Dollhouse - Whedon/Minear/Dushku Back To TV

No, Alpha didn't. When Echo arrives, he's still in the chair and it just finishes going into the "off" position. He's then smashed through a wall. The disk is still in the chair.
 
Neo/Echo is ruining the arc.

Anyhow, these two episodes were so very dull. I'm amazed that Victor's episode wasn't super-exciting. And the Attic episode was just a very cliche Matrix rip-off. People are computers and forced to relive their nightmares. I remember that being original in THE PRISONER. They did it in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. Poaching the cast isn't enough, now it poaches crappy story ideas.

I kinda liked that DeWitt sent Echo in to find out about the Attic, but I feel, since the whole point of the attic is that they keep repeating your worst fear, I expected Echo to wake up back in the attic when she 'escaped'. Also, I feel the DeWitt twist was extremely manipulative - all the drinking and careful editing... it didn't make sense we just want DeWitt to be good.

I remember when I heard season 2 would take place before Epitaph One. I was extremely disappointed because I felt I knew too much. This shows I was justified in my disappointment. The 'arc' is boring, because we know too much about it. We are given big build-up episodes, like the two-parter with Perrin, that play 'straight', but in the context of Epitaph One, we should just be skipping through them.

Ugh.

I liked Dominic a lot. His reaction to the disappearing Victor and the knowledge that Rossum has an imprinted senator, was priceless.

Anyhow, the big 'cliffhanger' at the end... Echo has to meet... CAROLINE! Oh noes! Why is this dramatic? Why isn't Echo just imprinted with Caroline and... bam, done. I don't get why it's a big deal. With all this talk of "there's one soldier left", I assumed the soldier would be... ALPHA.

But no. Anyhow, I found both episodes boring and idiotic and laboured.

Which is terrible, because I was so looking forward to this.
 
So, I've done two things:

Firstly, I watched the original pilot. The original pilot is episode 6. The first good episode of the show. That's what it is. The only real difference is Ballard is shot by Echo, not by random Mafia goons. It's worth pointing out that while Echo is in it, she's not a major part and so it is enjoyable but not as enjoyable as episode six in which Echo was thankfully absent.

Secondly, I read an interview with Joss Whedon where he quite obviously points out he doesn't enjoy making DOLLHOUSE and when season two is finished, he's got no intention of going anywhere near it.

It seems that Whedon wanted the show to be more about intimacy and the clients and Fox didn't want all that sex stuff (Joss is aware of the irony) and wanted more espionage stuff.

In other words, all those boring, ****ty Echo engagements? That's what Joss wanted the show to be about. Fox actually wanted the show to focus more on the whole "impending apocalypse" story arc which, strangely, they didn't air the pay off to (Epitaph One).

Joss, who seemed to have no interest in the espionage stuff, says that he found it hard to write these stories, which explains why they're so poorly conveying this impending apocalypse. Just these crappy baby steps. Because we're not supposed to be seeing it. I also wonder, if the call for more 'espionage' ruined the potential for the intimate engagement episodes, as the call for more action required them to end with Echo running away from the client every time.

I find it weird because it seems that Fox is actually the reason Dollhouse was any good, as opposed to Firefly, which it killed. It's completely bizarre.

All I know is, Eliza Dushku is a parrot. She is not a convincing actress. She's okay, she's not awful, but even in the pilot, she is quite clearly 'acting', and it doesn't help that her character is undeniably awful. Combine the two and you've got a show whose central character is completely detestable. And Fox or no, it seems Joss Whedon would've kept it that way if he could, which is just... odd.

I want to go to the parallel world where Joss kept FIREFLY. I think he'd be a much happier man in that one.
 
Well that was one hell of a twist ending....

They go to war with Rossum, Saunders returns, only to murder Bennett who has been kidnapped by the team to rebuild Caroline's personality. Then in the closing moments, they reveal who is the real head of Rossum..


Boyd.
 
I just saw #11.

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I felt that summed everything up.

I liked the line "She can kill you with her brain", and Sander's sudden doomsday plot. Topher was wonderful, especially when he claimed he had imprinted himself with many useful skills. The thing that never made sense was when Caroline stopped being the 'good' gal and this renowned monster of doom. Before last week's episode, in season 2, we'd seen her leave Bennett which seemed odd and didn't make much sense. Prior to that, she was seen as the saviour of mankind in Epitaph One. At what point did she become something that scared anyone? Bizarre ninja character change from nowhere.

