3 Episodes of Dollhouse in 1 night! I know you're impressed.

Okay, in a lot of ways, I think it actually works out beautifully to be talking about these 3 episodes all at once. Because in all of these episodes we got to get to know our two main protagonists, they kind of got to know each other in a weird way, and i think that it was all pretty great!


I really like that we got to know a little more about who Caroline is and how she ended up in the Dollhouse in the first place. Knowing her back story makes it a lot easier to care about her, and knowing her personality makes it more obvious when that is coming through her programming.

And though I kind of thought Patton Oswalt's psychoanalyzing of Ballard was a little annoying, it is nice to see more about his motivations, and have the show explore the idea that he is obsessed with taking down the Dollhouse for some of the wrong reasons. I would feel so bad for Melly if she were not an active there to watch him. But now I just feel so bad for Paul that he is falling in love with an active! Will that change the way he sees the Dollhouse or the people who use it?

Ok, here are some notes I took while watching Episode 6, Man on the Street:

Ballard= Crazy good fighter (he took down all of Patton Oswalt's security guys single handedly! Impressive.)

Patton- pretty likable, once you get past all the psycho babble. Did a better job with the heavyness of the part then I expected to be honest.

Victor- So sad! I am really loving this guy! It was so sad when Echo asked "What did you do? and he replied "No one will tell me!" I really liked this glimpse into how vulnerable the Dolls really are when they are wiped. Sierra's handler raping her and trying to blame Victor was awful, and you really have to agree with him when asks Adele "How did you not think this was going to happen?"

Oh, when I thought that they were going to kill Melly (kind of temporarily forgetting that I thought she was a Doll...or hoping I was wrong because I like her and Ballard together! Oh I also just got that she was supposed to be kind of fat or something. I think she just dresses horribly!), I wrote: "At least she got laid by Ballard before her death." He looked hot in the episode by the way. That was actually another thing that I felt the need to write down. "Ballard in street clothes = cute." I am right.

Ok, the real question of this episode, beyond of course, "Where are the cooks in that Chinese restaurant while they are fighting" is , who is the spy! Topher's assistant? Doctor Saunders? (Fred! From Angel! Love her.) Adele herself? I don't know why I suspect her, but I do.

There's also: Why don't they want Ballard dead?
What in the heck is the Attic?

Episode 7, Echoes, was supposed to be the one, the game-changer, the greatest episode so far, and I think it was pretty damn good actually. No Ballard in this one, but plenty more Caroline. We finally find out how she got to the Dollhouse, and the pain that may have contributed to her "volunteering" (though it doesn't seem like she did, but they keep going with that.) Now that we actually know her, we can actually be invested in saving her! She seems pretty cool actually, if a little overzealous in her love for animals. I thought this was a really good episode, AND it was pretty funny, which is great because that is something I've been wanting and not getting from this show. Adele and Topher were hilarious together, and Lawerence was pretty great, apologizing to Echo for trying to kill her and everything! We also got a classic bit of "guy seems nice but is actually a d-bag" from Whedon, with Sam being behind the entire memory drug outbreak thing on campus. I was disappointed because I was really liking him! Hopefully we will see the actor more if he becomes a Doll.

Some notes that I wrote about this episode are:

"Ooh I love that Rilo Kiley song Portions for Foxes! I also love her weirdly bearded friend!"

I loved Topher's reply to Adele saying "This is unbelievable" "Which part was believable now?"

Sam's dorm room was terrible! Usually TV dorm rooms look nice than real ones. It looked like he lived in an underground bunker!

The outfit Echo/Caroline was wearing as Alice (so many names!) was CRAZAY!! What is with those crocheted thigh high things? Did that dude request those or something?

Victor was great as the NSA guy. I am really loving him.

Though I really loved Episode 7, out of these 3, I think #8, needs, was the best. I really liked knowing what everyone's personality was really like, and seeing them work together to escape definitely brought a "Buffy" feel to the episode. I knew that it couldn't last, but I really wanted it to!

The dream sequence that Ballard had was really good, showing how torn he is between his ideal of Caroline and what he thinks is the reality he was with Melly. And his fear about putting her in danger. I also loved his line in the dream when he is making out with Caroline "I have a thing she needs..." Yeah, I bet you do buddy.

