Epitaph Two: Return

POSTED BY: RocketJock
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 2, 2010 07:44
VIEWED: 10962
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ROCKETJOCK

Saturday, January 30, 2010 6:47 AM

Whew.

It's been said that Dollhouse is a show people generally can't be neutral on; like yogurt, tofu, or The Three Stooges, you either love it or hate it. My wife and I make no bones that we are in the "love it" camp.

Watching the series capstone tonight, after two years of gradually learning who these people are, why they are the way they are... Watching the show itself grow through the (roughly) twenty-four storytelling hours from the relatively bland beginning to the more complex details and interplay of the later arcs... Learning to appreciate the new faces, enjoying the novelty of seeing old friends in new roles...

Seeing how the tale told out was, to say the least, an emotional experience.

Select to view spoiler:

Ballard's fate. Topher's amazingly upbeat sacrifice. Echo's breakdown at her final loss. Priya and Anthony's reconciliation. Zone's re-acceptance of his own humanity in taking responsibility for his new young charge. And, of course, that final, beautiful reuniting - - -

I feel no shame in admitting that both my wife and myself had tears on our cheeks by story's end. If the later episodes were a bit rushed, the finale was, IMHO, a near-perfect little gem.

Postscript: As I said at the beginning, I'm well aware that there are many who dislike the show, and that's their right. What I'd like to ask of them at this point is, if you wish to comment on this thread, please be respectful. The show is gone now, there's no further need to put it down. Let those of us who loved it celebrate the wake in peace, just for now.

"It spoke to the schizophrenic in me. Well, both of them, actually. . . " -- Alpha

CALHOUN

Saturday, January 30, 2010 7:23 AM

Quote:
RocketJock wrote:
Friday, January 29, 2010 20:47
Whew.

It's been said that Dollhouse is a show people generally can't be neutral on; like yogurt, tofu, or The Three Stooges, you either love it or hate it. My wife and I make no bones that we are in the "love it" camp.

Ahh.. you're one of "those" people. forever pigeonholed as loving Dollhouse.

It did improve over the last 4 or so episodes though it was obvious a lot more was crammed in to wrap it all up.

Quote:
I feel no shame in admitting that both my wife and myself had tears on our cheeks by story's end.

Were you cutting onions at the time?

Quote:
What I'd like to ask of them at this point is, if you wish to comment on this thread, please be respectful. The show is gone now, there's no further need to put it down. Let those of us who loved it celebrate the wake in peace, just for now.

Ding, Dong, The Doll is Dead!

Hehe, seriously though, I am glad some people enjoyed it and am sincerely sorry for your loss. Now Joss can make a great show again.

GWEK

Saturday, January 30, 2010 1:04 PM

EXTENSIVE SPOILERS THROUGHOUT

GWEK

Saturday, January 30, 2010 1:06 PM

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT

I still have to re-watch (both Epitath II and the Hollow Men), but I felt that both finales were a bit weak.

I think this stems from one of the problems I had with the show originally: there were no characters to care about.

In season one, the characters were in one of the three following categories:

1) Dolls (and therefore plot devices more than actual characters)

2) Dollhouse staff members (with the arguable exception of Saunders, these are bad people; not antiheroes, like the crew of Serenity or even Spike, but scumbuckets who trade in sex slavery. Pretty it up however you want, but what DeWitt, Topher, and even Boyd do for a living makes them bad people)

3) Ballard (*yawn!*)

Although these characters evolved a bit during season two (the Dolls in particular), I think a lot of the damage had already been done. And, to be honest, I never bought DeWitt's or Topher's road to redemption (and now I'll add Alpha to that list). I feel these changes were forced on us rather than "earned" through proper storytelling (although I'm sure time didn't permit the evolution Joss would have preferred... and the forced,awkward, artificial nature of the changes is rather in keeping with the tone and themes of the show itself).