Also... it seems that Echo's ability to composite is the block that DeWitt mentions (in Epitaph One) that Caroline has, and it seems she's given it to Sierra and Victor (who take meds to keep off the headaches...) So it seems Boyd/Rossum is interested in honing that ability to some extent. I assume so that when Boyd wipes the world, he will remain intact. Maybe he wants to turn everyone into himself. I dunno. Everyone into everyone. Maybe the whole point is to save mankind by making everybody everyone else (then how can you hate each other?), and it goes horribly wrong.

I dunno. Boyd turning out to be Rossum probably makes sense looking back... but why he pretended to be anything but is going to take some real explaining.
 
Just saw "The Hollow Men" - it's very rushed, but still makes some sense and is really quite tense and exciting.

It is, however, disgustingly predictable. It is not predictable in the tragic sense, in that because we know the apocalypse will come it is 'predictable'. That's dramatic irony. We want that. No, this is just predictable. The entire episode is completely predictable from start to finish. What's more, it's bull****. Boyd, after all this time, doesn't go out the way he does. I'm sure there's a 'symmetry' to it, but it reeks of, "We want this to happen". It feels contrived and not organic. Plus, Boyd is still one of the best characters in the show, and to have him leave is rather foolish. Maybe that's part of the problem of it being rushed. Another predictable scene was Millie, and it was very cheesey... but it worked. Miracle Laurie (the actress) sold that scene wonderfully. Good for her. Topher is great, still demonstrating that this show is really about him, Boyd, and DeWitt. Also, Victor as Topher was a wonderful return! Yay! Amy Acker proves that she is still quite clearly "number one", and the best actress in the show.

Plus the epilogue does give us a cool mystery to see solved in the finale.

All in all, a tense, exciting show, with some good moments ("You're my family. I love you guys!") and while it's rushed, what ruins it is it's total lack of originality and paint-by-numbers formula.

This episode is essentially TERMINATOR 2. The sci-fi heroes rush into a big corporation that will destroy the world to destroy the tech. This episode is just as long as that sequence. It has had more of a set up. It is nowhere near as good. Yes, it's has some good elements, but frankly, it's unsophisticated and childish.

I look at this show and really, what I love, is these four characters: Boyd, Topher, DeWitt, and, Ballard. I'm kinda upset that the show isn't as good as they deserved.

EDIT - I get why it pissed me off. It reminded me of HEROES. Rossum Corporation is continually bigged up to be this ludicrous, global-spanning company, and yet, when they get there, there's a surprising lack of staff. It feels like three people work there. ONE scientist working on Echo. THREE guards here. ONE guard there. After two years of promising us the big bad, it's so ludicrously low-key, it's rather disheartening. I mean... they do a huge explosion, but just stand outside, calmly. The building isn't even damaged. And then they walk off. Looking at the explosion that Dushku slo-mos away from, it really feels like there was just no damned budget. And it pisses me off. Because 15 years ago, BABYLON 5 had no money, used CGI when CGI barely existed, and paid off every single battle it promised. If B5 could do it, and not a single scene could be filmed on 'location', what with it being set in space and all, why can't a show like DOLLHOUSE make sure it has enough money to hire extras? Like HEROES "Company", the spend a lot of time building up this menace, but have no idea how to pay it off. This 'global spanning company' feels like a dotcom nerd sitting in a penthouse. Bollocks to it.
 
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Well, that's the final episode.

I really enjoyed it, although there were a few points that confused me, like how did the tech actually get out after Rossum went boom?
Alpha was great as always though, best line?

"Because we're not freakshows. Well maybe I am. And Echo. Topher's a little off.... but Adele, she's a class act!"
 
Well... the finale came and went. On the whole it was quite sad, but rather manipulative and samey.

First; the good: The post-apocalypse world is fantastic. I love the tech-heads that Victor runs. I love the farm that Adelle and Pria are on. But most importantly, I love Neuropolis. In the post-apocalypse, there are always four civilisations: The savages, the despots, the rebels, and the vagabonds. So we got our savages in the butchers, the rebels in the tech-heads, and the vagabonds in the famr. But I love the despots. I love the idea of Rossum's bigwigs changes bodies repeatedly, and not giving a cuss about them. Remember in Epitaph One when Ambrose, as Victor, stated "imagine what one man can do without fear of death"? I love that this episode showed the truth: you'd rest on your laurels and do bugger all. You'd become a total waste of space. I loved the parade of naked people for them to choose between. I loved how the tech-heads use the tech to gain skills, not memories, and use it as a hollow short cut to feel perfect. I liked the farm. And I liked the fates of Ballard and Topher. And I liked Alpha.

