Dollhouse: Wake Up

On Friday, the final episode of Dollhouse aired, and unfortunately, I wasn't as blown away as I could have been. I understand that the writers rushed to wrap up the stories and condensed a few years of stories into a couple episodes, but for whatever reason, the acting and writing were not up to par. Therefore, I must give it my lowest rating yet: seven thumbs up... Sorry, Simpsons reference. Anyway, I'll get back to "Epitaph Two: The Return" in a moment. First, a brief look at where the series has gone since I went all radio silent.

Things went to hell for a while, with Keith Carradine's Harding taking over the L.A. Dollhouse after the debacle in D.C. that ended with Echo escaping. During that time, she became fully self-aware, and she and Ballard prepared to return to L.A. to free Victor, Sierra, and the other dolls. Topher, under pressure from Harding, figured out how to make a device that could remotely wipe and imprint anyone, even people without "Active architecture." Alpha returned and caused trouble (including leaving Ballard brain-dead, requiring Topher to turn Ballard into a doll of himself). Victor's contract expired, he and Sierra declared their love for each other, only for them and Echo to wind up in the Attic. Let me just say that while the entire concept of the Attic was pretty creepy, the saran wrap over their bodies unsettled me to no end. We also got to see Dominic again, which was great. And then we learned the identity of the head of Rossum: Boyd Langdon. Now I have to go back through the series to see if there are any subtle hints to his true identity. The penultimate episode was very thrilling, as well as heartbreaking (November had been recaptured in D.C. and her original personality was lost, so they put Mellie back in her... then Paul told her that she was an imprint). Although the characters thought they had saved the day, the episode ended in 2020, where we last left Mag, Zone, and mini-Caroline.

So "Epitaph Two." The story wasn't amazing, in my opinion, but I'm letting it slide a bit because of the circumstances. Regarding the characters, they are obviously in very different places than they were in 2010. For the most part, we got hints as to why they are the way they are now, but, obviously, it would have been so much greater to actually see them evolve. Speaking of evolving, Alpha is good now. Echo alluded to him switching sides in "Epitaph One" (although I thought her statement, coupled with her tone, was ambiguous and could have implied that Alpha did not intend to help), and in this episode, she said that he had evolved. But that was it. Nothing explaining how he was able to get control over himself the way Echo did. It was fun seeing him on our side, but it was like seeing Spike from Season 2 of Buffy, then, without warning, five episodes later seeing Spike from Season 7/Season 5 of Buffy/Angel.

My other big complaint with the ending was that things turned out relatively happily. Yes, I am a sadist when it comes to fictional characters, but I was fine with the happy ending of Buffy because they earned it and it fit with the story (as dark as the show could be, and as many shades of gray they added, Buffy's characters were Whedon's closest to traditional "heroes" and "villains"). The technology on Dollhouse was the problem, and, rather easily, the technology provided the answer. I have no idea how I would have ended the show, but allowing everyone to regain their original personalities without consequence (Victor and Sierra were able to avoid consequences by staying underground) and very little sacrifice (Ballard died, but was kind of reborn, and Topher sacrificed himself, but he was barely himself anymore anyway) didn't seem right to me. Once again, though, I acknowledge that the writers were working under a impossible situation.

Unfortunately, I can't give the acting and writing the same pass. Most of the regulars' acting was fine, but the two guest stars playing Harding and Ambrose (in new bodies; one of them was Eliza Dushku's brother) were painful to watch. And the writing for the entire first act (which was the only act the included Harding and Ambrose) was pretty bad. Eliza Dushku is not an amazing actress, but I like her more than many critics, but she had a hard time selling the "kick-ass" dialogue she was given in these scenes, and that is usually what she excels at. Oh well, the episode was still good. Much better than the back-up singer or blind girl episodes from Season 1. I'm probably just bitter that the show is over.

Up next: Social construction...

Dollhouse: Burning Down the House

Holy crap, it's been a long time. I've been so busy with law school that I haven't had time to write here. I promise that I will do the post on Garden State, as well as a look at how the third season of Mad Men concluded (I really wanted to do a write-up of one episode because it serendipitously aired on the same day as a major event that complimented an event that occurred in the episode). But I had to get back here to discuss the latest, and some of the last, episodes of Dollhouse. While I was away, FOX announced that the show was canceled. They promised to air all of the purchased episodes, even the ones that had not yet been produced. The one, slight, upside is that, because not all episodes had been produced, Whedon and the writers were able to create an ending for the show. Small victories...

Anyway, in the two episodes tonight, the Senator Perrin story was brought to the forefront and took some very unexpected turns. Many people in the online community guessed that Perrin's wife was a sleeper doll, and the promos for the episode all but confirmed it. The truth was much more surprising: Perrin himself is the one with altered memories, but he isn't quite a doll. He was born Daniel Perrin, who came from a long line of politicians. But Perrin was a screw-up. He failed out of Yale, was drunken frat boy, and would never amount to anything. Rossum took note of the situation, knew that with his pedigree, they had someone who could easily get elected if he could clean himself up, and did the cleaning for him. His "wife" is really his handler. So why would Rossum create a politician who wants to bring Rossum down? The plan involves Perrin learning the "truth," that all of his tips about Rossum have come from its competitors in an effort to destroy them. Rossum looks like the victim of corporate espionage, and now Perrin is in their corner. A potential white knight for people like Echo, Victor, and Sierra has become a monster.

