Dollhouse cancelled! Sad, but not terribly shocking...

The bad news, which the small yet devoted Dollhouse fanbase has been trying to stave off since the show's inauspicious premiere in February, has finally arrived. FOX officially announced this week that Joss Whedon's television allegory about identity and exploitation will be cancelled after the remaining nine episodes air. This was a huge disappointment for me (I've really enjoyed watching and writing about this show, and I feel like there's so much about the characters and story yet to be explored), but I cannot say that it was wholly unexpected. Whether due to it's undesirable Friday night timeslot, or to its overly complex and unwieldy plot structure, or to a combination of the two, the show never managed to build up a large enough live audience to keep it going. I was grateful and optimistic when Dollhouse was picked up for a second season last spring, but seeing as how the show remained in it's Friday night spot, continued to draw depressing ratings, and got swept out of the November sweeps, I wasn't terribly surprised to hear the news. Still, it's hard to face the finality of the cancellation after stubbornly holding out hope for the better part of the year that things would turn around, and that the show might yet have a bright future. It must suck even more for the actors and production team.

And speaking of those actors, let me just say how much I dearly hope Enver Gjokaj finds a new project soon. It's not just that I have such a crush on him. I also think he's an amazing actor, and really deserves more recognition. I also wouldn't mind seeing Dichen Lachmen again on either the big or small screen.

If there's a silver lining here, it's that the remaining nine episodes will air throughout December and January, and that advanced notice of the cancellation will at least allow Joss & co. to prepare for the end. What that means is that fans will most likely be given a degree of closure which wouldn't be possible if the show had been cancelled in a more brutal fashion (as in kind of like, oh I dunno, the last show Whedon created for this network. At least Dollhouse won't go the way of Firefly. Although, if it meant we'd get a feature film several years later it might be worth it.)

So there's nothing much for fans to do except reconcile themselves to the harsh reality, and to console themselves as best they can with the remaining nine episodes of season two. On the other hand, if finishing DH means Whedon can actually get to work on the Dr. Horrible sequel he's been promising for, like, ever - well, that wouldn't be a completely terrible thing either.

Dollhouse 2.05, "Belonging"

Oh my dear sweet goodness gracious, it is such a shame that hardly anybody is watching this show anymore, because last week’s episode totally killed!!!. It was intense, the acting was amazing, the dialogue was sickeningly provocative, and (best of all) it was coherent! I feel like “Belonging” finally succeeded in what this show has been trying to do all along, and has only been dancing around achieving. As a sci-fi allegory, Dollhouse has set itself up as a show that explores issues of exploitation and consent. Yet on multiple occasions the show has fallen on just the wrong side of the fence, with its treatment of these ideas coming off as gimmicky rather than serious. This episode, however, hit the nail dead on the center of the head; I’m still reeling from how awesome it was.

This episode explores the details of how Sierra came to be in the Dollhouse, and it is not a pretty story. Unlike the other dolls, she did not volunteer for this "service." She was originally a free-spirited artist named Priya who became the obsession of a Rossum bigwig named Nolan. Nolan tries everything he could to win her over: money, luxury, gallery showings for her paintings, the works. When she makes it very clear she’s having none of it, the guy shows his true colors. We don’t actually see this next part, but we later learn that he kidnapped her and drugged into a state of paranoid schizophrenia, then used his Rossum connections to get her admitted into the Dollhouse. Once she’s become a doll not only can he have her, but he can have her in any way he wants. He can make her say she loves him and mean it. It’s the ultimate form of abusive fantasy-fullfilment, and it’s sick, sick, sick.

When the situation is finally brought to the attention of the DH staff (by an increasingly cognizant Echo, no less), Nolan and the other higher-ups exert pressure on Adelle to imprint Sierra and hand her over to him permanently. She caves, and tells Topher to do it. Feeling repulsed and guilt-ridden at the role he played in turning Sierra into a doll in the first place, Topher rebels and imprints Sierra with Priya, the original, and sicks her on an unsuspecting Nolan. What follows is a harrowing chain of events that has irrevocable consequences and far-reaching implications for Topher, Sierra, Adelle, and everyone in the Dollhouse.

