Throughout the eight seasons of House, M.D., Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) remains a fan favorite with good reason. An oncologist at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, Wilson is not part of Dr. Gregory House's (Hugh Laurie) team of diagnosticians, but he consistently serves as House's sounding board, best friend, and roommate throughout House M.D.'s eight-season run. Though it's easy to think of Wilson as the show's ethical center, the good person that grounds House, M.D.'s moral framework, a closer examination of his character reveals that there is more to Wilson than fans might realize.
House, M.D. is a medical procedural that follows a case-of-the-week format in which House and his team diagnose rare illnesses. Rarely does Wilson participate in the differential diagnoses that animate much of the show's drama; instead he witnesses the main plot from the sidelines, interjecting when necessary. Within the show's structure, Wilson serves as an outlet for conflicts outside the hospital in House's personal life and struggle with opiate dependence.
House, M.D. is a loose Sherlock Holmes adaptation, and Wilson is the John Watson to House’s Holmes. He is the feeling heart to House’s rational brain, the warm emotion to the cool logic. However, as the show progresses, fans might start to wonder why this positive, kind person would want to remain friends with one so morally gray as House. While Wilson initially seems like a good person, his actions reveal a problematic complexity to his character.
Wilson Seems Like A Good Person
On paper, Wilson is positively heroic. Although he is an oncologist who routinely delivers extremely bad news, the running joke throughout House, M.D. is that Wilson is the kind of doctor who tells patients they’re dying, and they end up thanking him. He is a charismatic person liked by most, and it is clear throughout the eight seasons that Wilson cares for his patients and the people around him.
In his relationship with House, Wilson endures House trying to push his buttons, and he constantly demonstrates how much he cares for the grouchy diagnostician. In season two, episode three, “Skin Deep,” House worries that the procedure that eliminated his leg pain is starting to wear off. Wilson not only helps him get an MRI but offers emotional through playful banter. Wilson’s playacting at being God clearly comforts to House during a very stressful time. When House hangs a stethoscope on the doorknob, indicating that he needs “private time,” Wilson is willing to spend hours waiting outside in a bid to respect his friend’s boundaries - only for House to reveal that he was sitting in the apartment alone the whole time.
James Wilson Is Problematic
As the seasons progress, the audience learns more about James Wilson that show him in a darker light. Wilson’s greatest character flaw is that he truly seems to believe he is always doing the good thing, and his savior complex often leads him into morally ambiguous behavior that he then rationalizes. In season 4, episode 16, “Wilson’s Heart,” he urges House to take medication normally prescribed to Alzheimer's patients, which puts House's life at risk, in order jog House's memory and diagnose Wilson’s dying girlfriend, Amber (Anne Dudek). He insists House, a decades-long friend, risk his life for a partner of a few months without even taking a moment to consider what he is asking of him. Though Wilson is in serious emotional turmoil and his thinking is skewed, in doing this, Wilson displays an uncharacteristic callousness towards House.
House M.D.'s tagline is that "everybody lies," and Wilson is no exception. In the series premiere, Wilson lies when he claims that the patient Rebecca Adler (Robin Tunney) is his cousin, and the realization that she is not Jewish like Wilson and eats pork leads to House's diagnostic revelation. In season 1, episode 3, “Meaning,” House makes an unlikely, but correct, medical diagnosis, but Wilson insists he and Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) keep House's success a secret. Wilson’s justification is that this will keep House grounded, but this displays a poor understanding of his friend. The belief he was wrong eats away at House, causing him to suffer from self-doubt in a way that is ultimately destructive. Moreover, to a person like House, truth matters above all else, so it is a serious breach in friendship for Wilson to engage in this type of lie.
Sometimes, Wilson is problematic in a way that would be difficult to rationalize even for him. In season 2, episode 19, “House Vs. God,” it is revealed that Wilson has been dating one of his patients, Grace Palmieri (Tamara Braun), whom he diagnosed with liver cancer. His relationship breaks all kinds of ethical codes of conduct; even as they date, she remains his patient. Wilson seems to realize the problematic nature of this relationship because he keeps it hidden from House for as long as he can.
House, M.D.: Wilson And Taub Are The Same Character Type
In his relationships with women, Wilson is even more problematic. When the audience meets him in the pilot episode, he is in the middle of his third failed marriage. Though that marriage ends due to his wife’s infidelity, he its to being unfaithful to past wives, routinely “checking out” of his relationships months before they fall apart. Season 4 of House M.D. introduces Doctor Taub (Peter Jacobson), another serial cheater. Although Taub genuinely loves his wife, willing to undergo a massive career change for her, Taub proves himself unable to remain faithful. However, where Taub is condemned time and time again for his transgressions, Wilson’s are often overlooked. Wilson enjoys the benefits of the halo effect: because he is handsome and charismatic, he is automatically regarded as a better person. This ultimately hurts him because it means he constantly repeats the same mistakes. One of the tenets of his friendship with House is that the latter is always willing to call him out, able to see through what many others can’t.
However, while Taub and Wilson are the same character type, they veer into opposite ethical ends of the spectrum. Taub never intends to cheat on his wife, but he also makes few efforts to avoid it. He is secretive in his affairs, keeping his partner ignorant of them. In season 2, episode 6, “Spin,” Wilson its to Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) that while, yes, he has been unfaithful, he always its it immediately. His honesty forces him to confront the consequences of his negative actions. He has his flaws, but Wilson always demonstrates himself as someone willing to do the hard thing.
Where Wilson expresses dishonesty is in his assessment of his emotional availability, both towards the women he’s dating and himself. Bonnie, his second wife, assesses Wilson as someone who doesn’t seek to begin romantic relationships, but falls into them. As House puts it, Wilson is an “emotional vampire,” seeking out people in pain whom he can comfort and provide for.
House, M.D.: Wilson Is Good For House
Wilson’s emotional vampirism works in House’s favor. His relationship with House is turbulent in the short term, but stable in the long term as it is the only relationship in both their lives that actually lasts through difficult times. Wilson genuinely cares for House and is often willing to stick his neck out for his friend, defending House to the hospital board and to his fellow doctors every chance he gets. Most importantly, Wilson assists House in his attempts to recover from his opiate dependence. In season 6, episode 1, "Broken," Wilson draws clear boundaries by refusing to assist House in blackmailing the doctor in charge of House's treatment, but remains ive throughout his recovery.
Ultimately, when Wilson is diagnosed with terminal thymoma, House fakes his own death in the series finale, "Everybody Dies," and in his penultimate words of the show, House says, "I'm dead, Wilson. How do you want to spend your last five months?" House's arc demonstrates that Wilson changes him for the better. House, M.D. ends with House making a completely selfless decision for Wilson’s benefit, something a selfish character like House could have only learned from a caring character like James Wilson.