Dollhouse
Apparently I post once a week now? Er... oops? It's not intentional, I swear.
So I watched Dollhouse and have various thinky thoughts. They shall go behind a cut. Pure speculation here save for one bit which I'll white text. Most folks have already covered the "Well it wasn't AWESOME but it's Joss and Fox interfered with the pilot so I'll give it a few eps" thing, which is pretty much where I am as far as reviews. So my rambly thoughts here are mostly about the premise and where Joss might go with it.
I think to a certain extent Joss is writing BSG AU fic. I say this because even before I found out he's a huge BSG fan (not that that should have surprised me) I was looking at the concept of the dolls and thinking that it's a bit like the Cylons. Only instead of multiple copies of the same line, you have one person getting impinted over and over again. Over in BSG you can, as for example, look at all the 8s and notice what makes Boomer Boomer and Athena Athena, yet at the same time 8s have a core being that goes beyond the part where they're all played by Grace Park.
I think that's something that appeals to Joss's fic kinks. We know he likes playing with the concept of identity. It goes all the way back to Buffy - is a vampire an evil monster or is your former friend inside? What's the difference, if any, between Angel and Angelus? This then gets carried through Ben is Glory and does the Buffybot have feelings. We skip over to Angel and it's mortal Darla vs vampire Darla, Angel playing fast and loose with people's memories, Jasmine and the idea of "good" and, of course, Fred and Illyria. One could also argue that it came up in Firefly with the idea of how much damaged River was or was not the same sister that Simon remembered. After all, River had a killing machine shoved into her after she voluntarily agreed to join something she thought would be good (...she was imprinted in a chair too, now that I think about it).
So it's something he's been toying with for a while and I think when he saw BSG it gave him the idea of what if a show dealt with multiple people like that instead of just one. What if the concept was that. And, if so, what does the doll/base model bring to the equation.
Which ties in a bit with the casting calls. Which I won't get into much since Fox's interference may have tossed those out the window. So this may have changed. But early calls for dolls asked for certain types, which to me suggests that there's the implication that within the universe of the show you're not going to send Sierra to do a job just because Echo was booked. (And yes there are all the issues with how dolls are basically prostitutes so of COURSE it's one of the few times that Joss thinks to cast someone Asian and insert skanky race issues here. All of which are totally valid and good points, just not the point I'm making at this particular time. I'm stuck using Sierra as an example because so far on the show she's the only other doll we've officially met. If the doll I'm thinking of does show up on the show, BELIEVE me I'll go on at length about him/her too. But my point for now being that there must be differences between the two dolls beyond Echo being the one who's Caucasian.)
To haul this out of parenthetical statements, we can also tie this in to how we can see in the background that some of the dolls are male. And if the dollhouse and its clients understand the concept of "They can be anyone... except someone taller/shorter/not their original gender" then there are other limitations too. Which does go back to the in-show comment of why Echo was sent as the negotiator instead of EJO, but I'm willing to put that aside for a moment given the Fox interference and how maybe that was a lampshade that shouldn't have been hung quite so soon.
My point - and I do have one - being that if Joss is even somewhat on his game (which I do not assume as a given, FWIW) some of what we're seeing in terms of "But why...?" might not be a bug but a feature. Why would someone join the dollhouse? Why put Echo on certain assignments? Why do this and not that? A lot of that can tie in to a core question of what makes us who we are, which is the premise of the entire show. I mean obviously Joss has said this is the premise, but it's that tie to BSG and "Why is Caprica Six not same as Natalie Six?" that's giving me the idea of what direction Joss might be going in with what's a fairly large question. If you strip out everything else, what are some core things that will remain the same no matter what?
Going with the BSG assumptions a little more, I think we're going to find ourselves in for the Active version of spending a lot of time never knowing who the Cylons Actives are. Not to get into BSG's recent episodes too much so as not to spoil those who haven't seen them yet, but throughout the run of the show there's always been that tension of not knowing who was a Cylon. Then finding out who was and having all their past actions and motivations either called into question or put into a completely different light. Or both. With the concept of the Dollhouse Joss has the exact same tool at his disposal, with the added bonus of not being limited in his numbers. And I think that there's hints of this in (highlight for spoilers regarding a difference in one of the earlier versions of the pilot vs. "Ghost") [They were originally going to show right up front that Victor was an Active sent to keep Paul chasing fake leads, then abandoned that to trick both him and the audience. Which I think is an interesting choice given that anyone who's seen a hint of promo material knows that the actor is playing an Active, but then again see also: Fox interfered. Granted this also means that who knows what else has changed about early ideas regarding Victor. But not revealing his status as an Active save only for the in-show hint about how he was just the kind of mob guy Paul liked (chatty) makes me suspect that Joss will play more with the Active-as-who-is-a-Cylon idea.]