The path to this revelation was incredible, mainly because we got to meet Bennett, the D.C. Dollhouse programmer, played by Summer Glau. Bennett is kind of like a twisted River Tam; she is a slightly crazy genius with a somewhat stunted maturation and sadistic streak. She is somehow tied to Caroline, and blames her for an accident that left her with a dead arm (the flashbacks we saw don't completely mesh with what little we know about Caroline, so I don't know if what we know is misdirection or if what she believes is wrong, but we know she isn't a doll). We also saw Ray Wise as the head of the D.C. Dollhouse, which was good, but not as great as it could have been. Unfortunately, for as great as these episodes were, there were some line readings that were a bit clunky. I'm not sure if it was the writing or the acting, but every now and then, things felt off, which is strange because of the writers and actors involved. One actor who was awesome as usual was Enver Gjokaj. Adelle and Topher both went to D.C., and to cover for Topher while he was gone, Victor was imprinted with Topher's mind. Gjokaj was able to imitate Topher's voice, mannerisms, and expressions nearly perfectly, and it was a joy to watch. Now that this show is over, Gjokaj needs his own series. Seriously.

I am very sad that this series is going to end. It wasn't always as good as Whedon's other shows, but it is/was one of the better series in production and was consistently entertaining and humorous (not to mention heart-wrenching). Next week's episodes look to be great based on who will be returning. If you want to know more about the remaining episodes, check out this page from Ain't It Cool. I tried not to read too much, but I did see the name of the final episode, which, based on the name, should be very interesting.

Edit: Another great link. Hometown pride!

Up next: Jersey boy and girl (I hope)...

Dollhouse: Beautiful Things on Thin Ice

Last week's Dollhouse was just ok. The ending was very important, but the story was boring/annoying. This week, however, was absolutely incredible. Although the overall story is moving forward relatively slowly (nowhere near the pace of the second half of last year), it is certainly moving, and this is the kind of engagement-of-the-week episode I can get behind. Echo's engagement to a literature professor (how does he have the money to rent a doll?) became intwined with Victor's imprint (not an engagement, though), both thematically and actually when something went horribly wrong.

Echo was imprinted with the mind of a ditzy college student who would be willing to sleep with her prof for a better grade. Turns out that the prof has always fantasized about this sort of thing, but either none of his students ever wanted to or he was too "ethical" to sleep with an actual student (I would have liked the show to have actually said that, and then have him justify making someone do it without them realizing it). Meanwhile, Victor gets imprinted with the mind of the nephew of one of Rossum's majority stockholders (the stockholder is played by Michael Hogan, who played Col. Tigh on Battlestar Galactica). The nephew is a whacked out killer with a serious aversion to women. Angry that his mother, sisters, and aunt would rather go on dates than play with him (he's in his 20's, by the way), he kidnaps women to fill these roles, drugs them up, and poses them like mannequins in a creepy outdoor croquet scene. One of his latest victims fought back, so he had to get a new woman to "play" his aunt, but he was hit by a car. In an effort to find the missing women, Topher, against his better judgment, imprinted Victor with the man's mind and had Ballard interrogate him. Unfortunately, he got out, and due to a mix-up, Victor's GPS chip was not in his body, so they had to track him down the hard way.

In addition to Echo's continuing mental degeneration, in which all of her imprints bleed together, the story took a somewhat significant step tonight when Topher attempted to do a remote wipe on Victor. Adelle knew it was possible because Alpha remote wiped Echo last year, but Topher was still reluctant. He partially succeeded, in that he was able to alter the actives' minds from the Dollhouse while the actives were in the field, but instead of wiping Victor, he switched Victor's serial killer with Echo's party girl. But as viewers of "Epitaph One" know, this will be significant, because Topher will eventually perfect remote wiping, setting the stage for the horrific future.

Speaking of a horrific future, cancellation talks are happening again. The ratings for the episode two weeks back were abysmal. Fortunately, the "Belle Chose" ratings were better, but the Save Our Show campaigns are starting up again, and even mainstream critics are joining in. FOX's attitude on this really upsets me, especially since they are doing things almost exactly the same as they did when Firefly was on the air (although they have shown enough faith to bring the show back for a second season). First of all, Dollhouse is on Friday nights. I love this show, but I've only watched it when it actually aired twice; the first time was "Omega" and the second time was "Belle Chose." Next, what do ratings really mean anymore, anyways? With Hulu.com, streaming episodes on FOX.com, TiVo, and illegal downloads, FOX can't possibly track the number of people who actually watch the show. Finally, I realized something when watching "Belle Chose" the other night: Just like Firefly, FOX is not advertising for Dollhouse at all (or at least, very minimally). I watch Glee most Wednesdays, but I missed it this week. While watching "Belle Chose," I saw a commercial for Glee, and it was then I realized that every week, when I watch Glee, I have never once seen a commercial for Dollhouse. Come on FOX.

