Dollhouse: Alpha

Of Joss Whedon's first three shows, the one that I miss the most is Firefly. It wasn't the best, but it had so many more stories to tell (and who knows, maybe it could have become the best). Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended satisfactorily; all its storylines were resolved and even though the last season wasn't the best, it was still a great series. Angel needed one more year, and it definitely deserved it (this isn't just me being a gushing fanboy, the ratings were there as well); Whedon and co. had every reason to believe they'd be renewed, and they began laying the groundwork for another season only to get cancelled and have to resolve everything within six episodes. But Firefly was killed before it could even begin; so many stories were left either unresolved (Book's origins, Inara's secret, Blue Sun's position in everythign, River's secret until Serenity was released) or untold at all. And worst of all, we were cheated out of one the best ensemble casts ever created (one of the few comparable casts is that of Arrested Development, which was also cut down before its prime). I am opening this post about Dollhouse with a discussion of Firefly because the episode "Briar Rose" showed us that not only is Alan Tudyk even more awesome than we could have possibly imagined, he also has an enormous acting range that would have been very compelling to see on Firefly.

Unfortunately, pretty much every goddamn entertainment reporting website/magazine/whatever revealed that Tudyk would be playing Alpha way back in March, so what was supposed to be a shocking reveal ended up being an affirmation. However, that didn't take away from HOW AWESOME ALAN TUDYK WAS as his character. And I don't just mean as the psychotic razor-wielding Alpha personality, but also as the stoned-out-of-his-mind programmer that he was impersonating. It was kind of like watching a stoned Wash (if there is a pun in there, it is certainly not intended) getting bossed around by Ballard. The "medicinal carrot farm", the buddy cop line, and the line about turning back after finding the entrace were all hilarious. And then he pulled out the razor, and he changed from being a hilarious Wash into a psycho who would probably scare away Jayne Cobb. I don't know what he wants with Echo, but I am excited to find out.

The other aspects of the episode that I thoroughly enjoyed were the scenes with Victor. Don't get me wrong, Enver Gjokaj and Diechen Lachmen have proven that they can act, but I don't find Victor and Sierra that compelling because they play new characters every week. I am invested in things that happen to them, like when Sierra was raped, but they aren't exactly characters. The reason I care for November is because we see her in the Mellie persona more than we see her as November, and I care about Echo because (1) we know about her past and (2) she is regaining her awareness. But tonight, I cared about Victor when his innocence made him a victim to Alpha and an accidental "attack" by Langton and Ballard. Also, his scene in which Laurence Dominic's mind was imprinted into Victor's body was fantastic. Gjokaj did an amazing Reed Diamond impression, and although I'd like to see Diamond himself come back (unlikely), I'd be interested in a plotline wherein DeWitt and Topher put Dominic's consciousness back into Victor and then Victor/Dominic escapes.

There's (sort of) one episode left this season, and it may be the final episode to ever air (there is another episode that will likely only appear on the DVD). This series has improved exponentially since its beginnings, and I will be saddened if it is cancelled. But there will be at least one more post on Dollhouse.

Up next: La vie boheme...