sagawizard (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sagawizard) wrote,@ 2009-03-04 18:53:00 |
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I have to admit, although my initial review of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse was not so favorable, two episodes later I have become rather intrigued and impressed by this show.
Episode#2 was a clear Most Dangerous Game" ripoff, BUT one that I absolutely did not see coming. And several events during that episode caught me by surprise, like the "fake cop" who suddenly shot Boyd's partner. It also introduced some of the backstory - Alpha, why he didn't kill echo, Boyd's hiring and the whole Handler/Active dynamic...ep#3 showed us Sierra's handler, and his contrasts with Boyd...it reminds me a bit of the Observer/Leaper dynamic between Al and Sam in Quantum Leap, which we later had Zoe/Ailea(sp?) to contrast with.
But even more than the backstory breadcrumbs, there was some thematic coolness involved. The whole idea of "proving yourself worthy to live" was an interesting overlay with the idea of the Dollhouse itself and its commodifying of human identity. The "dolls" have NO rights to their identities, everything is taken from them at the whim of others...the crazy hunter boyfriend is at least, in his sociopathic way, giving Echo a *chance* to stay "alive", and though the forces of the Dollhouse (the "good guys", as it were) win, this win means Echo has in fact LOST her chance to "live" as the person she was.
Ok, so Helo is still a loser, but now I'm interested in the show.
Episode#3 really sold me, though. It was all about how even characters outside the dollhouse can be "trapped", can perceive themselves as having no free will of their own. The singer character, naturally, is a foil for Echo, feeling her life is dominated by how others want to shape her. The doctor, who's clearly traumatized yet still going through the motions of her job. "Helo" (ok, "Agent Paul Ballard", but dude, he's still playing Helo) is also clearly trapped by his own obsession. I am starting to think he is a pathetic character because he's been WRITTEN to be a pathetic character, as much a slave to the "template" of his obsession as Echo is a slave to her own programming. And yet this episode demonstrates that she has the ability to override (or at least, creatively interpret) her programming, while the supposedly "free" people have a harder time doing that.
Plus the revelation of Helo's Russian thug informant as a "doll" himself opens wide the possibility that ANY of the characters we think are "free" could be dolls. Helo. Boyd. Security chief guy (who, in a demonstration that this show was written by a Geek, gets a dressing down by Topher). I am totally expecting *someone* to be revealed as a doll. Anything we believe anyone to be is now suspect.
Which makes for a very potentially cool show.
And I am starting to see all the places where Whedon indeed is injecting his characteristic humor, and not just through Topher, either.
In short, Dollhouse has proved that it's not just a formula show, which I feared it might be given the pilot.
Bring it on. We'll need it, as Galactica only has 3 eps left, which is just as well as it seems to have sadly jumped the shark....
- SW
Episode#2 was a clear Most Dangerous Game" ripoff, BUT one that I absolutely did not see coming. And several events during that episode caught me by surprise, like the "fake cop" who suddenly shot Boyd's partner. It also introduced some of the backstory - Alpha, why he didn't kill echo, Boyd's hiring and the whole Handler/Active dynamic...ep#3 showed us Sierra's handler, and his contrasts with Boyd...it reminds me a bit of the Observer/Leaper dynamic between Al and Sam in Quantum Leap, which we later had Zoe/Ailea(sp?) to contrast with.
But even more than the backstory breadcrumbs, there was some thematic coolness involved. The whole idea of "proving yourself worthy to live" was an interesting overlay with the idea of the Dollhouse itself and its commodifying of human identity. The "dolls" have NO rights to their identities, everything is taken from them at the whim of others...the crazy hunter boyfriend is at least, in his sociopathic way, giving Echo a *chance* to stay "alive", and though the forces of the Dollhouse (the "good guys", as it were) win, this win means Echo has in fact LOST her chance to "live" as the person she was.
Ok, so Helo is still a loser, but now I'm interested in the show.
Episode#3 really sold me, though. It was all about how even characters outside the dollhouse can be "trapped", can perceive themselves as having no free will of their own. The singer character, naturally, is a foil for Echo, feeling her life is dominated by how others want to shape her. The doctor, who's clearly traumatized yet still going through the motions of her job. "Helo" (ok, "Agent Paul Ballard", but dude, he's still playing Helo) is also clearly trapped by his own obsession. I am starting to think he is a pathetic character because he's been WRITTEN to be a pathetic character, as much a slave to the "template" of his obsession as Echo is a slave to her own programming. And yet this episode demonstrates that she has the ability to override (or at least, creatively interpret) her programming, while the supposedly "free" people have a harder time doing that.
Plus the revelation of Helo's Russian thug informant as a "doll" himself opens wide the possibility that ANY of the characters we think are "free" could be dolls. Helo. Boyd. Security chief guy (who, in a demonstration that this show was written by a Geek, gets a dressing down by Topher). I am totally expecting *someone* to be revealed as a doll. Anything we believe anyone to be is now suspect.
Which makes for a very potentially cool show.
And I am starting to see all the places where Whedon indeed is injecting his characteristic humor, and not just through Topher, either.
In short, Dollhouse has proved that it's not just a formula show, which I feared it might be given the pilot.
Bring it on. We'll need it, as Galactica only has 3 eps left, which is just as well as it seems to have sadly jumped the shark....
- SW
