Dollhouse

Is Dollhouse any good?

POSTED BY: FreeBaGeL
UPDATED: Saturday, August 22, 2009 05:54
VIEWED: 11324
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KWICKO

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 3:58 AM

Quote:
mind you, do virtual stalkers count?

Only if I'm virtually scared...

As for slipping away, and Dollhouse, let's hope not.

While I'll freely admit that it was NOT my favorite show last season, I also absolutely won't be missing a single episode this season. I watch because it's Joss... BUT - I also watch because from what I've seen, Joss has a habit of starting kinda slow and building into simply amazing, astonishing second, third, and fourth seasons and beyond. So if S1 of Dollhouse was its "weak" season, we might be in for a hell of a ride.

And it definitely DID get much better as the episodes progressed.

And, ya know... It's JOSS! How can we NOT support him?!

Mike

Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day...
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

If it wasn't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college...

BIGRICHARD

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 4:49 AM

and lets face it, the last two or three eps of the season were amazing. Mainly coz of Alan Tudyk.

SHINYGOODGUY

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 5:44 AM

In regards to Topher:

He's also great in Epitaph One. I'm not going to spoil anything but let's just say the consequences of his actions finally hits him.
(Thanks Dewrastler)
---------------------------------------------

I agree with you EC in regards to him being annoying, but I think that Joss did this intentionally, because each of his characters, from Buffy to Firefly, go through an arc. It's Joss' story within a story 'modus operandi', he just loves giving you a character that starts out here but ends up way over there.

I believe we got a hint of that, specifically, in the final 2 eps where his actions were coming back to bite him in the butt. And then in E-One, as Dewrastler pointed out.

As for me, I'm in the "Flashes of Brilliance" camp on Dollhouse. Everytime I would watch and find my "geek" cup running over, the following week I would be disappointed. I'm on the fence about getting the DVD because DH was choppy (to say the least), but there were some eps that just rocked the house.

I'm going to rent it, if I can, to see the unaired eps. But I will be watching S2 without a doubt. The potential this show has cannot be ignored. Joss has to knock this one out of the park; I just hope Fux has enough sense to stand back and let Joss play with his toys. We will all get a thrill and Fux will be counting the large piles of cash - that should make them happy.

I believe it was Kwicko who said it's "goodish" and leaning toward the positive end of the scale.

"Goodish"----------------------------------------------------------Great.

It's got some ways to go.

SGG

Tawabawho?

MAINEAXE

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 5:35 PM

Ok.. I bought the Dollhouse First season CD's, and I have to say I didn't give the TV show a fair shake when it aired. Im not a particular fan of Eliza Dushku, but I have to say in the later episodes she does turn in some spectacular performances. Mark Sheppard (AKA Badger) is true to type cast.. and a familiar face in the verse. At this time Iv only completed the first 2 CD's and will have more to comment on in the future.
It AINT Firefly/Serenity, but it aint half bad either.

~Maineaxe~ a shiny 3rdrockresident

KWICKO

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 5:41 PM

Quote:

I believe it was Kwicko who said it's "goodish" and leaning toward the positive end of the scale.

"Goodish"----------------------------------------------------------Great.

Thanks for that, SGG. And if it's any kind of vote of confidence, while I may not think the show has reached greatness yet, I think it may damn well be heading that way!

Four of five eps in, I was just about ready to give up on the show for good. Then it grabbed me. And while it had its ups and downs after that, it tended to be more ups than downs, which is a good thing.

And while Topher annoys me, I have to try to remember that Xander was annoying in Season One of Buffy, too. Like SGG pointed out, there's a growth arc in the characters, and I have to admit that we haven't seen anything really focusing on Topher yet, so he hasn't gotten to grow. Hell, even Andrew grew and evolved!

I wasn't crazy about the show, and was SURE it would get cancelled, but like I said once its renewal was announced, now that we've got a Season Two, I'm all in. I'm prepared to be blown away this season.

Mike

Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day...
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

If it wasn't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college...

KINGEICHOLZ

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 9:23 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Quote:
Originally posted by KingEICHOLZ:
Do you come in here to check peoples spelling to?

You mean "to check peoples' spelling too"?

And of course, the answer is, only yours, dear. Only yours. kWICKO I HOPE YOU ARE FEMALE BECAUSE YOU JUST CALLED ME DEAR AND I DON'T LIKE BEING CALLED DEAR BY ANOTHER MAN.