So, my feelings on the finale(s) are largely driven by where the show has been. When Ballard dies unceremoniously (shade of Wash), I didn't much care, because I'd never come to care for his character. All I could think, from a writing point of view, was "Well, if Ballard didn't make it, then Echo will, because Joss never lets a couple be happy, but he never kills 'em both."

Topher's sacrifice? Sorry, but the guy deserved to die for his crimes (as did DeWitt). It's nice that he went out doing something good, but I have not an ounce of sympathy for him at his moment of death. He got better than he deserved, really.

I found the Ballard/Echo reunion more intellectually interesting that emotionally satisfying. It raises some serious questions. Echo knows this isn't REALLY Ballard, so will she live in willful ignorance for the rest of her days? Will Ballard be like the other imprints she has in her head (which she can sort of turn on and off on whim)? If not, why not? If so, how long before she gets sick of him and pushes him to the back?

I guess the scene was supposed to be about Echo "finally" letting someone in, but since the idea of Echo keeping people emotionally at bay isn't something that was sufficiently played up during the series, and because she DIDN'T LET ANYONE IN (just a controllable copy of someone), it had very little emotional impact for me.

The reunion of Priya and Anthony similarly did not resonate emotionally for me, probably because we see them mostly "together". The entire emotional arc plays out over the course of a few moments in this episode. I've barely been given a chance to care about the fact that they're broken up, so why should I really care when they get back together?

All in all, it wasn't terrible, but, like much of the show, was uneven and hollow (especially compared to the depth and nuance of Joss's other shows). I know much of this is because the show was prematurely cancelled, but I think the problems extended beyond that.

DOLLHOUSE started out as a bad show and became watchable by the end of season one. It started to really find itself and become good as it progressed through season two (to be fair, there were flashes of brilliance in both seasons), but the end was rushed and lackluster.

Honestly, I'm a little concerned that this is Joss's new writing style. Forced, unearned character changes? Big time jumps to "advance" the story? Signifcant characters who virtually disappear from the story and then re-appear as needed? All very disappointing. I think Joss spent too much of his break watching BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

EVILDINOSAUR

Saturday, January 30, 2010 2:11 PM

Agreed, it was awesome.

"Haha, mine is an evil laugh."

ECGORDON

Saturday, January 30, 2010 2:19 PM

What Gwek said.

We were supposed to know what Joss' next project is by the time the finale aired but unless I've missed it I haven't heard anything definite.

Before anything else, I hope he and Summer do their ballet film. Then Dr. Horrible 2, then Serenity 2, then Firefly: The Return.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

GWEK

Saturday, January 30, 2010 2:34 PM

About 40 minutes into the finale, I remembered what Joss had said and logged into my laptop to head over here to see if there was any news.

Hopefully soon...

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

CYBERSNARK

Saturday, January 30, 2010 3:14 PM

I loved it and will be floating for the next few months.

This was a real departure for Joss; a happy ending (several happy endings, in fact). Strange that the wold is actually worse off than it was in Buffy, Angel, or Firefly, but it still feels more upbeat.

Too bad Joss said he doesn't want to revisit this 'verse, though --that ten-year gap has a lot of unanswered questions.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

FARFLY

Saturday, January 30, 2010 8:38 PM

Not sure about the time line but didn't Buffy move to Fox about the time Joss started his killing spree? Joyce, Tara, Anya, Cordelia, Wash, and Book?

I guess he learned from Fox, get the viewer to become attached to something, (Firefly, Terminator,
Angel) and then kill it.

ECGORDON

Saturday, January 30, 2010 10:19 PM

Buffy was produced through 20th Century Fox Film Studios, but it aired on The WB network then swithched to UPN for its last two seasons. So that is one thing you cannot blame on the FOX television network. Besides, Joyce was killed in Season Five while the show was still on WB and Cordelia was offed on the spin-off show Angel, also on WB. That's just pure Joss, no network influence needed for him to kill off sympathetic characters.

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