Dollhouse ¨C ¡°The Public Eye¡± / ¡°The Left Hand¡±
¡°The Public Eye¡± / ¡°The Left Hand¡± December 4th, 2009
¡°Everybody¡¯s got a past ¨C it¡¯s the future [viewers] care about.¡±
Writing about Dollhouse is like riding a bike ¨C the show has never suffered from a lack of ideas, making even its weaker episodes (once it got ahold of its identity) fascinating to discuss. However, there¡¯s something inherently unsatisfying, in theory, about getting back onto that bicycle when you know that you¡¯re about to run out of road, and in a very short period of time this bike is going to be absolutely worthless to you. So much of what I do here at Cultural Learnings is about contextualizing episodes in the past, present and future of any particular series, and in the world of Dollhouse that future has become a swift cancellation which could come as soon as early next week should the ratings from tonight¡¯s two-hour block of episodes be so disastrous that FOX is willing to risk the wrath of fans as opposed to the wrath of advertisers and replace the show with reruns.
And yet, there is something about where this show finds itself mid-way through its second season that I find far more compelling than I should. I know this show is going to end, and yet there is something about the show¡¯s view of the future that has turned its futility into an asset of sorts. It¡¯s almost as if we¡¯ve already reached the end of the road, but instead of a sheer drop the show is offering a lengthy kill on which we can simply coast down the hill with our hands off the handlebars feeling the wind in our face and taking those last moments to think about what was, what is, and what will (or would) be. It¡¯s almost as if cancellation has freed Dollhouse from certain expectations, and what we get from this point forward is about what we take from the material rather than what the material necessarily says in and of itself.
As such, ¡°The Public Eye¡± and ¡°The Left Hand¡± are both really great hours of television not only because they¡¯re well-executed in terms of basic plot and character, but also because through the wonders of a DVD bonus feature we as an audience are perfectly situated to understand the ramifications of what is going on here at levels that go beyond the immediate to a future that we might never be able to see but that we are able to vividly imagine in ways that allow the show to survive beyond the certainty of its fate.
Senator Daniel Perrin felt like a strange character to introduce into this universe back in October when we first met the man. He seemed like a waste of Alexis Denisof, an effort to set up an external threat to the Dollhouse in a way that seemed like a distraction. As such, it¡¯s not too surprising that ¡°The Public Eye¡± fundamentally deconstructs any notion of Perrin¡¯s externality, revealing that he a unique sort of doll. In the process, the show manages to take the concept of the Dollhouse and apply it quite savvily into the world of politics. It¡¯s as if Perrin is a third son, passed over for the first son and ignored when compared to the second son, left to waste away his existence as a 30-something frat boy until someone realizes that third son or not his name has potential. And as opposed to hiring a speech writer, an image consultant, and perhaps a big-money P.R. firm, the Rossum Corporation simply eliminates some attributes and adds others, creating a super-politician who can help clear the way for their master plan.
Dollhouse is often as its best when it takes things which happen in the real world (like, say, prostitution) and effectively turns the dial up to 11, shifting the purpose of the engagements in such a way as to challenge our preconceptions. Many politicians (including, most famously, George W. Bush) were built from the ground up by a political war machine, and in some instances were placed there by corporations. In the world of Dollhouse, though, that corporation is doing this not out of corporate greed but out of twisted self-preservation, understanding the immoral underpinnings (heck, pinnings (does this make sense? I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s fun to say. Pinnings!) for that matter) of their actions and working to clear the way for them to continue heightening their power. When our intrepid protectors of a moderately less corrupt image of this process at the Los Angeles Dollhouse get into Daniel Perrin¡¯s head, they discover that Rossum had plans to create a President ¨C plans that have been altered by their actions, but that could just as easily continue to change this world in the future.
And yet, for some characters this idea of a future is almost impossible to imagine. Bennett Gulverson is, as is the case with nearly every character that Summer Glau plays, beyond any sense of real understanding. I¡¯m still not entirely sure what she is: is she some sort of weird doll/human hybrid (hence why she wasn¡¯t affected by Topher¡¯s disrupter), or is she someone who was meant to be a doll but who lost her arm and thus lost her ability to ¡°do her best¡± as part of the program, and who worked independent of programming to develop the skills necessary to help those who are what she can never be. Either way, the point is that this is a character who is stuck in the past, who spends each and every day trying to focus on the present long enough to do her job but whose job is treating and preparing those who are living the life she was supposed to live and that at least some part of her wanted. The moment where she realizes that Topher finds her pretty isn¡¯t just a ploy, in my eyes: yes, she¡¯s playing him as much as he¡¯s playing her, but just as he is legitimately smitten with her she is legitimately overcome with emotion at the idea that he would consider her to be a doll because of what that represents in her twisted memories of the past.
Echo, in turn, is forced to live the past through her own present, losing the use of her left arm and struggling to figure out where Echo fits in with Caroline (her own past) and her future, which is far more indeterminate than the show¡¯s. Because this show isn¡¯t about simple characters, there¡¯s no sense that closure is ever an option here: to ¡°close¡± Echo¡¯s character, you would need to resolve every bit of Caroline¡¯s identity, every shred of identity inherent in Echo¡¯s wiped state (which we know to be more sentient than any other), and every bit of what role she is eventually supposed to play in this grand conspiracy. For Perrin, his end goal is shockingly clear, a prime directive. Echo, meanwhile, is not wired for any one particular goal, which means that in a wiped state she¡¯s trying to find her own purpose despite having no idea where to begin. Echo wandering around in the world is not so much dangerous for her physical self (as we saw in ¡°The Public Eye,¡± provocation is capable of bringing out memories from previous engagements as a result of her glitching of sorts) as it is for her mental self, exposed to a world that will do very little to help the problems going around in her head.
A lot of ¡°The Left Hand¡± is built around a clever device, as Topher (in order to be in both Washington and L.A. at the same time) imprints Victor with, well, Topher. The gag has its moments, most of which come from Enver Gjokaj playing the mimic yet again (between this and Reed Diamond, Gjokaj was built for this role), but it also helps to emphasize (albeit in a comic fashion) the sort of snowball effect of this technology. In his rivalry of sorts with the legendary Bennett Gulverson (who has also heard of him), you realize that this is like any other scientific field: one piece of technology (in this case Alpha¡¯s remote wipe technology) turns into a useable device by one technician, while the other one finds a way to turn it into something else entirely. It creates a chain reaction effect which results in legitimate tension (Topher punching Bennett out was a highlight) and also a constant reminder that some day in the future, this technology is going to be mean the end of the world as we know it, and when that happens Topher Brink is going to be a complete and total wreck. In this episode, Topher enlists his own help in order to complete the task, but more minds only takes things that one step too far, where the technology goes from an emergency aid to disrupt the Actives to a device which can attack any architecture and even alter it from afar.
It¡¯s a moment that refers to a future we have seen, a future that through ¡°Epitaph One¡± has been hanging over this entire season. The idea that the series finale will be a sequel to that story of the survivors of an apocalypse stumbling upon the Dollhouse years after it has helped engineer the end of humanity as we know it is exciting not because I expect that we¡¯re going to get substantial answers but rather because I want to see more. That one glimpse has created new complexities to everything we¡¯re seeing, taking story elements which could feel like they¡¯re moving too fast and making them feel like mere drops in the bucket. It¡¯s a future that constantly asks us to reconsider the present, and here had my mind spinning from the very beginning. Both episodes played around with our expectations, slowly unveiling that what seemed like one thing is in fact another, but in some ways the entire show has become that: it is a show about how bad things are going to be, and yet where all of the characters but one believe that this is all about a sense of progress and the great future ahead. To some, the actives are being protected from lives that could have seen them killed or sitting in a jail cell; to others, the actives are purely being exploited, left with the architecture in place for them to eventually lose their identities all over again when imprinting over the air becomes a blight on society.
The one person who stands against it (actively ¨C I think Boyd and Echo are on the same page, just not as active (ugh) on the front) is Paul Ballard, who could have saved Madeline from her fate of lying in Bennett¡¯s chair if only he could have bought into the party line and firmly believed that Madeline was making a mistake going through with her plan to testify against the Dollhouse. But Ballard has convinced himself that he¡¯s working the Dollhouse from the inside, working with Boyd and Echo in an effort to take it down from the inside. Now, the episodes clearly started to separate Adelle from the other Dollhouses (including the always great Ray Wise in Washington) and from Rossum (the similarly great Keith Carradine), but at this point Ballard can¡¯t trust anyone, and even if our group in L.A. is the lesser of the evils they are nonetheless complicit in these acts. And as a result, Ballard is forced to believe what he says: if he wants the dolls to go free, he needs to be willing to accept the decisions they make, as trying to force her to make a different decision (even one inherently smarter for her future than the one Rossum wants her to make) is turning into one of them.
