Talk about bad timing
First, SCC kicked ass - and that's all I'm gonna say.
Then, the Dollhouse pilot.
Um.
You know, for an edgy show premise about human trafficking, objectification, and the very definition of personality (who I am / what I do / what I remember etc. - nice philosophical questions all), this ep sure objectified the HELL out of its main character. Apparently, the Actives are so childlike, they don't even need to wear bras! (This greatly pains me since I'm a devoted fan of Eliza's, uh, "people" - see icon - and yet I cringed with every attempted closeup on her nipples. Just... no.)
Let's not even speak about those interlude-ish promos with Eliza and Summer because NO NO BAD FOX VERY BAD EEEK.
The writing was, well, pilot writing; in fact, it was worse than a mere pilot - I heard a while back that Fox had Joss rewrite and reshoot it, setting production back by 2 weeks, I believe. So I'll hold off on judgment. A few parts of dialogue were interesting, though lacking in the funny department; overall, the plot felt clunky and pastede on (surely an industry term by now). Plus, I felt properly hammered on by the Evolness of the Dollhouse Execs idea; they're privileged, white, even British (!), with a woman running the place but mostly men operating within it, yadda yadda. Oh, and they're MEAN employers; I'm amazed they didn't actually fire Harry Lennix, but I guess they still need him to drive Miss Daisy the Actives around on assignments. Good employees must be pretty hard to come by if everyone has to volunteer to work there, but between Echo and her handler, it seems to be the army-like solution: when life has no other place to take you, you join the Dollhouse. Or something. Wow, that pilot sure lacked some CRUCIAL info for the setup.
Anyway. I'll watch for as long as the show remains on air (which I suspect won't be very long) because I'm still intrigued by the premise, because parts of dialogue made me believe this could be rrrreally interesting down the road (lots of lines with delicious double meanings, making tiny philosophical scratches on the narrative's surface), and because MAYBE the show might still figure out how to balance Echo's super-disturbing victimization against the many displays of her hotness. Right now, I feel like the mandatory creepy fusion of those two is either clumsy (see the rationalization of giving the negotiator glasses) or... well, too subtle.
Example: they used a PERFECT song for that opening scene at the party - yes, when Echo is dancing in that dress. Have you ever actually listened to the lyrics of Lady GaGa's Just Dance? To summarize: she can no longer see straight due to too much booze (and/or drugs), has no idea where she is, what happened to her cell phone, nor how her shirt got turned inside out - but as long as she keeps dancing, everything is going to be OK. Please tell me I'm not the only one who's creeped the hell out by that! AND YET, given the song's great mainstream success, I doubt most people noticed that the choice of music was a big honkin' arrow pointed at the show's primary theme. (See what I mean by "too subtle"?)
But the thing that makes me CERTAIN I won't be fannish about this show is Eliza's limited range. She had moments of effective performance, but in THIS kind of a story - where the authenticity of each of her personalities is the key - that's not good enough. I could see her acting pretty much the entire time, and that sank the show for me. :(
And to make matters worse... right after Dollhouse, on the new BSG, I got to watch NOT ONE BUT TWO EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES of characters who've regained their memories and, with them, alternate personalities. Imagine that! Talk about sabotage by quality. ;)
I won't say much about the ep itself, but I must bow at the altar of Kate Vernon: Ellen went from the alcoholic wife of the XO to CYLON GODDESS in less than 30 excruciatingly painful* seconds, and she fucking SOLD IT. Not only that: she made it perfectly believable that her work on creating life was divine, that her capacity for unconditional love and forgiveness did not have to rob her of snark (as when faced with the prodigal son - geez, talk about Oedipal squick), and that she would undoubtedly RULE ONCE MORE.
*That scene where she awakens in the pod reminded me of the Bride's awakening in the hospital in Kill Bill; the movie would have been sheer pulp if not for that long, unsettlingly realisting acknowledgment of the protagonist's loss, pain, and devastation... until she regains her sense of purpose. And then kills a lot of people. I have a number of problems with Tarantino's work, but that scene is fucking awesome.
