Dollhouse 1x03: "Stage Fright"
Okay, so I've been a very bad girl in regards to my tv meta as of late. Trying to make up for that now.
Part of the reason I've been so hesitant to comment on Dollhouse is that it seems like a lot of people on my flist haven't been liking this show. Whereas I...am really, really loving this show.
I mean, I get that the premise is creepy as hell and pretty much smacks of female exploitation and is understandably making some people uncomfortable, but here's the thing: this concept of "people getting reprogrammed and/or turned into perfect beings/super soldiers" kind of thing is an idea I've totally had before and would write, and therefore find fascinating. Weird, weird, epically weird personal preference, but there you go. It is what it is.
The only thing I've really noticed before is that the episodes so far have lacked for much in the way of, ah, subtlty. But then, I guess Whendon's never exactly been about the subtle. The pilot wasn't all that great but I did like it - more importantly, I really like all the players and am very interested to see where they're going to go.
Plus, this show may or may not clearly have been written around the excuse to make ED play as many different characters as possible, which I am all for. (Also, her "original" character of Caroline was very strongly reminiscant of Faith, which can only make for the crossover fic-ation all the more easier.)
So, my first real note? Whoever that actor they got to play Creepy Fan Stalker Guy was absolutely perfect. The scene where he's doing the crazy-lit forced duet with "Audra" was legitimitly one of the most terrifying things I've seen on my television as of late. Someone give the casting agency a very big cookie.
(And who was that chick who played the pop star? She was quite good as well, but something about her face seemed really familiar. And now it's bugging me. Oh well, either way, girl can seriously rock a shiny belly-dancer miniskirt.)
I really love the budding friendship between Echo and Sierra. I don't know why, there's just something very cute and gal-pal-y about seeing them together. It hits me in a place where it's highly reminicant of the very early days of Scoobie hanging. Awwww. Nostalgia.
I also like the budding companionship, possibly romance, going on between Boyd and Fred the scar-faced doctor. Although since this is a Whedon show, I've already got my Doom Goggles on high alert, and am therefore already mildly uneasy that this may be where they decide to lay the hurt on, either with some death or well-placed betrayal.
The Doom Goggles, also, are blinking on and off quite rapidly whenever Agent Helo's neighbor is on the screen. She has just the right air of tragic kicked puppy to her that you just know nothing good will eventually come of this.
Speaking of Agent Helo, btw...SUDDEN ACTIVE REVEAL PLOT-TWIST FTW!! Ha ha, even the accent was fake! So much for him being on the right track.
I think the implication was supposed to be that the dude was an Active all along, and the Dollhouse just set him up to make sure that Agent Helo kept going off on wild goose chases. Considering we saw him wiped and then back in place with the same personality later, I can only assume that's what was going on there. But man oh man, could you imagine Agent Helo's reaction later if it turns out "Victor" was a real person until Agent Helo steered him way of the Dollhouse, and he got wiped because of him? It tastes of sweet, sweet irony. And meta-character wangst. (Also, if it does turn out the Russian gangster was his real personality, that later phonecall means they can restore the originals, apparantly. Which would count as a good and hopeful thing for the future.)
(Really not important, but I would like to declare while I have this moment that as soon as I saw the very first commercials and saw we were dealing with girls named "Echo" and "Sierra", I knew immediately they were doing the Army Alphabet thing. Just wanted to say.
Of course, that implies that we have some very unfortunate Actives walking around going by the names of "Bravo", "Foxtrot" and "Whiskey", but then there you go. On the plus side, I'll be keeping my hopeful eyes peeled for a "Tango" and a "November".)
So...the Attic is where they put Actives when they can't use them any more? In what? Stasis? Cold storage? Oh god, sending them to the Attic is like being boxed. Instead of, say, the much more humane approach of giving them free will again and releasing them into the wild? Stay classy, evil overlords. (Although I guess that would possibly raise too many questions/call attention. Or, worse, once an Active is made into an Active, it can't really be undone. Man, that would suck.)