I have found this website, which I like. Check it out, and PLEASE check out Dollhouse if you haven't already.

UPDATE

Up next: New Jersey state of mind...

Dollhouse: Second Chance

Last night, I missed the second season premiere of Dollhouse (I doubt I'll be catching many when they first air because it's on Friday nights... fuck you FOX), but I had an interesting exchange with a friend of mine, who is also a Dollhouse fan. She asked me if my girlfriend and myself were going to an after-party, but I told her that we couldn't because we had to get up early this morning. I said that it wasn't a matter of what we wanted, and my friend responded that it was about what we needed. She didn't even realize the show started up again last night. Fortunately, unlike Firefly, Dollhouse has gotten a second season and second chance to show us that Joss Whedon is a master storyteller.

Although I was unsure of the merits of this series after that back-up singer episode, every episode from "Man on the Street" through the unaired "Epitaph One" thoroughly entertained me and made me want to see what happened next immediately after viewing. "Epitaph One" made me want FOX to commission a companion show that takes place in the post-apocalyptic future after the imprinting technology got out of control. Although that isn't going to happen, Whedon has said that we will see more of that time period. Originally, a scene from 2019 was going to open the second season, but it was cut for time (episodes are no longer 50 minutes; FOX got rid of its "Remote-Free TV" campaign).

However, the episode did a lot to set up the new directions the show is going in. First off, Ballard's deal with DeWitt is rather strange; although we're still not clear on the specifics, he is acting as a kind of in-house client who uses Echo to take down criminals. Why DeWitt is allowing this is unclear, but Ballard proved his loyalty to Caroline/Echo, and he eventually became Echo's new handler. But this was after Echo was fundamentally altered. Although Topher thought he undid Alpha's composite event (all of Echo's personalities were simultaneously uploaded into her mind), the treatment didn't hold, and now Echo is now a different version of Alpha. Her composite personality has not caused her to go crazy the way Alpha's drove him insane. She has made it her mission to help the Dolls regain their true personalities, and Ballard is all too happy to help.

My favorite parts of the episode involved Topher and Dr. Saunders/Whiskey. The knowledge that you are not who you think you are, that you are not real and are only temporarily occupying someone else's body, cannot be good for the psyche. Dr. Saunders is trying to make sense of who she is and what she can do, and it doesn't help that her slight contempt for the Dollhouse, which maker her want to return her body to whoever owns it, is being overtaken by her sense of self-preservation. How can you ask someone to willingly give up their life (over the hiatus I wondered what would happen if someone accidentally triggered her by asking about a treatment, but when Topher made such a comment, it didn't seem to have any effect on her)? What makes matters even worse for her is that DeWitt has spent big bucks on facial reconstruction surgery for Victor to heal the scars Alpha gave him. As of now (though as we know, not forever) Whiskey still has her scars, and even though she was the most popular Active, DeWitt loves Victor (or at least one of his imprints). Knowing that the surgery is available, but that you aren't getting it while someone less qualified gets it right away may not be as jarring as knowing you are a doll, but it can't help the situation.

So she has resorted to playing cruel pranks on Topher; not only did she learn she isn't real, she learned that the man she loathed was responsible for everything about herself (her line about being designed by a sociopath in a sweater vest was pretty great). This culminated in an incredible scene between the two (about 1/3 of the incredibleness extends from the fact that Amy Acker was in a nightie the whole time) in which she got into his bed to see if he would sleep with her. The result was both an incredible conversation about free will and an illuminating look into Topher's character. Topher explained why he gave her some of the character traits he did, but explained that it was her own mind that used such traits to form opinions. He didn't make her hate him, she came to that conclusion on his own. And for all of Topher's arrogance and amorality, he showed that he does care about the Dolls and wants to do everything possible to keep them safe, even if it means working closely with someone who won't get along with him every day. Dr. Saunders finally left the Dollhouse, going against Topher's programming intended to keep here there, in an effort to show herself she had free will and to defy Topher and DeWitt. Quick side note: last year, I noticed that we never saw DeWitt, Boyd, Saunders, or Topher at their homes (unless that place in "A Spy in the House of Love" was DeWitt's home), and I wondered how much freedom people who work are the Dollhouse are given by the Rossum Corporation. It probably can't be too much, based on the sensitive nature of their work, but why would anyone want to be subject to such restriction? Even if they were paid all the money they could possibly want, there would be no way to derive any pleasure from it. I bring this up because we see Topher's makeshift bedroom inside a server room, and I have to wonder, is that where he lives, or is that his sanctuary during his long hours?

Finally, I am really excited to have Alexis Denisof become a recurring character on the show. He is playing a U.S. Senator (and therefore using his real voice, which is a bit of a change from the British accent Whedon fans are used to hearing; on that note, Jamie Bamber of Battlestar Galactica got to use his actual speaking voice, which has a British accent, in the episode) with a bone to pick with the Rossum Corporation. Ain't It Cool News referred to him as being either the Big Bad (something familiar to Buffy fans) or the Big Good of the season. I find that observation both funny and astute, because we cannot forget that at the end of the day, the non-Doll characters we follow every week are not working in humanity's best interest, no matter how they justify what they do. As we saw in "Epitaph One," the Dollhouse tech will lead to very bad things, and even if DeWitt and Topher don't believe everything the higher-ups in Rossum do (DeWitt seems to draw the line at permanent, rather than temporary, slavery), they are certainly helping the problem right now.