The two episodes really drive home the point that we are in the same position: we know enough about where this goes to feel icky about some of what happens in L.A., but we are also able to see in a character like Bennett (played with such a perfect level of crazy from the always dependable Glau) the true endgame here. Topher may border on the annoying on occasion, but he is involved in this because science fascinates him and because it¡¯s what he knows how to do. Bennett uses the same technology to gain revenge, and whereas L.A. operates the Dollhouse as morally as possible within its inherently immoral premise it¡¯s clear that Washington has somewhat of its own rules. And that Rossum has its own ideas entirely. And that we know just enough about all of this to see a situation like the one depicted in these two episodes and look beyond its cultural relevance and its fine writing/acting and see a future that the show will never be able to fully construct but that it has mapped out just enough to keep us filling in the gaps at 3am when we should be getting sleep instead.
I¡¯m going to miss that bike.
Cultural Observations ¡ö I enjoy the idea that each individual Dollhouse has taken on elements of its location: from what we¡¯ve seen, Los Angeles is interested in a sense of almost romance and fantasy, whereas what we heard of the engagements at the Washington dollhouse (like the long-term engagement with the closested congressman, and Perrin) seem to have that sense of subterfuge and political corruption inherent in them. It makes sense that it would be Washington that coordinates the Perrin effort, and one thing I will miss about the future is the idea of visiting other Dollhouses and seeing what they would have to offer. ¡ö I find my tolerance for crazy Topher is entirely dependent on who is on the receiving end of the crazy. When it was his awkward interactions with Bennett, or even conversations with himself on that subject, it worked. And then it was Boyd standing there not sure how to respond to VictorTopher, it was brilliant. It worked less when the show was just letting the crazy sit there with no purpose, which was scarce enough for the storyline to work for me. ¡°Glasses on a Chain FTW¡± was just fantastic, although Glau was fighting with fire with ¡°Your skin is like a pig.¡± ¡ö I probably won¡¯t be able to review these episodes as easily together in the future, as not every two-hour set of episodes will probably act as a literal two-parter (these might as well have been considered ¡°The Public Hand, Parts 1 and 2,¡± which throws us back to Jaime Weinman¡¯s argument from the other day). I might end up just choosing the best episode to ¡°review¡± in those instances, but we¡¯ll see.
Dollhouse — Episode 2.5 ‘The Public Eye’ 2009 December 5 tags: Dollhouse, Joss Whedonby tgjkennedy
How does a series fare once the show has been cancelled? Will the remaining episodes be more and more awful, or will we be happily surprised? Will it be a quick and hastily thrown together plot wrap up? Will it all work out? With the series to conclude with January 22nd’s episode “Epitaph Two: Return” we only have a few more to go before we find out.
So where were we?
Echo’s been glitching on and off since Episode 1.12, and with very little consistency. Sometimes she’s aware of who she is, and other times she’s back to where she was in the beginning of Season 1 (just a doll). It seems like she experiences a “composite event” every other episode and I’m getting tired of seeing it. It makes it difficult to understand what’s going on with her character when there’s no stability to her development. If that’s supposed to be the point, it’s not coming across clear enough.
Senator Daniel Perrin is on a quest to prove the Dollhouse exists and take it down. I know Alexis Denisof is American, but everytime I see him I think “Boy, he really can’t do an American accent…” He will always be Wesley Wyndam Price to me.
November, “Madeleine Costley,” has been freed from the Dollhouse, although Adell seems concerned that she’s still not happy.
So what happens now, given that we only have 8 more episodes to bring us up to speed with the brilliance that was “Epitaph One”?
This episode is full of sneaky twists and surprises, much like the rest of the series. November/Madeleine Costley has teamed up with Senator Perrin to testify that the Dollhouse exists. She’s seen proof that she murdered someone and it’s made her want to get justice for how she was used as a doll. She claims the Dollhouse took advantage of her when she was weak and forced her into a contract. Really? You sign up to have your memory wiped for 5 years and you have no idea what you might be doing? If she felt bad about it, she probably shouldn’t have taken all the money they gave her when her contracted ended.
Lundy makes an appearance as a Dollhouse big-wig. I’m always taken aback when my show’s actors get all mixed up. Obviously the Dollhouse isn’t really pleased with November’s attempt to testify against them, and now Dewitt and Ballard have to come up with a plan to rescue her. While getting prepared, Echo-the-clairavoyant appears. Apparently she can sense when people “aren’t right”/dolls, and everyone just takes her word for it. This is part of what I’m not enjoying about the show – obviously Echo is special. But, she’s got some freaky intuition because she’s not a person and at the same time a lot of people? I don’t understand why or how, and it feels like they’re using her as a plot device a whole lot lately.
Echo’s vague comments lead everyone to decide that Perrin’s wife is probably a sleeper-doll. This is supposed to create some tension, as she could be activated at any moment to be a murderer, but it’s not really that well done. There’s a brief moment when a phone rings and that’s that. Fail. This could have been used to create some great suspense, but it sort of gets thrown out the window before it can be used effectively.
Like usual, Topher is the best part of this episode. He continues to be really funny, when everyone else’s dialogue is not that interesting. I will definitely miss Topher.
There are a bunch more plot twists, some done pretty well, followed by the long and winded “I’m a doll, you’re a doll, what’s a doll, I’m not real…” Echo is glitching again. Uh oh! Oh wait, she does this every episode. Then the senator glitches too, and they glitch together for a while. But he’s not really a doll, exactly, just a better version of himself. This is something I’ve been waiting for. Why not reprogram people to just have better skills, a la the Matrix? But I suppose the appeal the Dollhouse is the anonymity afforded to the clients because the actives are unable to remember what they’ve done.
Best line of the whole episode: “You just woke up a lot of people, and they all think you’re a bitch,” followed by a pretty decent action sequence where Echo remembers specific moves she’s used in some of her engagements to fight.
Eventually, November finally confronts Paul Ballard. She knows she has a past with him, but she doesn’t remember any of it. We get a little bit of Paul and Mellie, which I really miss. They were the best part of the show after Topher. [Anyone else watching this on Fox get a bit of a laugh when the Dollhouse promo came up at this point? Echo looked like she'd laid down on the sidewalk at their feet covered in ectoplasm or something.]
The plan for the Senator Doll finally comes out – He’s going to rescue the actives at the L.A. branch, and then as a hero he’ll become President or something so Rossum can be all powerful and write their own laws. It’s a pretty basic plan. It’s kind of obvious if you think about it, and I had hoped the show could do better.
The biggest suprise of the episode is the introduction of Summer Glau as Bennet Halverson.There are more Buffy alum coming, but I’m trying not to find out who so it will be as enjoyable a surprise as it was in this week’s episode. Bennet is an interesting character, and I hope she stays around for the remainder of the series At first she seems like this branch’s Adell Dewitt, but no, she’s D.C.’s Topher. I also like that the D.C. dolls are named after Greek Gods instead of the phonetic alphabet. Makes me wonder what each Dollhouse uses as their naming system… any of them use Breakfast foods?
The episode ends with the revelation that Bennet and Caroline have some sort of history together – a history that Bennet seems none too happy about. The episode definitely moved the plot along, and I have a little more confidence that things will be sufficiently wrapped up in time for the finale.
I really try not to judge a book (or DVD) by its cover but since it seemed like [almost] everybody around me a while back were raving about this book/movie I automatically had 10 reasons not to bother reading or watching it. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m really stuck up when it comes to conformity or maybe it’s because usually when so many people flock to something I find myself let down when I finally decide to catch on, since I’ve heard nothing but hype. I had to find out for myself anyway and I’m glad since I actually loved this movie. Granted, the premise was really sad and you’d have to have quite alot of patience to follow some of the seemingly random plot lines, but overall I thought it was pretty neat. I loved the fact it was romantic, sad, funny and inspirational at the same time. I nerded out when I realized I saw Lisa Kudrow (the legendary Phoebe Buffay) and James Marsters (Spike from ‘Buffy’) on screen, as well as Hilary Swank (love her in anything) and Gerard “THIS-IS-SPARTA!” Butler. I think it could be appreciated by most but I’d say if you’ve loved and lost, it’s definitely worth checking out, you might relate.