So I have no proof, only theory that Joss will be playing with that a lot. Which changes the landscape a whole lot more, because if we don't know who is an Active then anyone can be an Active. Which works out nicely for Joss in that the whole Active process works as a nice in-show "A wizard did it" explanation for anything that doesn't make sense. But it also adds nice dimensions to what are otherwise thorny issues. Why does the handler do what he does? Why does wannabeAndrew think the way he thinks? Is wannabeLilah really in charge or does she only think that she is?
And why does it have to be limited to those we see in the Dollhouse? Which brings me to my next theory, which is that Joss will have his version of a Boomer. He'll have a character who will be revealed to be an Active who will make us go Holy shit! (I realize other Cylon reveals have also done that on BSG, I'm just pointing to Boomer as the first since Joss is just getting started). This would also tie in nicely with how Joss loves to kill off characters we love/frak with the audience by killing off someone who we thought was a regular castmember (see also: Jesse, and the party line on Doyle). But in Dollhouse it wouldn't just be death - as I'm sure we'll see people die - but death of a person. A character who we thought was a character but was actually an Active.
And if that's the case my money is on Paul. Because he would be the greatest twist, it would explain a LOT about his motivations, and it would give the flip side to Echo: Echo's conflict is her real self emerging amongst the fake. Paul's (or whoever the Boomer is) would be their belief that the fake them was real.
It makes me even go a step further and wonder if Paul is actually Alpha, but that gets into far too much of a grey area for me to really make some theories with. I will say odds are good that either Paul and/or Alpha have a sibling in the Dollhouse since... it's Joss. He's already covered his fetishes for bare feet and Amy Acker. Obsessed siblings is about the only one left. ;)
Anyway, those are my rambly thoughts which are possibly worth exactly what you paid for them. Now I go to bed.
So I watched Dollhouse and have various thinky thoughts. They shall go behind a cut. Pure speculation here save for one bit which I'll white text. Most folks have already covered the "Well it wasn't AWESOME but it's Joss and Fox interfered with the pilot so I'll give it a few eps" thing, which is pretty much where I am as far as reviews. So my rambly thoughts here are mostly about the premise and where Joss might go with it.
I think to a certain extent Joss is writing BSG AU fic. I say this because even before I found out he's a huge BSG fan (not that that should have surprised me) I was looking at the concept of the dolls and thinking that it's a bit like the Cylons. Only instead of multiple copies of the same line, you have one person getting impinted over and over again. Over in BSG you can, as for example, look at all the 8s and notice what makes Boomer Boomer and Athena Athena, yet at the same time 8s have a core being that goes beyond the part where they're all played by Grace Park.
I think that's something that appeals to Joss's fic kinks. We know he likes playing with the concept of identity. It goes all the way back to Buffy - is a vampire an evil monster or is your former friend inside? What's the difference, if any, between Angel and Angelus? This then gets carried through Ben is Glory and does the Buffybot have feelings. We skip over to Angel and it's mortal Darla vs vampire Darla, Angel playing fast and loose with people's memories, Jasmine and the idea of "good" and, of course, Fred and Illyria. One could also argue that it came up in Firefly with the idea of how much damaged River was or was not the same sister that Simon remembered. After all, River had a killing machine shoved into her after she voluntarily agreed to join something she thought would be good (...she was imprinted in a chair too, now that I think about it).
So it's something he's been toying with for a while and I think when he saw BSG it gave him the idea of what if a show dealt with multiple people like that instead of just one. What if the concept was that. And, if so, what does the doll/base model bring to the equation.