Up next: More TV...

Dollhouse: Actuals

So something came up. My curiosity was piqued, and I had to watch "Epitaph One". It turns out that FOX is going beyond shooting itself in the foot by not airing this, because not only will the events of the episode matter in the upcoming season, but it is a damn good episode. It mostly takes place in 2019, but we see a series of "memories" (which may or may not be accurate) of the Dollhouse's later (and early) days. One scene features Echo and Ballard working together, and shows us that Echo's time as Omega left some strange side effects. But the rest of the episode is dedicated to showing how the technology that makes the Dollhouse possible could (and in the continuity of the show, does) destroy the world.

In "Man on the Street", each act begins with someone discussing the existence and potential of imprinting people. The last interviewee states that the human race will end because of this technology because if we can erase who we are, there will be no way to be ourselves. In the future of Dollhouse, that is exactly what has happened. It started with Rossum deciding that the dolls would become permanent slaves in order to allow their clients to upgrade themselves by permanently placing themselves in an active's body. If a client doesn't like the way they look, or doesn't want to be allergic to shellfish, they can upload their mind into a better body. And when that body dies, they can put themselves in a new one. Suddenly, the episode "Haunted" takes on all new meaning. Will this stagnate the human race? Will anyone new ever be born? Or will people be raised like animals to be made into vessels for the wealthy if the person is attractive?

One of my favorite aspects of the episode was the tragedy of Topher Brink; here is a man who wanted to change the world, and he succeeded in ways he never imagined. Topher wasn't the most moral of people; he not only was ok with the idea of the Dollhouse, but he relished the ability to improve it. He made the technology better, faster, and more accessible. And then, all his ideas were corrupted and used to turn any broadcasting device into an imprint chair (kind of like in "Gray Hour"; you see, Joss knew what he was doing back at the beginning of the season when everyone was complaining about the episodic nature of the show). The knowledge that he gave world governments the power to turn people into killing machines through telephones eventually drove him insane.

Also, the scenes with Whiskey were beyond creepy, which, to me, means that I loved them. Amy Acker is a seriously underappreciated actress (Enver Gjokaj also is showing promise because he seemlessly becomes a new character every week), and her portrayal of a mind-wiped but still somewhat aware doll very well. I could have done without the speech from Felicia Day and Caroline-in-the-kid at the end, but I am super-psyched to see where things go from here. Oh, and I was very happy to see Laurence Dominic again; I knew he'd find his way out of the attic somehow.

Up next: Down the rabbit hole...

Comic Con: Preparing for Next Year

First up, I want to thank Ain't It Cool News for posting these stories. In the LOST article, they reported on a lot of serious and humorous events from the LOST panel, many of which made me happy to hear. However, after 5 seasons, I am a little weary of believing everything they say; in the past, they have said things in order to misdirect us (they said a lot of things were going to happen in the Season 1 finale, only to either have the exact opposite happen, or to wait years for the event to actually occur. Other times, they have promised something, only to have to push it back (I think they have finally realized that they will never tell Libby's story, regardless of the promises at the end of Seasons 3 and 4). I am excited to see that (they claim) Juliet and Daniel are coming back. Unfortunately, because I am abroad right now, I cannot watch all the videos. I WAS able to watch the last one, marked "Fakery", which was very intriguing indeed.

UPDATE: A new link from The Onion AV Club!

UPDATE 2: So I just had a thought; Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have been saying that there won't be flashbacks, flashforwards, or time travel in Season 6, and that they are planning something different. A few of the Comic Con videos have involved an alternate universe where either the plane didn't crash and the castaways continued living their lives, or, the detonation of the bomb altered events before the crash as well. In one video, Kate was featured on America's Most Wanted for killing her step-father's apprentice by accident, rather than her step-father himself (and another video showed Oceanic 815 crashing on the tarmac in LA). What if this year, instead of flashbacks, etc., we see scenes from this alternate timeline? I don't know what the purpose would be because none of what happened in the timeline would matter unless Lindelof and Cuse (I don't know why I keep tagging J.J. Abrams for LOST) find a way to reconcile the two timelines.

Up next, in the Battlestar Galactica article, the reporter noted that there could be more made-for-TV Galactica movies after The Plan. I don't know how I feel about this; on one hand, I love the show and would enjoy seeing more from that world (and that time, since we are getting Caprica soon). On the other, I don't want some story shoehorned in that doesn't make sense. Finally, I still need to see the Caprica pilot, and if I like it, I will try to follow it here.

Finally, I have not yet read the Dollhouse article because it deals with "Epitaph One", which I haven't seen yet. I can't wait to check it out.

Up next: The Legend continues...