DOLLHOUSE SO HEY GUYS DOLLHOUSE WAS ON LAST NIGHT OR SOMETHING.
- “Ever After the press conference. You’re ten minutes late.” Lol, I like the security dude. Seriously, though. I thought Security Dude was gonna be up to something with the lingering shots on his face at the beginning. Maybe he’ll be back?
- Interesting shirt, Adelle. And why is Ballard there, anyway?
- Lots of ‘Belonging’ references in this one. “Nolan’s girl” + “This from the man who had to dismember my last little outing.” + “My last ethical quandary was…unhelpful.”
- “Rah rah rah.”
- “A former active once made a passing reference to us in his blog. That was his last entry.”
- “November is sad.” Topher looks like he’s seriously considering that whole bell thing with Echo.
- “At first glance she’s perfect. At second glance…she’s still perfect.” “Skip to the part where she’s not.” I really enjoyed the Adelle/Ballard interactions in this episode. They play off each other surprisingly well. Ballard actually seems to kind of respect her even while hating everything she stands for.
- “An assassin, you mean? Like Madeline when she was Mellie?” “Oh please, she didn’t kill you.” Really, Paul. Get over it already. =P
- “She’ll be activated when things get too hot.” “…I’d say things are warmish.” I really want more Adelle/Ballard sparring now.
- Aw, poor Paul. Making him watch Mellie’s activation was a nice touch. I always like Paul the best when he’s dealing with the Mellie/November/Madeline thing.
- So, is it the killing thing that most upset Madeline? I wonder how much the Dollhouse tells people about the engagements when they sign up.
- The whole ‘White Knight’ exchange got super creepy the second time. I should’ve guessed the Doll twist though, because Cynthia was always the one to initiate it. Didn’t, though. Good job, show.
- My heart aches a little every time Topher works on the remote wipe technology. And every time he does, it’s for something beneficial in the short term: trying to wipe serial killer!Victor, trying to save Madeline.
- “This is the same tech that turned Echo into a serial killer.” “We said we wouldn’t dwell on that. He’s dwelling.”
- “Isn’t she so cute and tiny? =D I love it when a Doll’s name is so on the nose! …Because she weighs one kilo…it’s a unit of measurement…I’m so alone.”
- I’m really glad Topher managed to catch her on the cushion. I was afraid it was gonna be one of those gags from the preview, and I would’ve cringed through that.
- “So I’ll drop Mrs. Perrin and I’ll pick up Madeline” …Yeah, about that, Paul…
- “Mr. Ballard is unhappy about a great many things at the moment.”
- For the record, I’ve watched very little Buffy/Angel, so my experience with Alexis Denisof is pretty much limited to Sandy Rivers from HIMYM…Yeah.
- “They didn’t tell me you were extra crazy. I typically charge more for that.” Call girl!Echo is cute. Her just sitting in the car with the camera was making me giggle. “When do we get nekkid again?” “Bringing your hooker-mistress to your wife probably isn’t a great idea. Just sayin’.”
- OH SHIT. Perrin’s the doll. Again, didn’t see that coming somehow.
- I love how Adelle can never open just one of a set of double doors. IT’S SALOON STYLE OR NOTHING.
- Props to the chick playing Cynthia. The flip from the quiet, caring wife to the cold, sarcastic handler was pretty awesome and chilling.
- (This is going to be so long; I’m only halfway through the first episode.)
- So did Perrin’s family hand him over to the Dollhouse, or did the Dollhouse just grab him?
- “I am not a crook Doll.”
- Haha. I see a lot of people take note of how often Echo gets hit in the head, so the montage of several of those times is kind of funny. Way to be self-aware, show.
- I want to use some version of that line: “Every single person in my head thinks you’re a bitch.”
- The direct parallels of all the fight scenes down to the shooting angles was cool.
- “I think her bad guys are badder than my bad guys!”
- Aww, Paul and Madeline. =( Aww. (Also, I keep wanting to call her Maddie. I don’t know why; I usually don’t nickname people.) I like how he slipped up and called her Mellie when he was starting to get really emotional.
- ‘Sup, creepy Summer Glau?
- “Bad shrimp, or…or a film with a dog.”
- I like how the separate Dollhouses seem to have their own Handler imprints, Doll codenames, etc. I’d wondered about that. Interestingly, Echo is both part of the NATO alphabet and a name from Greek mythology.
- Creeeeeepy. (And with that, we’re onto the second episode.)
- LOL, the limo scene. Adelle is so Topher’s mom. She swats his hand away when he’s playing with the limo buttons, and he asks her permission to drink: “Absolutely not.” I love them. And Topher’s so pretty adorably uncomfortable being outside the Dollhouse.
- Not so sure about that mask thing the DC Dollhouse uses on the imprint table.
- Also not sure about the coat Topher’s wearing. I like the rest of the outfit, though. I’ll have to get back to you on the coat.
- OH GOD TOPHER!VICTOR IS THE GREATEST THING TO GRACE MY TV SCREEN THIS YEAR IF NOT LONGER. Seriously, Enver Gjokaj is incredibly impressive. First Dominic, now this? I didn’t fully realize just how many quirks Fran Kranz plays Topher with until now. Enver nailed it: the voice, the inflection, the gestures, the facial expressions, he was even grinning just like Fran does. That was so epic. I could not stop laughing when he was onscreen. And when he wasn’t, I would think of him anyway and start giggling. Seriously made my week. (What I wouldn’t give to have been there while they were rehearsing those scenes.)
- Also lol at Boyd having to deal with Topher!Victor. (Tophictor? Victopher?) “You just run the House and wait for…yourself to call.
- Also also, Victor is wearing the Topher outfit from the very first episode. And he has the silver bracelet. Does Topher have more than one, or is he just so uncomfortable without it that his clone needed a quick replacement?
- “You stud! –world’s worst high five/handshake–” Topher and Bennet are so adorably awkward together. Neither of them can deal with people. “What’s up with your arm?” followed by Topher kicking himself for saying that.
- “Now look me in my eyes, Stuart, and tell me if I’ve learned how to bluff.” Adelle is a badass, but then you already knew that.
- “I’m concerned that you may have just tried to taze me.”
- Whiskey mentions make me happy. I like how, even though Amy Acker is gone for now, the show still makes sure her character’s presence is felt. A lot of other shows would just pretend she never existed until she came back, but this one let’s her previous actions inform the behavior of the other characters.
- Topher is talking to Topher!Victor! Brb, cracking up again.
- “Glasses?” “Glasses on a chain!” “For the win!” Also, the music in the background of this scene is the same from the scene where Topher and Adelle were high. I don’t know if they’ve used it for other things, but that’s where I remember it from.
- JESUS OW. Way to be committed to the bit, Bennet.
- Not completely getting the Bennet/Caroline thing, but I’m sure I’m not supposed to yet. Was that actually Caroline? Did she go a bit cuckoo during her two-year run from Rossum? Was it an imprint? Was Bennet working for Rossum at this point?
- “Were they imprinting you? You don’t seem finished.” “How do you know when you’re finished?”
- Ew. Something about puncture wounds makes me cringe. I’m not typically queasy about blood or violence, but seeing something narrow and sharp actually puncture flesh just skeeves me out.
- “To be clear, this little project is your problem, not mine.” “Well, I’ll remind you of that when we’re bunk buddies in the Attic.” Man, I can’t wait to see the Attic.
- Hee at Topher and Bennet being giggly. I like how you can’t really tell what’s genuine infatuation and what’s them tricking each other. Just when you think Topher’s gotten completely distracted by being smitten, he makes it clear he’s still totally on target. And Adelle is so proud.
- (A commercial at this point on Hulu informs me that should buy Baileys to make the holidays more delicious.)
- “Oh. It’s very nice.” “…She was…kind of a hooker…”
- Assassin Trigger Puppies
- “What’s the word?” “It ain’t Grease.”
- Oh no, Echo, not the sweater over the shoulders thing. Anything but that.
- “I’m afraid of Caroline. If she comes back, where will I go?”
- Ooh, nice. Echo overrode the programming on her dead arm.
- “Get our new girlfriend to switch him off, or bye bye Echo.”