The story of how Sierra came to be at the Dollhouse is the worst one, and it is so awful that her agency and life keep getting taken away from her by different men. Of course knowing that she was kidnapped and forced into this life by one of the Dollhouse's clients casts aspersions on the notion that the Dolls are volunteers. Again, in all of the flashback with Adele, Caroline never seems like she wants to sign those papers. Her entry into the Dollhouse is still miles away from Sierra's though, kidnapped for rejecting the advances of a man who gets everything he wants. I find myself really drawn to a lot of the supporting characters in this show, and in one foul swoop I feel more invested in getting Sierra out of there than Caroline! I also really love her and Victor together. The actor really does well playing tough but also sweet, and they are just so adorable together. The actors really have great chemistry and really sell the idea that they love each other, and that their love survives even the fact that they're brains are being constantly wiped. I like the idea that love is something more than brainwaves.


Other thoughts on this episode:

They weren't wearing shoes for part of their escape! That is my worst nightmare. Just like in Die Hard!

Apparently one of November's inescapable personality traits is wearing hideous clothes. Also inappropriate ones! Everyone else puts on pants and shirts and shoes that would be good to run in, she throws on that awful flower dress and wedges? Is it because of her relative fatness, they force her to dress terribly?

Agent Paul Ballard, your dream girl just called, and she needs your help!

It was heartbreaking for me that the "let them escape" idea came from Doctor Saunders. I know that they are all morally compromised, but I just wanted her to be looking out for the Dolls. I guess she thinks she is...but...I'm with Boyd on this one.

Why does Boyd work at this place? He obviously thinks it is awful and terrible. He's an ex cop. Why not, um, get these people arrested? I need some background on him to understand what the heck he is even doing!

Next week:
It was 2am when I finished watching, I have no idea.

"You're on Taffy time now!" Dollhouse.

Dollhouse, I am liking you.  I'm not loving you, but I'm liking you.  Make me love you show!  You know you want to.  

Things I liked:  

Echo and Sierra getting the same personality imprint.  It was cool to see each of the actresses take on "Taffy", and I felt like they mirrored each other ably.

Echo as midwife- not just a badass chick.  Now let's see a full engagement where she can do that convincingly. (Why hire an active and not a real midwife?  I don't know, the same reason you hire an active instead if  real safecracker I guess.  You want her to be hot.)

Victor= Adele's active, not Laurence's.  So she's apparently not as averse to killing him as we thought, because it didn't seem like those Russian mobsters were just trying to wound him.  

Whedon trademark- guy who seems like douche, actually awesome, guy 

who seems kind of nice, actually an ass.  Look for this to happen again. 

Seeing the Mutant Enemy logo at the end of the show.  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

"We are not omnipotent"- I liked this line because in some ways, the Dollhouse seems impenetrable, which they are, to normal people.  Not to Alpha though.  

The engagement was pretty fun and then pretty poignant, but it didn't have the same disturbing darkness as the others, which I think is good.  

Sierra.  I really love Sierra.  The actress is great, really engaging.  

Topher's assistant was cute. 

Adele seemed really down when she thought Echo was dead. It seemed in the beginning that she might have known Echo when she was Caroline, and now I'm pretty sure of it.  

Things I didn't like:

Seriously though, why do people even use the Dollhouse?  

Topher.  Urgh, I don't like him yet.  Have him grow a conscience or something, ASAP. (Though I did laugh when he told Boyd "They are a little bit bison, actually...")

I don't really get what Adele's plan is with Victor/Ballard.  Right now it doesn't feel mysterious, just kind of nonsensical.

When Echo is Echo, she is really annoying.  "Did I fall asleep?" is the worst catchphrase ever.  

I still want more from/about Ballard.  He is one of the protagonists of this show, but he seems to be almost as much of a cypher as the actives at this point.  

Discussions of art and how it relates to life.  No one likes that.  

Next week: Damn it, I don't know.  I'll bet Echo's in danger though.  That is what I'll bet.  

Dollhouse. Getting into some crazy psychological shit.