Dollhouse: Omega

Tonight's episode of Dollhouse may be the last one to ever air, and it was also the first one I ever saw when it was actually on (stupid Friday night death slot), and let me just say: holy shit, dudes. The show has certainly come a long way from where it was back on that Friday the 13th in February. I remember enjoying the show, but feeling like it barely deserved to have Joss Whedon's name attached to it. Tonight, the status quo was altered, dark secrets were revealed, and the show's central question was addressed, but not through the character you would think it would be.

Where to begin? Well, first I have to once again acknowledge Alan Tudyk's incredible performance as Alpha. This week, we saw new dimensions of the insane post-composite event Alpha that we only saw for about 5 minutes last week, but we also saw Alpha as an innocent (?) active in his mind-wiped state (in addition to a rather sadistic imprint; I honestly don't know what the client's fantasy was, and I probably don't want to know). I guess he always was a little different from the other actives, but his weird attraction to Echo should have set off alarms in the minds of DeWitt, Topher, and his handler, especially after he kissed Echo while both of them were wiped (Echo's non-reaction was hilarious). In the present, the interaction of the 40-something full personalities in Alpha's head was very intriguing and creepy to watch, and his views on his awareness were terrifying to say the least.

Going back to the flashbacks, Joss and company revealed that yet ANOTHER character who we thought was a "real" person was actually a doll. I always thought there was something off about Dr. Saunders; she seemed to hate the Dollhouse, but she willingly worked there and actually came up with a plan to protect it a few episodes ago. But I never saw the fact that she was a doll coming (love the fact that her name was Whiskey). She was the Dollhouse's most popular active, but she was retired when Alpha cut up her face in a fit of jealousy(?) because he wanted Echo to be number 1. Not only that, but there was a "real" Dr. Saunders too, and now we know that, back in the second episode's flashback to right after Alpha's rampage, Topher wasn't referring to Amy Acker when he said that "Dr. Saunders' face looks like a jigsaw puzzle." Now that Victor has suffered a similar fate, is DeWitt going to make him a handler or something? Speaking of handlers, I don't think we've seen Echo's new handler since Langton got promoted.

On the subject of the other dolls, I have to wonder if there was a deleted scene involving Sierra and November in their imprinted state. I am aware that the purpose of the imprint scene was to put Ballard in a room with a blank November, but I would have liked to have seen what those two were up to. Anyway, Ballard made a pretty big decision tonight, and I am VERY excited to see how it plays out next year (assuming there IS a next year). It is strange to think about how someone like Langton, who despises the Dollhouse, could come to work for it. Now, through Ballard, we have an idea. Also, I have to wonder about Ballard's comment to the restored November (I hope she comes back, but I don't know how that will happen); she asked him who he was, and he said "no one." I think that we're supposed to take that as he doesn't want her to get involved with him because it would be too painful for him and too dangerous for her. But is it a hint that maybe Ballard is going to become an active?!

And now for the main event. The scenes in Alpha's "lair", as Caroline referred to it, were simultaneously creepy, exciting, and enlightening. The scene was supplemented by Ballard, Langton, and Topher researching who Alpha was before he became an active, and suddenly, the question of whether the Dollhouse can wipe away a person's soul in addition to his/her memories came to the forefront. The series has kept that idea in the background, but tonight, the series tells us that the answer is most likely no (I originally typed "definitely no", but that may not be the case, as I will point out in a second). Alpha was a criminal before the Dollhouse took him in. He was in prison for kidnapping and attempted murder, and how did he try to kill his young female victim? He sliced up her face. As a wiped active, he still had a propensity for taking women he thought were his and cutting up other ones, and with 48 personalities in his head simultaneously, he continued these practices, even though his own personality was NOT one of the 48.

And that brings us to the idea that maybe the Dollhouse is powerful enough to wipe away a soul. Or at least, they can make someone hate oneself, because the very first person Alpha killed by choice (his initial victims were killed because they were in his way) was HIMSELF. Alpha immediately destroyed the harddrive containing his real self. He was full of self-loathing, and he tried to impart similar hatred onto Echo's composite self, referred to as Omega, by putting Caroline into a random body and telling Omega that Caroline "abandoned" her body for money. However, Omega didn't buy in.

So once again, Joss Whedon has proven himself to be a master storyteller, even when working with characters who are either extremely morally lacking or are barely characters at all. I remember being ready to love whatever Dollhouse would prove to be merely because Joss was doing it, only to have my confidence shot by the first few episodes. But we must remember that the first seasons of Buffy and Angel contained some of the weakest episodes of each series (you have no idea how much I wish I could say the same about Firefly; by the way, do you guys think this episode had Angel and Firefly references when Topher said something about putting souls in glass jars (Angel) and putting fireflies (Firefly) in them?). I really hope this show comes back next year. There is one more episode filmed, but we won't see it until the DVD is released (Felicia Day is in it!), and there is this rumor, but the end of this episode showed us that there are many more stories to tell, and I want to see them.

One last thing: I really hope that Joss casts Jewel Staite as an active next year.

Up next: Clone wars...

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...

Dollhouse: Self-Preservation

So Dollhouse keeps getting better, and although I still think that "Man on the Street" is the best episode of the season, "A Spy in the House of Love" was a close second. In addition to presenting various revelations, the episode moves two characters in new directions. The structure of the episode was very interesting, as the first act showed Topher discovering the existence of the mole and followed Echo as she saw pieces of various events which led her to ask Topher to imprint her with a personality that will allow her to help find the leak. The next four acts each started with one of the four main dolls getting imprinted with a personality, and followed them through their engagement.

