(no subject)
Awww, thank you st_salieri for the emo heart! I especially love that it's called "emo heart".
I liked it.
I'm not sure there's much more to say at this point. I mean, obviously as an episode it was pretty clunky and as a series it clearly has some problems to iron out, but I thought the seeds for a pretty interesting show were planted. Several of the reviewers I read had seen the first three episodes, and almost all of them said that each episode gets progressively better, so I'm more than willing to give the show a chance to grow into what it will eventually be. In a way, the reactions to the pilot that I've seen kind of make me think of it as the blank slate the Dolls are described as: people who seemed negative about it before it aired mostly didn't like it, and people who wanted to like it found things to appreciate. I don't mean that as a judgment on the viewers at all; what I'm really thinking is that the pilot didn't change many people's minds over how they felt about it based on the premise or Joss or Eliza Dushku or whatever other factors had people forming opinions on it before it aired.
Some specific things I liked:
* I was pleasantly surprised that we found out as much about Echo's real identity as we did. Not that we found out much, but there were more flashbacks to her "real" personality than I expected. To me that indicates that who she really was/is won't be shrouded in secrecy forever, giving the audience a chance to know her as more than a blank slate.
* The entire concept of the Dollhouse was presented as straight-up skeevy. The first job we see Echo on has her prostituting herself to a client, Paul Ballard is investigating human trafficking, Topher is like Warren Meers with a job, the scene of Sierra being inducted into the Dollhouse was creepy, the Olivia Wilde character had to be talked into saving a child's life, and on and on. It seems like I keep seeing references to how the show is sexist or squicky or whatever, and to me, that's the point. These are the bad guys! We're supposed to feel horror over what it means to be a "doll".
* My goodness, that Tahmoh certainly is pretty. He can box in every episode!
* I like Amy Acker's new haircut. Also, I have to say that I was struck last night with how pretty she can be, which was maybe more noticeable because of the fake scars. Also also, while I've never been much of a fan of Fred or Illyria, I think AA showed a lot of range on AtS, so I'll be interested in seeing what Joss has up his sleeve for Mysterious Scarred Woman.
* I didn't think Eliza was awful...
Some specific things I didn't like:
* ...but yeah, no way did I buy her as a top-notch hostage negotiator. As I always suspected, I think the biggest hurdle for me when it comes to this show will be believing in ED as a different person every week.
* As I said above, it felt kind of clunky, like a lot of plot points kind of mushed together into a not-entirely-cohesive episode. Honestly though, that's the least worrisome problem to me; a clumsy pilot is no indication that a show will suck forever and always.
* That dress Echo was wearing during her first job? Yeah, that's not a dress. That's a shirt. You need to pair it with a skirt or some pants if you're leaving the house in it. The Fug Girls would totally back me up on this. < /prude>
* The only thing I actually hated during this hour of television came from the Fox marketing department: the ads with Summer Glau and ED talking about how they could be "programmed" into doing whatever "you" want them to do were so gross that that the word "sexist" doesn't quite seem to cover it. I know they're trying to reach out to the geeky male viewers, but let's try doing that with 100% less rape fantasy, okay?
I liked it.
I'm not sure there's much more to say at this point. I mean, obviously as an episode it was pretty clunky and as a series it clearly has some problems to iron out, but I thought the seeds for a pretty interesting show were planted. Several of the reviewers I read had seen the first three episodes, and almost all of them said that each episode gets progressively better, so I'm more than willing to give the show a chance to grow into what it will eventually be. In a way, the reactions to the pilot that I've seen kind of make me think of it as the blank slate the Dolls are described as: people who seemed negative about it before it aired mostly didn't like it, and people who wanted to like it found things to appreciate. I don't mean that as a judgment on the viewers at all; what I'm really thinking is that the pilot didn't change many people's minds over how they felt about it based on the premise or Joss or Eliza Dushku or whatever other factors had people forming opinions on it before it aired.
Some specific things I liked:
* I was pleasantly surprised that we found out as much about Echo's real identity as we did. Not that we found out much, but there were more flashbacks to her "real" personality than I expected. To me that indicates that who she really was/is won't be shrouded in secrecy forever, giving the audience a chance to know her as more than a blank slate.
* The entire concept of the Dollhouse was presented as straight-up skeevy. The first job we see Echo on has her prostituting herself to a client, Paul Ballard is investigating human trafficking, Topher is like Warren Meers with a job, the scene of Sierra being inducted into the Dollhouse was creepy, the Olivia Wilde character had to be talked into saving a child's life, and on and on. It seems like I keep seeing references to how the show is sexist or squicky or whatever, and to me, that's the point. These are the bad guys! We're supposed to feel horror over what it means to be a "doll".
* My goodness, that Tahmoh certainly is pretty. He can box in every episode!
* I like Amy Acker's new haircut. Also, I have to say that I was struck last night with how pretty she can be, which was maybe more noticeable because of the fake scars. Also also, while I've never been much of a fan of Fred or Illyria, I think AA showed a lot of range on AtS, so I'll be interested in seeing what Joss has up his sleeve for Mysterious Scarred Woman.
* I didn't think Eliza was awful...
Some specific things I didn't like:
* ...but yeah, no way did I buy her as a top-notch hostage negotiator. As I always suspected, I think the biggest hurdle for me when it comes to this show will be believing in ED as a different person every week.
* As I said above, it felt kind of clunky, like a lot of plot points kind of mushed together into a not-entirely-cohesive episode. Honestly though, that's the least worrisome problem to me; a clumsy pilot is no indication that a show will suck forever and always.
* That dress Echo was wearing during her first job? Yeah, that's not a dress. That's a shirt. You need to pair it with a skirt or some pants if you're leaving the house in it. The Fug Girls would totally back me up on this. < /prude>
* The only thing I actually hated during this hour of television came from the Fox marketing department: the ads with Summer Glau and ED talking about how they could be "programmed" into doing whatever "you" want them to do were so gross that that the word "sexist" doesn't quite seem to cover it. I know they're trying to reach out to the geeky male viewers, but let's try doing that with 100% less rape fantasy, okay?