- Aww, Topher called Echo a friend. He’s way more attached to the Active than he realizes. (I actually had a fic idea based on the fact that, while Caroline wanted to make Topher’s brain implode, Echo actually seems to like and trust him on a non-programming level.)
- OH SNAP! I actually said that out loud when Topher punched Bennet out. That probably shouldn’t have made me as happy as it did, but I like when not-so-physical characters are pushed to doing physical things. Like throwing punches. (“Bennet’s out.” “I killed her?!” “I hit her. It hurt!”) You can kind of see his eyes go wide before he hits her, like ‘oh f**k, I’m really gonna do this.’
- “You were so close to perfect!” Unfortunately for the future of that romance, trying to kill one of Topher’s Actives is evidently a deal breaker.
- “Then shut up and work!” “I’m already working! I wouldn’t hold your breath on the shutting up.” “No, I wouldn’t.”
- “Oh, god. Dollspeak.”
- “She’s got me locked out on this end.” “Who’s your backdoor man?” “…We’ll just pretend I didn’t say that.” “Yeah.”
- So, I’m a little confused. Was this Rossum’s original plan? Or did they change it? Did Perrin really get wiped and re-imprinted? What was Echo’s involvement in this?
- “Finding him obstinate, are we?” Topher annoys himself. That’s freaking hilarious. “It wouldn’t be a second opinion! It would be the same opinion twice!” And I love their unconsciously identical body language. And them giggling at a joke one made while Boyd and Adelle just stare at them. “Shall I go now?” “For the love of god, yes!”
- Aw, Madeline. Girl can’t catch a break. I hope we get more Paul/Madeline interaction.
Overall opinion: SO f**kING EPIC AND AWESOME IS IT NEXT FRIDAY YET?
Also, Rachel and I decided that a good DVD extra would be a ‘Dollhouse in Five Minutes’ type thing with Enver playing all the roles.
Yay, Alpha’s back! And still delightfully psychotic. This is good, because I actually had an idea for an Alpha fanvid and was hoping the next episodes would give me plenty more material.
And a bunch of the fans apparently arranged to send cake to the Dollhouse cast and crew, which is super sweet, and there are some photos here. First of all, lol at everyone pretending to eat the whole cakes and Fran’s plate with a piece of every single cake (I do that. People give you weird looks for some reason). Second of all, check out the serious business scar makeup on the left side of his face in these shots. What’s happening to Topher in whatever episode they’re filming?
Why is this cast so adorable? I’m gonna miss them~
On a related note, had this conversation recently:
Me: Ooh, I think they might be filming the episode Amy Acker's back for now. Elle: yay, I miss her~ Me: samesies Me: -girlcrush- Elle: Let's face the facts about you and her, a love unspecified? Me: lol, something like that Elle: It's GIIIIIIRL LOOOOOVE THAT'S ALL IT IS~
It probably says something about us that neither of actually watch Scrubs.
Saturday, December 5, 2009 A Little More Dollhouse
Part of me thinks it’s a waste of time to write anything about a show that’s cancelled. But then I remind myself that I’m often watching shows for the first time after they are cancelled and off the air: The Wire and most of Stargate SG-1, for example. Not to mention WKRP in Cincinatti. And a lot of M.A.S.H.
So here goes.
Friday night wasn’t just a double header it was a bona fide two-parter: part one was the setup and was written by Andrew Chambliss (lots of funny lines, I think Joss was helping) and part two written by Tracy Bellomo. Lots of questions about the nature of life and consciousness. As Echo says toward the end: “I’m afraid of Caroline. If she comes back where will I go?”
“She’s perfect, as if they made her just for me.”
I did not see it coming. Did. Not. See. It. Coming. When Perrin said that line I thought I knew what was coming. In fact, I thought I knew that Perrin’s wife, Cindy, was a doll the first time I saw her. And boy was I wrong. How brilliant! I love when I’m wrong.
I’d like to know, though, how Echo was supposed to have figured out that there was something “wrong” with her.
“November is sad. We should help her.” “No one ever really leaves here do they?”
Miracle Laurie still can’t act. Which is a shame, but on the whole didn’t matter. And directors David Solomon and Wendey Stanzler got decent performances out of her. Of course it helped that she didn’t have many lines.
The Madeline/November/Mellie storyline was well written and her slightly Stepford Wife/Rabbit in the Headlights look was appropriate enough. I’m not sure we knew that she had been in the Dollhouse for three years but we do now. We also finally had it confirmed what we all expected – that the Dollhouse functionality is still in her head. But did Dollhouse-Washington always intend to use a former doll to help along the Senator Perrin story or was this just an opportunity that presented itself? Who gave her the photos? Who had access to the videotape of her in Paul’s apartment?
“What the hell was that?” “Your mind has been altered, tampered with.”
The underlying story of the political machinations of the evil Rossum Corporation is really good. And of course those of us who watched Epitaph One know where this is going. (If only we would find out that Rossum is represented by the DC branch of Wolfram & Hart it would all be perfect.) Creating Perrin as an idealistic politician who seemed totally sincere was perfect. And then having him be the doll (or, a “doll version of himself”) was even more perfect.
“We took a spoiled, selfish, pampered child – and we made a man out of him.”
And it turns out that the political family that the writers used for his model wasn’t the Kennedys – it was the Bush family. Which was a bit of an (uncomfortable) laugh. The new Daniel Perrin is a better man than the old Daniel Perrin – except that he is controlled by Rossum.
Perrin was meant to give cover for Rossum and let them get legislation passed so that they will control the world. Bwhahahahaha. ahem. yes. Well. For a while it looked like he was going to bring down the LA Dollhouse but only the LA Dollhouse. That would make him a hero and give him credibility. “When you finally exonerate Rossum … no one will question you. “ But in the end the death of Cindy was turned into some weird story about an evil consortium (they must be Stargate fans) who turned out to be the bad guy. And he threw Madeline under the bus. Good storyline.
Oh. And by the way, it was fun seeing Eliza Dushku in scenes with Alexis Denisof again.
“That’s not too Star Trek is that?”
The coldness with which Adele, Ballard and Topher tested the tech on Kilo was breathtaking. Again, those of us who say Epitaph One know where this is going and that lends a whole other layer to this storytelling.
“You just woke up a a lot of people and they all think you’re a bitch.”
The way this episode inter-cut with previous episodes was well done, especially the fight scene between Echo and Cindy Perrin but also the back story scenes with November/Madeleine/Mellie.
“I think her bad guys are badder than my bad guys.”
Ain’t that the truth.
At last Whedon has given us a Big Bad and it is Rossum acting through the DC branch of Dollhouse including Summer Glau. Evil tech. Evil summer. And of course the future fascist takeover.
“Imagine John Cassavetes in The Fury as a hot chick.”
I’ve never been a huge fan of Summer Glau, even on Firefly. She did ok with this, I guess, because I found her very creepy. As usual. It would be nice to see her play something other than an oddball freak so I could really judge her capabilities. (It was nice to see Donna Kozlowski as her assistant in the first half though. Wonder why she disappeared in the second half. Wonder if she’ll be back.) I’m not sure I completely understand the character’s back story but maybe I’m not supposed to yet.
“We’ve got our top guy covering for me. Only person in the world that I trust.”
Enver Gjokaj. Enver Gjokaj. Enver Gjokaj. Enver Gjokaj is the most amazing actor on this series and I hope he gets something worthy of his skills when this is over. I thought he was fabulous when he did his Reed Diamond imitation but this time he became Topher. And he was Topher, not just a cheap imitation of Topher. He is Joss Whedon’s best find since James Marsters. In fact he may be a better actor than Marsters, or maybe he’s just given more to do on this series. In any event, more Enver Gjokaj!
“You were so close to perfect.”
How great was it when Topher slugged Bennet? And then had the conversation with “himself”? How great was it when Perrin ended up killing Cindy? Joss Whedon is one sick dude.
All in all a great couple of episodes although not perfect. Some questions:
How did Cindy Perrin get the disrupter to stop Perrin and Echo when it was packed in her luggage? Who gave Madeline the photos? How did Bennet, who was Caroline’s “best friend” and cohort, end up a brainiac on par with Topher working for Rossum? How did Echo get away when Perrin was captured? Why did the Senate hearing chamber look like it was a left over set from Star Trek? And … how do you know when you’re finished?
Saturday, December 5, 2009 A Little More Dollhouse
Part of me thinks it’s a waste of time to write anything about a show that’s cancelled. But then I remind myself that I’m often watching shows for the first time after they are cancelled and off the air: The Wire and most of Stargate SG-1, for example. Not to mention WKRP in Cincinatti. And a lot of M.A.S.H.