November had the Mellie imprint uploaded again, and she was sent back to Ballard's building. Ballard discovered the Dollhouse's surveillance equipment in his appartment and got paranoid, so now Mellie will be the Dollhouse's last remaining way to monitor his activities. (Un)fortunately, the mole chose to make contact with Ballard again, but this time through November. Ballard got (minimal) new information about the Dollhouse, but the price was learning that the girl he was starting to fall for didn't really exist.

Sierra was imprinted to be a spy with a mission to infiltrate the NSA, who we learned employed the mole. Echo was also imprinted with a personality to catch the mole, but she became an interrogator. Victor was out on a routine engagement, but it turned out to not be so routine after all. It turns out that Adelle is lonley (as is Dr. Saunders, but her refusal to leave the Dollhouse may also be based on fear as well as her supposed lack of friends), and she has been engaging Victor to satisfy her in the way that only a perfect doll can. Victor is sent to some random woman's house so that his handler won't know who the real client is, then he takes off in a little sports car and provides Adelle with everything she needs.

I said a few weeks ago that having Ivy, Topher's assistant, be the mole would be the obvious choice (though because the "obvious" choice is rarely the actual culprit, she was the seemingly obvious choice), and it looks like Whedon and company agreed. When she was "revealed" as the mole, I was a tad disappointed, but when the real mole was uncovered, I was certainly surprised, and a little sad that a certain character likely won't be coming back any time soon (looks like I was right about something else I said a while back, and although he/she is out of play for now, I do think that the writers left a small door open to allow for his/her return). But Echo's ability to request to help out while in a wiped state has finally proven to Adelle that she is special and definitely worth keeping around. She has plans for Echo, and I am very excited to learn what they are. Also, Langdon is moving up in the hierarchy in spite of his hatred of the Dollhouse, which may allow him to take the place down some day...

I also have a new crazy theory about the goings-on in the Dollhouse. When Topher discovered the mole, Dominic told the imprinted Sierra that Topher was able to decrypt part of the chip, but not all of it. I realized that they would need to imprint her with the ability to have the skill to decrpyt the remaining part, and if that was true, why couldn't they imprint a programmer for the dolls themselves. What if Topher is a doll?! How would they know who to trust when recruiting "geniuses" to act as programmer? I'm sure they could lure people in with the promise of such astounding technology, but what guarantee would they have that somone with loose morals like Topher wouldn't sell them out?! How many of the janitors and security people can be trusted? What if the Dollhouse is staffed by dolls?

Up next: The art of failure...

Dollhouse: Blue Sun Rising

I promise I will get to my Young Avengers posts that I promised soon. But there's been so much going on in television that I cannot ignore it. Last week, we had the end of Battlestar Galactica and the first episode of Dollhouse that laid the groundwork for the overall mythology of the series. This week, the curtain got pulled back a little farther, and we learned a little about an evil corporation that is (probably) funding the Dollhouse as well as the reason Caroline was forced to become Echo. Also, while last week's episode was the first one to show Whedon's trademark emotional center, this was the first episode to show off his trademark wit.

First of all, the title of this post is a Firefly reference; Blue Sun was the mega-corporation that was partially responsible for the tests on River Tam, but due to the early cancellation, we never really learned anything about them. It looks like this time around, Whedon is wasting no time in bringing the sinister Rossum Corporation to the forefront (though I really liked how, in Firefly, even though we never formally met Blue Sun, there was plenty of evidence of its existence throughout the series). Rossum is a drug manufacturer that is performing all kinds of unorthodox experiments. Caroline was an outspoken opponent of Rossum, and when thesy caught her breaking into their labs, Rossum shipped her off to DeWitt, where she became Echo. Based on the little we saw, Rossum is clearly evil, but I really hope that Whedon finds a way to partly justify what they are doing or show that things aren't exactly what they seem. The "evil corporation" thing is much too simplistic for a Whedon story; one of my favorite Whedon quotes is that the best villains are the ones who are partly right...

Elements of this episode kind of reminds me of Buffy's "Band Candy" episode and Angel's "Spin The Bottle" episode (and kind of Buffy's "Tabula Rasa", but that one was much more emotional in regards to the relevant elements); this episode dealt with a drug created by Rossum that broke down mental processes and turned people into goofy children. Topher and DeWitt's reaction to the drug was, in my opinion, the best because those two really went all out with the lunacy. I think that DeWitt's Brit-bashing comments and trampoline adventure were brilliant in their simplicity. Boyd and Dominic also had great moments (though I think Dominic's best line was when he was still sober; after Victor had a special agent personality imprinted, Victor started ordering Dominic around, which pissed Dominic off to no end).

The drug's effect on the dolls, on the other hand, caused them to "glitch", and they started remembering past imprints, events from their inactive states, and, in Echo's case, her life before the Dollhouse. Echo's journey into Rossum in the present mirrored her last experience before joining the Dollhouse, and her inability to fully remember everything yet still know what she was doing was creepy to watch, but will have interesting effects on her character if the effects don't wear off.