Whoa. I have to say that the first half of this episode kind of bored me. Echo auditioning, meeting people, having to take her top off backstage, Boyd worrying about her performance, etc. I started wondering if I was watching Fame or something. BUT, then, it veers into some pretty dark territory, with Rayna contacting her stalker and pretty much agreeing to let him kill her. I had to agree with Echo (or whatever her name was during the engagement) when she was like "You are seriously unwell!" For real lady.

But of course, in some ways, Rayna is Echo, someone who cannot have her own wants and needs because it is her responsibility to fulfill those things for others.  Would Rayna be happier if she was wiped of her own desires?  They hammered the idea home a little too pointedly ("You weren't grown in a lab, but I was!"), but still made some interesting points about identity and ownership of one's own self.  Rayna and Echo are stripped of ownership of their own bodies and minds, but only one of them knows it.  So far. 

By the way, my DVR is broken again (Damn you Charter Communications!!) so everything looked all pixilated and weird. Even with that, I felt like Dichen Lachman was great as Sierra/Superfan. I just felt like those two characters were so different and she really inhabited them both. Now maybe there's something to the fact that Echo still seems to retain her general Eliza Dushkuness (I mean they made the backup singer from Southie for god sake's!), because she is special, and seems to retain parts of all of her engagements. She is a composite, like Alpha, and someone wants her dead because of it. But, maybe they all are, since Sierra seemed to like Echo and to get it when she nodded at her when Laurence was there. Hmmm. Brains are crazy. That could be this show's subtitle.

So questions: 

Is Laurence totally evil?  

Could he be the one trying to have Echo killed?

Did he send Victor to set up Ballard so that Ballard would be killed?

Is Ballard kind of dumb for going to that abandoned warehouse alone? (Yes.)

Is Ballard's neighbor who REALLY likes him actually an active sent out by Adele?  

Do she and Laurence have dueling actives at this point?

What is up with Topher?  Evil, ambiguous, just following orders, just kind of a dick?

WHY is Echo special?  Just a "Brains are crazy" type thing, or is it something else?

Who and where is Alpha?

This show has been pretty dark so far, I mean we have men hunting women, suicidal singers and mass murder going on here, so I wouldn't mind a little of that trademark Whedon levity.  Topher is just not doing it for me, so someone else needs to grow a sense of humor, ASAP.  

I won't say I'm intrigued though, because I am.  In countless interviews Dushku has really been talking up the back six episodes, and I am most definitely on board through those.  Things are ramping up pretty quickly in this Alpha story, so it should be interesting to see where it goes.  

Next week: OMG I missed the preview again.  Damn it.  

Dollhouse scared me! (I think it was trying to.)

I have to say, I felt like this episode was a VAST improvement over the pilot, which is always a good sign. It also scared the bejesus out of me, which it meant to, so that was good too.

The structure of Echo's engagement was pretty much like a horror movie, except for icky part where she sleeps with her would-be murderer beforehand and he tells her he is going to hunt her. That dude was totally creepy. I don't know if the whole hunting women thing was just his fetish or something he was hired to do (by Alpha? That doesn't really make sense, but who knows.) I liked how her engagement tied into the overall arc of the show.

The flashback arc was pretty interesting as well. I was happy to see Amy Acker again, and interested to see that her character was hurt by the Alpha massacre, not during an engagement, which is what I had originally guessed (That she had been an active, and was imprinted with a doctor's personality after she got too messed up.) I also liked the introduction of Echo to her handler, and the way it was called back to in the woods. "Do you trust me?" "With my life." She is obviously retaining things from her original life as well as each of her engagements. I liked how startled he was when she was just like "No, everything is not going to be alright, a crazy man with a crossbow is hunting us!" Right on lady, there is nothing "alright" about that situation.

Overall it was a pretty brutal episode, from the beginning scenes to the crazy fight between Echo and the creepy human hunter dude. Dushku did a good job with her "Jenny" scenes here, but they are definitely playing to her strengths by making her a kick-ass outdoorsy chick.