REAL MAN

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LWAVES

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 9:37 PM

Being a Joss show I eagerly awaited the first showing of the pilot (the one that aired) as I am a Firefly, Buffy and Angel fan.
To say I was utterly disappointed is a major understatement, and I decided not to watch anymore. But because it was Joss's show I kept telling myself that I would come back to it later. Then I heard that the next few episodes weren't great either and I thought 'Should I bother?' After that I pretty much ignored anything about the show.

Of course then it was up against TSCC for the grand prize of cancellation and being a fan of that show I wanted Dollhouse to lose. We know the result of that but I read a thread on here that stated that Dollhouse actually got better towards the end and broke away from the early fomulaic episodes. Shortly after I saw a brief clip from Epitaph One on YouTube and my interest was peaked enough to revisit the show.

The end result being pretty much what everyone here has said. The first set of episodes are the weakest and had it carried on this way it would have become a really bad show. But it didn't and the later episodes got better and better, resulting in the rather good Epitaph One.

Overall I still can't say that it's a great show but it does have the potential that others above me have spoken of. And now I'm more settled into the way the show works I like the fact that Joss hasn't made the show in the same way as any of the others. Buffy and Angel were very similar, which is to be expected, but I felt Firefly was different to both of them in some ways. Dollhouse is different again, there is less humour but more emphasis on morals and crossing certain lines.

I look forward to season 2 in the hope that it can improve even further. And if Summer ends up being involved in the show then all the better. I hear Alexis Denisof is already on board (possibly working for Rossum?)

"I don't believe in suicide, but if you'd like to try it it might cheer me up to watch."

KWICKO

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 9:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by KingEICHOLZ:
Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Quote:
Originally posted by KingEICHOLZ:
Do you come in here to check peoples spelling to?

You mean "to check peoples' spelling too"?

And of course, the answer is, only yours, dear. Only yours. kWICKO I HOPE YOU ARE FEMALE BECAUSE YOU JUST CALLED ME DEAR AND I DON'T LIKE BEING CALLED DEAR BY ANOTHER MAN.

REAL MAN

BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH...

Let me guess, sweetie - you were "text-quoting"!

Typing > You

Oh, and I'm a man. Hope that doesn't cause you to lose sleep.

Mike

Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day...
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

If it wasn't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college...

ASARIAN

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 1:47 PM

Dollhouse, a typical case of "Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda." Indeed, it had its spurts of brilliance; but often these only painfully underlined what the rest was lacking. You could clearly see the hand of Joss. But, the odd occasion notwithstanding, like with "Man on the Street" and such, where you could tell the man really sat down to give it his best, the rest was still Joss, but like Joss in a hurry, drafting episodes he could have elevated to greatness if only he had taken the time to rewrite them a couple of times. Alas, he never did.

Of course, as observed before, the show's whole premiss worked against Joss. You cannot really sympathize with the main characters: they're pimps of the worst kind. Even a handler like Boyd, who's given to play a man of honor, still hops along for the ride. Of course, the show tries to come up with reasons for why they do what they do; but, overall, the rationalizations are trite and fail to convince. Topher is the example in the flesh. He's supposed to be so geeky as to be blissfully free of any moral considerations; but, in the way it works out, he just winds up being a walking characature of himself. There it surfaced again, that flash of brilliance, in the last aired episode, when Dr. Saunders says to Topher (quoting from memory here; don't shoot me): "You programmed me with better computer skills than needed for my job. But one thing I don't understand: why on earth did you program me to hate you so? ... That's weird." Beautiful wow! moment. DeWitt, who I couldn't stand at first, in the end actualy pulled off the internal moral struggle best throughout the show. And in "Epitaph One" her motherly instinct towards Topher was truly endearing. Brought a tear to my eye. So, oddly enough, of the main characters I now sympathize with her the most. I don't wanna give away nuthing, but Topher's performance, in "Epitaph One," was bordering on brilliance too.

So, Dollhouse any good? Not good enough for me to recommend, really; but good enough for me to be present again the next season. Sorry, can't make more of it. Only Joss can.

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

KINGEICHOLZ

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 8:58 PM

NO Its doesn't cause me to lose sleepi'm just not gay if you are thats up tp you.