This episode marked somewhat of a turning point for Adelle. Up till now she’s always staunchly defended the “purity” of the engagements, and of the Dollhouse’s mission, to the moral dissenters like Paul and Caroline. (Remember her words to Caroline in the pilot? “What we do here helps people.”) She’s always been able to rationalize and justify the work she does, to herself and to everyone else, but in this episode she just can’t, and it’s a real blow to her. This was satisfying for me because I’ve been bothered for a while by Adelle’s pseudo-morality. She’s shown an increasing level of genuine concern for her actives' welfare, and has come to see herself as their guardian and protector. Yet this conflicts with the very nature of what she’s doing with them. When she first learns what Nolan did to Sierra, she’s livid (I would no sooner allow you near one of our other Actives than I would a mad dog near a child… Given that you're a raping scumbag one tick shy of a murderer.) And yet, as her sinister, amoral boss points out to her, Nolan isn’t really behaving differently from their other clients. Boss-man’s words to her are chilling in their ugly truthfulness:

Adelle: If we do this, what does that make us?
Boss-man: [raising his eyebrows] What are we already? … If the feeling that you’re somehow decent and moral helps you get through your day, [shrugs] that’s your business. This house, however, is our business.

She can’t keep hedging any longer; confronted with the true implications of her work and feeling the pressure from above, Adelle makes the despicable choice... Which leads to another intense scene in which she tells Topher to carry out the order to imprint Sierra permanently for Nolan.

Topher: [dazed, unbelieving] How can you expect me to do this?
Adelle: [Quietly] You’ll do it because you must. The cold reality is that everyone here was chosen because their morals had been compromised in some way. Everyone [walking towards him] except you. You, Topher, were chosen [putting her hand to his face, gently] because you have no morals. You have always thought of people as your playthings. This is not a judgment. You always take good care of your toys. But you’re simply going to have to let this one go.

Ouch! Man, that hurts. Adelle’s recent disillusionment with her own identity has left her cold and brutal and bitter. But do you see what I mean about this episode’s dialogue? During both of these exchanges, as well as the rest of the episode, I was glued to the screen: fascinated, horrified, almost unbelieving.

In addition to Adelle and Topher, both Sierra and Victor really got to shine in this episode. I’ve already gushed enough about the incredible acting (and adorableness!) of Enver Gjokaj, but Dichen Lachman is also very good. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s got a beautiful, unique look. I love that no matter what situation these characters are in, no matter what personalities they’re imprinted with, these two people always find themselves inevitably drawn to one another. It may sound cheesy and trite, but it really isn’t. Their innocence and sweetness actually provides a brilliant contrast to the darker, grittier, more cynical and sinister elements of the Dollhouse world. With the odds so hopelessly stacked against them, and with so many forces constantly driving them apart (mentally as well as physically), they still manage to find tiny, yet momentous ways to connect with each other. It really is very touching.

In other news, Dollhouse is going on hiatus until December 4th, at which time Fox will air the next six episodes in three weeks. Although the network has officially committed to airing all thirteen produced episodes of season two, the future for the show beyond that point is looking grim indeed. Yet if the show can maintain the intensity, focus, and all-around awesomeness of “Belonging” for the rest of its run, however long that may be, I guess I can’t really ask for more.

Dollhouse: season two opens with inauspicious ratings

But, hey, what else is new for this show, huh? It’s still hanging on, if only just by a thread; after its seemingly miraculous renewal in the face of dismal ratings last spring, Dollhouse has returned to the Friday-night-graveyard of primetime where its return has been heralded once again by down-right depressing numbers. This post will cover the first three episodes of season two in one go, partly because I’ve been backlogged and haven’t gotten around to them until now, and partly because episode three rocked just a little bit more than the first two. So, yeah, I’m still enjoying this show because it’s grappling with some very heavy, far-out material (albeit often in an awkward, rough and ready kind of way.)

2.01 “Vows” In this episode, former agent Ballard (I think I’ll just call him Paul from now on) tests out his new, shaky alliance with Adelle & co. by arranging for Echo to be imprinted as an undercover agent programmed to help solve a case he himself never resolved with the FBI. So she goes undercover and actually marries this international arms dealer. Things start out well but soon go south, of course, and Paul is forced to improvise, actually using Echo’s rather unique “personality disorder” to solve the case in a rather unorthodox way. At the end of the day, when the bad guy’s all arrested and everything, Paul gets to be made Echo’s official handler, at which point the un-imprinted Echo asks him if he’ll help her find Caroline. Meanwhile, Dr Saunders struggles with the recent discovery that she herself was once an active, and that her entire personality and life as Saunders are just a construction of Topher’s, the guy she already hates (by design, it would seem.) She responds at first by finding cruel and petty ways to torment and freak him out, which culminates in this great confrontational scene between the two of them. I found it really interesting that she doesn’t seem to want to reclaim her original identity; she’s too afraid of relinquishing the reality she knows isn’t really real. To her, that would be like dying, and it scares her. Perhaps even more interesting is what Topher finally tells her: that he programmed her to question him, yes, because he thought it was necessary and prudent, but he never programmed her to hate him. She chose to. As much as I like the usual, smarmy Topher, it was really great to see this unnerved, vulnerable side of him.