As for Michael Trucco, he actually managed to get through all that insane exposition while wrapped up in bandages and barely moving - and yet, Sam with his Cylon memories was different beyond doubt: ageless, wise, still passionate, and infinitely more human than the Cylon hybrid. And... I must admit I was touched by his vague resemblance to woobie!Lex of old, and that's not just the baldness talking: like the other members of the Five, Sam has endured great suffering in his human life yet was still determined to fight for peaceful coexistence of humans and Cylons - and his hope/faith in the better future was beautiful. (I really, really hope he's not entirely dead. AW COME ON.)
ALSO: he even managed to sell that ridiculous marathon of mythology (did they just not have the budget to film three lousy flashbacks?!) by having the secrets of the past spill out of his poor shot-up head, at great danger and with a serious time limit - so he had to rush through it, chasing the clock and the damage to his brain, much like this entire freakin' SHOW has been all about being on the run for almost five years now. Don't get me wrong, I'd still prefer flashbacks; but this way, the claustrophobia of the closed-in, severly limited life upon BSG (the ship and the show alike) kind of matches the limits of knowledge distribution in these circumstances, or even between the minds of a godlike Cylon and humans/Cylons with human brains.
(Or something. Hey, I :heart: Sam, okay? I'm gonna sit here and just keep hoping. So there.)
Aaaaaaand enough. Let's talk some other time how the metaphical equivalent of many gods are propagating the idea of "one true god" because they think it's the socially sustainable thing to do - a.k.a. because both Cylons and humans might buy into it. Heh.
Also, Tigh + Caprica + Ellen + baby = one big happy unconventional family, Y/Y? *crosses fingers*
WHEW! I can't gush about this week's Life because I'm too tired, but here is the song from the ep "Mirror Ball" - it plays as Dani walks into that waiting room. EXCELLENT TUNE; can't believe I forgot to include in on my list of faves from 2008! (Change zz to tt in the link; mediafire.)
The Witch by Clinic - hzzp://www.mediafire.com/?yrttazyiz2k
You can also check it out on YouTube.
ETA: I'm incredibly moved by the love you guys left for me over at The Valentine's Game. THANK YOU!!! I hope it's clear that the feeling is quite mutual. *big stupid internet hugs*
Then, the Dollhouse pilot.
Um.
You know, for an edgy show premise about human trafficking, objectification, and the very definition of personality (who I am / what I do / what I remember etc. - nice philosophical questions all), this ep sure objectified the HELL out of its main character. Apparently, the Actives are so childlike, they don't even need to wear bras! (This greatly pains me since I'm a devoted fan of Eliza's, uh, "people" - see icon - and yet I cringed with every attempted closeup on her nipples. Just... no.)
Let's not even speak about those interlude-ish promos with Eliza and Summer because NO NO BAD FOX VERY BAD EEEK.
The writing was, well, pilot writing; in fact, it was worse than a mere pilot - I heard a while back that Fox had Joss rewrite and reshoot it, setting production back by 2 weeks, I believe. So I'll hold off on judgment. A few parts of dialogue were interesting, though lacking in the funny department; overall, the plot felt clunky and pastede on (surely an industry term by now). Plus, I felt properly hammered on by the Evolness of the Dollhouse Execs idea; they're privileged, white, even British (!), with a woman running the place but mostly men operating within it, yadda yadda. Oh, and they're MEAN employers; I'm amazed they didn't actually fire Harry Lennix, but I guess they still need him to drive Miss Daisy the Actives around on assignments. Good employees must be pretty hard to come by if everyone has to volunteer to work there, but between Echo and her handler, it seems to be the army-like solution: when life has no other place to take you, you join the Dollhouse. Or something. Wow, that pilot sure lacked some CRUCIAL info for the setup.
Anyway. I'll watch for as long as the show remains on air (which I suspect won't be very long) because I'm still intrigued by the premise, because parts of dialogue made me believe this could be rrrreally interesting down the road (lots of lines with delicious double meanings, making tiny philosophical scratches on the narrative's surface), and because MAYBE the show might still figure out how to balance Echo's super-disturbing victimization against the many displays of her hotness. Right now, I feel like the mandatory creepy fusion of those two is either clumsy (see the rationalization of giving the negotiator glasses) or... well, too subtle.
