Dollhouse 1x03 "Stage Fright" Discuss/Grade <Spoilers>
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I guess my expectations after the promo last week were so low that after watching it just now, I gave it an Excellent.
Maybe that was overkill... but I'm warming up to this show a lot more than I thought I would be after seeing the Pilot. Still my least favorite of Whedon's series (Including Dr. Horrible, but also very different from what I thought it would be when I first heard about it.)
Plus that little Head shake of Echo's at the end towards Sierra just capped it for me. I finally realized that we haven't even "met the main character" yet. Echo is in the process of becoming that character, one that can carry a series, we've just been watching that process as it transpires. Hopefully the eventual payoff of who she is will make sense and be worth the slow boil that is Dollhouse.
As far as Dushku's acting ability goes... I couldn't do what she does. I've seen examples of bad acting too, and while she's not stellar, but she's far from the mediocre actress one might think her to be based on various thread comments. Of course, I was surprised she could sing that well myself.
The show will probably be canceled just as Whedon and Co. pull off something "awesomely amazing" and then we'll get to listen to months and months of bitching about how great the show was and why FOX was so stupid to cancel genius yet again.
Seriously, Firefly Redux. It's right around the corner people... It's coming.
Maybe that was overkill... but I'm warming up to this show a lot more than I thought I would be after seeing the Pilot. Still my least favorite of Whedon's series (Including Dr. Horrible, but also very different from what I thought it would be when I first heard about it.)
Plus that little Head shake of Echo's at the end towards Sierra just capped it for me. I finally realized that we haven't even "met the main character" yet. Echo is in the process of becoming that character, one that can carry a series, we've just been watching that process as it transpires. Hopefully the eventual payoff of who she is will make sense and be worth the slow boil that is Dollhouse.
As far as Dushku's acting ability goes... I couldn't do what she does. I've seen examples of bad acting too, and while she's not stellar, but she's far from the mediocre actress one might think her to be based on various thread comments. Of course, I was surprised she could sing that well myself.
The show will probably be canceled just as Whedon and Co. pull off something "awesomely amazing" and then we'll get to listen to months and months of bitching about how great the show was and why FOX was so stupid to cancel genius yet again.
Seriously, Firefly Redux. It's right around the corner people... It's coming.
Below Average. this was just a head scratcher of an episode... i kept thinking, why don't they just hire a private eye, or alert cops? echo learned of the plot by reading notes that were left in the singers room... if the manager guy simply investigated the singer on his own, he probably could have pieced things together... sure he wouldnt have figured out that she wanted to die, but if the dollhouse plan went as it should have, no one would have learned anyway.
this also made me start thinking about what other missions could they send her on that would be interesting... back-up singer is pretty lame, and it's episode 3... how long until she is delivering pizza for the owner of Pizza Hut because he needs a delivery woman that he can trust to deliver pizza within 30 minutes? or she is hired to walk a rich person's dog because Fluffy only likes certain types of people? what about when the zoo has to replace a crucial zoo keeper to keep Stampy the elephant happy?
maybe it'll get better. i doubt fox will keep it around long enough for it to happen. when it goes, at this point, i will not miss it... unless Al Gore decides he needs a new vice-presidential action ranger to play d&d with, and only echo is up to the task.
this also made me start thinking about what other missions could they send her on that would be interesting... back-up singer is pretty lame, and it's episode 3... how long until she is delivering pizza for the owner of Pizza Hut because he needs a delivery woman that he can trust to deliver pizza within 30 minutes? or she is hired to walk a rich person's dog because Fluffy only likes certain types of people? what about when the zoo has to replace a crucial zoo keeper to keep Stampy the elephant happy?
maybe it'll get better. i doubt fox will keep it around long enough for it to happen. when it goes, at this point, i will not miss it... unless Al Gore decides he needs a new vice-presidential action ranger to play d&d with, and only echo is up to the task.
Ugh, was struggling to stay awake while watching this one.
Yeah there were some cool twists and turns from Whedon which I always appreciate... I just wish it was in service of a much better concept. The ONLY thing I find remotely compelling about this Dollhouse idea, is that the "dolls" appear to be slowly gaining back some of their individuality and humanity. And that the day is coming when the whole operation will implode and the dolls will get together and kick everyone's ass that works there. THAT will definitely be fun and interesting to see.
Unfortunately until then, we're basically stuck with these dull "mission of the week" stories, where Dushku plays dress-up and saves random strangers while teaching them a valuable lesson.