2.02 “Instinct” Echo gets imprinted as the mother of a baby whose real mother died giving birth. (The father, too grief-stricken to love the baby himself, had turned to the Dollhouse to provide the infant with someone who could give it everything he needed.) When the father gets cold feet and tries to call off the engagement, we everybody learns the hard way that maternal instinct isn’t so easy for Topher to wipe away. Side note: a lot of people think that Eliza Dushku’s the weak link in the cast, and that she doesn’t have the versatility to play Echo. Well, I don’t know about that, but I must admit that she did a great job portraying the panic and terror of a mother losing her child. It was really quite affecting, I thought. Meanwhile, Madeline (the former active known as November) pays a visit to the Dollhouse for her post-release check-up, which is really just a way for Adelle to keep tabs on her. In the process, she runs into Paul, whom she of course doesn’t recognize, and also witnesses one of Echo’s more, er, colorful treatments. She remains blissfully unaware of the painful history she once shared with both of them, a seeming testament to the success of Dollhouse technology. Overall, this wasn’t a particularly strong episode, but it definitely had its moments. Even in her new incarnation of Madeline, Miracle Laurie is still a joy to watch.

2.03 “Belle Chose” Now, I really liked this episode a lot. It featured two separate, seemingly unrelated engagements that ended up converging in a hideous and hilarious way. The first is your basic fantasy fulfillment engagement, with Echo being turned into a bimb-tastic sorority girl named Kiki at the request of a creepy old lit professor. The second one involves a Rossum bigwig calling in a favor with Adelle, and she imprints Victor with the guy’s serial-killer nephew in an effort to locate his victims. When Boyd pulls Paul off of Echo’s engagement to use his FBI profiling on serial-killer-Victor, his reaction is hilarious; completely unnerved by “Kiki”, he says in a dazed kind of voice, “A serial killer? Thank god!” Unfortunately, the real killer’s uncle springs the killer-imprinted Victor from the DH and inadvertently lets him loose on society. Desperate to control the situation, Adelle forces Topher to attempt a tricky remote wipe of Victor that ends up short-circuiting the entire active grid. In all the confusion, Echo’s and Victor’s imprints get crossed: she becomes the insane killer hell-bent on finishing what he started and poor Victor becomes the flighty party-girl, shaking his thang all over an LA club. The results are both frightening (in Echo’s case) and hilarious (in Victor’s). This episode really showcased Enver Gjokaj’s many talents as an actor. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but I really like this guy. I think he’s the best of all the dolls at really embodying each new character he’s given in a totally believable way, even when it’s something as ridiculous as Kiki, or intense as the serial killer. Plus, he’s totally adorable! I hope we get to see much more of him in the future.

Overall, I think this show’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: it’s complex to the point of being unwieldy. It’ll never be mainstream or popular, because it’s really not for the casual viewer. Its greatest hope for survival is to garner enough of a fringe, cult following to buoy it up. Well, here’s hoping!

Oh, and I also thought I'd post the link to this video recap of season one, which is a little long but does an excellent job of bringing together the most compelling elements of the first season and setting us up for furutre developments.

Summer Diversions

So, my summer has unfortunately turned out to be rather suckier than most, what with my recovery from surgery being much longer and more complicated than expected, not to mention my having had to move clean across the country and back again in the space of a single month. Still, I did manage to have a little fun here and there in spite of everything, especially in the celebration of my twentieth birthday (yay me!) Although I’ve been woefully negligent of this blog for the abysmally long period of two months, I decided to write a brief summary of all the entertainment I’ve consumed in the interim. That is to say, rather than writing full-length reviews of everything I’ve taken in over the past few weeks, I’ve compiled a list of concise mini-reviews here:

Books

Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy). Ugh, I did not enjoy this book. My only previous experience with Hardy (reading The Mayor of Casterbridge for a high-school assignment) was likewise an unpleasant one, but I decided to read this on the recommendation of a person whose opinion I highly regard. Sadly, said person and I must agree to disagree on this one. I did appreciate Hardy's frank, non-didactic treatment of the subject of premarital sex, as well as his vivid portraits of the pastoral life of the farming class. Yet I disliked his characters too much to sympathize with their misfortunes, which they bring entirely on themselves. In this novel, as well as in The Mayor of Casterbridge, I found an unnatural and forced abundance of tragedy and melodrama.

Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways (Diana Wynne Jones). If I had to characterize these books with a single word, I would say "delightful." Not for nothing is Jones one of the most successful and respected writers of fantasy for adults and children on either side of the pond. I held off reading these two for quite a while because, although touted as sequels to Howl's Moving Castle (one of my favorite books EVER), this is only half true. Yet I should not have waited: these books may not be direct continuations of HMC, and they may feature Sophie, Howl, and Calcifer only peripherally, but they nevertheless retain all the originality, charm, and wit of that previous work. They are the sort of books that feature characters with whom one cannot help but fall in love, and about whom one cannot read without smiling continuously and laughing outright occasionally.

