Again with the by-numbers A-plot while the B-plot runs setup for more interesting stuff down the road. This time the A-plot highlights exploitation, raising implicit questions about the show premise – but man, the fan service is a bit of a pill to swallow for any feminist reading of the show. These opening episodes feel like they’re marking time, but it isn’t unpleasant riding along with them. Three episodes in, the show has not grabbed me with what it has done, but I’m very curious about what it will do next. Roll on episode six.
13 thoughts on “Dollhouse Ep 3 (No Spoilers)”
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What about eps 4 & 5?
Ep 6 i where the change-up is reputed to occur, in which case 4 and 5 are likely to be much the same as the first three. I’ll watch ’em, and probably even enjoy ’em, but it will be 6 that shows me whether I want to stick around.
Penny Arcade doesn’t have a high opinion of it: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/2/27/
I think you’re the only person I know who’s enjoying it. I keep reading very off-putting reviews, which are successfully putting me off.
Yeah, there’s a lot of “whatever” going on.
I guess my perspective is, if what I’m seeing is Act One then that’s cool and I’m on board, but if This Is The Show (which will become apparent soon enough) then it’s one heck of a weird screwed up unsatisfying mess and there will be ditching in due course.
Not to worry, it’ll probably get canned soon one way or t’other anyhow.
First time I actually enjoyed the B story more than the A. There was a nice twist in there and some good lines from the Russian who I’m beginning to like.
Sadly much less action from Boyd (The Handler) who is easily the best character, though what there was I enjoyed. I also think Topher is getting interesting and his exchanges with Boyd seem to be where most of the meat of the show is at this point.
I also think there is a C story. Currently A story is the assignment of the week, the B story is Ballard’s investigation and the C story, which may tie in with either or both in any given episode is season plot.
As for being canceled, I think you would be surprised. The show is far more by the numbers than Firefly was, essentially a modern procedural show that steals a lot from CSI. I think in that regard the network probably like it.
Unlike Buffy and Firefly I’m not sure yet whether it is rewatchable. I’ve been watching each ep twice, once with Evie and once with my Thursday night crowd. Whiel I thought Ep 2 was better than 1, I think Ep 1 was more rewatchable.
I’ve been watching, and there are some bits about it that I’ve enjoyed watching, while at the same finding it problematical with a deeply squicky core premise. It may be a deliberate use of a deeply squicky core premise told in a low key manner in order to get people to think – enhancing on some of the themes coming through in the Buffy, Angel and Firefly canons; or it could be that Joss Whedon has some deeply squicky things going on in his psyche.
One of the big things that’s coming through is that the Dollhouse is about a very abusive situation, and it’s told in a very domestic way with a character that we (at least the female audience) are meant to identify with. There’s no opportunity to Other it, to emotionally step away with an internal rationalisation of ‘that kind of stuff doesn’t happen to people like me.’ The background around Echo/Caroline is that that kind of thing could very well happen to people like me – going out with a guy who likes how you look, but secretly wants to wipe over your personality and replace it with something more to his liking; going out with a guy who likes assertiveness and competence, but only so long as he’s just a little bit better; group homelike situations that should be safe but actually aren’t and involve groupthink and an emphasis on conforming (and note that Caroline’s home video had a dig about sororities and how much she hates them – the original girl was definitely a loner). These are exaggerated versions of things that actually happen to women. I actually found that the bits of the storyline that were about kids being kidnapped and Alpha the crazy serial killer were less discomforting – they were easier to put in the category of ‘not in my world.’
I agree that the exchanges between Topher and Boyd are pretty telling. One line that stuck with me from the first episode: (misquoted) “Extraordinary people become extraordinary by overcoming extreme challenges.” It was used to justify why hostage-negotiator-Echo was short-sighted and asthmatic, but I think it’s probably going to be the overall theme of the series – overcoming extreme challenges.
(Have not seen episode 3 yet, can’t comment on how these trends are continuing.)
Stephanie – wow, yes. Haven’t thought about it like that before.
One thing that I think is telling is that Topher is obviously, deliberately, the Xander-type, the easy geekboy identification figure, the funny one, the sass-talking independent guy with wit – and he’s also deeply complicit in doing something that is (even with the most positive spin deeply problematic. Joss, I’m sure, did this deliberately – he wants his audience uncomfortable. It’s one of the things that is keeping me involved.
Huh, yes, I see your point now that I think about it. Topher _should_ be appealing – he’s bright, a bit geeky without being smelly, and articulate. But he’s Doing Evil and knows it. And Boyd _should_ be appealing – he’s compassionate, competent, and is in the role of Protector, much like Giles was. But he knows that the Evil is there, and he isn’t doing anything about it, bar making a few token protests that don’t mean anything. Meanwhile, FBIGuy who fills the niche of Knight Errant, like Angel and Mal, is way off in the outer darkness, sans support crew, getting laughed at by his workmates and lacking tangible evidence that there’s even anything to find.
I disagree about Boyd not doing anything about it. I think he is doing what he can, saving one life at a time, or wishing he could. He would do everything for Echo, she is in many respects his child. And the scene in episode 2 where she said she trusted him completely was when it all turned for him. In that moment when someone gave him their life he gave it back to her. Boyd is currently the most tragic character in the whole show because he would do anything for Echo if he could, including breaking her out, but he can’t. He can only work with what he has got. In fact only Topher really has the power to give Echo her old life back. So Boyd never sees the mask that Echo wears, only the small, potentially empty girl that he loves and protects. His protest mostly comes in challenging Echo to do more than her programming permits – to be herself (whatever that is under the mask) and to grow up even though as a parent he doesn’t want her to.
I do think the characters are interesting (with the exception of De Witt and the Reed Diamond’s security monster) and the show is certainly engaging in an intellectual way. It’s also well made. It isn’t yet gripping television though.
“..the show is certainly engaging in an intellectual way. It’s also well made. It isn’t yet gripping television though.”
I agree 100%.
I remain underwhelmed. Every episode plot to date has been generic fodder: the kidnapped little girl, the most dangerous game, the bodyguard for a pop star. None of them arises naturally from the premise of the show, and none of them offers a new perspective on these already worn-out stories. On previous shows Joss Whedon has offered witty reinterpretations of stock situations. Here he leaves out the “witty reinterpretations” part.
Every single thing that’s intriguing about the show amounts to a hint that at some point in the future, something genuinely interesting might happen. And I disagree that it’s “intellectually engaging” – all the intellectual interest comes from people reading into it, not from the actual content.
Because morgue has promised 😉 that it will get better after 3 more episodes, I’m still watching despite increasing apathy. If episode 6 doesn’t present a doozy, I’m outta here. Life’s too short to waste on tv leftovers.