Dollhouse 3x04
Link at Hulu, as encouragement for non-Dollhouse flist people.
3rd favorite episode, after Epitaph One and Needs. Mostly for high amount of Topher, but also because it's a break from the increasingly predictable and dull Amazing Echo Show. Yet for most of this post, I will rant about spotty characterization. But I really did enjoy the episode.
Sierra kicking the Evil Invisible Man's butt was on my short list of things they had better get to show before FOX can someday cancel them, so that was cool. I don't get why Topher couldn't have added ninja skills or something to her, but still. It's not like there was a risk of them letting her lose. Boyd was...interesting about it. He was probably a cop before, as I remember it. And like Adelle said, everyone but Topher is there because they've been morally compromised in some way. Put the two together....
I'm not entirely sure about the characterization of Topher. Everything before this point has shown that while he actually has a soft, sympathetic moral core which eventually breaks him with guilt once he accidentally destroys civilization, he thinks that he doesn't believe in morals. (Except when he gets to feel all warm and fuzzy about doing something good, and then he decides to indulge in having morals.) In this episode he was changed to just be a doomed good guy, suddenly talking about how hard it will be to live with his mistakes, after every killer he's programmed before and just been like 'whee science!' about. People can change and all, but I liked it better when it seemed like a sudden change related to the apocalypse, not a gradual one where he goes from a character I like to one I don't and then eventually to another one I like.
But he was still cool enough to make it a good episode. And Fran Kranz is made of win.
Adelle. :( Adelle is smart enough to have gone to Boyd and Topher with orders on how they're going to arrange the Evil Invisible Man's death. She would not just give in like that. I've never seen her that kind of angry before, and then she's just like, the boss says to do this so I will? Remember in Epitaph One how she said no to the top Rossum guy, and it seemed perfectly in character for her? Also her haircut is still a great argument for women having long hair.
And the dolls didn't seem very dollish. All in all, it seems like the writer has a good overview of how these characters work (and is competent in other areas), but is missing all their nuances. In a show about the nuances of characters.
My final thoughts on this episode: VICTOR/SIERRA :D !!!
I just decided to look up who wrote some episodes. It turns out that Epitaph One, the epitome of Dollhouse awesomeness, Stage Fright, the epitome of the boringness that is the Amazing Echo Show, were written by the same people. And they were also half the writing team of Dr. Horrible. AND they did this one, which is where I get really confused. They did not, as I previously guessed, write Instinct (3x02).
There is an upcoming episode (also by them) called The Attic. WHY IS IT NOT DECEMBER YET?
Joss, a BSG fan, is entirely responsible for writing the Apollo vs. Helo fight. No big surprise, just cool. The person who wrote Needs is coming back two episodes from now, which is promising.
3x04 was directed by Commander Riker. Neat.
3rd favorite episode, after Epitaph One and Needs. Mostly for high amount of Topher, but also because it's a break from the increasingly predictable and dull Amazing Echo Show. Yet for most of this post, I will rant about spotty characterization. But I really did enjoy the episode.
Sierra kicking the Evil Invisible Man's butt was on my short list of things they had better get to show before FOX can someday cancel them, so that was cool. I don't get why Topher couldn't have added ninja skills or something to her, but still. It's not like there was a risk of them letting her lose. Boyd was...interesting about it. He was probably a cop before, as I remember it. And like Adelle said, everyone but Topher is there because they've been morally compromised in some way. Put the two together....
I'm not entirely sure about the characterization of Topher. Everything before this point has shown that while he actually has a soft, sympathetic moral core which eventually breaks him with guilt once he accidentally destroys civilization, he thinks that he doesn't believe in morals. (Except when he gets to feel all warm and fuzzy about doing something good, and then he decides to indulge in having morals.) In this episode he was changed to just be a doomed good guy, suddenly talking about how hard it will be to live with his mistakes, after every killer he's programmed before and just been like 'whee science!' about. People can change and all, but I liked it better when it seemed like a sudden change related to the apocalypse, not a gradual one where he goes from a character I like to one I don't and then eventually to another one I like.
But he was still cool enough to make it a good episode. And Fran Kranz is made of win.
Adelle. :( Adelle is smart enough to have gone to Boyd and Topher with orders on how they're going to arrange the Evil Invisible Man's death. She would not just give in like that. I've never seen her that kind of angry before, and then she's just like, the boss says to do this so I will? Remember in Epitaph One how she said no to the top Rossum guy, and it seemed perfectly in character for her? Also her haircut is still a great argument for women having long hair.
And the dolls didn't seem very dollish. All in all, it seems like the writer has a good overview of how these characters work (and is competent in other areas), but is missing all their nuances. In a show about the nuances of characters.
My final thoughts on this episode: VICTOR/SIERRA :D !!!
I just decided to look up who wrote some episodes. It turns out that Epitaph One, the epitome of Dollhouse awesomeness, Stage Fright, the epitome of the boringness that is the Amazing Echo Show, were written by the same people. And they were also half the writing team of Dr. Horrible. AND they did this one, which is where I get really confused. They did not, as I previously guessed, write Instinct (3x02).
There is an upcoming episode (also by them) called The Attic. WHY IS IT NOT DECEMBER YET?
Joss, a BSG fan, is entirely responsible for writing the Apollo vs. Helo fight. No big surprise, just cool. The person who wrote Needs is coming back two episodes from now, which is promising.
3x04 was directed by Commander Riker. Neat.