Teatime for the Traditionally Built (Alexander McCall Smith). The most recent installment in the very enjoyable "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series does not disappoint. These books are rather like the literary equivalent of comfort food: simple, wholesome, and emotionally charged. Each novel in the series serves up the same basic dish, but it is invariably delicious. I love the reliable comfort of these familiar characters, with all their quirks and foibles. This tenth book features, among other things, another fabulous episode in the hilariously epic rivalry between Mma Makutsi (my favorite character, btw) and the elegant yet evil Violet Sephotho. Niether the series in general nor this book in particular are particularly strong in terms of tight plotting, but what they lack in that quarter they somehow make up for in general awesomeness. It's just hard to go too wrong with a story about the first and only female detective agency in the bright and beautiful country of Botswana.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith). Yeah, that’s right: I read it. I figured the bizarre-0-factor alone would be worth the price of admission, and as an oddity of popular fiction it was pretty entertaining. Just take one look at the cover, and you’ll learn all you need to know about this unholy marriage of a regency romance and a gruesome gore-fest. Not everybody’s cup of tea, to be sure, but I personally was kind of excited about the idea. Still, the actual execution of said idea leaves a little to be desired. If you’re going to go as far as to transport Austen’s beloved characters into a zombie-infested alternate universe, you may as well play around with the story a bit. Grahame-Smith leaves the original story completely in tact, and just sprinkls in the zombie action here and there. Also, the discrepancy between his capabilities as a writer and those of Austen herself are as decidedly pronounced as that which exists between their choices in subject matter. P&P&Z contains just a few too many glaring grammatical errors and typos for a book written in the style of the early nineteenth century. Somebody needs to inform the author that those who truly wish to emulate Austen’s prose do not end their sentences with prepositions, nor do they split their infinitives. They just don’t.

Manga

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, vol 3 (Nagaru Tanigawa). My feelings about this volume are pretty much consistent with my reactions to the previous two volumes: generally positive. I absolutely love the whole Haruhi franchise (here's why), but I must recommend the animated version over the manga adaptation as being the higher quality and generally better presentation of the story and characters. Still, volume three will continue to entertain those already hooked on Haruhi, especially since it features a really great sequence from the light novels that did not appear in the anime. Get your fix of ironic chaos and surreal mayhem in volume three of The Melencholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, in which Kyon and the gang deal with more wild ambitions and violent mood swings from their beautiful, fearless, and insane leader. Expect baseball, group shopping, and time travel.

Fushigi Yuugi, Volume 2 VIZBIG Edition (Yuu Watase). When I bought the previously released VIZBIG edition of this series, which contained volumes 1-3 of the series, I wrote a long-ish post about why I though Fushigi Yuugi withstands the test of time in spite of all its cliched storylines and dated artwork. This second VIZBIG installment, containing volumes 4-6, continues to entertain and to amuse. Additionally, volume four introduces my absolute favorite character in the series. I know Tamahome and Hotohori are considered the main heartthrobs of Fushigi Yuugi, but I'm a Tasuki girl all the way. Actually, now that I think about it, he may be tied with Nuriko for my no. 1 favorite FY character. They're both so side-splittingly hilarious, and yet endearing as well. Fushigi Yuugi has many flaws, but I still consider it to be a real gem of a series.

Bride of the Water God, volumes 2 & 3 (Yun Mi-Gyung). This manhwa is a stellar example of a series that doesn’t quite live up to all of its amazing potential. The artwork is strikingly gorgeous, the mythology is intriguing and complex, and the characters and premise are dramatic and interesting. Yet most of the time Bride of the Water God turns out to be more of a hot mess than anything else. All the elements of an incredible series are present; they just don’t all come together as nicely as they could. The plot is often confusing and unfocused. Still, at its heart BotWG is a very good folk/fairy-tale, something for which I am a total sucker. Also, the plot starts to pick up more in volume 3, what Mui’s strange bargain and Soah’s resulting return to Earth, so we’ll see what happens.

Ouran High School Host Club vol. 12 (Hatori Bisco). I’ve been reading this series online as it’s been released, so I already know that it’s around this point in the story (volume twelve) that things really start to pick up, plotwise. Readers who’ve been patient throughout volumes and volumes of filler arcs with no end in sight will start to be rewarded with some real romantic action from here on out. Not that those filler arcs aren’t great in and of themselves; quite the opposite, really. That’s what makes this series such a joy to read. Even when the plot is spiraling off into a seemingly random vortex of nonsense, it’s still character-driven and that’s what really counts. OHSHC is one of those series with which it is difficult to go wrong: consistently funny, endearing, and well-drawn even when the plot defies the boundaries of the plausible.

