Comments | uncledark: Too Many Rogues Syndrome

uncledark

Too Many Rogues Syndrome

Feb 14, 2009 15:23

Or, Why The Dollhouse Fell Flat ( Read more... )

criticism, geek

Comments 10

goldfish42 February 15 2009, 00:30:12 UTC

Yup. I was going to post a review, but since you said it better than I think I could have, can I just link to yours?

uncledark February 15 2009, 02:27:53 UTC

Oh, link away.

Thank you.

satyrblade February 15 2009, 01:31:39 UTC

Yeah, I've been skeptical about this show from the outset. I mean, c'mon - the concept is so close to Alias that I'm amazed J.J. Abrams hasn't shut the production down, and... Joss trusting FOX with another cherished brainchild?!? Sorry, but Dollhouse, to me, looks more like a bargaining chip ("I give you another series for DVD, you quit squatting on my rights to Firefly...") than something he really cares about.

And as for the "too many rogues" concept, this was done to perfection during the first two seasons of Le Femme Nikita, and much as I love Joss, I doubt he's gonna beat that minor masterpiece in 10 episodes or less.

uncledark February 15 2009, 02:30:15 UTC

I do wonder if Dollhouse was Joss saying, "Hell, if I'm legally bound to give them something, might as well try something off the wall."

I think he's being a bit ambitious with it, trusting his name-cred will get people to stick with it long enough for it to get up to speed.

Dunno about similarities to Alias, as I've never watched that show.

episkopos February 15 2009, 11:00:26 UTC

"Ambitious" sounds like exactly the right word, with "experimental" chasing right after it, and it sounds like it'll need sticking-to in order for the Plot Devices to kick in and start tinkering with that premise and giving us some lead characters.

Well the concept existed before Alias. brother_order February 15 2009, 04:04:53 UTC

Back in the dark ages of TV there was a show called the Six Million Dollar Man. In one episode an OSI (Office of Strategic Intelligence I think) agent was caught and had his memory chemically erased. They did so thorough a job that even new memories would only last between 24 and 48 hours. One thing they discovered was that they could use computers to download skills into the agent, and that he would take on the personality of the person the tapes were narrated by. It never became a series then ( ... )

Re: Well the concept existed before Alias. uncledark February 15 2009, 06:32:11 UTC

Oh, I'll keep watching for a while. I'm just wary of a start like this.

Re: Well the concept existed before Alias. kimerastorm February 15 2009, 11:56:12 UTC

Dont forget that supposedly the series will ~really~ get going once Echo starts maintining memories despite the deprogramming/reprogramming process, which is when the character is supposed to develop.

Buffy was Kitchy at first, Angel downright trite.. and firefly *smiles* lets just say JW has a way with strange and (I will) give him the benefit for a few more episodes.

sabotabby February 15 2009, 15:03:44 UTC

I haven't seen it yet, but I don't think that rogues make good leads as a general rule. I'm trying to think of something where it works (I mean, I suppose John LeCarre does that, but he subverts it usually), and falling short.

uncledark February 15 2009, 19:45:30 UTC

One can have a rogue as a lead, that's not the problem. Cagey, mysterious leads have been successful before (Remmington Steele, to name the first who comes to mind...). But if the main character is going to be inacessible to some degree, then the characters surrounding him/her have to be sympathetic, so that the audience doesn't feel alone in their confusion. This is a generalization, of course, and I'm sure someone will come up with a counter-example.

However, if everyone is inaccessible, then there's no one for the audience to feel the show through. And it will have a harder time retaining an audience.