Yeah there were some cool twists and turns from Whedon which I always appreciate... I just wish it was in service of a much better concept. The ONLY thing I find remotely compelling about this Dollhouse idea, is that the "dolls" appear to be slowly gaining back some of their individuality and humanity. And that the day is coming when the whole operation will implode and the dolls will get together and kick everyone's ass that works there. THAT will definitely be fun and interesting to see.
Unfortunately until then, we're basically stuck with these dull "mission of the week" stories, where Dushku plays dress-up and saves random strangers while teaching them a valuable lesson.
Wait wait wait, so Dollhouse is basically Quantum Leap but with less Al and more boobs?...where Dushku plays dress-up and saves random strangers while teaching them a valuable lesson.
Exactly - WTF was that?!?!?
I will be watching the next episode only because of that head shake.
Wait wait wait, so Dollhouse is basically Quantum Leap but with less Al and more boobs?...where Dushku plays dress-up and saves random strangers while teaching them a valuable lesson.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
The show is just dull. I watch because I have a friend overseas who watches. If this is the great Joss Whedon than I haven't missed anything and thank Zeus he got canned from the Wonder Woman film.
I like the handler and the woman running things, I can do without the rest including "Helo," FBI.
Fortunately he isn't on screen much since I can't stand Reed Diamond. He's always that bastard Kellerman from Homicide in everything he does. I was struck by contrasting him with Jay Karnes (Dutch, The Shield) who was on Burn Notice last week. While recognizable, he was so much more than Dutch.
I like the handler and the woman running things, I can do without the rest including "Helo," FBI.
Fortunately he isn't on screen much since I can't stand Reed Diamond. He's always that bastard Kellerman from Homicide in everything he does. I was struck by contrasting him with Jay Karnes (Dutch, The Shield) who was on Burn Notice last week. While recognizable, he was so much more than Dutch.
That, if I remember correctly, was not the original plan. It was supposed to simply be a protection job, and find out more about the stalker. Sierra's job was to be close to Rayna, and use her "super fighting skills" if things went "to hell."
It was only after the botched assasination attempt that they opted to redirect the plan to have Sierra get kidnapped, in order to divert attention away from Rayna. Then, when Echo hatched her own plan, that is when things should have effectively gone "to hell."
Seeing as things were as bad as they were, I wonder how bad things were supposed to get before Sierra acted? She was kidnapped, and a gun was trained on her objective for the better part of the time she was kidnapped.
Less Al is always a bad thing, but I think I'd much rather watch Eliza Dushku play dress-up than Scott Bakula.You say that like it's a bad thing.Wait wait wait, so Dollhouse is basically Quantum Leap but with less Al and more boobs?...where Dushku plays dress-up and saves random strangers while teaching them a valuable lesson.
I gave it an "above average" because it defied my expectations of being just an "Echo protects singer, singer acts like a brat, Echo beats up baddie." formula show. They actually added an element (Rayna's disturbed angle) and Echo didn't spend the entire ep just waiting for stuff to happen. The final sequence involved her taking an unconventional and proactive direction to solve the problem - which then ties to the development (head shake) at the end. IMO the eps have been getting progressively better. 
Guess I don't see this at all. In the hostage negotiation, she played a stern, serious but non-physical (meaning no butt kicking, asthma etc.) professional. In ep2 she's a happy-go-lucky adventurous girl who loves mountain climbing and being outdoors while sexually fun. This week she played a singer who had fighting ability. They played out very differently for her IMO and she acted accordingly.
To be fair, there aren't a lot of actors out there nowadays who COULD dramatically alter their persona from week to week (one exception possibly being Jennifer Garner on Alias). Dushku may not have that ability, but she's still a very solid actress who can convey a wide range of emotions believably. Which is more than you can say for most actresses her age.
Once again this episode is better then the last, hopefully it keeps up.
So did anyone else get the impression at the end that the Chinese girl is also starting to remember missions?
So did anyone else get the impression at the end that the Chinese girl is also starting to remember missions?
i don't know - it seems a little bit of an overkill. i mean they already have one geek (and quite a decent geek at that).
i may be biased (ok, i am biased), but i think nathan fillion would be a much better pick for that role.
then again, Dushku is awful for her role, so whatever
I like it because it's casting against type, and I don't think the role is supposed to be geeky, but interestingly "evil." I'm hoping for a Ben Linus type role. Fillion would be good, too, but he's more a leading-man type and that new show he's on is more the way his career is bound to go. The actor in question is someone I've been really wanting to see in something different from what we all know him as.