Dramas

Sons of Sol Pharmacy House (aka My Too Perfect Sons). This weekend drama, currently in the second half of its fifty-episode run on KBS, has got the market cornered on hilarious, heartwarming family drama, not to mention some of the best romantic comedy storylines I’ve seen in a very long time. The cast exhibits a wide variety of talent, the show is well written, and each episode is fun fun FUN to watch. I find myself truly caring about these characters, oftentimes laughing aloud at their antics, and once or twice I’ve even cried at some of the more touching moments. This show is such a wonderful breath of fresh air compared to some of the dud dramas I’ve watched recently.

Television

“True Blood”, season two. Holy canoli, has this show taken off in season two! I’m a fan of the novels on which the show is based, but after watching the first season I was kind of on the fence about whether or not to tune in for more this summer, but boy am I glad I did. This summer, True Blood has significantly improved in both quality and popularity when compared to season one. Not only are there some great new characters, including the newly-turned teen vamp Jessica and the mythically evil maenad Maryann, but some old characters also get more development and backstory, such as the now-short-haired Eric (yay!) I know that Eric in the show will never be what he is in the books, but I’m really starting to like what Skarsgard and the show’s creators are doing with this manifestation of him. Anna Paquin continues to bring fire and life to the character of Sookie, but male lead Stephen Moyer and his character, Bill, continue to irk me. Still, True Blood’s really an ensemble show, and one to which I look forward to watching each week with much anticipation.

“Dollhouse”, unaired episode 14, “Epitaph One.” The much-hyped fourteenth episode of Dollhouse’s first season turned out to be my favorite episode yet. Set in the not-so-distant post-apocalyptic future that results directly from Dollhouse imprinting technology, “Epitaph One” was fifty minutes of intensely riveting entertainment that would have made zero sense to anyone who missed the rest of the season. It actually made it seem as though season one was little more that an introduction to the main action of season two, perhaps of the whole series. That would be a good thing as far as I’m concerned. I am no officially looking forward to season two; I dare say we might expect great things from this show yet.

Theater

Disney presents “The Lion King” on Broadway. Gosh, what could I possibly say about this show that hasn’t already been said? It was amazing, of course, just as everybody said it would be. But what really got me wasn’t so much the costumes, perhaps because I was expecting that, but just the overall presentation of the story. They took a cartoon movie and, rather than creating a literal translation from screen to stage (as with other Disney musicals), they created a truly theatrical interpretation of the original film and used animal characters to tell a powerfully moving and very human story. I’ll admit that I cried, and I’m not ashamed. Plus, the music was great. I have three new favorite songs. Too bad the tickets cost about an arm and a leg. Each.

Dollhouse renewed for 2nd season!

The news that Fox’s Friday night ratings tanker will live to see another day has been greeted with both rejoicing from its small but devoted fanbase and disbelief from the industry speculators who’ve been prognosticating its imminent demise for months. Although the official announcement of Dollhouse’s renewal won’t be made until tomorrow, sources have confirmed that it’s already a done deal. Personally, I can’t say that this (welcome) development came as that big of a shock. In spite of the show’s rocky start and abysmal performance ratings-wise, it’s been pulling in consistently good DVR and Hulu numbers. Plus, the network invested about a zillion dollars in building the show’s amazing mega-set; it’d be a shame to scrap it after a only a measly half season’s mileage. I guess they’re hoping the show’s fanbase will grow enough over the summer for it to do better the second time around. Well, here’s hoping.

So, now’s probably as good a time as ever to address the fact that I haven’t written anything about this show in six weeks. I kept watching it up through last week’s series finale (and patiently monitoring the news releases for hope of its renewal), but I just haven’t had the time or motivation to review. So, I’m just going to treat this as a final wrap-up post for season one, in which I’ll talk briefly about episodes 8-12. Ok, so to sum up the last six episodes of season one of Dollhouse – well, I can’t really do that. It’s just not feasible; they were really, really complicated. There was a lot of really awesome, intriguing stuff going on, but talk about weaving a really tangled web! Instead of trying to produce a thorough summary, I’ll just focus on some of the more salient developments that stand out in my mind when reflecting on the end of the season.