So here goes.
Friday night wasn’t just a double header it was a bona fide two-parter: part one was the setup and was written by Andrew Chambliss (lots of funny lines, I think Joss was helping) and part two written by Tracy Bellomo. Lots of questions about the nature of life and consciousness. As Echo says toward the end: “I’m afraid of Caroline. If she comes back where will I go?”
“She’s perfect, as if they made her just for me.”
I did not see it coming. Did. Not. See. It. Coming. When Perrin said that line I thought I knew what was coming. In fact, I thought I knew that Perrin’s wife, Cindy, was a doll the first time I saw her. And boy was I wrong. How brilliant! I love when I’m wrong.
I’d like to know, though, how Echo was supposed to have figured out that there was something “wrong” with her.
“November is sad. We should help her.” “No one ever really leaves here do they?”
Miracle Laurie still can’t act. Which is a shame, but on the whole didn’t matter. And directors David Solomon and Wendey Stanzler got decent performances out of her. Of course it helped that she didn’t have many lines.
The Madeline/November/Mellie storyline was well written and her slightly Stepford Wife/Rabbit in the Headlights look was appropriate enough. I’m not sure we knew that she had been in the Dollhouse for three years but we do now. We also finally had it confirmed what we all expected – that the Dollhouse functionality is still in her head. But did Dollhouse-Washington always intend to use a former doll to help along the Senator Perrin story or was this just an opportunity that presented itself? Who gave her the photos? Who had access to the videotape of her in Paul’s apartment?
“What the hell was that?” “Your mind has been altered, tampered with.”
The underlying story of the political machinations of the evil Rossum Corporation is really good. And of course those of us who watched Epitaph One know where this is going. (If only we would find out that Rossum is represented by the DC branch of Wolfram & Hart it would all be perfect.) Creating Perrin as an idealistic politician who seemed totally sincere was perfect. And then having him be the doll (or, a “doll version of himself”) was even more perfect.
“We took a spoiled, selfish, pampered child – and we made a man out of him.”
And it turns out that the political family that the writers used for his model wasn’t the Kennedys – it was the Bush family. Which was a bit of an (uncomfortable) laugh. The new Daniel Perrin is a better man than the old Daniel Perrin – except that he is controlled by Rossum.
Perrin was meant to give cover for Rossum and let them get legislation passed so that they will control the world. Bwhahahahaha. ahem. yes. Well. For a while it looked like he was going to bring down the LA Dollhouse but only the LA Dollhouse. That would make him a hero and give him credibility. “When you finally exonerate Rossum … no one will question you. “ But in the end the death of Cindy was turned into some weird story about an evil consortium (they must be Stargate fans) who turned out to be the bad guy. And he threw Madeline under the bus. Good storyline.
Oh. And by the way, it was fun seeing Eliza Dushku in scenes with Alexis Denisof again.
“That’s not too Star Trek is that?”
The coldness with which Adele, Ballard and Topher tested the tech on Kilo was breathtaking. Again, those of us who say Epitaph One know where this is going and that lends a whole other layer to this storytelling.
“You just woke up a a lot of people and they all think you’re a bitch.”
The way this episode inter-cut with previous episodes was well done, especially the fight scene between Echo and Cindy Perrin but also the back story scenes with November/Madeleine/Mellie.
“I think her bad guys are badder than my bad guys.”
Ain’t that the truth.
At last Whedon has given us a Big Bad and it is Rossum acting through the DC branch of Dollhouse including Summer Glau. Evil tech. Evil summer. And of course the future fascist takeover.
“Imagine John Cassavetes in The Fury as a hot chick.”
I’ve never been a huge fan of Summer Glau, even on Firefly. She did ok with this, I guess, because I found her very creepy. As usual. It would be nice to see her play something other than an oddball freak so I could really judge her capabilities. (It was nice to see Donna Kozlowski as her assistant in the first half though. Wonder why she disappeared in the second half. Wonder if she’ll be back.) I’m not sure I completely understand the character’s back story but maybe I’m not supposed to yet.
“We’ve got our top guy covering for me. Only person in the world that I trust.”
Enver Gjokaj. Enver Gjokaj. Enver Gjokaj. Enver Gjokaj is the most amazing actor on this series and I hope he gets something worthy of his skills when this is over. I thought he was fabulous when he did his Reed Diamond imitation but this time he became Topher. And he was Topher, not just a cheap imitation of Topher. He is Joss Whedon’s best find since James Marsters. In fact he may be a better actor than Marsters, or maybe he’s just given more to do on this series. In any event, more Enver Gjokaj!
“You were so close to perfect.”
How great was it when Topher slugged Bennet? And then had the conversation with “himself”? How great was it when Perrin ended up killing Cindy? Joss Whedon is one sick dude.
All in all a great couple of episodes although not perfect. Some questions:
How did Cindy Perrin get the disrupter to stop Perrin and Echo when it was packed in her luggage? Who gave Madeline the photos? How did Bennet, who was Caroline’s “best friend” and cohort, end up a brainiac on par with Topher working for Rossum? How did Echo get away when Perrin was captured? Why did the Senate hearing chamber look like it was a left over set from Star Trek? And … how do you know when you’re finished?
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STRANGE FREQUENCY, originally aired on VH-1, harkens wait on to the days of those astonishing anthologies like TALES FROM THE CRYPT, TALES THAT Look MADNESS, etc., and surprisingly, it works. One of the best anthologies of unique years, Irregular FREQUENCY gives us four different tales, all with a musical theme. In DISCO INFERNO, we meet two hard core rock and rollers (Danny Masterson, Erik Palladino), who wreck their car into a telephone pole and sight solace in a nightclub. The club turns out to be a disco club, honest out of the seventies. The manager, Dante (Martin Cummins) is a John Travolta clone, and introduces the boys to some hot chicks. Of course our rockers belittle and berate the disco scene, and rep out there’s more to the club than meets the behold. Wonderfully performed, the ultimate resolution is determined, but it has some nice twists, and lots of humor. You also rep to hear “Disco Inferno,” “Der Kommissar” and yes, “YMCA.” Tongue in cheek, it’s a winner. In “My Generation,” we meet Eric Roberts, a dinosaur from the past who listens to people like Bob Dylan, The Who and others from that generation. He picks up hitchhikers heading for a rockfest in Seattle, and yes, he bumps them off because of their disrespect for his music. His latest hiker, Christopher Masterson, is impartial like the rest, but he has his believe agenda. Marvelously played out, there are lots of laughs, and an ending that is appropriately fitting. “Room Service” features Duran Duran’s John Taylor as Jimmy Blitz, a has been orderly rock star, who is as base as they gather. Holland Taylor steals the explain as the housekeeper who manages to gather the room in shape after all of his wild parties. When she reveals to a reporter that she has housekept for such stars as Sinatra, Jagger and Puny Richard, she gets the headline Blitz wanted to restart his career. To acquire revenge, he goes to scandalous lengths to extinguish the room, each time finding it immaculately cleaned. When he attacks the lady’s cleaning cart, however, concern ensues. This is cleverly written and performed, and its ending is remarkably fun. The final anecdote, “More than a Feeling” takes the mood a lot darker, and has a chilling denouement. Judd Nelson is very genuine as talent agent Martin Potter, who has this grand talent for picking out superstars, a upright “gut” reaction that almost renders him incapacitated. He is disturbed, though, because every star he has made (except 2) have died. His latest is a female singer (Marla Sokoloff) who has gone multiplatinum, and now decides she’s ready for a crash. Her brutish manager/boyfriend (Nels Lennarson) goes through the roof and Martin is concerned for her welfare. His other discovery Dean (Adrian Holmes) is working as producer, as well. What happens in the raze is chilling to say the least.
STRANGE FREQUENCY is a very keen, witty and recent collection. I recommend it.
I purchased this situation for the “Soul Man” segment starring James Marsters and Roger Daltrey. None of the four stories, however is all that spellbinding despite having some critical actors taking section. The stories are somewhat predictable, the acting is uneven (Peter Strauss appears to be sleepwalking through his performance although his segment is perhaps the most intelligent), and since each of them is rather brief you have microscopic time to be engaged by the characters even when the actors have something to work with. Best rented rather than purchased, I doubt many will want to review these stories more than once.
