Love her or hate her, Amber who was not-so-affectionately dubbed "Cut Throat Bitch" by House, nailed this final performance. Not only is she deserving of an Emmy nomination, but she demonstrated the depth and ability of her acting talent. In "Wilson's Heart" she particularly exceeded even her own character in pulling the show together in the ultimate story line. Dudek managed to be fragile and formidable, brilliant and beautiful and above all else she was able to make audiences love her after devoting so many episodes to making them loathe her. In the conclusion of the season, House lowers his walls and confesses his not so secret but often overlooked misery and lack of will to live to Amber and finds her to be a resolute voice of reason. The epitome of House himself, in a female form, the Amber character is the freshest and most enjoyable story to intertwine in the on going drama since the first season.
This was truly a masterpiece and one that everyone should watch and a fan should watch time and again. If the show ceased to exist following this performance, though the majority of audiences would be gutted, it would have ended perfectly. Fortunately for current and future viewers the untimely demise of both Amber and the House/Wilson dynamic will unveil a multitude of plots yet to come. If future shows are half as great as this finale, this show will take it's rank among the best TV drama series ever written.