First up, Victor. Let me just say that Enver Gjokaj is too cute for words. He’s pretty much the only active that I find inevitably appealing in all his many personalities. Plus, his performance as Victor in the “in between” state is pitch perfect; more so than any of the other actives he manages to give off less “mind-wiped zombie slave” and more “gentle, childish innocence.” Which of course makes what happens to him at the end all the more tragic. I’m really curious to see what happens to him in season two. He obviously can’t go out on engagements anymore, what with the marring of his (beautiful) face. Will the Dollhouse find a way to “recycle” him like they did with Whiskey (now known as Dr. Saunders)? Or will they simply send him to the Attic? Whatever happens, I hope they keep him around in some capacity, as I really love this actor and this character.

Secondly, Mr. Dominic turns out to be a mole and gets sent to the Attic himself. Whoa, I did not see this one coming. The guy always seemed so devoted (excessively so) to his job as chief of Dollhouse security. Turns out he’s an NSA agent charged with the mission, not of destroying the Dollhouse, but rather of monitoring it for as of yet unknown purposes. When she finds out her longtime associate and right-hand man is actually someone [else’s] inside man, DeWitt demonstrates just how cold and ruthless she can be. Speaking of which, the whole getting sent to the Attic thing turned out to be way more creepy and sinister than I’d initially thought. Really intense scene, that.

Also, Paul Ballard gets a lot more to do in these episodes, particularly towards the end. He discovers that Mellie isn’t really Mellie and uses her to find a way into the Dollhouse. Once inside, he actually finds himself cooperating with Boyd, DeWitt, and Topher in order to track down Alpha, who’s taken Echo. I never really and completely warmed up to Ballard, but he certainly had his moments. I still think his obsession with the Dollhouse, and his obsession with and need to save Echo/Caroline, don’t really make a whole lot of sense, unless of course there’s more to his story that we don’t yet know. Still, I thought it was way cool of him bargain for November’s release at the end, considering his history with “Mellie”, when he could have asked for Caroline. I’m really curious to see if he’ll continue his tentative association with the Dollhouse in season two. It would at the very least give him the opportunity to watch over Echo. Maybe he’ll even become her handler now that Boyd’s replaced Mr. Dominic as chief of security?

As for Alpha, while Alan Tudyk gave a great performance, the character itself kind of underwhelmed me, considering the season-long build-up. I could go into all the reasons why this is, but I’m getting tired and this post is getting long, so I’ll try to curb my enthusiasm. Basically, underneath all the evil (and illogical) machinations and the genius personality compilations, Alpha turns out to be a pretty standard baddie whereas I really though his particularly brand of villainy would be something to write home about. Still, I love Alan Tudyk (whom I literally bumped into in a Starbucks once), and he did a great job with the role.

Overall, I think this show’s got loads of potential and I’m psyched it’s returning for at least one more season. The premise of the show is an extremely difficult one to market and execute, and some of those difficulties definitely manifested themselves in the final product, but it’s still a really unique and fascinating creation. So congratulations to the cast and production crew of Dollhouse on beating the odds and getting renewed. See you next fall.

Dollhouse episodes 6 &7: the plot thickens

In fact, it's even starting to congeal. But is that good or bad? Is it just too little too late, or is it the beginnings of awesomeness? Difficult to say, really. I always find it hard to write about this show, if for no other reason than because it's just so gosh-darn complicated. There hasn't been a single episode thus far that could be reduced to a 20-words-or-less explanation, and you can just forget about summing up the whole series' premise in one sentence. Anybody who's tried to explain this show to an ignorant friend knows exactly what I'm talking about. On the one hand, this is good; Dollhouse is not a stupid show. It's not hackneyed or cliché or simplistic. On the other hand, there are definitely reviewers and critics who think the show's trying to be so many things at once that it ends up being nothing much in particular. Yet Joss Whedon's creations have never really been tailored to the expectations of the casual viewer. They're much more suited to cult followings than to mainstream audiences. All in all, some people might scoff and ratings basically suck, but I'm officially invested in the rest of this season, and I'm kind of hoping there will be more in the future.

So, episodes six and seven contained some major plot developments. Firstly, Mellie, Paul Ballard's neighbor and the closest thing he has to a friend, is actually an Active herself (her Doll name is November). Also, there's somebody else on the outside (other than Ballard) who's trying to bring the Dollhouse down. And unlike Paul, this person seems to have considerable knowledge of the Dollhouse's inerworkings, and has even managed to plant a mole on the inside who can tamper with the imprints if necessary. I can only assume at this point that this person is Alpha, and I'm betting the mole is Topher's sacrastic assistant, but who knows. Thirdly, we find out that "the" Dollhouse is actually only a Dollhouse. There are apparently Dollhouses in major cities all across the globe, all run by a single corporation for an as-of-yet unknown purpose. We've been lead to believe up till now that the actives' engagements are the main purpose of the Dollhouse, the actual reason for its existence. But now it seems that the engagements merely provide funding for the organization's true purpose, whatever that may be.