Now, the bad: First of all, let's point out that if Topher had got the big pulse thing wrong, they'd have no way to solve the problems, so letting him go up there might not have been the best idea. Secondly, the whole premise of Topher being able to return everyone's brains is bloody stupid. It is a lovely wish fulfillment fantasy thing that is just a deus ex machina so they can have a happy ending. And it's a crappy ending. Considering that imprints aren't genetic and newborns will be 'actuals', all they have to do is make sure that the ability to imprint no longer exists. It will eventually allow human civilisation to return. Instead, we get a big reset button, and the tech still exists which means that the same damn mindwiping technology is out there and can happen again. What's more, the original mass mind-wipe was done with computers, automated to carry out a program. That's why you couldn't walk past a radio in Epitaph One and had to ditch walkie talkies because you might get wiped. That still exists. So all those people who 'wake up' at the end would revert back to normal, and then get mindwiped when they walked past a tv, dammit. And while we're on the subject, as much as I love Neuropolis, it doesn't really fit that the Rossum guys would live in a burnt out city. With the ability to force imprints on people and their predilication for multiple bodies, why isn't all of Neuropolis just Ambrose and Harding? Why aren't those two people civilisations that work in some fashion? How are they getting all that wonderful food if they live in a **** heap? Blarg.

And what was Alpha's favour? To be let out? Why keep that a mystery? I assumed his favour was to be wiped except for Ballard so he'd be Ballard. Or that he'd take Topher's place. It's weird that Alpha asks for a favour, we don't see what the favour is, then someone else mentions it off-hand. Why? It's poor editing. If he just asks, then someone relays that a second time, why not let us see him ask the first time round? It' s not like it was an important revelation to the characters being told. No, surely it's so that person can tell a lie and suddenly, bam, Alpha's real favour is exposed. But no.

Despite all this, what aggravates me most is this: how did all this happen? The second season spent all its time going, "We're going to see how the apocalypse started!" and proceeded to answer every question that was already answered in Epitaph One in a dull, predictable manner, except for one: who did Topher tell the autodialing too, and why, and how did that all come about? Answer - we don't know. Topher invented a remote wipe in the penultimate episode, but not the idea of auto-dialing people with imprints. Who did the auto-dialing? We assumed it was Rossum but the show decided to completely kneecap it's own big bad by making it turn out to be Boyd (WTF?!) and have him die in a little fist fight with Echo. By doing that, it only made us question "Who" when we all assumed it was Rossum. It created a mystery of just how the damn thing happened anyway. And we still don't know. It just did. Topher is somehow solely responsible for it. In Epitaph One, when Topher admitted it was his idea that killed the world, this was at a stage where Topher was not a good guy at all. By the time Rossum is defeated in season two, he's become someone who would never tell anyone about blanket mind-wiping. Not only that, the tech he invented that does that remote wipe? He destroyed it. The whole point of the penultimate episode was to make us go, "Wait. What? Then how did the apocalypse happen?" That was the gorram episode. And then Epitaph Two comes along and says, "Happiness Pie and Sunbeams" and reset and everyone is happy again, when I was expecting Epitaph Two not to solve the apocalypse but to tell us exactly what happened and how we got there.

Before season 2, the Epitaph world was this brilliant conclusion to the Dollhouse show, inverting the whole context of the show and giving it gravitas. And at the time, we could see every single line that lead to it. In season two, aware that they'd rang a bell that meant they couldn't keep doing bull**** "engagement of the week" episodes but wanted to anyway, tried to make it exciting by continually assaulting the logical assumptions of cause and effect Epitaph One had created. After doing that... they just fixed the world. Making us wonder how the two worlds even connect.

So **** you Dollhouse. Like Heroes, Lost, and Battlestar Galactica, you seem incapable of reading your own scripts and remembering what happened each week. You improvise a story arc without considering where it's going or how you're going to get there, retcon and backtrack, and through confusion on top of confusion to hide the inconsistencies and outrageous holes in character, logic, and plot that you hope none of your audience can see.

At least Dollhouse had the good decency to be cancelled, unlike the other shows which will continue forever and ever and ever.

Topher, Boyd, DeWitt, Ballard, Alpha, Sanders, Victor, Zone - I love you guys. You were all top notch. Great characters. But your show was for crap.
 
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