Farewell words
So I rewatched Dollhouse's finale, hoping that I would find it redeeming qualities and that I'd like it better this time...
I really liked the first ten minutes.
Again I was struck by how the opening scene reminded me of Serenity (when the Reavers were chasing our heroes and Jayne got harpooned). Also I realised for the first time that the expression "dumb show" may have been inspired by the BSG "skinjob".
The neuropolis scenes were okay. I liked how Harding and Ambrose talked about "suits", we reached there the concept of slavery to its final limit. Dolls were still considered to be people, sort of childlike people whom the wealthy clients used to fulfill a fantasy, but people still. In the Epitaph world, the wiped people are just items to try on and throw away when worn out or disposable zombie-like weapons.
Also, one last time they had to undress big Ballard aka Tahmoh on screen! Who can blame them?
The tiny messiah aska mini Caroline seemed to be really moved when seeing Paul. But was she Caroline? When she told Echo "same place you did" about where she got medical skills, it was a hint that she was Echo as well, not just Caroline . At the end of "TheHollow Men" and in the "Epitaph One"'s flashbacks, Caroline was in charge, but in "Epitaph Two" it's obvious that it's Echo whom we see. Harding knew it too. Even Paul said he was with Echo. I guess it gave a good a closure to the theme of identity. I would have prefered to get it through the character of Claire Saunders but, oh well. ..
Unfortunately once we got to Safe Heaven, the show lost its path...It became cliché, and mainstream, rushed and sometimes pointless. I like the shot of Adelle feeding Topher though, and tiny messiah providing insight when she whispered to Paul's ear "she loves it when you're corny". There was something a bit subversive about it, not only because Echo sort of gave herself away but also because of that little girl flirting with the big guy.
Tony and his "tech team" was a terrible idea. I felt sorry for Enver, really. I mean, on the paper, the idea of Tony choosing to be Victor in order to protect his loved ones, to fight with the same weapons, could work. After all Anthony was a former soldier. But the way it was executed...it looked like a Mad Max parody, it looked cheap. *sigh*
Paul looked great in his long coat and then, he was shot in the head! I actually liked that bit, it was probably the closest thing to Whedon's work in the episode. A clean stupid death. It made sense for Paul to die being a knight in armour, trying to help a damsel in distress, and it made sense that it was a lethal head wound. Paul was brain dead 10 years ago, he got an extension thanks to Topher but he'd lived on borrowed time.
Alpha's presence was pretty pointless, except for cracking the tasteless joke about Victor's face and admitting "lapsed"...and of course t have Alan Tudyk one last time, same with Bennet/Summer Glau Not really necessary. Actually the only worth watching thing in the last 16 minutes was Adelle/Topher's interactions and Topher's exit.
As for Echo's final reward it was really corny. Joss Whedon really is a midinette. It's s if he couldn't really end the show without some sort of happy ending.
I didn't hate the episode but I felt cheated.
I think that they should have left the Epitaph world rest. "Epitaph One" was a good finale, this "Return" was not. I would have rather Joss use episode 12 and 13 to write a good closure to the Dollhouse world that takes place 10 years before Epitaph. Instead of the mess that was "The Hollow men", we could have had a decent ending, dealing with Boyd's agenda and Wiskey's journey in two episodes instead of one...it would have ended with us (or at least those who had seen Epitaph One) knowing that the world was doomed to become the nightmare foreseen in "Epitaph One" and that Topher would end mad. It would have been darker of course but it would have been better.
If only FOX hadn't announced the cancellation before the end of the season!!!
I'm sad because Dollhouse had brilliant episodes in the second half of season 1 and during season 2. It's a pity to end on a poor note.
I so wanted to like that show in spite of my reservations about Eliza Dushku. I liked the concept and the theme of identity. It really had potential. It's funny because my favourite Whedon's show remains BtvS, while I'm not into horror/fantasy genre. I'm rather a Science-fiction girl. I'm into robots and sci-fi stuff, not into monsters. I grew up watching all the science fiction tv shows of the 70's and the 80's, I grew up reading Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Philip K Dick, Dan Simmons. I still enjoy reading science fiction nowadays. The only fantasy work- apart from the fairytales of my childhood and Lewis Carroll's stories- I have really enjoyed is Tolkien's saga and the only vampire book I have ever read is Bram Stocker's Dracula; it took Buffy to make me watch tv shows about vampires and werewolves and other fantasy creatures, and even though I enjoy watching True Blood or Being Human, I still prefer Life on Mars or Lost or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (by the way "Born to Run" was a better finale than "Epitaph Two"). Above all Battlestar Galactica is an absolute favourite, and I'm trhilled to have Caprica on now . I should have loved Firefly and Dollhouse more than Buffy and Angel...yet I did not.
