Dollhouse 2x11: Getting Closer
Hey, Joss, Buffy was on the phone - she's recalling her scripts; they've gone mouldy since 2003.
Seriously, you know that Dead Ringers Torchwood sketch with the line about the 'scrapings off the floor at a Buffy the Vampire Slayer script meeting' (or whatever)? Um, yeah.
I'm trying to get my good feelings back, I really am, but I was kind of groaning with all the clichés in the teaser (head of the bloody snake?) and it sort of went from there.
After the last episodes I was chatting with my brother, trying to work out (mainly) who would die and how Whiskey would be when she came back. And I was pretty much right (I don't think this is a good thing). Bennett had death written all over her as far as I'm concerned, though, fair cop, I didn't think it would be this episode. I actually quite liked the Bennett/Topher stuff (mostly for the whimsical music), but in hindsight I now feel kind of cheated, because, what do you know? Relationships are pre-cursors to angsty death. Someone more bitter than me might call trope there...
Actually, it's fairly indicative of how the season's progressed as a whole - what was in Epitaph One a madness of existential crisis and hubris (yay, interesting) has become (or at least is implied to be affected by) grief!angst following from the refridgerated female. Oh, joy.
As for Whiskey, I was kind of joking when I reckoned she was going to come back as a kick-arse wisecracking superwoman, and to be fair that's not entirely what happened. But, le sigh, what a waste of Amy Acker to make her a sleeper. Proper Saunders/Whiskey/real person next episode, yes?
Olivia Williams seems to be trying to claw a character back from the beyond, and I can sort of see it taking shape, but she still doesn't seem to be getting the material to actually grip me. (Also, Topher calls her their general? Has he been playing RTSs or something?)
And, oh yes, Boyd is the secret head of the corporation. I can't worked out whether I'm shocked or not. It's funny, but when I watched Firefly I was pretty much convinced that Shepherd Book was in fact the head of the Alliance (and a ninja); now that Boyd's been revealed to be essentially that character I'm worried that I was right about Shepherd Book all along and that Joss basically transplanted him into Dollhouse. Which kind of weirds me out. And, on top of that, I don't think I'm the right person to get into how the one principal black character is a megalomaniacal Big Bad, but, um, you might have wanted to think about that one, Joss.
I think I'll just leave the dire situation where the one part of Paul's brain that Topher could possibly re-route was his connection to Echo. It speaks for itself. Very loudly. But, ZOMG, Caroline sending Priya and Tony off for their one night of happiness before the storm sex? For Christ's sake. Let's not even get into the fact that Echo's head is full of people who don't see sex as that flipping meaningful anyway. At least we didn't have five minutes of AH's sex face, I suppose.
Um, so yeah. I liked Ivy. Even if she's gone now (because Topher told her to...). And there were some funny lines. I think I preferred Stage Fright. Or True Believer (which unlike the rest of the world I actually think was the least interesting of the opening arc).
ETA: Forgot to mention that it seems we were supposed to be on the edge of our seats wondering how Caroline could be so mean to Bennett; turns out Bennett's memory missed the most important line ('I'm going to make sure it's just me') and Caroline is really a fluffy puppy of righteous martyrdom after all. (Aww.) I'm glad that was cleared up.
Seriously, you know that Dead Ringers Torchwood sketch with the line about the 'scrapings off the floor at a Buffy the Vampire Slayer script meeting' (or whatever)? Um, yeah.
I'm trying to get my good feelings back, I really am, but I was kind of groaning with all the clichés in the teaser (head of the bloody snake?) and it sort of went from there.
After the last episodes I was chatting with my brother, trying to work out (mainly) who would die and how Whiskey would be when she came back. And I was pretty much right (I don't think this is a good thing). Bennett had death written all over her as far as I'm concerned, though, fair cop, I didn't think it would be this episode. I actually quite liked the Bennett/Topher stuff (mostly for the whimsical music), but in hindsight I now feel kind of cheated, because, what do you know? Relationships are pre-cursors to angsty death. Someone more bitter than me might call trope there...
Actually, it's fairly indicative of how the season's progressed as a whole - what was in Epitaph One a madness of existential crisis and hubris (yay, interesting) has become (or at least is implied to be affected by) grief!angst following from the refridgerated female. Oh, joy.
As for Whiskey, I was kind of joking when I reckoned she was going to come back as a kick-arse wisecracking superwoman, and to be fair that's not entirely what happened. But, le sigh, what a waste of Amy Acker to make her a sleeper. Proper Saunders/Whiskey/real person next episode, yes?
Olivia Williams seems to be trying to claw a character back from the beyond, and I can sort of see it taking shape, but she still doesn't seem to be getting the material to actually grip me. (Also, Topher calls her their general? Has he been playing RTSs or something?)
And, oh yes, Boyd is the secret head of the corporation. I can't worked out whether I'm shocked or not. It's funny, but when I watched Firefly I was pretty much convinced that Shepherd Book was in fact the head of the Alliance (and a ninja); now that Boyd's been revealed to be essentially that character I'm worried that I was right about Shepherd Book all along and that Joss basically transplanted him into Dollhouse. Which kind of weirds me out. And, on top of that, I don't think I'm the right person to get into how the one principal black character is a megalomaniacal Big Bad, but, um, you might have wanted to think about that one, Joss.
I think I'll just leave the dire situation where the one part of Paul's brain that Topher could possibly re-route was his connection to Echo. It speaks for itself. Very loudly. But, ZOMG, Caroline sending Priya and Tony off for their one night of happiness before the storm sex? For Christ's sake. Let's not even get into the fact that Echo's head is full of people who don't see sex as that flipping meaningful anyway. At least we didn't have five minutes of AH's sex face, I suppose.
Um, so yeah. I liked Ivy. Even if she's gone now (because Topher told her to...). And there were some funny lines. I think I preferred Stage Fright. Or True Believer (which unlike the rest of the world I actually think was the least interesting of the opening arc).
ETA: Forgot to mention that it seems we were supposed to be on the edge of our seats wondering how Caroline could be so mean to Bennett; turns out Bennett's memory missed the most important line ('I'm going to make sure it's just me') and Caroline is really a fluffy puppy of righteous martyrdom after all. (Aww.) I'm glad that was cleared up.