Epitaph Two - Take Two?
So I totally have homework, and I realize I haven't written in this journal in months, but I'd like to talk a little bit about the Dollhouse season finale. Because there were some serious issues I had with the episode, some things I really loved, and one idea for a rewrite that I cannot get out of my head.
Pros of the episode:
-Alpha! It was sort of random, but I did a little happy dance when Alan Tudyk showed up on screen. Did anyone expect him to be the one running the Dollhouse?
-"T" I would have expected a child born of a TV show's main ship to be a little bit like excessive fanfiction, but he created a nice conflict between Victor and Sierra. More on this later.
-Paul/Echo I actually wanted them to get together, pretty much for the first time, I think.
-The Moment With Summer Glau When Topher put a finger against her lips on the computer screen and he said "thank you"? That might have been my favorite moment of the whole episode. Two other great Topher moments- "Bedtime!" and the scene where he built the mind wipe-y thing -- how it looked like he was a kid putting together a model rocket or something.
Cons of the episode:
-Paul The death was so sudden, but unlike most sudden Whedon deaths it just felt stupid to me. Whedon tends to kill characters to show how dangerous a situation is--but Felicia Day's legs were already riddled with holes.
-Echo "Mourning" Paul I'm sorry, but this was painful to watch. Eliza Dushku has her moments, but this felt to me like bad acting. I know some reviewers have disagreed, though...
-Loose Ends Maybe this was inevitable, but there has to be some tech left on earth, and the Dollhouse could very well come back again. Also, what in the WORLD happened with Claire Saunders?
-Topher's Death I can see why this death was almost necessary--Topher created the tech, or at least advanced it exponentially, and he's gone crazy, so he's too dangerous a mind to keep alive. But it also brings up something pennylane42 and I have talked about before--Joss actually makes his work weaker, sometimes, by killing the characters. I think he believes deaths are an absolutely necessary part of change, but the fact that Topher announced his death made it much weaker.
What I would have liked to see:
-We Learn Topher's Death Was Uncessary: If Topher hadn't died, that would have been something interesting and new. Even if we learned Topher had enough time to run back to the Dollhouse, but he didn't think he could live in the new world, that would have been way more compelling.
-What Happened To Saunders: My theory is that they found her somehow after Rossum exploded, they reinstalled the Dr. Saunders personality, because they needed a doctor and that's who they knew her best as. But then they realize that Boyd programmed her to love him unconditionally or whatnot, so she refuses to leave the Dollhouse because she thinks he's coming back. It's painful for the Dollhouse members that Claire is in love with Boyd, but they can't do anything about it because it's ingrained into the personality.
-Sierra Dead Instead of Paul: I know! I know! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? But here's the thing. Paul and Echo never really got a chance to develop their relationship--the idea of them being forced to live together--and not just in Echo's mind--would give their characters a way to develop and grow. Instead we get what we've always had--Echo as an individual, the lonely noncomformist. We've seen that before. Sierra and Victor get together, which is ADORABLE, but it's something we've seen before, many times. However, if Sierra died, Victor would have been forced to choose between the tech and a son he never got to know. Would he make the right decision? And I think more people love Sierra than Paul, so her death would have been far more tragic/compelling.
What do you guys think? I am the only one who wants to rewrite the episode?
Pros of the episode:
-Alpha! It was sort of random, but I did a little happy dance when Alan Tudyk showed up on screen. Did anyone expect him to be the one running the Dollhouse?
-"T" I would have expected a child born of a TV show's main ship to be a little bit like excessive fanfiction, but he created a nice conflict between Victor and Sierra. More on this later.
-Paul/Echo I actually wanted them to get together, pretty much for the first time, I think.
-The Moment With Summer Glau When Topher put a finger against her lips on the computer screen and he said "thank you"? That might have been my favorite moment of the whole episode. Two other great Topher moments- "Bedtime!" and the scene where he built the mind wipe-y thing -- how it looked like he was a kid putting together a model rocket or something.
Cons of the episode:
-Paul The death was so sudden, but unlike most sudden Whedon deaths it just felt stupid to me. Whedon tends to kill characters to show how dangerous a situation is--but Felicia Day's legs were already riddled with holes.
-Echo "Mourning" Paul I'm sorry, but this was painful to watch. Eliza Dushku has her moments, but this felt to me like bad acting. I know some reviewers have disagreed, though...
-Loose Ends Maybe this was inevitable, but there has to be some tech left on earth, and the Dollhouse could very well come back again. Also, what in the WORLD happened with Claire Saunders?
-Topher's Death I can see why this death was almost necessary--Topher created the tech, or at least advanced it exponentially, and he's gone crazy, so he's too dangerous a mind to keep alive. But it also brings up something pennylane42 and I have talked about before--Joss actually makes his work weaker, sometimes, by killing the characters. I think he believes deaths are an absolutely necessary part of change, but the fact that Topher announced his death made it much weaker.
What I would have liked to see:
-We Learn Topher's Death Was Uncessary: If Topher hadn't died, that would have been something interesting and new. Even if we learned Topher had enough time to run back to the Dollhouse, but he didn't think he could live in the new world, that would have been way more compelling.
-What Happened To Saunders: My theory is that they found her somehow after Rossum exploded, they reinstalled the Dr. Saunders personality, because they needed a doctor and that's who they knew her best as. But then they realize that Boyd programmed her to love him unconditionally or whatnot, so she refuses to leave the Dollhouse because she thinks he's coming back. It's painful for the Dollhouse members that Claire is in love with Boyd, but they can't do anything about it because it's ingrained into the personality.
-Sierra Dead Instead of Paul: I know! I know! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? But here's the thing. Paul and Echo never really got a chance to develop their relationship--the idea of them being forced to live together--and not just in Echo's mind--would give their characters a way to develop and grow. Instead we get what we've always had--Echo as an individual, the lonely noncomformist. We've seen that before. Sierra and Victor get together, which is ADORABLE, but it's something we've seen before, many times. However, if Sierra died, Victor would have been forced to choose between the tech and a son he never got to know. Would he make the right decision? And I think more people love Sierra than Paul, so her death would have been far more tragic/compelling.
What do you guys think? I am the only one who wants to rewrite the episode?