Example: they used a PERFECT song for that opening scene at the party - yes, when Echo is dancing in that dress. Have you ever actually listened to the lyrics of Lady GaGa's Just Dance? To summarize: she can no longer see straight due to too much booze (and/or drugs), has no idea where she is, what happened to her cell phone, nor how her shirt got turned inside out - but as long as she keeps dancing, everything is going to be OK. Please tell me I'm not the only one who's creeped the hell out by that! AND YET, given the song's great mainstream success, I doubt most people noticed that the choice of music was a big honkin' arrow pointed at the show's primary theme. (See what I mean by "too subtle"?)
But the thing that makes me CERTAIN I won't be fannish about this show is Eliza's limited range. She had moments of effective performance, but in THIS kind of a story - where the authenticity of each of her personalities is the key - that's not good enough. I could see her acting pretty much the entire time, and that sank the show for me. :(
And to make matters worse... right after Dollhouse, on the new BSG, I got to watch NOT ONE BUT TWO EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES of characters who've regained their memories and, with them, alternate personalities. Imagine that! Talk about sabotage by quality. ;)
I won't say much about the ep itself, but I must bow at the altar of Kate Vernon: Ellen went from the alcoholic wife of the XO to CYLON GODDESS in less than 30 excruciatingly painful* seconds, and she fucking SOLD IT. Not only that: she made it perfectly believable that her work on creating life was divine, that her capacity for unconditional love and forgiveness did not have to rob her of snark (as when faced with the prodigal son - geez, talk about Oedipal squick), and that she would undoubtedly RULE ONCE MORE.
*That scene where she awakens in the pod reminded me of the Bride's awakening in the hospital in Kill Bill; the movie would have been sheer pulp if not for that long, unsettlingly realisting acknowledgment of the protagonist's loss, pain, and devastation... until she regains her sense of purpose. And then kills a lot of people. I have a number of problems with Tarantino's work, but that scene is fucking awesome.
As for Michael Trucco, he actually managed to get through all that insane exposition while wrapped up in bandages and barely moving - and yet, Sam with his Cylon memories was different beyond doubt: ageless, wise, still passionate, and infinitely more human than the Cylon hybrid. And... I must admit I was touched by his vague resemblance to woobie!Lex of old, and that's not just the baldness talking: like the other members of the Five, Sam has endured great suffering in his human life yet was still determined to fight for peaceful coexistence of humans and Cylons - and his hope/faith in the better future was beautiful. (I really, really hope he's not entirely dead. AW COME ON.)
ALSO: he even managed to sell that ridiculous marathon of mythology (did they just not have the budget to film three lousy flashbacks?!) by having the secrets of the past spill out of his poor shot-up head, at great danger and with a serious time limit - so he had to rush through it, chasing the clock and the damage to his brain, much like this entire freakin' SHOW has been all about being on the run for almost five years now. Don't get me wrong, I'd still prefer flashbacks; but this way, the claustrophobia of the closed-in, severly limited life upon BSG (the ship and the show alike) kind of matches the limits of knowledge distribution in these circumstances, or even between the minds of a godlike Cylon and humans/Cylons with human brains.
(Or something. Hey, I :heart: Sam, okay? I'm gonna sit here and just keep hoping. So there.)
Aaaaaaand enough. Let's talk some other time how the metaphical equivalent of many gods are propagating the idea of "one true god" because they think it's the socially sustainable thing to do - a.k.a. because both Cylons and humans might buy into it. Heh.
Also, Tigh + Caprica + Ellen + baby = one big happy unconventional family, Y/Y? *crosses fingers*
WHEW! I can't gush about this week's Life because I'm too tired, but here is the song from the ep "Mirror Ball" - it plays as Dani walks into that waiting room. EXCELLENT TUNE; can't believe I forgot to include in on my list of faves from 2008! (Change zz to tt in the link; mediafire.)
The Witch by Clinic - hzzp://www.mediafire.com/?yrttazyiz2k
You can also check it out on YouTube.
ETA: I'm incredibly moved by the love you guys left for me over at The Valentine's Game. THANK YOU!!! I hope it's clear that the feeling is quite mutual. *big stupid internet hugs*