Dollhouse 1x02 "Target" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS>

[tharpdevenport]

Much better than the first episode. The reason the FBI can't find it is because they don't advertise. It's totally word of mouth. You get referred to it by others. Makes sense to me.

So how come current and ex F.B.I. agents (or undercover ones) never get "reffered", or that they've not been able to crack anybody? They have to have something to know it even exists. I just don't buy it.


And Samuel T. Cogley, that was an excellent post.

 

[TheInsideMan]

We have no reason to bond with Echo's character because there is nothing to bond with. She's a blank piece of paper. By the time she starts to "wake up" and give us something to bond with, the show will already be cancelled.

Echo that.

I watched 5 years of Alias. Sydney went undercover, wore different outfits and pretended to be different people every week. But Sydney had her own personality which shone through every week. She had people who she cared about and who cared about her.

But with Dollhouse, the lead character has no personality and apart from her hander no-one really gives a toss about her. Where does Echo's personality end and the IOTW (Imprint Of The Week) begin?

Its hard to give a shit about a character who, at the core, has got the personality of a blank USB Memory stick.

This episode was better than the pilot (even if it did remind me of Wrong Turn at times), but at the moment, the Dollhouse itself is just a high-tech, high class 'escort' agency and I'm starting to have problems with watching that.

Fancy Miss Disco girl? Now you're talking! You can bang her too! Hire out Disco girl and we'll throw in a free 'lawyer' imprint! You can bang her too, no extra charge! Want Miss Outdoors? Why not? She can be hot and you can bang her too! Have her home by 11! Want a blond doll? Sure, we got one back here somewhere......aha! Here ya go! Just keep her away from Mr. Alpha otherwise we'll charge you extra!

I'm beginning to wish they had Echo 'waking up' and have her own, pre-Dollhouse personality restored from 1x01, and working from the start with the FBI to bring the house down.

 

[Lindley]

So how come current and ex F.B.I. agents (or undercover ones) never get "reffered", or that they've not been able to crack anybody? They have to have something to know it even exists. I just don't buy it.

Perhaps someone up the chain of command doesn't want it brought down.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

So how come current and ex F.B.I. agents (or undercover ones) never get "reffered", or that they've not been able to crack anybody? They have to have something to know it even exists. I just don't buy it.

Perhaps someone up the chain of command doesn't want it brought down.

While it's totally fine to reveal something like that later in the story (even if they haven't made up the explanation yet), they really need to have the characters ask these kinds of questions aloud, otherwise it gives the impression that the writers haven't even considered such things.

And if the 'things' in question are big enough, the audience cannot or will not suspend disbelief until the explanations are provided.

Oddly enough, these are the kinds of things that Whedon characters usually point out right away, usually in a witty way.

They need to say, "We're well aware of what might appear to you to be a flaw in our plan." That, in combination with Joss' reputation of following through and delivering, will allow us to put aside those concerns and just let the story unfold.

Obviously, how important any 'flaw' or 'gap' is will be decided on an individual basis.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Echo is just a hooker with a heart of gold and the mind of a sponge.

So the show is a lot like "Alice"...

 

[Tomato]

If Eliza, ever does Yoga again she needs to be wearing Lululemon pants.

 

[ialfan]

This was much better, should've been the pilot. The problem I am having with it is I really don't care about any of the characters. I am interested in the show only due to Whedon, Dushku, Penikett and Acker. That may be enough for me to keep watching for now but if I don't latch onto any of these people soon I'll stop watching.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Both times somebody has ordered the services of Echo, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the customer wouldn't just get what they needed in a number of cheaper, easier, more logical ways. And that was before Echo went out on the missions. After the mission, I saw even less reasons why one would ever employ her. (Or those like her.)

This show could work if the Dollhouse Doohickey literally gave people superpowers like on Heroes. And had to delete the powers later because, like on Heroes, having superpowers for any length of time results in people who abuse those powers/can't control them/just generally fuck up.

You make someone a mind-reader, they do the gig, you retrieve them and take the mind-reading away before they have the opportunity to get into trouble and wreak havok. You have a tidy little business nobody can compete with, so you can charge big bucks to keep your pricey Dollhouse HQ going, complete with expensive gear and free massage therapy.

Why didn't Whedon just take the extra step and make the show make sense? Still might have sucked but the logic problems would be gone. Heroes seems to be surviving just fine, despite massive, persistent logic problems.

The reason the FBI can't find it is because they don't advertise. It's totally word of mouth. You get referred to it by others.

