Dr. James Wilson (played by Robert Sean Leonard)
Wilson is the head of the Department of Oncology at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Conventionally, he is the only true friend of Dr. Gregory House and frequently provides House with consultations and aid.
Biography
In the series' pilot episode, it is revealed that Wilson is Jewish; the revelation occurs when Dr. Eric Foreman says he found ham in the refrigerator of the team's current patient, whom Wilson insisted was his cousin in order to get House to take the case. He also invites House over for Christmas dinner in the episode "Damned If You Do". When House points that Wilson is Jewish, he alters his invitation to invite him for Hanukkah dinner, instead.
Wilson's educational background is unknown, although in two episodes, he was dressed in a McGill University sweatshirt. In the episode "House Training", two diplomas on his wall indicate that he attended the University of Pennsylvania; both diplomas are for fellowship programs. In the promotional photos for the first episode of Season 4, his office diplomas are legible. He has a diploma from McGill's undergraduate school of arts and sciences and a second diploma from Columbia University's "School of Oncolgy".
In the episode "Histories", it is revealed that Wilson has two brothers. One brother is homeless. Wilson hasn't seen this brother in nine years.
As a result of his wife's affair, Wilson separated from his wife and reluctantly took up refuge in House's apartment ("Sex Kills"). In the episode "Safe", House told Wilson why he didn't look for a new apartment: "As long as you're here, it's just a fight. As soon as you get a place, it's a divorce." A few episodes later, Wilson moved out, informing House that he had found another apartment, in spite of House's various attempts to prevent Wilson from leaving.
It was revealed over the course of that episode ("House vs. God") that Wilson had lied and was actually living with Grace, one of his terminally ill patients, against all rules of physicians' ethics. House postulated that this was because Wilson feels a need to "fix" the vulnerable women he meets and when they become well-adjusted (with Wilson's help), he becomes discontent and moves on. Wilson later moved out after Grace decided to spend her last days touring the world as she'd always dreamed of doing and was now living on his own. On a "date" with Cuddy in the episode "Forever", he admitted that he and his ex-wife were dividing possessions and friends (commenting that his ex-wife had not fought him for the friendship of House) and neatly evaded questions about if he'd wanted children.
Throughout the entire run of the series (mainly in the episode "Detox"), it is apparent that House's addiction worries Wilson. In Season 3, when Michael Tritter is trying to put House in jail for his Vicodin addiction, he threatens Wilson's career if he does not testify against House. Wilson refuses, so Tritter freezes his bank account and impounds his car. House publicly refuses to take responsibility or show remorse for Wilson's plight, but his seeming indifference is contradicted by abnormal physical pain that suggests deeply repressed guilt. The situation is exacerbated by Wilson's barring from prescribing cancer medication, effectively killing his practice. When Wilson confronts him on this, House sneeringly dismisses him.
In the Emmy Award winning episode "Three Stories", House referred to "a buddy of mine people say "Thank you" to when he tells them they are dying." This was later revealed to be Wilson; House convinces him to use this skill to talk a patient into authorizing treatment in the episode "House vs. God".
At the end of the episode "Finding Judas", Wilson agrees to testify, unknown to House. He finally breaks when House verbally attacks Cuddy, telling her it's good she can't get pregnant because she would make a lousy mother and punches Dr. Chase in the face without provocation. Wilson fears his friend getting out of control; since House was cut off from his regular dosage of Vicodin, he was not thinking clearly when incorrectly diagnosing a child with a condition that required the amputation of one of her arms and legs. Fortunately for House, Chase correctly diagnosed the girl in time before her arm and leg were removed. Furthermore, withdrawal from his pain meds makes House intolerable to work with. In the episode "Resignation", it is revealed that Wilson suffers from depression and is currently on a prescription for the illness.
Relationships
An example of Wilson's friendship with House occurs in the episode "Babies & Bathwater" in which Edward Vogler proposes a motion to the hospital's Board of Directors for House's dismissal. Wilson, a member of the board along with Dr. Lisa Cuddy, is the only one who votes against the motion. In response, Vogler proposes and succeeds in obtaining Wilson's dismissal from the board, but Wilson is soon reinstated after Vogler withdraws his involvement with the hospital.
Within the scope of a popular comparison that draws parallels between House and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Wilson is equivalent to Dr. Watson. This becomes evident as, throughout the course of the show, House consults upon his medical quandaries with Wilson, much as Holmes did with Watson upon his cases. His multiple marriages may also echo his association with Watson, as some Holmes critics postulate that Watson was married more than once. While Watson narrated, Wilson tends to analyze House's actions and motives, almost summing it up for the viewer as a narration. Wilson is also one of the few characters on the show, along with Dr. Lisa Cuddy with whom House will discuss what remains of his personal life or who can make him genuinely laugh. Though Wilson and House often snipe at each other, both have admitted that they consider the other to be their best friends.
Romantic relationships
Wilson is shown to have been married several times. Two of his ex-wives have been named as Bonnie and Julie. His current marriage, which from all clues in the series is his third, went on the rocks when he discovered that his wife was having an affair. In all truth, however, Wilson himself is not innocent of cheating. In the episode "Spin", Wilson, trying to make a point, asks Dr. Allison Cameron if she's ever cheated and admits that he has. Later in that same episode, he confesses that an unnamed "someone" made him feel "funny, good" and that he "didn't want to let that feeling go", therefore sparking his own series of mental affairs and damaging his relationships.
Wilson frequently protests his reputation as a serial philanderer, to no avail as far as House is concerned. In addition to ribbing Wilson about the oncologist's flirtatious nature with young nurses and other hospital staff members, House put the pieces together regarding the state of Wilson's third marriage: Wilson wearing the same clothes he'd worn the day before indicating he had not been home for the night; a mismatched pair of socks indicating Wilson was dressing in the dark to avoid waking his wife; a purchase of an expensive box of candy indicating some form of guilt and/or need to reconcile with his wife: odd, small details most people outside a situation would be unlikely to notice.
Wilson is currently engaging in a pattern of behavior of "non dates" with Lisa Cuddy that follows one he used previously when courting one of his ex-wives. This involves going out as "friends" for such things as plays, art shows and museums, eventually making the woman fall in love with him without Wilson actually pursuing them. House confronts him on his tactics and calls him an addict, apparently concerned that Lisa is his target to be the next future ex-Mrs. Wilson.
Trivia
- Uncle died of cancer.
The second paragraph consists of material from the Wikipedia article "Dr. James Wilson" which is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