As for Ballard, he didn't get much screentime this week, but we learned that not even an attack on Mellie (can I start calling her November yet?) and a suspension won't deter him from pursuing the Dollhouse. In fact, it has strengthened his resolve. Why is Mellie (November?) being extracted? I would think that now, more than ever, DeWitt would want her in place to monitor what he was doing. Oh well, now we'll get to see how she interacts with the other dolls. Hopefully, the series has run through its purely stand-alone episodes (although, there was still some arc stuff in the first five), and from now on, we'll get episodes like this and last week's.

Oh, and is anyone else wondering where Alpha is?

Up next: That's not our name, by the way...

Dollhouse: The Purpose

Um, wow? I have certainly enjoyed the previous five episodes of Dollhouse, but "Man on the Street" really took things to the next level. At long last, this finally felt like a Joss Whedon show. We now know for certain that there is a bigger meaning to the Dollhouse than just dealing in the fantasies of the super-rich. We don't know what that purpose is yet, but we certainly know it exists, along with Dollhouses in 20 other cities aside from Los Angeles. This episode was packed full of stuff, from hints about who is pulling the strings to effects that non-actives can have on the dolls.

First of all, the sanctuary of the Dollhouse has been shown to be anything but this week. Dr. Saunders discovered Sierra has had sex in her inactive state, and it turns out that someone has been raping her. But even more importantly to the overall story, there is a mole inside who reprogrammed Echo before her encounter with Ballard. Yes, they finally met this week, and the encounter was spectacular. Wait, that should say that BOTH encounters were spectacular. At first, it looked like Echo's mission-of-the-week would involve being the wife of an internet billionaire, but that mission was quickly scuttled when Ballard burst in and forced Langdon to whisk Echo back to the Dollhouse. Echo's belief that her "husband" made it big with porn never ceased to be hilarious. But the ensuing conversation between Ballard and Patton Oswalt's character was incredible. Oswalt admitted that he was seeking a fantasy, but told Ballard that his quest to free Caroline was also based on a fantasy, in addition to justice.

After we watch Ballard's relationship with his neighbor Mellie develop, we get a second meeting between Echo and Ballard, and this time, she has been imprinted with a kick-ass personality who is supposed to take him down. Unfortunately for the Dollhouse, they have a mole, and Echo was reprogrammed to tell Ballard to lay low for a while. Could this have been a calculated move by the Dollhouse to get him to back off for a while? Ballard obviously poses a threat because they have had TWO dolls tasked to keep him busy (fool me once Joss Whedon, shame on you, but fool me twice, especially after reading that two actors were "originally set" to play dolls before removing those characters from the story, then shame on me). But if the Dollhouse really is as powerful as Echo says it is, how could Ballard be a threat? And what would they gain from telling Ballard that the fantasy business is the means, but not the ends of the Dollhouse? Anyway, my guess is that, if there truly is an informant, it is Topher's assistant. I realize that she is the obvious choice right now, but I have no idea who else it could be. Maybe Dr. Saunders? But perhaps the most interesting development is the idea that the Dollhouse can be used for good in rare circumstances...

This episode absolutely rocked on multiple levels, and I have never been more excited to see the next one.

Up next: The next generation...

Dollhouse: Building Up

We're five episodes in to Dollhouse, and while it still isn't yet on par with Joss Whedon's other three shows, that doesn't mean it's not good. First of all, let's remember that Buffy and Angel each needed a season to find their footing. But more importantly, this is a much different kind of show, and I think that Whedon wants to establish the world that Echo lives in for a while before pulling back the curtain on the secrets, and for now, I'm very ok with that. I do want to know who is pulling the strings and what is up with Alpha, but for now, I want to see how the Dollhouse and the Actives function in the world.

So far, Echo's various imprints and engagements have been interesting (with the exception of her job as a backup singer), but even more interesting is the way she, Victor, and Sierra have been acting in their wiped states. Oh yeah, Victor; I'm still kicking myself for not realizing that the Lubov personality was merely an imprint (after all, I was fully aware that his "original" role was that of a doll, as told by Wikipedia). But these three dolls have started showing signs that they aren't as wiped as DeWitt and Laurence Dominic, the head of security, would like them to be. They are almost friends, and Echo and Sierra seemed to show that they remembered certain things from some of their imprinted personalities (sadly for me, one of these instances was the stupid "shoulder-to-the-wheel" motion that drove me insane). And let's not forget Victor's "man-reaction" to Sierra in the shower.

But let's go back to Mr. Dominic for a second. Another important thing that the dolls are remembering from their imprinted states is Mr. Dominic. Echo especially has had reasons to dislike him due to things he has done and said to her both in her active and wiped states, and she is beginning to show signs of hostility toward him in her wiped state. This does not bode well for him. I really hope that he becomes a regular next year, but at the same time, I have a feeling (and an almost equal but opposite hope) that he won't survive the year. He has legitimate reason to be afraid of Echo; she is showing signs of retaining her personalities in a way very similar to Alpha, the insane doll that somehow remembered all of his personalities. This "composite" personality made him extremely intelligent and deadly, and Dominic has every reason to not want another Alpha situation. However, I'm guessing that he could be a victim of either Alpha or Echo by season's end. On the other hand, maybe Echo will end up saving him.