Episode six proved that the show is not afraid to tackle some pretty ugly themes. The sexual abuse of a Doll by a handler, for example, I found particularly disturbing. It was sick, really, the way Hearn would tell Sierra it was a game, and that she had to be very quiet because "noise is upsetting", and of course she wouldn't think to resist, but she would cry and say that the game wasn't fun. Talk about your abuse of power. Ugh. The violent scene with Mellie/November was also pretty intense. It was upsetting without being graphic, and kind of creepy. This episode in particular had some really great plot-twist revelation moments, not the least of which was when Adelle dropped the "trigger" to turn the choking Mellie into a very scary kick-ass November.

While episode six was pretty gritty, episode seven gave us a healthy dose of humor while still maintaining much of that intensity (in general this is not a very light or jokey show). The best thing about the whole cast being affected by a wierd drug that breaks down their natural inhibitions is that we get to learn lots of interesting things about these characters. Boyd plays the piano, for example. More shockingly, Adelle has a conscience. And so does Mr. Dominic! And Topher - well, actually, he pretty much acted the way he always does. Anyways, it was pretty frickin hilarious watching him and Adelle blunder around together and argue about British-ness and eat chips on the floor and cower in the corner to hide froma potentially violent November. Additionally, this episode also revealed some more information on who Caroline was before she became Echo, and it wasnt' exactly the sort of thing I would have expected.

Anyways, the more I watch this show the more I like it, so I'm sticking with it. So, check out this montage style recap of episode seven, "Echoes", and be excited for episode eight.

Dollhouse, episodes 2-4: hope springs eternal

Note: I wrote this before I watched the most recent (fifth) episode. After watching the fifth episode the general impressions I expressed in this post remain unchanged, so I'll leave what I've already written. Also, I'd just like to say that I wrote this in a very sleep-deprived state.

So a few weeks ago I wrote about my belated discovery of Joss Whedon's new show Dollhouse, and about my mixed reactions to the first episode. Now we're four weeks into the season's run, with the fifth episode soon to air, and although I'm not completely hooked (yet) I am still watching and hoping for great things to develop. The first four episodes were undeniably flawed, so maybe I'm just clutching vainly at straws and putting too much blind faith in Whedon's name. But still, I'll try to artiulate my reasons for believing that this show has lots of (as of yet unrealized) potential.

Thus far in the series, each episode consists of a different engagement for Echo that inevitaby goes awry in some way, forcing her to deal with situations for which Topher's imprints have not quite prepared her - something that goes against the very definition of what an active is/does. As Boyd, her handler, observes to Dr Saunders (the Dollhouse's resident physician, played by Amy Acker), "She seems to have the ability to think outside of the pieces we give her and create." So far this strange proactivity (remarkable in an active), as well as brief flashes of almost awareness in her eyes, and subtle hints of her retaining traces of her experiences in the engagements - these are the only things providing any sort of continuity to Echo's character. But I'm sure that will change as we learn more about her former (true? original?) identity as Caroline.

Meanwhile, the solitary, relentless FBI agent Paul Ballard continues his seemingly hopeless search for clues about the Dollhouse. He's continually finding his way blocked by the higher-ups who dismiss the Dollhouse as an urban legend (or who perhaps wish to keep him from exposing its existence). The clueless Russian mobster whom Ballard seems convinced has access to Dollhouse-related info actually actually turns out to be an active named Victor, no doubt imprinted planted to put Ballard off the trail. We also learn about the existence of a rogue active named Alpha who escaped from the Dollhouse at some point in the (recent?) past, but not before going on a bit of a killing spree first. This Alpha guy is very mysterious, and he's got "big bad" written all over him, but he also seems somehow to be connected to Echo/Caroline. He's even ananymously sent Ballard photos of her before she became an active, along with the cryptic message "keep looking." Oh, and I read somewhere that Alpha's going to be played by Alan Tudyk. Psych!

And that doesn't even cover everything that's already going on in this show. There's definitely some pretty complex, intriguing, mysterious stuff just beginning to evolve, but a show can't survive on this alone. It must also be thoroughly (not just mildly) enjoyable to watch, and so far each episode's been hampered by lackluster scripts and scenarios. There's also been a conspicuous lack of that quircky, quippy dialogue one customarily associates with Whedon' s works, and the stand-alone storylines of Echo's individual engagements have been decent enough, but nothing really extraordinary. There have been hints at really interesting things starting to percolate, but that's it - hints sprinkled throughout episodes that for the most part fall a tiny bit flat. But I still think this is just a show that hasn't yet reached its full potential. There's so much backstory (for Echo, Alpha, Ballard, and probably many others) that's so clearly being witheld at this point. There's so much that could be explored that isn't yet.

