Thoughts on Dollhouse
I really liked Dollhouse. I mean, I really, REALLY liked it. I know I will eventually love it. but I just can't say that I love it quite yet. The way Joss writes makes me always want more, but I tend to fall in love gradually rather than right away. That's how it was for Buffy, Angel, and especially Firefly which was a much harder sell for me. OK, below is some MAJOR spoilers, so if you haven't watched it yet, don't read. OH, and it's on hulu.com if you missed it last night.
Things I loved. The best part of the entire show is really what Joss does best. Moral ambiguity. For example, when you think of people wiping other people's minds, you would typically think of this as a bad thing. But, they think they are bettering their client's lives by doing this. And it gets even less black and white when you find out the actives actually signed up for it. These actives walk around completely unaware of all the ugliness of the world. They seem happy, take yoga, get to be in sweat pants, and get massages. I had a hard time feeling bad that their memories kept getting erased. So many little gray areas. So Joss Whedon.
I also loved the set. So spacious and zen feeling. All the rich wood gave a warming feeling to the flow of the room. It actually made me think of the Wolfram and Hart set from Angel's fifth season.
Boyd. He is going to represent that guy the audience can relate to, at least on a moral level. It seems to me that Dollhouse (the organization) is all about fulfilling their client's wishes, and Boyd is about protecting Echo and fulfilling the purpose of the mission. I like that. Boyd is going to be my favorite.
The way Topher imprinted. Very cool, indeed. I love that he gets the personalities from actual people. I'm not sure if he adds the flaws because he wants to, or if that is what the original personalities possessed. I'm talking about Echo's asthma and nearsightedness. Either way, I love that these personalities are flawed. It makes them so much more human.
Things I didn't like. The ridiculous motorcycle scene. I mean really, why did she feel the need to take her helmet off? I have a feeling this was one of the actiony types of things Joss had to add. Stupid Fox.
And could her dress BE any shorter? It honestly looked like a shirt. Again, Fox....
Things that surprised me. Eliza's acting. I wasn't convinced going in that she could pull it off, but she did. All those different character, and she nailed it. Was she Kate Winslett? No. But she was good, and that surprised me.
Liking it in general. After all the bad publicity surrounding this show, I was going in to it thinking I wouldn't like it. There were some bad reviews out there, all the rewrites, the bad time slot...I just didn't think it was going to be that great. BUT, I should have known I would like it. I mean, hello....it's Joss Whedon.
Things I haven't decided on yet. Will there be a sense of community? Buffy had her Scoobies. Mal had his crew. What will Echo have? This scares me a bit. Joss's shows have that feeling of belonging within his small core of characters. It's the believable aspect everyone can relate to. Will we see this bond in the actives? Plus Boyd, maybe or the doctor?
Paul. I just can't seem to get into his character. He is your basic cookie cutter FBI dude. I'm sure I'm feeling this way because Michael Muhney didn't get the part. And what was with the boxing scene? Don't get me wrong...his body was amazing. But was this another one of those actiony scenes that Fox made Joss add? But I love Helo in BSG, and I'm sure I'll learn to love Tahmoh in this role.
Topher. To me he was quite "know it allish". Like he was so convinced that what he was doing was not bad, but in fact it was good. He was the extreme side of this moral ambiguity, and I understand that it's necessary. Will he always feel this way? I'm ready for a character arc here.
OK, theories...I think that Amy Acker's character (the doctor) used to be an active, but she was in a horrible accident hence all the scars on her face.
The naked dude at the end on the floor, that was Alpha, the rogue active. For whatever reason he has some connection to Echo, and he will stop at nothing to find out as much info. as possible about her, killing if he has to. Why he was naked?? uuummm...he got blood on his clothes? I got nothing.
When Echo begins to start remembering things, she'll start working for the FBI and being undercover at the Dollhouse. She will actually end up having two handlers, Boyd and Paul. But they won't know about each other. Very Alias style...
OK, tell me your thoughts.
Things I loved. The best part of the entire show is really what Joss does best. Moral ambiguity. For example, when you think of people wiping other people's minds, you would typically think of this as a bad thing. But, they think they are bettering their client's lives by doing this. And it gets even less black and white when you find out the actives actually signed up for it. These actives walk around completely unaware of all the ugliness of the world. They seem happy, take yoga, get to be in sweat pants, and get massages. I had a hard time feeling bad that their memories kept getting erased. So many little gray areas. So Joss Whedon.
I also loved the set. So spacious and zen feeling. All the rich wood gave a warming feeling to the flow of the room. It actually made me think of the Wolfram and Hart set from Angel's fifth season.
Boyd. He is going to represent that guy the audience can relate to, at least on a moral level. It seems to me that Dollhouse (the organization) is all about fulfilling their client's wishes, and Boyd is about protecting Echo and fulfilling the purpose of the mission. I like that. Boyd is going to be my favorite.
The way Topher imprinted. Very cool, indeed. I love that he gets the personalities from actual people. I'm not sure if he adds the flaws because he wants to, or if that is what the original personalities possessed. I'm talking about Echo's asthma and nearsightedness. Either way, I love that these personalities are flawed. It makes them so much more human.
Things I didn't like. The ridiculous motorcycle scene. I mean really, why did she feel the need to take her helmet off? I have a feeling this was one of the actiony types of things Joss had to add. Stupid Fox.
And could her dress BE any shorter? It honestly looked like a shirt. Again, Fox....
Things that surprised me. Eliza's acting. I wasn't convinced going in that she could pull it off, but she did. All those different character, and she nailed it. Was she Kate Winslett? No. But she was good, and that surprised me.
Liking it in general. After all the bad publicity surrounding this show, I was going in to it thinking I wouldn't like it. There were some bad reviews out there, all the rewrites, the bad time slot...I just didn't think it was going to be that great. BUT, I should have known I would like it. I mean, hello....it's Joss Whedon.
Things I haven't decided on yet. Will there be a sense of community? Buffy had her Scoobies. Mal had his crew. What will Echo have? This scares me a bit. Joss's shows have that feeling of belonging within his small core of characters. It's the believable aspect everyone can relate to. Will we see this bond in the actives? Plus Boyd, maybe or the doctor?
Paul. I just can't seem to get into his character. He is your basic cookie cutter FBI dude. I'm sure I'm feeling this way because Michael Muhney didn't get the part. And what was with the boxing scene? Don't get me wrong...his body was amazing. But was this another one of those actiony scenes that Fox made Joss add? But I love Helo in BSG, and I'm sure I'll learn to love Tahmoh in this role.
Topher. To me he was quite "know it allish". Like he was so convinced that what he was doing was not bad, but in fact it was good. He was the extreme side of this moral ambiguity, and I understand that it's necessary. Will he always feel this way? I'm ready for a character arc here.
OK, theories...I think that Amy Acker's character (the doctor) used to be an active, but she was in a horrible accident hence all the scars on her face.
The naked dude at the end on the floor, that was Alpha, the rogue active. For whatever reason he has some connection to Echo, and he will stop at nothing to find out as much info. as possible about her, killing if he has to. Why he was naked?? uuummm...he got blood on his clothes? I got nothing.
When Echo begins to start remembering things, she'll start working for the FBI and being undercover at the Dollhouse. She will actually end up having two handlers, Boyd and Paul. But they won't know about each other. Very Alias style...
OK, tell me your thoughts.