People are a mystery!
I really liked the first ten minutes.
Again I was struck by how the opening scene reminded me of Serenity (when the Reavers were chasing our heroes and Jayne got harpooned). Also I realised for the first time that the expression "dumb show" may have been inspired by the BSG "skinjob".
The neuropolis scenes were okay. I liked how Harding and Ambrose talked about "suits", we reached there the concept of slavery to its final limit. Dolls were still considered to be people, sort of childlike people whom the wealthy clients used to fulfill a fantasy, but people still. In the Epitaph world, the wiped people are just items to try on and throw away when worn out or disposable zombie-like weapons.
Also, one last time they had to undress big Ballard aka Tahmoh on screen! Who can blame them?
The tiny messiah aska mini Caroline seemed to be really moved when seeing Paul. But was she Caroline? When she told Echo "same place you did" about where she got medical skills, it was a hint that she was Echo as well, not just Caroline . At the end of "TheHollow Men" and in the "Epitaph One"'s flashbacks, Caroline was in charge, but in "Epitaph Two" it's obvious that it's Echo whom we see. Harding knew it too. Even Paul said he was with Echo. I guess it gave a good a closure to the theme of identity. I would have prefered to get it through the character of Claire Saunders but, oh well. ..
Unfortunately once we got to Safe Heaven, the show lost its path...It became cliché, and mainstream, rushed and sometimes pointless. I like the shot of Adelle feeding Topher though, and tiny messiah providing insight when she whispered to Paul's ear "she loves it when you're corny". There was something a bit subversive about it, not only because Echo sort of gave herself away but also because of that little girl flirting with the big guy.
Tony and his "tech team" was a terrible idea. I felt sorry for Enver, really. I mean, on the paper, the idea of Tony choosing to be Victor in order to protect his loved ones, to fight with the same weapons, could work. After all Anthony was a former soldier. But the way it was executed...it looked like a Mad Max parody, it looked cheap. *sigh*
Paul looked great in his long coat and then, he was shot in the head! I actually liked that bit, it was probably the closest thing to Whedon's work in the episode. A clean stupid death. It made sense for Paul to die being a knight in armour, trying to help a damsel in distress, and it made sense that it was a lethal head wound. Paul was brain dead 10 years ago, he got an extension thanks to Topher but he'd lived on borrowed time.
Alpha's presence was pretty pointless, except for cracking the tasteless joke about Victor's face and admitting "lapsed"...and of course t have Alan Tudyk one last time, same with Bennet/Summer Glau Not really necessary. Actually the only worth watching thing in the last 16 minutes was Adelle/Topher's interactions and Topher's exit.
As for Echo's final reward it was really corny. Joss Whedon really is a midinette. It's s if he couldn't really end the show without some sort of happy ending.
I didn't hate the episode but I felt cheated.
I think that they should have left the Epitaph world rest. "Epitaph One" was a good finale, this "Return" was not. I would have rather Joss use episode 12 and 13 to write a good closure to the Dollhouse world that takes place 10 years before Epitaph. Instead of the mess that was "The Hollow men", we could have had a decent ending, dealing with Boyd's agenda and Wiskey's journey in two episodes instead of one...it would have ended with us (or at least those who had seen Epitaph One) knowing that the world was doomed to become the nightmare foreseen in "Epitaph One" and that Topher would end mad. It would have been darker of course but it would have been better.
If only FOX hadn't announced the cancellation before the end of the season!!!
I'm sad because Dollhouse had brilliant episodes in the second half of season 1 and during season 2. It's a pity to end on a poor note.
I so wanted to like that show in spite of my reservations about Eliza Dushku. I liked the concept and the theme of identity. It really had potential. It's funny because my favourite Whedon's show remains BtvS, while I'm not into horror/fantasy genre. I'm rather a Science-fiction girl. I'm into robots and sci-fi stuff, not into monsters. I grew up watching all the science fiction tv shows of the 70's and the 80's, I grew up reading Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Philip K Dick, Dan Simmons. I still enjoy reading science fiction nowadays. The only fantasy work- apart from the fairytales of my childhood and Lewis Carroll's stories- I have really enjoyed is Tolkien's saga and the only vampire book I have ever read is Bram Stocker's Dracula; it took Buffy to make me watch tv shows about vampires and werewolves and other fantasy creatures, and even though I enjoy watching True Blood or Being Human, I still prefer Life on Mars or Lost or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (by the way "Born to Run" was a better finale than "Epitaph Two"). Above all Battlestar Galactica is an absolute favourite, and I'm trhilled to have Caprica on now . I should have loved Firefly and Dollhouse more than Buffy and Angel...yet I did not.
People are a mystery!