There are also certain other factors that give me hope for this show's future improvement, and many of them concern network politics. If one is optimistic enough, the disorganized pilot and the not-completely-satisfying first few episodes could possibly be chalked up to Fox's meddling. The original preview for the show (the same one I included in my previous Dollhouse post) consisted entirely of clips from the original pilot, which was yanked by Fox and never aired. After giving the show the green light, the network apparently wanted so many changes and redirection done to that first episode that Whedon decided to scrap it and start from scratch. And that wasn't the end of it either, because it supposedly wasn't until the sixth episode that Fox really gave Whedon free creative reign over the show. And word on the cyber street is that things really take off in that sixth episode. And while all this talk might come to nothing, I'm somewhat inclined to believe it won't. Why? Well, optimism for one thing, and also the fact that I read the script of the unaired pilot (penned by Whedon) and noticed a huge difference from what I've seen of the show so far. That script was, in a word, awesome. I guess I can understand Fox wanting to make the show more "accessible" to people, but I really don't think they're going to score big ratings (on Friday nights, no less) by stiffling Whedon's wierdness. Because he is an evil genius after all, but in a decidedly good way.

As far as acting goes, Dollhouse's got a pretty good supporing cast, and I kind of love the side characters already. It's still a little difficult to really connect with Echo as a character, what with all the constant changes and everything, but I think Dushku's doing a pretty good job, regardless. Especially with Echo's more fragile, vulnerable moments. I'm used to a seeing a more kickass Faith-type from her, so it's nice to see a bit of range in that department.

Just one final consideration: all of Whedon's shows that I've seen (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) had more or less shaky starts. Considering how they all turned out, I'd say a little bit of faith and patience is justified with his latest endeavor. That being said, if that sixth episode doesn't turn out to be a real knockout I'll be sorely dissapointed.

Episode one of season one of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse

Gah! I am the worst fan ever! I think I must have been living under a rock for the past few years of my life. How could I not know that Joss Whedon, (TV mastermind behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Serenity, and most recently Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog) had a new TV show until after the first episode had already aired? What is wrong with me? Well, I usually don’t watch a show when it first airs, preferring rather to wait until it’s already gotten good before I jump on the bandwagon. But still, this wasn’t even on my radar until yesterday! I’m ashamed. Looking back, though, I’m glad I wasn’t aware ahead of time that this series was in the works, because I know I would’ve gotten way, way ahead of myself. I’d have waited and waited for it to premiere, banking on the magic of Joss Whedon, building up impossible expectations. As it is, the first episode wasn’t exactly a homerun for me (but then, the pilot doesn’t have to be a knockout for a series to be great), but it had definite potential. I’ve got a lot of faith in Joss that he knows what he’s doing, and that he won’t disappoint us. I hope he comes through.

One of the most jarring elements of the first episode for me was actually Eliza Dushku in the lead role. It’s just hard for me to not see her as Faith (her character on Buffy), and when she first appeared on the screen my initial reaction went something like, ‘No! Watch out, this bitch is psychotic, she’ll stab you in the back, look out!!!!’ (Side note: Yes, I know Faith had issues and eventually sort of redeemed herself, yadda yadda, but still. I’m a pretty patient, forgiving person when it comes to real life, but boy do I hold grudges against fictional characters. Uchiha Sasuke, for example? He’s dead to me.) Sooo, anyways, once I convinced myself that this was Echo, not Faith, the whole experience went along much more smoothely. I don’t think she’s a very consistent actress, but when she’s on she’s spot on, and I’m hoping she finds her footing and gets really comfortable in this role. As for the rest, time will tell. The first episode was a little scattered, but I think it has potential in the hands of Joss Whedon.

So, anyways, the basic premise has a kind of contemporary sci-fi vibe. The “Dollhouse” is a secret facility that houses the technology to erase a person’s mind, and reprogram it, giving them any conceivable personality, skills set, or attitude desired. These “dolls” are then hired out to anyone willing to pay the exorbitant fee in order to get exactly what they want or need. The dolls, also referred to as “actives” when programmed, are all young, healthy people who have ostensibly volunteered for this job, although none of them have any memory of doing so, of course. It’s still unclear exactly how aware they are of their true identities, but it seems like not very. They’re sort of blank in between jobs. The Dollhouse facility itself is a very lavish and nurturing place to live. Comfortable, yes. Creepy, most definely. I have no idea where Joss is going with this, but I trust that he’s got a destination in mind. So, I’ll be tuning in tonight to watch episode two on fox. Or I’ll watch it later on Hulu, but you get the idea.