Julie Benz Does A Bit Of Shopping In SoCal Hollywood "It" Girl December 5th, 2009
Former Buffyverse and current Dexter star Julie Benz was spotted on a shopping excursion on Robertson Blvd. in West Hollywood, CA yesterday lookin’ very much the part of the Hollywood “It” Girl. Here are a few cute pics of Julie with her BFF/publicist PJ McCarthy as they made their way out of Kitson and into the throng of waiting paparazzi:
Julie looks fab, as usual … I love seeing her out and about. I am CRAZY IN LOVE with this season of Dexter (new ep tomorrow night, season finale next Sunday night) and am so happy that Julie is such an integral (if sometimes hated by other fans) part of the show. Julie Benz has always been a beloved celeb to me due to her amazing work as vampire Darla on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Having her on my absolutely favorite show (24 slipped to #2) endears her even more to me. I hope we get to see a lot more of Julie out and about … she’s far too pretty not to be papped at every turn
Trinity: "You're a dear boy, Arthur. So innocent, kind-hearted. Promise me you'll always stay that way."
This episode had me on the edge of my seat with my stomach churning, even though I was fairly certain Dexter would rescue the boy in time. Which, of course, he did.
If each cycle starts with a little boy, that means thirty little boys, drowned in cement. Unthinkable. I have to give John Lithgow a lot of credit, because Trinity is three-dimensional and absolutely horrifying. He makes Dexter look cuddly. I really want Dexter to kill this guy. Not a surprise, since that's where the writers intended to take us. In fact, there ought to be a way to execute him 120 times. Slowly.
Will Trinity go after Dexter now, or start trolling for his next victim? Probably both. Will he end up going after Cody in the end? Dexter is so sure he can keep his "normal" life and his dark passenger separate, but Astor and Cody have been endangered before because of him, and certainly could be in the future. Maybe this season will end in a break-up, after all. It's the only way Dexter can keep his family safe, and I think Dexter is slowly coming to this conclusion.
Dexter identified with the missing boy's father, was frantic to find Scott, and kept seeing Scott as Cody or Harrison. Needless to say, these are not the actions of an unfeeling monster. Trinity is an unfeeling monster. I was certain this episode would end with Trinity killing Christine before she could give him away or possibly testify against him, because I think he's capable of killing his own daughter in cold blood. Lucky for her that she was arrested, huh? Christine isn't the vicious killer her father is, but she's a long way from being sane and balanced, poor thing.
Dexter talked frankly with Jonah Mitchell and enlisted his help. Maybe it's time to tell Jonah the truth about Trinity. But again, how can Dexter take out Trinity without implicating himself? And if Trinity is exposed for what he is, the Mitchells will be under a police and national media microscope for the rest of their lives. It's getting too big to contain. Is Dexter going to get caught this time?
Masuka kept trying to tell Dexter about Rita and Elliot. I'm still really curious to see how Dexter will react when he finds out. That C.I. of Harry's showed up again, too, but Deb blew her off; is that dropped plot thread coming back, please please please? Dexter's midnight kill during the camping trip is still haunting him, too, in more ways than one.
If we include Trinity, that's a lot of plot threads to tie up in only two more episodes. Some of it must be set-up for season five.
Bits and pieces:
-- It's a cycle of four kills, so "Trinity" isn't accurate any more. Maybe they should re-christen him the Quadrity Killer. Okay, I don't know what the correct term would be for four. Anyone know?
-- Scott eventually played Trinity's game, and Trinity was going to kill him, anyway. Does he always kill them, even if they do what he wants? Probably.
-- This episode should be an object lesson about never putting personal information on your car.
-- Dexter has replaced his garden shed with a rented shipping container. Appropriate, and probably a lot safer.
-- I actually felt for Quinn. That's a first.
-- "Harry" sometimes feels superfluous, but not this time; he was the voice of the cop inside of Dexter, telling him the logical law enforcement steps to take.
-- Here's a comment out of nowhere. Michael C. Hall always looks hot in his killwear, the brown pullover and pants, with the black gloves. I don't know why. He just does. Maybe it's because they're form-fitting.
-- How did Dexter return Scott?
Quotes:
Masuka: "I have to talk to him." Deb: "He's right in there." Masuka: "I'm still figuring out how to phrase it." Deb: "How gay are you?"
Dexter: "Trinity is not the only one using his family as human shields."
Deb: "Where are you off to?" Dexter: (to himself) "To kill a guy you're looking for, save a kid, remember to pick up diapers..."
"Harry": "Nineteen sixties Miami. Cuban missile crisis. Irony is, places like this were built to keep people safe." Dexter: "I hate irony."
Dexter: "Burying a child in cement? That's not very Christian."
Four out of four stars, and two episodes to go,
Billie
All of my Dexter reviews are archived here. (Season 4, episode 10)
Dexter: "I just don't want to do any damage." Rita: "You're a parent. Parents do damage."
Disturbing. Also shocking. I had trouble sleeping after I saw this one. And that's not something I've ever said about a Thanksgiving episode of anything.
Dexter completely lost control, and nearly killed Trinity in front of the man's family. This changes everything. Dexter needs to protect and defend Jonah, Rebecca, and Sally Mitchell by eliminating their abuser, but if he does, "Kyle" will be a prime suspect, and Harry's first rule is "Don't get caught." Actually, I'm intrigued by the idea of Dexter getting caught, and possibly even going on trial. Think of the dramatic possibilities. Maybe this is the season it'll happen.
"Harry" said that another few years, that'll be Rita and the kids. I don't think so. The victimization of children and women, especially mothers, has always been Dexter's trigger; I just don't believe there's any way Dexter could even come close to abusing and terrorizing his wife and children. I thought it was touching (and in character) that Dexter wasn't even a tiny bit tempted by a beautiful fifteen year old girl throwing herself at him. Trinity's wife Sally begging Dexter to keep quiet about it was horrible and sad. Trinity deliberately breaking Jonah's finger was horrible, too.
The cracks in the facade were extreme at the Mitchell house, but they were also appearing at the Morgan house. Dexter's Shed o' Secrets was literally cracked by Cody, who is almost certainly going to discover Dexter's kill tools or slides at some point; a garden shed just isn't strong enough to hold Dexter's secrets forever. And I'm certain Masuka will consider it his duty to tell Dexter that he saw Rita and Elliot kissing. Masuka thinks of Dexter as one of his closest friends, even though Dexter is completely oblivious.
Shocker number two was the reveal that Christine Hill is Trinity's daughter. Christine must have killed Lundy to protect Trinity. Did he put her up to it, or did she do it on her own to protect him? Christine knows Dexter, but she can't possibly have connected Dexter to "Kyle." Meaning Trinity doesn't know Dexter works for Miami Metro. I think. Not yet, anyway.
Deb is the lead detective on the Trinity case now, which makes her Christine's prime target. Why didn't Christine make certain Deb was dead the first time? The Quinn/Christine scene in the bathroom echoed the ones with Trinity and his first victim. Is Quinn in danger, too?
Bits and pieces:
-- I loved Dexter playfully threatening the frozen turkey with a knife. I also loved him using the kids to blackmail Deb into coming to dinner.
-- Trinity attempted suicide in the previous episode; that couldn't have been faked. He's bipolar, isn't he? With poles that are *really* far apart?
-- Where does Christine fit into Trinity's current family? She wasn't referred to at all. Previous marriage? Illegitimate? Did he disown her and forbid the rest of the family to talk about her?
-- Loved Deb trying not to swear while holding the baby.
-- The Angel/Maria love affair is also breaking out of its metaphorical secret shed. They've completely succumbed to temptation because who knows how long any of us have?
-- "Hungry Man" is the brand name of a frozen TV dinner, making the title of the episode a clever double entendre as well as a metaphor for the meagerness and artificiality of a TV dinner as Trinity's version of a family holiday, as well as Dexter's.
Quotes:
Deb: "I could use a wing man." Masuka: "Yes." Deb: "I can't promise it'll be any fun." Masuka: "Well, I could be your thigh man. He he he he he he he."
Deb: "You have a specialty?" Masuka: "A river of chocolate love that melts in your mouth." Deb: "Wow. You can make anything sound perverted." Masuka: "It's a gift."
Trinity: "I'll probably donate it to the needy, since obviously I won't be needing it." Dexter: (to himself) "No, you'll be buried at sea." Who donates a hand-made coffin to charity? Who builds a hand-made coffin in the first place?
