(no subject)
Why hello there, show I never post about!
So. Dollhouse finale.
FUUUUUUCK YOU JOSS WHEDON YOU FUCKING MANIPULATIVE BASTARD -- FIRST FOR MAKING ME THINK THAT I DIDN'T CARE MUCH ABOUT THIS EPISODE, AND THEN FOR MAKING ME THINK THAT I DID, AND THEN FOR KILLING PAUL (SERIOUSLY SERIOUSLY FUCK YOU SERIOUSLY), AND THEN FOR STILL MAKING IT HAPPY AND MAKING ME SIT ON MY COUCH AND CRY FOR LIKE TEN MINUTES AFTER I TURNED OFF THE TV SERIOUSLYYYY MY POOR FRAIL EMOTIONS.
So, yeah. Going into this episode, I wasn't super invested in how things played out. Like I said in my TV round-up post, I've been quite impressed with a lot of what came out of season two (spies! Intrigue! Terrorists! Flashbacks! Mental prisons! Superhero evolutions!) -- but I've never been a fan of Joss's Big Conspiracy Episodes (I don't know, I always like his work better when it's on an intimate, personal scale rather than when it's purely mission focused, making me perhaps the only person in Firefly fandom who hated the movie? Whatever. I mean, I understand that those unraveling-the-big-bad-conspiracy episodes are inevitable, but I can tell you right now that they are the ones that I never rewatch), and the penultimate episode was not an exception to this rule. I mean, the Boyd reveal? Really? Blame it on the truncated season, I guess, but even if it had more time to play out I think it still would have felt flat to me. It felt like it was put in there to force a ~character conspiracy~ to happen, not because it was organic or logical, and the fall-out was... meh. Whatever. Not worth the build-up. I did love the heck out of "Epitaph One," so I was looking forward to E2 as a continuation of that, but... I mostly just wanted to watch for some closure on the show (and, okay, I caved to spoilers and read that Reed Diamond wasn't going to be in the episode, so that kind of killed any budding excitement, too :P).
But... then...! OKAY I WILL SAY THIS UP-FRONT -- HATERS. TO. THE. SIDE!! I FUCKING LOVE PAUL, OKAY? OKAY. SO THERE. And I totally ship me some Paul/Echo, too. OKAY? OKAY. I mean, "Meet Jane Doe"? WHAT A GODDAMN TEASE. BAHHH. I wasn't sure what to expect from them in this episode based on the whole, "Jury's out on 'together'" remark in E1, but!!!! They were so adorable and wonderful and just be together already omfg -- AND. SERIOUSLY. When he died I was like... I almost couldn't even bring myself to be properly devastated because I kind of just wanted to turn off the TV and be like... really? Really? This is what we're doing? JOSS YOU ARE SUCH A FUCKING LAME ONE-TRICK PONY, OKAY, AND I'LL JUST PRETEND THAT DIDN'T JUST HAPPEN. I let Bennett slide because I know it's your thing and you have to do it at least once a series, so whatever. I let Boyd and Mellie slide because I already know that I hate your conspiracy episodes so I'll just acknowledge the hate and move on. But this...? Whatever, man. At this point I'm mostly just bored and disappointed.
I kept watching, though, because... I don't know, because my back hurts and the couch was comfortable and it was already TiVoed, so whatever. And then--! HATERS TO THE SIDE, PT. 2 -- ELIZA IS FUCKING AMAZING. During that scene with Priya I went straight from "uggghhhh whatever do not care any more" to "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I AM SOBBING ALL OVER THE PLACE WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OH MY GOD ECHO I JUST WANT TO HUG YOU THROUGH THE TV."
AND THEN THE REST OF THE EPISODE HAPPENED AND, UGH, SO GOOD. E1 actually freaked me out to a significant degree (like, probably more than was intended, which is to say -- A LOT) and yet somehow we get our wonky happy ending? In a weird bittersweet way that is not at all false, and instead immensely satisfying? PRIYA/TONY, RIGHT RIGHT; Adelle's hair survives the apocalypse; and, guys, I WILL NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO DISGUISE HOW MUCH I LOVED THE PAUL/ECHO RESOLUTION. I mean. I can objectively acknowledge that it was perhaps the corniest thing ever devised ("She loves it when you're corny." SOBBBB) -- the soft lighting, the dorky banter, the utter convenience of it all -- but it was so so so so perfect to me, in its own sad and morbid way, and... yeah. I cried. A lot. UGH I AM SO ASHAMED OF MYSELF. SERIOUSLY, JOSS, WHAT THE FUCK. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I CARED.