Which ties in a bit with the casting calls. Which I won't get into much since Fox's interference may have tossed those out the window. So this may have changed. But early calls for dolls asked for certain types, which to me suggests that there's the implication that within the universe of the show you're not going to send Sierra to do a job just because Echo was booked. (And yes there are all the issues with how dolls are basically prostitutes so of COURSE it's one of the few times that Joss thinks to cast someone Asian and insert skanky race issues here. All of which are totally valid and good points, just not the point I'm making at this particular time. I'm stuck using Sierra as an example because so far on the show she's the only other doll we've officially met. If the doll I'm thinking of does show up on the show, BELIEVE me I'll go on at length about him/her too. But my point for now being that there must be differences between the two dolls beyond Echo being the one who's Caucasian.)
To haul this out of parenthetical statements, we can also tie this in to how we can see in the background that some of the dolls are male. And if the dollhouse and its clients understand the concept of "They can be anyone... except someone taller/shorter/not their original gender" then there are other limitations too. Which does go back to the in-show comment of why Echo was sent as the negotiator instead of EJO, but I'm willing to put that aside for a moment given the Fox interference and how maybe that was a lampshade that shouldn't have been hung quite so soon.
My point - and I do have one - being that if Joss is even somewhat on his game (which I do not assume as a given, FWIW) some of what we're seeing in terms of "But why...?" might not be a bug but a feature. Why would someone join the dollhouse? Why put Echo on certain assignments? Why do this and not that? A lot of that can tie in to a core question of what makes us who we are, which is the premise of the entire show. I mean obviously Joss has said this is the premise, but it's that tie to BSG and "Why is Caprica Six not same as Natalie Six?" that's giving me the idea of what direction Joss might be going in with what's a fairly large question. If you strip out everything else, what are some core things that will remain the same no matter what?
Going with the BSG assumptions a little more, I think we're going to find ourselves in for the Active version of spending a lot of time never knowing who the Cylons Actives are. Not to get into BSG's recent episodes too much so as not to spoil those who haven't seen them yet, but throughout the run of the show there's always been that tension of not knowing who was a Cylon. Then finding out who was and having all their past actions and motivations either called into question or put into a completely different light. Or both. With the concept of the Dollhouse Joss has the exact same tool at his disposal, with the added bonus of not being limited in his numbers. And I think that there's hints of this in (highlight for spoilers regarding a difference in one of the earlier versions of the pilot vs. "Ghost") [They were originally going to show right up front that Victor was an Active sent to keep Paul chasing fake leads, then abandoned that to trick both him and the audience. Which I think is an interesting choice given that anyone who's seen a hint of promo material knows that the actor is playing an Active, but then again see also: Fox interfered. Granted this also means that who knows what else has changed about early ideas regarding Victor. But not revealing his status as an Active save only for the in-show hint about how he was just the kind of mob guy Paul liked (chatty) makes me suspect that Joss will play more with the Active-as-who-is-a-Cylon idea.]
So I have no proof, only theory that Joss will be playing with that a lot. Which changes the landscape a whole lot more, because if we don't know who is an Active then anyone can be an Active. Which works out nicely for Joss in that the whole Active process works as a nice in-show "A wizard did it" explanation for anything that doesn't make sense. But it also adds nice dimensions to what are otherwise thorny issues. Why does the handler do what he does? Why does wannabeAndrew think the way he thinks? Is wannabeLilah really in charge or does she only think that she is?
And why does it have to be limited to those we see in the Dollhouse? Which brings me to my next theory, which is that Joss will have his version of a Boomer. He'll have a character who will be revealed to be an Active who will make us go Holy shit! (I realize other Cylon reveals have also done that on BSG, I'm just pointing to Boomer as the first since Joss is just getting started). This would also tie in nicely with how Joss loves to kill off characters we love/frak with the audience by killing off someone who we thought was a regular castmember (see also: Jesse, and the party line on Doyle). But in Dollhouse it wouldn't just be death - as I'm sure we'll see people die - but death of a person. A character who we thought was a character but was actually an Active.
And if that's the case my money is on Paul. Because he would be the greatest twist, it would explain a LOT about his motivations, and it would give the flip side to Echo: Echo's conflict is her real self emerging amongst the fake. Paul's (or whoever the Boomer is) would be their belief that the fake them was real.
It makes me even go a step further and wonder if Paul is actually Alpha, but that gets into far too much of a grey area for me to really make some theories with. I will say odds are good that either Paul and/or Alpha have a sibling in the Dollhouse since... it's Joss. He's already covered his fetishes for bare feet and Amy Acker. Obsessed siblings is about the only one left. ;)
Anyway, those are my rambly thoughts which are possibly worth exactly what you paid for them. Now I go to bed.