Yeah that's still my main problem - it makes no sense as a business. Looking at the amazing Dollhouse HQ and envisioning the expense of running a covert business with massive security implies the dolls' skills are worth, I dunno, having Warren Buffett as your personal financial adviser. Yet nothing they're doing is nearly that amazing.
The implication for instance is that the rich clients of the Dollhouse are kept in line by the threat of retailiation against their loved ones if they screw around with the dolls. Considering what amazing security apparatuses the clients must have, what kind of incredibly amazing security apparatus would the Dollhouse need to have to make that a credible threat? My mind boggles at the expense involved. There's no way Echo et al are paying their way.
And if you have a security appartus like that, why bother with dolls at all? You've already got your ticket to massive fortune in the muscle you've hired.
Which makes me think, let's say you want the Dollhouse tech to actually pay its way and justify its expense. What do you do?
Simple: you kidnap and brainwash people in positions of power. The Dollhouse tech lets you create any kind of mind in a person, so the important missing element is what kind of body you are obtaining. You want to grab the most valuable bodies possible, and that means famous people.
Good looking women like Echo might have some value for their looks, but they're a dime a dozen if you happen to be rich. But how about Barack Obama? His "body" is incredibly valuable because it's the way he gets access to power - some other guy in his own body waltzing into the Oval Office would be tackled by the Secret Service and taken away, but some other guy in Barack Obama's body is another thing entirely. Kidnapping and brainwashing him to do your will would be far more valuable than bothering with the bodies of nonentities, regardless of how good looking they are.
Oh there are plenty who could be doing a much better job than Dushku, such as: Connor Trinneer, Ben Browder, William Fitchner, Adrian Pasdar, Michael C. Hall and Timothy Olyphant.
Most of the actors I can think of who can do this would be guys. In fact, I'm drawing a blank on the ladies - Glenn Close, maybe - and hot actresses in their 20s, nada. So actually obtaining an actor talented enough for such an unusually demanding role might kinda spoil the ability of guys to drool over them, so I guess I'm missing the point, huh?
But someone who is powerful enough to bother brainwashing is likely to be a guy and very unlikely to be a hot girl in her 20s, so switch the premise over to something more sensible and suddenly you open up a wealth of actors talented enough to tackle the role. Or roles, since you wouldn't re-brainwash the powerful guy - it would have to follow several evolving plotlines of brainwashed captains of politics and industry.
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Thank you. That's more along the lines I remembered it. So I'm not yet loosing my mind then?
I agree that the hostage negotiator was the odd one out, the most different one of the four we've seen thus far. I think my problem lies with some of her mannerisms. The way she stands, walks, shakes her head, the intonation of her voice, the way she dances
Couple that with the fact that she only seems to play self-confident women and I just feel too many similarities in her roles from week to week.I'm not saying it's an easy roll to pull off and perhaps she's doing quite well compared to what others would have done with the role. I can't say, there's no comparison available (haven't seen enough of Alias to compare that, and on Alias the girl was supposed to be the same girl from week to week, no?). But if this show is basically a vehicle for Dushku to show off her different acting skills then people will pay extra attention to the diversity of her skills and up to now I'm less than impressed I'm afraid. Perhaps I expect too much with respect to this point.
I'm having a hard time imagining a role for which a Doll would be programmed to be anything *but* self-confident.
The role Sierra had to play wasn't particularly the role model of self-confidence.
I think the show has potential. It is off to a somewhat slow start, but I get the strange feeling that pretty soon the "doll house" rather than being the central focus, will become the bad guys. Echo, seems to be nearing a point where she will break through and away from the mind wipes. She may even be able to become a minor superhero type able to draw upon various imprints depending upon her need.
My prediction is that she will soon be on the run from the doll house, and we will find out that they are even more powerful than we assumed. Likely they are some super secret government project or some such thing. And there is no telling who might be a programmed agent sent by the doll house, giving the writers the whole, 'who is the cylon' sort of angle (not sure if that is a good thing).
My prediction is that she will soon be on the run from the doll house, and we will find out that they are even more powerful than we assumed. Likely they are some super secret government project or some such thing. And there is no telling who might be a programmed agent sent by the doll house, giving the writers the whole, 'who is the cylon' sort of angle (not sure if that is a good thing).