Dollhouse 1x07: Echoes
I don't actually have much to say about this week's episode, but I was very much entertained and am rather hoping we get a second season now. Plus, new character = yay!
I'm not sure anyone who clicks past these cuts really needs a summary of the episode, so I'm going to skip this week's. This is mainly because tehre aren't really any set-pieces I want to deconstruct, because overall I think it was kind of a nuts-and-bolts episode, with gears of exposition chugging along to put us in a new position of awareness re: Caroline and the Rossum Corporation.
I think there are definitely two sides to this show - the linear Caroline plot is the basis, with her take-down of the massive corporation stymied by her getting her mind wiped. It's a very handy set-up, because no doubt if/when Caroline does get her awareness back she'll want to work it from the inside. But of course that's overshadowed by the whole Echo plot, where she is actually hundreds of different people. There's scope for both movement and contemplation. Cool beans, I say. Cool beans.
I was thinking maybe last week that one of the oddest things about the actives is that they never have any friends, only the person they're connected to in the deal. It was nice to see with Caroline's friends this week that that is probably deliberate, rather than a complete lack of realisation that people tend to have a cluster of relationships in their life. Not having that, or at least not apparently having that, is at least one thing all the created personalities have in common.
I wonder if motorbike-party-guy (forgot his name) will be back in any other episodes? I'm starting to get the feeling that Joss might want to redeem that not-stellar opening to the series by making him mean something. Anyway, we find out that one of his prerequisites in a doll is a propensity for short white dresses, which is all kinds of lame. I also couldn't work out if this Alice was supposed to be the same as Echo in the first episode, so that confused me a little.
I can't work out how I feel about the fact that they decided it would be fun to have Echo running around in her Lolita gear (though, I have to say, I did like the top of her outfit quite a lot, apart from the studs - the cardigan was pretty!). It was definitely a contrast, and I wonder if something couldn't be made of the reason Echo was distracted - maybe part of her was just so freaking bored with the scenario and the bloke's ridiculous girl-in-lacy-thigh-highs-on-a-motorbike fantasy. After reading gabrielleabelle's assessment of AtS and remembering some of the stuff Fred ended up being used for, I'm perversely a bit more willing to cut Dollhouse some slack, so I don't want to dwell on it overly. I'm quite happy to leave it in the list of potential fail though.
Talking of potential fail, poor poor poor Sierra. Did her abuse serve the plot enough to make including it worthwhile? Because that's what I want to know. So far I'm really not sure, and her character seems to be being reduced to 'victim' status.
DeWitt and Topher are seriously a dream team. And I might have to reassess Dominic, since it seems that without inhibition he's actually a very cuddly person. Which, thinking about it, was probably one of the more meta-worthy bits about this episode. If Joss has been doing his homework, and looked up some feminist ideas, the character could well be an interesting take on constructed masculinity. That would be cool.
ETA: I just saw the trailer for next week, and am actually kind of disappointed. Where did all the made-up people go? Of course, I learnt my lesson about Fox trailers back in the days of Buffy, so it probably won't be that pivotal. But still, don't simplify on me now, man!
I'm not sure anyone who clicks past these cuts really needs a summary of the episode, so I'm going to skip this week's. This is mainly because tehre aren't really any set-pieces I want to deconstruct, because overall I think it was kind of a nuts-and-bolts episode, with gears of exposition chugging along to put us in a new position of awareness re: Caroline and the Rossum Corporation.
I think there are definitely two sides to this show - the linear Caroline plot is the basis, with her take-down of the massive corporation stymied by her getting her mind wiped. It's a very handy set-up, because no doubt if/when Caroline does get her awareness back she'll want to work it from the inside. But of course that's overshadowed by the whole Echo plot, where she is actually hundreds of different people. There's scope for both movement and contemplation. Cool beans, I say. Cool beans.
I was thinking maybe last week that one of the oddest things about the actives is that they never have any friends, only the person they're connected to in the deal. It was nice to see with Caroline's friends this week that that is probably deliberate, rather than a complete lack of realisation that people tend to have a cluster of relationships in their life. Not having that, or at least not apparently having that, is at least one thing all the created personalities have in common.
I wonder if motorbike-party-guy (forgot his name) will be back in any other episodes? I'm starting to get the feeling that Joss might want to redeem that not-stellar opening to the series by making him mean something. Anyway, we find out that one of his prerequisites in a doll is a propensity for short white dresses, which is all kinds of lame. I also couldn't work out if this Alice was supposed to be the same as Echo in the first episode, so that confused me a little.
I can't work out how I feel about the fact that they decided it would be fun to have Echo running around in her Lolita gear (though, I have to say, I did like the top of her outfit quite a lot, apart from the studs - the cardigan was pretty!). It was definitely a contrast, and I wonder if something couldn't be made of the reason Echo was distracted - maybe part of her was just so freaking bored with the scenario and the bloke's ridiculous girl-in-lacy-thigh-highs-on-a-motorbike fantasy. After reading gabrielleabelle's assessment of AtS and remembering some of the stuff Fred ended up being used for, I'm perversely a bit more willing to cut Dollhouse some slack, so I don't want to dwell on it overly. I'm quite happy to leave it in the list of potential fail though.
Talking of potential fail, poor poor poor Sierra. Did her abuse serve the plot enough to make including it worthwhile? Because that's what I want to know. So far I'm really not sure, and her character seems to be being reduced to 'victim' status.
DeWitt and Topher are seriously a dream team. And I might have to reassess Dominic, since it seems that without inhibition he's actually a very cuddly person. Which, thinking about it, was probably one of the more meta-worthy bits about this episode. If Joss has been doing his homework, and looked up some feminist ideas, the character could well be an interesting take on constructed masculinity. That would be cool.
ETA: I just saw the trailer for next week, and am actually kind of disappointed. Where did all the made-up people go? Of course, I learnt my lesson about Fox trailers back in the days of Buffy, so it probably won't be that pivotal. But still, don't simplify on me now, man!