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From May 8th to May 10th, I watched all 12 episodes of the FOX show Dollhouse. Mostly because so many people on my f-list wanted it and mostly because I heard Alan Tudyk was guest staring in episodes eleven and twelve; I’ve been an Alan Tudyk fan since 2001/2002, so I had to watch. Now, I did watch the pilot, because I’ve enjoyed some of Joss Whedon’s other work (Firefly, Serenity, the first five and a half (or so) seasons of Buffy, the first two seasons of Angel), but – I turned it off about twenty minutes in.
Going into the episodes, I knew very little. I knew Eliza Dushku (Echo) was the star and a producer. I knew what I had seen was not the original pilot (is it ever with FOX?) and I knew that it was about these “Actives/Dolls” remembering themselves. Basically, I knew the plot and a few complaints that fans had with the show (slow pacing, weird slave/rape vibe in episodes, to name a few.)
Well, after watching the episodes, more or less back to back, I can safely saw the show has promise and it has a lot of issues that need to be worked out. For one thing: the first five episodes lacked focus. For another the Echo character is just a bit . . . well, focused on quite a bit. There are times when she’s Mary-Sue- ish and all her imprints seem to be the same – I blame writing and Dushku not being a strong enough actress at this point in her career. Also, Ballard’s increasingly creepy obsession with saving Caroline is . . . well, creepy. Very very creepy.
I’m actually less creeped out by John Conner having a thing for his Terminator protector, Cameron. I was less creped out when Jun Matsumoto and Nana Eikura were twins who made out. There’s just something freaky about a grown man being obsessed with a woman he’s never met and then wanting to ‘save’ her, while (maybe?) knowing that when she has no ‘imprint’, she’s basically, you know, a two year old.
But, I digress. I watched the episodes and have some thoughts. There were, as I said, some good and some bad points. And no, I don't think everyone will agree with me. But, I do hope we can all be adult about this.
( Did I fall asleep? )
With all of that said, I do think Dollhouse had/has potential. The show needs a lot of tweaking. A lot of tweaking. Plots need to be more even – this is mean to be ‘ensemble’ than ‘The Echo and Ballard Show’. Characters need to be reworked a bit. And the writing needs to be tighter – because some episodes had scenes that worked beautifully and other scenes that were just a mess.
I’ve read that FOX will only renew Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles or Dollhouse. Because God knows you can’t have more than one futuristic sci-fi show. And honestly, while I enjoyed both (more or less on the Dollhouse front) and while I agree that both need some work (TSCC less so, as they’ve had more episodes to work it out – they’re building a new mythology people. They go slow because of that. Dollhouse went slow to show Dolls having dates with people who are, like, two seconds from being perverts.) I would, personally, pick TSCC at this point. Besides, its overall ratings were (apparently) more solid. To be fair, I may do this with TSCC. Because, at the end of the day - I still cannot figure out if I like the show or just the actors/some of the characters. But, I know I adored everything a bout TSCC.
Going into the episodes, I knew very little. I knew Eliza Dushku (Echo) was the star and a producer. I knew what I had seen was not the original pilot (is it ever with FOX?) and I knew that it was about these “Actives/Dolls” remembering themselves. Basically, I knew the plot and a few complaints that fans had with the show (slow pacing, weird slave/rape vibe in episodes, to name a few.)
Well, after watching the episodes, more or less back to back, I can safely saw the show has promise and it has a lot of issues that need to be worked out. For one thing: the first five episodes lacked focus. For another the Echo character is just a bit . . . well, focused on quite a bit. There are times when she’s Mary-Sue- ish and all her imprints seem to be the same – I blame writing and Dushku not being a strong enough actress at this point in her career. Also, Ballard’s increasingly creepy obsession with saving Caroline is . . . well, creepy. Very very creepy.
I’m actually less creeped out by John Conner having a thing for his Terminator protector, Cameron. I was less creped out when Jun Matsumoto and Nana Eikura were twins who made out. There’s just something freaky about a grown man being obsessed with a woman he’s never met and then wanting to ‘save’ her, while (maybe?) knowing that when she has no ‘imprint’, she’s basically, you know, a two year old.
But, I digress. I watched the episodes and have some thoughts. There were, as I said, some good and some bad points. And no, I don't think everyone will agree with me. But, I do hope we can all be adult about this.
( Did I fall asleep? )
With all of that said, I do think Dollhouse had/has potential. The show needs a lot of tweaking. A lot of tweaking. Plots need to be more even – this is mean to be ‘ensemble’ than ‘The Echo and Ballard Show’. Characters need to be reworked a bit. And the writing needs to be tighter – because some episodes had scenes that worked beautifully and other scenes that were just a mess.
I’ve read that FOX will only renew Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles or Dollhouse. Because God knows you can’t have more than one futuristic sci-fi show. And honestly, while I enjoyed both (more or less on the Dollhouse front) and while I agree that both need some work (TSCC less so, as they’ve had more episodes to work it out – they’re building a new mythology people. They go slow because of that. Dollhouse went slow to show Dolls having dates with people who are, like, two seconds from being perverts.) I would, personally, pick TSCC at this point. Besides, its overall ratings were (apparently) more solid. To be fair, I may do this with TSCC. Because, at the end of the day - I still cannot figure out if I like the show or just the actors/some of the characters. But, I know I adored everything a bout TSCC.
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