I'd like to learn a little more about the FBI agent, like why he is so interested in the whole Dollhouse thing, despite the annoying ribbing he constantly gets from his co-workers. I mean now I know he is a lonely man married to his work that won't eat a pretty girl's lasagna (if you know what I mean), but why? Agent Ballard, what makes you tick?

I also am confused about Boyd's reasons for working at the Dollhouse. I was thinking that it was because he must have known Caroline and wanted to help her, but that does not seem to be the case. Maybe he just really needs money or something.

Topher definitely has the potential to be a quippy, Joss Whedony character, but they need to make him a bit more likeable. He just seems like a little jerk to me.

I think Reed Diamond could be a great villain type. I really like him and I hope they elevate his character beyond 'guest star' soon.

So, all in all good episode, that freaked me the hell out, I am definitely intrigued and ready to see this show get better and better!

New Show! Dollhouse.

Ok, I've been thinking about this for a couple of days, and I am still torn. Do I love Joss Whedon. Oh yes. Was I pretty damn excited to see both Amy Acker and Reed Diamond in this pilot? Yes. Do I feel like I really want this show to be good and to succeed? Yes. Do I generally love dorky sci-fi shows made for geeks by geeks? Yes. Does the concept of this show make me kind of uncomfortable? Um, well yes. Yes it does.

I mean throughout the pilot we are shown men working out, being naked and hot in the background of shots, and it is clear to me that we are supposed to know that there are also male "dolls" who can be hired out by whoever wants them to do whatever that person may want. There might even be a show or two or even ten that follows a male "doll". BUT the show is not about a man, it is about a young woman, who as we see in an early scene, can be made into some awesome girl that wants to engage in bike racing and light bondage with you! Hot! Or disturbing? Kind of disturbing, especially when you consider that said girl has pretty much been forced into this weird indentured servitude/whoredom because of something she has done. It's just kind of gross. And that's maybe what some people are tuning in for. The idea of a nubile young woman that you can make whoever you want her to be. Just like women should be. Eww. So there's that, in the back of my head, while I am watching the show and trying to see if I can like it despite the creepy concept. I've heard Eliza Dushku brought it to Whedon, so I know he didn't come up with it, but I am still kind of disappointed by it. He seems like a pretty forward thinking dude most of the time, and this concept is a little, backwards, I think.

Okay, so beyond that, how was it? Pretty good really, especially knowing that this pilot has been retooled about a hundred times. I think we got an idea of the structure of the show, (A plot, weekly mission, ahem, I mean engagement, B plot, overarching plot about people trying to take down the Dollhouse) and a pretty good sketch of the characters, except of course for Echo, the main character, because she has no personality. Which is creepy. Oh there's that again. Sorry! We did see a little of what she was like before her personality was wiped, and she seemed, well kind of like Eliza Dushku. Actually, one of the things I worry about for this show (and many others have said the same thing), is can Dushku really carry this part? She's good at hot tough girl, she's okay at blank lady with no personality, but as the hostage negotiator she just seemed kind of robotic and weird, which maybe they were going for, but I couldn't exactly tell, which is not a good sign. This is her baby and I hope she can do it, because I have always liked her, but I've never really though of her as an amazing actress. We'll see I guess, she was passable here, but there were some scenes where the emotions were kind of flat from her. When she carried that little girl to safety I wanted something more, but she couldn't give it to me. We'll see.

As for the rest of the cast, they seem pretty spot on. I am definitely intrigued by Tamoh Penikett as Paul Ballard, an FBI agent trying to prove the Dollhouse exists and take it down. Harry Lennix gives us the layers we need as Echo's handler Boyd Langdon, and made me wonder and speculate about the reasons he might work for the Dollhouse, because he seems to feel as repulsed by the concept as I do. Olivia Williams, Reed Diamond, Amy Acker, yes, yes yes. The lab tech guy is kind of annoying, but I think he's supposed to be, so he's doing a good job then.

I have to admit, I am totally intrigued by the ALPHA storyline, and also by the FBI agent's investigation. The thing I am least intrigued by right now is Echo, her awakening and her seeming "specialness". Hopefully that part will come together soon, and I will be able to get over the concept, because we all need more Joss Whedon in our lives, that is for damn sure.