Oy! The notion that the Federal Bureau of Investigation can't find this business because yknow, people are only talking about it rather than making TV infomercials and billboard ads for it on the freeway, fills me with a sickening sense of my tax dollars being horribly, horribly wasted.

 

[Plain Simple]

The people on this bbs (myself included) don't seem very excited about the show in general, to put it mildly. Is that the tendency among 'the critics' out there as well?

 

[Ayelbourne]

This show could work if the Dollhouse Doohickey literally gave people superpowers like on Heroes. And had to delete the powers later because, like on Heroes, having superpowers for any length of time results in people who abuse those powers/can't control them/just generally fuck up.

You make someone a mind-reader, they do the gig, you retrieve them and take the mind-reading away before they have the opportunity to get into trouble and wreak havok. You have a tidy little business nobody can compete with, so you can charge big bucks to keep your pricey Dollhouse HQ going, complete with expensive gear and free massage therapy.

Why didn't Whedon just take the extra step and make the show make sense?

Because your idea doesn't make any sense. Having your dolls run around with all kinds of superpowers is bound to draw public attention down the road.

Oy! The notion that the Federal Bureau of Investigation can't find this business because yknow, people are only talking about it rather than making TV infomercials and billboard ads for it on the freeway, fills me with a sickening sense of my tax dollars being horribly, horribly wasted.

And you're only getting that just now??
But seriously...whoever runs the dollhouse seems to have a lot of ressources and power. So I guess, everyone who gets involved with them is told in very certain terms, that helping the FBI or the police in any way would result in a very painful death.
They only need to make sure, their clients fear them more than they fear the FBI.
This tactic is not exactly unheard of amongst criminal organisations, yknow.

 

[Darth_Pinche]

I acknowledge that the show has problems, but it is very early. A lot of what we are seeing may be heavily influenced by the network's dicking around and may not be an accurate reflection of where Whedon intends to take the show. Let's see what develops. Maybe the show would have been better or HBO or something similar? Cinemax would have been a good choice, as we would then have Echo doing naked yoga.

 

[Hermiod]

Oy! The notion that the Federal Bureau of Investigation can't find this business because yknow, people are only talking about it rather than making TV infomercials and billboard ads for it on the freeway, fills me with a sickening sense of my tax dollars being horribly, horribly wasted.

If I was you, I'd be more worried that the FBI employs agents so dumb that they don't realise that their totally cute neighbour was throwing herself at them.

 

[Greg Cox]

Anybody else notice the significance of the hunter's alias? Richard Connell was the author of "The Most Dangerous Game," the short story that invented the hunting-humans cliche.

Clearly, the Dollhouse doesn't have any English majors doing background checks . . . .

 

[CaptainWacky]

I wish Summer Glau played Echo.

 

[bigdaddy]

Poor because I couldn't even watch the ending. Once the black guy got hit by an arrow I went "screw this" and changed the channel.

 

[Peak]

Looks like business as usual among the Internet-critics anyway. Never satisfied. I have went thought this with almost all shows, so I don't really care anymore. Iroiccally enough, it was Firefly who learned me that lession once upon a time.

I gave this an excellent, anyway.. A lot better than the pilot. But I did expect that, with the FOX-tinkering with the pilot. Just a shame that they seems to be hurry up the "awakening" of Echo. This should be a mid-season (or in this case, end of the season) twist, with a "mission of the week" the first 10 episodes. Just so people get used to the enviroment and the players.

 

[Lindley]

In a long-term plan that would make sense. These days, it pays to get to the heart of the story quickly, so that you've got something worthwhile down on film if the axe falls after 13.

 

[SinglePurpose]

I still can't understand how every rich playboy and/or psycho knows about Dollhouse, but the frickin' FBI can't find it.

Because the FBI isn't looking for it. One guy in the FBI is looking for it and everyone thinks he's crazy.

 

[Hicks]

This was better. I gave the first episode a C, and this was a B. This was more interesting. I almost fell asleep last week. I'm on board.

 

[Aragorn]

.... I'm still wondering how long this concept can hold up though.....

I thought the same thing the first couple of weeks with Fringe, which itself isn't just one dimensional anymore. I can see where JW has set some things up for future episodes, and I'm looking forward to where they take the story...

Definately an improvement on the pilot.

I don't see the similarities with Fringe. The show this most reminds me of is My Own Worst Enemy, a premise that sounds cool for five minutes but doesn't hold any common sense whatsoever.

Looks like business as usual among the Internet-critics anyway. Never satisfied. I have went thought this with almost all shows, so I don't really care anymore. Iroiccally enough, it was Firefly who learned me that lession once upon a time.

The "Internet-critics"? Who are you -- Uwe Boll?