Dexter: "What kind of father keeps a coffin in his garage?" Harry: "What kind of father keeps blood slides in his shed?"
Astor: "Are you the one my mom told me not to talk to?" Masuka: "Awkward."
This episode was a wow. Can they keep this up for three more? Four out of four stars,
Billie
All of my Dexter reviews are archived here. (Season 4, episode 9)
Topher: "Is it weird that I asked about your arm?" Bennett: "Honestly, it's refreshing."
The entire episode was terrific. But Victor out-Tophering Topher was just perfect. Possibly my favorite scenes in the entire series.
Poor Topher. He found the perfect woman for him, a beautiful, brilliant woman who's crazy about him and who can out-geek him in his own field, and she's creepy as well as evil. (Good work by Summer Glau.) What did that scene she programmed into Echo really mean? How likely is it that an anti-war animal activist was capable of abandoning her injured best friend? Is Caroline not the person we were led to think she was, or is that just the way Bennett chose to remember what happened? Bennett must be the real reason why Caroline ended up in the Dollhouse, or it would just be too big a coincidence.
Alexis Denisof and Eliza Dushku have marvelous acting chemistry. Their scenes together were more compelling than any she's done with any other actor on the series; the half naked, cutting chips out of each other's heads scene in the bathroom was outright sexy. Echo and the altered Daniel are people in their own right. What makes Caroline and the old Daniel more important than they are?
I enjoyed every moment of this episode. Topher in a limousine was a hoot. I loved the way Adelle completely intimidated her opposite number, Stewart Littman (Ray Wise). And Cindy getting killed by Daniel was wonderfully karmic.
Dollhouse is finally fulfilling its potential. At least it's going out with a bang. If the rest of the series is like these past three episodes, I'm going to miss it tremendously.
Bits and pieces:
-- Topher thought Bennett was a former doll, like Claire. That might have been interesting.
-- Poor Madelyn. What an eternal victim.
-- What did the "puppies" mean? Was that the password that set off Daniel's assassin trigger? And why does Joss Whedon put references to dogs and puppies in everything he does?
-- Bennett thinks that a brain can hold multiple imprints, but we already knew that. Echo is chipless and on her own now, but I'd be surprised if she couldn't take care of herself.
-- President Perrin? Is that how the series will end, then, with the imprinty apocalypse destined to happen? I hope we get more of Daniel. Please bring him back.
Quotes:
Victor: "I'm not up to this. I suffer from acute agoraphobia. Or I plan to."
Bennett: "You're very pale. White. Pinkish white. I mean, your skin. Your skin is like a pig. Because it's pink. People assume that pigs are bad but I love them. I like them."
Adelle: (with her hand down Littman's pants) "If you don't return my active, I will send someone to cut these off. You will be killed horribly over a long period, and never found."
Bennett: "Wasabi peas." Topher: "I'm excited and scared."
Victor: "What's she like?" Topher: "Totally shy, librarian energy through the roof." Victor: "Glasses?" Topher: "Glasses on a chain." Victor: "For the win!" Topher: "Dude, she has a dead arm." Victor: "Like dead? Like in a sling with a glove?" Topher: "Imagine John Cassavetes in The Fury as a hot chick." Victor: "Which, you know, I often have."
Cindy: "Oh, god. Dollspeak."
Victor: "Did I fall asleep?" Topher: "For a little while." Victor: "Shall I go now?" Topher: "For the love of God, yes."
Four out of four stars,
Billie
All of my Dollhouse reviews are archived here. (Season 2, episode 6)
[I'm going to review last night's double header separately.]
Echo: "I think her bad guys are badder than my bad guys."
What an exceptionally cool episode, with an exceptionally cool twist. There wasn't a moment of this episode that I didn't like.
When their characters were first introduced, I thought Daniel Perrin's wife had definite doll vibes. What terrific misdirection. I absolutely loved that Daniel turned out to be the doll, and a brand new type of doll, an almost Clockwork Orange sort of doll.
Daniel the Senator doll really was too good to be true. Brilliant, compassionate, gorgeous, faithful to his wife. If anyone can be altered to make them a so-called "better person," where do you draw the line? One can argue that the world is better off with a superlative public servant like Daniel, and one can even argue that he is much happier as a good man and a success than he must have been as a drunken failure. And yet, when he was begging Bennett not to erase his mind, I felt so bad for him. But you know, he wasn't him; he was the altered Daniel, not the real one. Just like Echo isn't Caroline.
Can I say how much I loved seeing Eliza Dushku and Alexis Denisof together again? The Buffy/Angel fan in me just enjoyed it to bits. Their antagonistic partnership even mildly resembled Faith's and Wesley's.
I love seeing Adelle as one of the good guys. She's been shown sympathetically pretty much from the start, but by deliberately taking the side of the dolls and working against Rossum, she's gone off the reservation. Dollhouse versus Dollhouse. Fascinating.
Bennett is such a psycho, a sort of twisted but refined (and female) version of Topher. I especially liked the sling, the migraines, and the obsession with the tea. She made Topher look like a hero. Adelle and Topher are heroes now. How about that.
I also liked Paul and Madelyn finally meeting for "real," and him telling her the truth, even if she didn't believe him.
Bits and pieces:
-- Did the disruptor also disrupt the imprinting? Echo had already accessed her other selves, but Daniel did it, too.
-- No Sierra or Victor. But hey, the last one was all about them.
-- Apparently, former actives are killed if they talk.
-- Like I said, Bennett is interesting. But she mumbles a bit. I didn't get everything said, and hi-def doesn't offer close captioning. She called someone on the phone "sir". Would that be Harding?
Quotes:
Daniel: "I'm your white knight." Cindy: "And I'm your beautiful damsel." Daniel: "Ever after." So creepy that that was their doll/handler recognition phrase.
Adelle: "She's a sleeper." Paul: "An assassin, you mean? Like Madelyn when she was Mellie." Adelle: "Oh, please. She didn't kill *you*."
Topher: "I call it a disrupter. That's not too Star Trek, is it? TOS? Hmm?" I loved the visual of the doll falling down the stairs. Oops.
Daniel: "You're a doll." Echo: "Thanks. You're cute, too."
Daniel: "Oh, God. Who are you?" Cindy: "She's God, honey. And you've heartily offended her."
Echo: "Where am I?" Bennett: "Caroline. You always promised you'd come back to me." Huh? Bennett has clearly tortured Echo before. When?
Review: Dollhouse - The Left Hand Posted Dec 5th 2009 10:00AM by Brad Trechak Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Dollhouse, Joss Whedon
(S02E06) In our last episode, our hero Echo was tied to a table and getting her brain fried by the evil and deranged Bennett Halverson. And now, part two ...
Admittedly, the "two parts in a single night" works well with this show and its current penchant for cliffhanger endings. Plus we don't have to wait until next week to see how our heroine Echo gets out of her current trap.
Tonight we also discovered a new application for Dollhouse technology: the ability to experience other people's memories without actually taking their personality. Okay, Summer Glau ended up not being a Doll. As mentioned, it was too obvious. However, she already had her hands on Topher's disruptor and the opportunity to study it. She could have developed a countermeasure.
The series was created partially in order to give Eliza Dushku more of an acting range, but I think the person who best qualifies for the "biggest acting range of the series" award is Enver Gjokaj (Victor). His Topher character was spot-on and the interplay between the two Tophers was utterly hilarious. Favorite line: "Think John Cassavetes in The Fury as a hot chick." (Of course, nobody mentions what happened to Cassavetes at the end of that film.)
He's the Devil! He's Stewart Lipman! He's the Devil AND Stewart Lipman! It was very exciting to learn about Ray Wise's appearance on this show, and while there was one or two moments of greatness in there, the end result seemed a little disappointing.
His character wasn't quite as over-the-top or snide as his Devil in Reaper, plus he didn't get a lot of screen time. Perhaps the creators thought he would take too much attention away from everyone else, and they would probably be right. It was pretty obvious what Adelle was doing in his pants before the story got to the rather painful-looking conclusion of that angle.
Back to Bennett, was she a student at the university where Caroline was committing her eco-terrorism? Something about that entire flashback scenario doesn't work for me. Was Caroline a bad person? That doesn't jibe with what we previously learned about her. This may be a case of a psychosis on Bennett's part in which she's misremembering certain aspects of the past in order to fit her worldview (next up, an army of killer robot Jews).
