Dollhouse 2x05 and 2x06
(O HAI CAMEO MAURISSA TANCHAROEN.)
Seriously, it's like the writers stopped and went, what are Study of Running's favorite characters, and how can we make these episodes be all about how great they are? Also let's try more on that whole "plot" thing. It could have used more Boyd, and, um, any Sierra at all, but still.
I think if they had set up Senator Wes in season 1 (replacing some of their abundant filler scenes, perhaps) and opened season 2 with these episodes, they wouldn't be canceled right now.
I also think if the show's greatest flaw had been being The Amazing Victor Show instead of being The Amazing Echo Show, they wouldn't be canceled right now.
You know, because HOLY SHIT IS ENVER GJOKAJ EVER GOOD. With both the acting and the impressions, apparently. I think if it was all blurred or something so I couldn't clearly see when I was looking at Enver or Fran, I would not be able to tell which Topher was which.
Some guy watching on TV on the east coast told me about Topher!Victor in chat, but it was so well executed that even if the idea itself couldn't be surprising/funny to me, EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF WATCHING IT still was.
I think my only complaint for the whole of these episodes is that Ivy wasn't present for Topher!Victor. Ivy would be pissed that Topher (and, it's implied, Adelle) decided it made more sense to use an active as a clone of Topher than to let Ivy do the job she's trained for and has been assisting with this entire time. But even then, just because they didn't show it this time doesn't mean we can't get her reaction later.
So anyway, Summer's character. Let's discuss the fact that she is Claire. I feel like they outlined these episodes for Claire, but then Amy Acker left, so they shifted some things around and wrote it the way we got it. This should be a list.
-Her story and motivation are the same in the important ways. She is physically damaged, psychologically damaged because of it, and blames Echo.
-She is explicitly compared to Claire when Topher explains why he tested to see if she was a doll.
-Her speech and mannerisms seem extremely similar to Claire's. (Except for the geekery that they added to make her Topher-like, which wouldn't have been done if they'd had Claire herself).
-Her skillset is not dissimilar Claire's, bearing in mind the unnecessary computer skills Topher gave her. Remember at the end of S1, when Alpha looked at Topher's computer and said he needed an easier one to break into, and then Claire broke into her file? Looks a lot smarter if it was meant as setup for this arc.
-I can think of two characters the show's ever told us to pair Topher with: Claire and Bennett. And both worked out about as well. Many parts of the Claire/Topher and Bennett/Topher dynamics are the same.
-I spent a long time thinking Bennett...where else do I know that name from? I'll tell you where. Claire Bennet, of "save the cheerleader, save the world" fame. This is totally evidence, and not at all a coincidence.
I hope we get to see what really happened when Caroline left Bennett behind.
Other thoughts:
I wondered how naming in other Dollhouses worked. Does each have it's own Echo and Victor, or are they assigned to one individual across all Dollhouses? It seems likely that there are around 26 actives in the L.A. Dollhouse. So hearing D.C. Dollhouse call its actives Aphrodite and Hades was neat.
And makes me imagine that their dolls are the cast of Xena, Warrior Princess.
There goes my Topher-is-a-doll theory. My reasoning (he's the most irreplaceable) is about confirmed, but he hasn't been copied yet. So instead, I now have a theory that it was actually an active!Topher breaking down in Epitaph One. He was on the same descent that Claire was, sticking around in the dying Dollhouse as a permanently imprinted doll and breaking down over the years because of it. I think that in part because I still think they intended to kill Topher off this season, whether they get to it in their remaining episodes or not.
That device is a convenient, well, device, for when they want to let us know who to trust. I think it would come in handy if there were ever some sort of apocalyptic army of actives.
By the way, it is my personal canon that Adelle has a sword under her desk. That guy should be glad she went to him and not the other way 'round.
Seriously, it's like the writers stopped and went, what are Study of Running's favorite characters, and how can we make these episodes be all about how great they are? Also let's try more on that whole "plot" thing. It could have used more Boyd, and, um, any Sierra at all, but still.
I think if they had set up Senator Wes in season 1 (replacing some of their abundant filler scenes, perhaps) and opened season 2 with these episodes, they wouldn't be canceled right now.
I also think if the show's greatest flaw had been being The Amazing Victor Show instead of being The Amazing Echo Show, they wouldn't be canceled right now.
You know, because HOLY SHIT IS ENVER GJOKAJ EVER GOOD. With both the acting and the impressions, apparently. I think if it was all blurred or something so I couldn't clearly see when I was looking at Enver or Fran, I would not be able to tell which Topher was which.
Some guy watching on TV on the east coast told me about Topher!Victor in chat, but it was so well executed that even if the idea itself couldn't be surprising/funny to me, EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF WATCHING IT still was.
I think my only complaint for the whole of these episodes is that Ivy wasn't present for Topher!Victor. Ivy would be pissed that Topher (and, it's implied, Adelle) decided it made more sense to use an active as a clone of Topher than to let Ivy do the job she's trained for and has been assisting with this entire time. But even then, just because they didn't show it this time doesn't mean we can't get her reaction later.
So anyway, Summer's character. Let's discuss the fact that she is Claire. I feel like they outlined these episodes for Claire, but then Amy Acker left, so they shifted some things around and wrote it the way we got it. This should be a list.
-Her story and motivation are the same in the important ways. She is physically damaged, psychologically damaged because of it, and blames Echo.
-She is explicitly compared to Claire when Topher explains why he tested to see if she was a doll.
-Her speech and mannerisms seem extremely similar to Claire's. (Except for the geekery that they added to make her Topher-like, which wouldn't have been done if they'd had Claire herself).
-Her skillset is not dissimilar Claire's, bearing in mind the unnecessary computer skills Topher gave her. Remember at the end of S1, when Alpha looked at Topher's computer and said he needed an easier one to break into, and then Claire broke into her file? Looks a lot smarter if it was meant as setup for this arc.
-I can think of two characters the show's ever told us to pair Topher with: Claire and Bennett. And both worked out about as well. Many parts of the Claire/Topher and Bennett/Topher dynamics are the same.
-I spent a long time thinking Bennett...where else do I know that name from? I'll tell you where. Claire Bennet, of "save the cheerleader, save the world" fame. This is totally evidence, and not at all a coincidence.
I hope we get to see what really happened when Caroline left Bennett behind.
Other thoughts:
I wondered how naming in other Dollhouses worked. Does each have it's own Echo and Victor, or are they assigned to one individual across all Dollhouses? It seems likely that there are around 26 actives in the L.A. Dollhouse. So hearing D.C. Dollhouse call its actives Aphrodite and Hades was neat.
And makes me imagine that their dolls are the cast of Xena, Warrior Princess.
There goes my Topher-is-a-doll theory. My reasoning (he's the most irreplaceable) is about confirmed, but he hasn't been copied yet. So instead, I now have a theory that it was actually an active!Topher breaking down in Epitaph One. He was on the same descent that Claire was, sticking around in the dying Dollhouse as a permanently imprinted doll and breaking down over the years because of it. I think that in part because I still think they intended to kill Topher off this season, whether they get to it in their remaining episodes or not.
That device is a convenient, well, device, for when they want to let us know who to trust. I think it would come in handy if there were ever some sort of apocalyptic army of actives.
By the way, it is my personal canon that Adelle has a sword under her desk. That guy should be glad she went to him and not the other way 'round.