Next week's episode is written by Joss Whedon, and is supposed to be blow-your-mind good. Judging by the trailer, Echo and Ballard will meet, and with any luck, we'll get to meet Alpha. But even if we don't, if it's half as good as we've been hearing, I'll still be happy.

Up next: The Watchmen according to Zack Snyder...

Dollhouse: In The Beginning

Friday finally introduced us to Joss Whedon's newest show, Dollhouse. I will admit that after about a year and a half of following the development of the show through the alterations to the pilot (that is putting things lightly), the schedule shift from Mondays after 24 to Firefly's Friday night death slot, and the numerous pre-emptive Save Our Show campaigns, my rock-solid belief that this show would be off-the-charts incredible became not-so-rock-solid. After finally seeing it, I can say that while it isn't the best thing I've ever seen Joss do, it kept my attention, and will probably hold on to me as a viewer (on the internet the next day) for at least the entire season.

On one hand, it's very unfair to judge an entire show based on its pilot, especially when the first seasons of Buffy and Angel were among the weakest for those two shows. However, while I can make that argument for a new viewer of those two shows and still justify sitting through the early stuff, Dollhouse is a brand new show that needs to establish an audience. Whedon has had three shows before this, and by now he should know how to make an effective pilot. I'm not saying the show was bad; I liked it enough to immediately want to see the next episode, but I acknowledge that there are problems that need to be worked out.

My biggest gripe is the character dynamics; it seems like there are groups of characters who exist in Venn diagrams, where some will interact very often, some will rarely interact, and some will never interact (at least for a while). Echo is in contact with the other actives (like Sierra), her handler Boyd, and Topher the tech. She had a brief prologue scene with DeWitt, the head of the Dollhouse, before she became an active, but I doubt the two of them will see each other much more in the coming weeks. And, Echo's interactions with Boyd will likely be inconsequential, because anything meaningful they say to each other will be wiped away with the rest of the implanted personality whenever Echo's engagement is over. One review I read referred to Boyd as the Giles to Echo's Buffy, but every time Echo will need a Giles will be when she's engaged, and those memories are ultimately destroyed (or so we think). As for Agent Ballard and Lubov, the Russian mobster, they likely won't have any interaction with the Dollhouse for quite some time. I rank this as such an important problem because the character interaction is what makes Whedon's shows worth watching. Watching the complex relationships develop and seeing how the various characters deal with each other was such a pleasure in the first three shows, and now, two main characters are nothing but blank slates, while most of the rest only exist in defined circles.

I know that Whedon has long-term plans for this show (when does he not have long-term plans for his work?), but I don't know how long he can stretch out the story of Echo self-aware again. There are other plotlines, such as exploring who Echo was before becoming an active (we have seen brief glimpses of her life as "Caroline"), and the story of Alpha, a rogue active (who has ties to Echo and Ballard), but the plotline that we have been aware of from the beginning is the one involving Echo retaining her memories. The tagline of the show reinforces it (You can erase a memory, but can you wipe away a soul?). For one thing, how long will it take until Echo begins to realize what's going on? And where do we go from there? Does the show pull an Alias and have Echo leave the Dollhouse partway through Season 2 and join up with Ballard? Speaking of story arcs, I pointed out to a friend of mine that Topher reminded me a lot of Warren from Buffy. At first it was just physical (they both have HUGE noses), but then he started talking, and their personalities align. Topher isn't as maniacal as Warren (yet; remember that Warren also began as a harmless (relatively) asshole), but he shares a few of Warren's views on peoples' "places in the world". My friend believes that Topher will somehow (he isn't sure how Joss would pull it off) evolve into a major villain on the show. I certainly understand where he's coming from, but I'm not ready to say that Topher could pull something like that off. Then again, I've seen one episode, so I'm sure there are plenty of character twists coming that no one can anticipate right now.

And then there's the big complaint that at least 2/3 of reviewers mentioned: the practicality of the Dollhouse (which even the characters in the show address in one scene). The plot of the pilot certainly begs the question of why someone would pay millions of dollars to hire an active to help get his kidnapped daughter back if he only wanted her as a negotiator. He could get a real negotiator, with real experience, for much less. An argument could be made that an active would be absolutely perfect, but as we saw, imperfections are built into the personalities. Maybe sending Sierra in to kill the kidnappers was part of the plan all along and he only wanted Echo's negotiator as a front. However, the Dollhouse makes perfect sense for engagements such as dates and crimes. An active is much better than an escort because the active truly believes that he/she cares about the client, and doesn't know he/she is being paid. As for criminal jobs, the client probably wants someone trustworthy, competent, and off the radar. The police would have to do some serious investigating to find the active, and if they were to find him/her, he/she wouldn't remember anything.

I am still excited to see where this series is going. Sadly, I'm not as optimistic as I once was, but I still have faith that Joss Whedon knows what he's doing.

Up next: Warnderland...