The entire scene between Topher and Bennett seemed a case of asking who was using who. Both had ulterior motives that they didn't want the other to know about. The scene in which Bennett changed Echo's assassin trigger to the word "puppies" was cute.
In the end, Rossum did not get what they want. Of course, this is only a setback as they could always set up a similar scenario in the future at a different Dollhouse.
The title of the episode appears to be a reference to Bennett's inability to move her left arm and hand. The theme was continued at the end of the story when the stop signal (which could be interpreted as a left hand, depending on your angle) turned to a walking person go signal. Did I overlook any other thematic occurrences? Is there a literary or film reference I'm missing with that?
Another great episode. On to next week's double-feature.
ChristianKane01: It's a film I'm doing in Penn. called "Good Day For It" lotsa Talent littered all over the set.... To see all these people in one room.!!!
Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 7 overview Spoilers for season 7 and the previous seasons and Angel!
Best episodes: “Conversations with Dead People”, “Showtime”, "Empty Places", "Touched", "End of Days", "Chosen" Worst episode: "Him" (we've already seen the teenaged angst, thanks. Came we move on?)
Things I liked: the potentials, Faith, the First, Turok-Han, the ending, Spike vs Wood Thing I didn't like: Andrew (can we just drop the idiots already, pleeeeease?), Caleb
I have somewhat mixed feelings about this season but I’d still rank it better than seasons 6 and 5. On the other hand, it doesn’t have episodes that I rewatch out of sequence while both seasons 6 and 5 do.
Up to the episode where Giles and the potentials show up (“Bring on the Night”), the season is pretty normal Buffy (if there is such a thing ). During that episode stakes become higher and they are raised again in “Empty Places”. In fact, the latter half of the season is so intense and plot-twisty that I would have wanted it to continue a bit longer. Compared to them, episodes “Him” and “Same time, same place” feel like fillers where nothing much happens. On the other hand, I don’t enjoy watching Spike as insane and Buffy is so broken after “Empty Places” that I don’t enjoy rewatching the ending much.
I really, really liked the potentials. We’ve heard a lot about the whole Chosen One business so it stands to reason that the Watchers would have some way to identify at least some of the potential Slayers. Of course, that does mean the Buffy seems to have been either not identified as a potential or so unlikely to become a Slayer that the Council didn’t bother to start training her.
When the potentials started to gather to Buffy’s house, it was no longer just about the Scooby gang. While they’ve often talked about the whole world being in danger, this time the potential victims are right there and we get to know them. Buffy had to start leading a larger group which brought conflict (which is good). Also, she tries to lead a group which is used to democracy. That’s always pretty hard. The voice of reason tends to lose.
(Incidentally, I have a really hard time believing that Buffy can feed, clothe, and house everyone on a part-time counselor’s pay. But having jobs was apparently last season’s thing.)
I also really liked the First. It was a real improvement over Glory and Adam. I tend to have a soft spot for scheming villains and the First is, of course, pretty much epitome of those because it can’t touch anyone. “Conversations with Dead People” was pretty awesome. Too bad that Tara’s actress refused to return.
Obviously, the First’s plan to kill all Slayers was flawed; I don’t think that it could have ever tracked down all potentials and at any case new ones could be born any minute. But if you take away the Slayer’s safety net, a brand new one would still have been in a mighty trouble.
On the other hand, I had some problems with Caleb. He did have more personality than the aforementioned previous villains but I just don’t enjoy watching characters who are constantly putting down my whole gender. They tend to jar me out of the story and make me remember that there are actual real people who share their opinion about women and that these real people can be in positions of power. That’s scary in a level that no fiction can touch.
I really liked whole Spike vs. Wood thing (I’m also a sucker for genuine hate/blood feud/rivalry between good guys). Wood obviously has plenty of reason to hate Spike and yet he’s fairly casually expected to work nicely alongside Spike. After the big fight between them, we don’t see how Wood feels about working alongside his mother’s killer. That must have been tough.
Principal Wood was an excellent new character and I almost wish we could have seen more of him. He’s fairly classic character; he wants to avenge his mother death and so he beats up vampires during the night. Yet, the actor made him very intense and he had more sides to him as well. He must have fairly impressive forgery skills because he could get himself a position as the principal (or a lot of money to buy the forgeries from someone else). He seems to enjoy his day job as much as killing vampires. He would have been excellent romantic interest to Buffy. And yet, after he told about his past to Buffy, she seemed to have lost romantic interest and moved him into “an ally” box. Wood didn’t seem to mind that.
I loved the return of Faith. In fact, I would have liked to see more of her. Now, we didn’t get to see her interact with Xander or Willow who both should have pretty strong opinions of her. Dawn didn’t interact with her almost at all. I love the contrast between Faith and Buffy which we saw in the third season. Faith’s definitely a strong character not matter if she’s a villain or a good guy. She even gets to have sex just for pleasure and still be alive and one of the white hats! That still pretty rare.
The Turok-Han was a very nice addition just when the regular vampires don’t seem very scary anymore. I really liked “Showtime” when the Turok-Han is finally brought down. On the other hand (again), in the final episode the new Slayers killed scores of Turok-Han’s mighty easily, which just felt wrong to me.
And finally, the ending. I loved it. Often enough, the only way for women to win is by refusing to play the game or by changing the rules at least some-what. Buffy did just that by changing the rules of how Slayers are born. The ending was also very hopeful.
The only thing I didn’t like about the ending was the too low body count. Come on, people, this should be the big finish, the grand battle! At least half of the cast should have died. My obvious choices would have been Dawn and Andrew but... well, if Dawn had been killed, Buffy would have been broken and who cares about Andrew anyway. So, at least one of the old cast (Giles, Willow, or Xander) should have died. Probably Wood as well. Instead, a couple of the potentials we barely got to know, Anya, and Spike were the only ones to die. And Spike doesn’t really count because he has brought back in Angel. (I think I saw that episode very soon, likely the next day or something so his death didn’t really even register before I saw that he was back again.)
Merlin, The Witch's Quickening (S02E11), episode review Morgana moves closer to the dark side in tonight's episode of Merlin, The Witch's Quickening. The pint-sized warlock Mordred returns with a band of angry magic folk who've been persecuted by Uther Pendragon for years and now want revenge on him.
Mordred and his associate Alvarr sneak into Camelot and make their way to Morgana's chambers (well, we've all thought about it, haven't we?). The convince her to steal the Crystal of Neahtid for them. Naturally the crystal isn't just some cheap trinket: it has formidable magical powers. Merlin senses the presence of intruders in the castle and goes to investigate. He tips Arthur off that the intruders are in Morgana's chamber, but looks stupid when the room is empty.
Naturally, the folloy of this situation is that if Merlin could speak openly about his powers, he could tell how he knows certain things. As a viewer though, this makes it frustrating, because you wonder why he can't gain Arthur's confidence and keep the secret from Uther. Arthur's been a bit of an ass this series though, hasn't he?
Morgana steals the crystal - transitioning into an accomplice of Mordred and Alvarr without any complicated moral dilemmas. She takes it to them, but is followed by Merlin, who confides in Gaius what he's seen. Gaius passes this information on to Uther, citing patient confidentiality as the reason for not naming his source - a good few centuries before the Data Protection Act came into force.
Well, Arthur takes a squadron of soldiers to the site of the encampment, but the group are ambushed (Morgana went ahead and forewarned them). In the end, they take Alvarr prisoner, but a blast of magic from Merlin alerts Mordred to his presence and possibly sows the seeds for a later war between the wizards.
Without going into any further spoilers, it was good to see the criminally-underused Katie McGrath as Morgana getting a meaty storyline for once. My biggest criticism is that the writers didn't spend enough time leading up to Morgana's alliance with the warlocks. I predicted last year that Morgana was due to change sides, but they've had difficulty convincingly moving her from one of the young castle-posse to a spy on the inside.
However, the scenes between Katie and Anthony Head were appropriately tense - and I was waiting for her to reveal her magical powers and do something horrible to him before fleeing to be with the outsiders.
One more thing, for a show that's supposedly about magic, most of the uses of magic are utterly trivial. For a start, I haven't seen much that convinces me magic is sufficiently dangerous to be outlawed. I'd like to see Morgana in a rage reduce someone to cinders, or Merlin properly take care of an adversary by transforming them or enchanting them somehow.
However, a much stronger episode in a series that's been more pantomime quality than I'm comfortable with. Here's hoping that the real drama is going to intensify for the last couple of episodes.
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kilo will be back in little bits...