So. Dollhouse finale.
FUUUUUUCK YOU JOSS WHEDON YOU FUCKING MANIPULATIVE BASTARD -- FIRST FOR MAKING ME THINK THAT I DIDN'T CARE MUCH ABOUT THIS EPISODE, AND THEN FOR MAKING ME THINK THAT I DID, AND THEN FOR KILLING PAUL (SERIOUSLY SERIOUSLY FUCK YOU SERIOUSLY), AND THEN FOR STILL MAKING IT HAPPY AND MAKING ME SIT ON MY COUCH AND CRY FOR LIKE TEN MINUTES AFTER I TURNED OFF THE TV SERIOUSLYYYY MY POOR FRAIL EMOTIONS.
So, yeah. Going into this episode, I wasn't super invested in how things played out. Like I said in my TV round-up post, I've been quite impressed with a lot of what came out of season two (spies! Intrigue! Terrorists! Flashbacks! Mental prisons! Superhero evolutions!) -- but I've never been a fan of Joss's Big Conspiracy Episodes (I don't know, I always like his work better when it's on an intimate, personal scale rather than when it's purely mission focused, making me perhaps the only person in Firefly fandom who hated the movie? Whatever. I mean, I understand that those unraveling-the-big-bad-conspiracy episodes are inevitable, but I can tell you right now that they are the ones that I never rewatch), and the penultimate episode was not an exception to this rule. I mean, the Boyd reveal? Really? Blame it on the truncated season, I guess, but even if it had more time to play out I think it still would have felt flat to me. It felt like it was put in there to force a ~character conspiracy~ to happen, not because it was organic or logical, and the fall-out was... meh. Whatever. Not worth the build-up. I did love the heck out of "Epitaph One," so I was looking forward to E2 as a continuation of that, but... I mostly just wanted to watch for some closure on the show (and, okay, I caved to spoilers and read that Reed Diamond wasn't going to be in the episode, so that kind of killed any budding excitement, too :P).
But... then...! OKAY I WILL SAY THIS UP-FRONT -- HATERS. TO. THE. SIDE!! I FUCKING LOVE PAUL, OKAY? OKAY. SO THERE. And I totally ship me some Paul/Echo, too. OKAY? OKAY. I mean, "Meet Jane Doe"? WHAT A GODDAMN TEASE. BAHHH. I wasn't sure what to expect from them in this episode based on the whole, "Jury's out on 'together'" remark in E1, but!!!! They were so adorable and wonderful and just be together already omfg -- AND. SERIOUSLY. When he died I was like... I almost couldn't even bring myself to be properly devastated because I kind of just wanted to turn off the TV and be like... really? Really? This is what we're doing? JOSS YOU ARE SUCH A FUCKING LAME ONE-TRICK PONY, OKAY, AND I'LL JUST PRETEND THAT DIDN'T JUST HAPPEN. I let Bennett slide because I know it's your thing and you have to do it at least once a series, so whatever. I let Boyd and Mellie slide because I already know that I hate your conspiracy episodes so I'll just acknowledge the hate and move on. But this...? Whatever, man. At this point I'm mostly just bored and disappointed.
I kept watching, though, because... I don't know, because my back hurts and the couch was comfortable and it was already TiVoed, so whatever. And then--! HATERS TO THE SIDE, PT. 2 -- ELIZA IS FUCKING AMAZING. During that scene with Priya I went straight from "uggghhhh whatever do not care any more" to "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I AM SOBBING ALL OVER THE PLACE WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OH MY GOD ECHO I JUST WANT TO HUG YOU THROUGH THE TV."
AND THEN THE REST OF THE EPISODE HAPPENED AND, UGH, SO GOOD. E1 actually freaked me out to a significant degree (like, probably more than was intended, which is to say -- A LOT) and yet somehow we get our wonky happy ending? In a weird bittersweet way that is not at all false, and instead immensely satisfying? PRIYA/TONY, RIGHT RIGHT; Adelle's hair survives the apocalypse; and, guys, I WILL NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO DISGUISE HOW MUCH I LOVED THE PAUL/ECHO RESOLUTION. I mean. I can objectively acknowledge that it was perhaps the corniest thing ever devised ("She loves it when you're corny." SOBBBB) -- the soft lighting, the dorky banter, the utter convenience of it all -- but it was so so so so perfect to me, in its own sad and morbid way, and... yeah. I cried. A lot. UGH I AM SO ASHAMED OF MYSELF. SERIOUSLY, JOSS, WHAT THE FUCK. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I CARED.