(no subject)
I bitch a lot about how there aren't any TV shows that have kickass women. Gone are the days of Buffy, Xena, and Scully. Now we have Sookie Stackhouse, Miley Cyrus, and House Wives (Desperate or Reality).
And of course, being hypocritical me, I never watched Joss Whedon's Dollhouse when it aired.
A friend of mine recently lent me the entire series, and I ended up MARATHONING THE HELL OUT OF IT. Yes it starts off slow, and sure they Dollhouse setting is so outlandish it's distracting, but MAN i got hooked about at about episode five. I was sucked into the secrets hidden in every character, the looming figures of Rossum and Alpha, and I'm impressed how they took the technology and FUCKING RAN WITH IT.
As for the characters, Adelle DeWitt was super scary as evil Queen Bee, I loved her and her alcoholic self. If I was to ever work in Hollywood, Evil Cougar Woman be top on my list to play. I actually really enjoyed the strange love story between Sierra and Viktor, how that no matter how many times they were wiped, they still grouped together regardless. It was... kinda cute. Meanwhile Topher (Topher!) brought in some much needed hilarity and pop culture references ("He's like Soylant Green, he's PEOPLE"), all the while facing his own short comings as a human being. As for Paul Ballard, the hapless FBI agent, I initially wrote him off as a complete dud, but as I became more used to his slow, pronounced, carefully spoken sentences (has that guy ever worked on the radio?) his character developed wonderful shades of gray, and a decent sense of humor ("Are you sure you have room? I have a lot of baggage. Childhood stuff.")
Sadly, the only characters severely lacking were Boyd and Echo herself. And since Whedon's work is mainly driven by his characters, that was a HUGE GAPING HOLE IN THE SHOW. Maybe the idea of having a main character who has her personality changed every episode wasn't such a good idea. Maybe if they'd given her some more flaws, she'd be a bit more endearing. Or maybe Faith's shoddy acting just couldn't do Caroline/Echo justice.
Echo turned out to be the ultimate super woman. Never once in any moment of the show does she crack. She gets her memory removed, she's beaten, isolated, and she walks away. Once or twice I thought, if she were Buffy, she'd break down a little, shed a few tears, and get up and move on, but Echo was a soldier. AT THE LAST EPISODE, she finally cracks. I practically cheered. But it was too late in the show to make her human. I couldn't even really care. I'm not sure when she developed feelings for Paul either. Suddenly they were sorta soul mates, and I kinda missed that bit. I wonder where it went.
As for Boyd, originally I was all over his character. Second season his character made no sense. And the Big Reveal made it even worse. I really feel they just had to put a face to the 'Bad Guy' and have it be an emotional grind, so the writers just picked Boyd. Seemed odd.
Dollhouse had a LOT of great stuff. Action, humor, fun characters (Topher!), and PLOT. I wish it could have gone on longer, but I don't really know WHERE it would have gone. Although I would have liked to have seen Alpha's evolution and actual development of Echo and Paul's relationship. Initially I thought the futursodes were silly, but by the end of Epitaph 1 it was LET'S GET THIS SHIT GOING OMFG!!!! (Also, hi Felicia Day!)
Although the tech was silly, Dollhouse is the closest thing I've seen that felt like a real Sci Fi show. I mean, it took it's idea and brought it to the inevitable conclusion of the apocalypse. The show had balls, which few shows these days care to have.
And of course, being hypocritical me, I never watched Joss Whedon's Dollhouse when it aired.
A friend of mine recently lent me the entire series, and I ended up MARATHONING THE HELL OUT OF IT. Yes it starts off slow, and sure they Dollhouse setting is so outlandish it's distracting, but MAN i got hooked about at about episode five. I was sucked into the secrets hidden in every character, the looming figures of Rossum and Alpha, and I'm impressed how they took the technology and FUCKING RAN WITH IT.
As for the characters, Adelle DeWitt was super scary as evil Queen Bee, I loved her and her alcoholic self. If I was to ever work in Hollywood, Evil Cougar Woman be top on my list to play. I actually really enjoyed the strange love story between Sierra and Viktor, how that no matter how many times they were wiped, they still grouped together regardless. It was... kinda cute. Meanwhile Topher (Topher!) brought in some much needed hilarity and pop culture references ("He's like Soylant Green, he's PEOPLE"), all the while facing his own short comings as a human being. As for Paul Ballard, the hapless FBI agent, I initially wrote him off as a complete dud, but as I became more used to his slow, pronounced, carefully spoken sentences (has that guy ever worked on the radio?) his character developed wonderful shades of gray, and a decent sense of humor ("Are you sure you have room? I have a lot of baggage. Childhood stuff.")
Sadly, the only characters severely lacking were Boyd and Echo herself. And since Whedon's work is mainly driven by his characters, that was a HUGE GAPING HOLE IN THE SHOW. Maybe the idea of having a main character who has her personality changed every episode wasn't such a good idea. Maybe if they'd given her some more flaws, she'd be a bit more endearing. Or maybe Faith's shoddy acting just couldn't do Caroline/Echo justice.
Echo turned out to be the ultimate super woman. Never once in any moment of the show does she crack. She gets her memory removed, she's beaten, isolated, and she walks away. Once or twice I thought, if she were Buffy, she'd break down a little, shed a few tears, and get up and move on, but Echo was a soldier. AT THE LAST EPISODE, she finally cracks. I practically cheered. But it was too late in the show to make her human. I couldn't even really care. I'm not sure when she developed feelings for Paul either. Suddenly they were sorta soul mates, and I kinda missed that bit. I wonder where it went.
As for Boyd, originally I was all over his character. Second season his character made no sense. And the Big Reveal made it even worse. I really feel they just had to put a face to the 'Bad Guy' and have it be an emotional grind, so the writers just picked Boyd. Seemed odd.
Dollhouse had a LOT of great stuff. Action, humor, fun characters (Topher!), and PLOT. I wish it could have gone on longer, but I don't really know WHERE it would have gone. Although I would have liked to have seen Alpha's evolution and actual development of Echo and Paul's relationship. Initially I thought the futursodes were silly, but by the end of Epitaph 1 it was LET'S GET THIS SHIT GOING OMFG!!!! (Also, hi Felicia Day!)
Although the tech was silly, Dollhouse is the closest thing I've seen that felt like a real Sci Fi show. I mean, it took it's idea and brought it to the inevitable conclusion of the apocalypse. The show had balls, which few shows these days care to have.