Part of the reason I've been so hesitant to comment on Dollhouse is that it seems like a lot of people on my flist haven't been liking this show. Whereas I...am really, really loving this show.
I mean, I get that the premise is creepy as hell and pretty much smacks of female exploitation and is understandably making some people uncomfortable, but here's the thing: this concept of "people getting reprogrammed and/or turned into perfect beings/super soldiers" kind of thing is an idea I've totally had before and would write, and therefore find fascinating. Weird, weird, epically weird personal preference, but there you go. It is what it is.
The only thing I've really noticed before is that the episodes so far have lacked for much in the way of, ah, subtlty. But then, I guess Whendon's never exactly been about the subtle. The pilot wasn't all that great but I did like it - more importantly, I really like all the players and am very interested to see where they're going to go.
Plus, this show may or may not clearly have been written around the excuse to make ED play as many different characters as possible, which I am all for. (Also, her "original" character of Caroline was very strongly reminiscant of Faith, which can only make for the crossover fic-ation all the more easier.)
So, my first real note? Whoever that actor they got to play Creepy Fan Stalker Guy was absolutely perfect. The scene where he's doing the crazy-lit forced duet with "Audra" was legitimitly one of the most terrifying things I've seen on my television as of late. Someone give the casting agency a very big cookie.
(And who was that chick who played the pop star? She was quite good as well, but something about her face seemed really familiar. And now it's bugging me. Oh well, either way, girl can seriously rock a shiny belly-dancer miniskirt.)
I really love the budding friendship between Echo and Sierra. I don't know why, there's just something very cute and gal-pal-y about seeing them together. It hits me in a place where it's highly reminicant of the very early days of Scoobie hanging. Awwww. Nostalgia.
I also like the budding companionship, possibly romance, going on between Boyd and Fred the scar-faced doctor. Although since this is a Whedon show, I've already got my Doom Goggles on high alert, and am therefore already mildly uneasy that this may be where they decide to lay the hurt on, either with some death or well-placed betrayal.
The Doom Goggles, also, are blinking on and off quite rapidly whenever Agent Helo's neighbor is on the screen. She has just the right air of tragic kicked puppy to her that you just know nothing good will eventually come of this.
Speaking of Agent Helo, btw...SUDDEN ACTIVE REVEAL PLOT-TWIST FTW!! Ha ha, even the accent was fake! So much for him being on the right track.
I think the implication was supposed to be that the dude was an Active all along, and the Dollhouse just set him up to make sure that Agent Helo kept going off on wild goose chases. Considering we saw him wiped and then back in place with the same personality later, I can only assume that's what was going on there. But man oh man, could you imagine Agent Helo's reaction later if it turns out "Victor" was a real person until Agent Helo steered him way of the Dollhouse, and he got wiped because of him? It tastes of sweet, sweet irony. And meta-character wangst. (Also, if it does turn out the Russian gangster was his real personality, that later phonecall means they can restore the originals, apparantly. Which would count as a good and hopeful thing for the future.)
(Really not important, but I would like to declare while I have this moment that as soon as I saw the very first commercials and saw we were dealing with girls named "Echo" and "Sierra", I knew immediately they were doing the Army Alphabet thing. Just wanted to say.
Of course, that implies that we have some very unfortunate Actives walking around going by the names of "Bravo", "Foxtrot" and "Whiskey", but then there you go. On the plus side, I'll be keeping my hopeful eyes peeled for a "Tango" and a "November".)
So...the Attic is where they put Actives when they can't use them any more? In what? Stasis? Cold storage? Oh god, sending them to the Attic is like being boxed. Instead of, say, the much more humane approach of giving them free will again and releasing them into the wild? Stay classy, evil overlords. (Although I guess that would possibly raise too many questions/call attention. Or, worse, once an Active is made into an Active, it can't really be undone. Man, that would suck.)