Fo'sho. I think there's nothing snappy in the way the characters interact so far. No sense of play among them. It's very sedate. Nevertheless, I gave it an above average for the concept.
I'm willing to see where it goes from here.
Dollhouse: "Ghost" 2/13 - Grading & Discussion
- Thread starter Aragorn
- Start date
Fo'sho. I think there's nothing snappy in the way the characters interact so far. No sense of play among them. It's very sedate. Nevertheless, I gave it an above average for the concept.
I'm willing to see where it goes from here.
I thought it was an okay episode, especially for a pilot, but it just didn't feel like a Whedon show. I'll keep watching though, hopefully it will get better, and I don't have anything else to do between Terminator and Battlestar Galactica.
It wasn't as bad as I was expecting from the "buzz" (if you can call it that) I'd read along the way.
Still voted Average, but in my case that's a good thing. I'll keep watching. It was just interesting enough combined with the knowledge of it being a Whedon show that it will have to turn me off to make me turn IT off.
Still voted Average, but in my case that's a good thing. I'll keep watching. It was just interesting enough combined with the knowledge of it being a Whedon show that it will have to turn me off to make me turn IT off.
I have to agree with the majority here. It was average and definitely missing that undefinable spark that the other Whedon shows did have. And it's not just the lack of humour. Like someone else mentioned, it's hard to even remember any of the character's names besides Echo. I'll stick with it for now though, I'm not going to judge the whole series by one episode and what Whedon's done in the past has bought him a lot of credit in my book, but I'm fearing the worst for this series.
On the plus side, Eliza Dushku looked stunning in her role as perfect date, and Amy Acker asking her if she wanted a massage... now come on Joss... don't tease us like that!
On the plus side, Eliza Dushku looked stunning in her role as perfect date, and Amy Acker asking her if she wanted a massage... now come on Joss... don't tease us like that!
Let me add to that, that I do tend to agree with the poster who wrote that probably at some point in the show (if it reaches that point) Echo will turn against Dollhouse and end up working with the cop whose name I forgot...
Agreed. I found Firefly after airing and before DVD (now own Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Serenity). Serenity I saw on opening day, and it's the only Whedon I saw close to air date. This didn't fell like his writing at all. He forgot the funny.
Hopefully the show gets a chance to grow...I love Harrry Lennox, love Reed Diamond, love Acker, think Dushku can draw viewers...
We'll see.
I accidentally voted excellent. That was me.
Trust me - reeeeaaaally didn't mean to. Show was very average. Not a "Whedon" show.
Trust me - reeeeaaaally didn't mean to. Show was very average. Not a "Whedon" show.
I didn't go into this looking for Whedon's "spark" because Whedon's "spark" is witty banter, usually between adults who are pretending to be teenagers. The concept does not lend itself to witty banter, and attempts to do so would be totally inappropriate.
I went into this looking for some light cyberpunk. And in that regard, I was pleasantly surprised. The pilot takes the premise seriously and give it the moral weight it deserves and while the episode itself had clear bad guys, amongst the recurring factions there is nothing but ambiguity at this point.
The action made sense and it used it's premise logically. That's better than most recent network science fiction pilots, such as Bionic Woman and Knight Rider.
I, too, don't remember the names of any of the characters other than Ecco, but that's perfectly alright, I remember their role. You've got the morally ambiguous female CEO, who seems to want to do the right thing. You've got the pragmatic guy. You've got the ex-cop handler with a strong sense of morality and duty. You've got the morally ambiguous tech guy. You've got the FBI guy who wants to bring down Dollhouse. And you've got the escapeewho has no trouble killing people. I'd recognize them, and I want to learn more about them.
The Dollhouse orginization is interesting one wonders whether their actives are victims or vollunteers. They seem to be run by people who actually care about the actives, and who actually want to do the right thing, but the situation itself has some built in moral ambiguity innately.
And then you've got to wonder about the FBI agent. It seems that he actually believes that taking down Dollhouse is the right thing to do, but the thing about Crusaders is that their zeal often blinds them to reality, and leads them in the wrong direction. Dollhouse does a lot of good, it seems, and taking it down would create a void, all of the people that they would have saved will die without them.
And the escapee, was he right to run away, or is he just a poorly programed personality acting irrationally?
It has potential. I can see a great many places it can go from here. But to enjoy it, you have to forget that it's Whedon and pretend that it's loosely based on a Philip K. Dick novel. That'll make you much happer, I promise. I'll let you tollerate the moral ambiguity and the lack of snarky banter.
I went into this looking for some light cyberpunk. And in that regard, I was pleasantly surprised. The pilot takes the premise seriously and give it the moral weight it deserves and while the episode itself had clear bad guys, amongst the recurring factions there is nothing but ambiguity at this point.
The action made sense and it used it's premise logically. That's better than most recent network science fiction pilots, such as Bionic Woman and Knight Rider.
I, too, don't remember the names of any of the characters other than Ecco, but that's perfectly alright, I remember their role. You've got the morally ambiguous female CEO, who seems to want to do the right thing. You've got the pragmatic guy. You've got the ex-cop handler with a strong sense of morality and duty. You've got the morally ambiguous tech guy. You've got the FBI guy who wants to bring down Dollhouse. And you've got the escapeewho has no trouble killing people. I'd recognize them, and I want to learn more about them.
The Dollhouse orginization is interesting one wonders whether their actives are victims or vollunteers. They seem to be run by people who actually care about the actives, and who actually want to do the right thing, but the situation itself has some built in moral ambiguity innately.
And then you've got to wonder about the FBI agent. It seems that he actually believes that taking down Dollhouse is the right thing to do, but the thing about Crusaders is that their zeal often blinds them to reality, and leads them in the wrong direction. Dollhouse does a lot of good, it seems, and taking it down would create a void, all of the people that they would have saved will die without them.
And the escapee, was he right to run away, or is he just a poorly programed personality acting irrationally?
It has potential. I can see a great many places it can go from here. But to enjoy it, you have to forget that it's Whedon and pretend that it's loosely based on a Philip K. Dick novel. That'll make you much happer, I promise. I'll let you tollerate the moral ambiguity and the lack of snarky banter.
My grade: Average
First of all, a background of myself. BIG fan of Firefly. Not Buffy/Angel. But it was Whedon's involvement that got me to watch it tonight.
Positives...
- An interesting idea, even if it hardly is original. But I hope that they can take the concept and run with it to some interesting places.
- Very interesting secondary characters, in particular her handler.
Negatives:
- T&A... Geez. I appreciate beautiful ladies, but they are really laying on thick, aren't they? Blatant demographics reach, but not in a good way. Way over the top.
- Dushku... Is just not a very good actress, or at least did not seem to be it in this episode. I had heard about her before, but this was actually the first time I have seen her in a major role (yep, I'm not a Buffy watcher)
. I hope she can improve, because this was not good enough to carry a whole show. And as others have pointed out, her "Echo" persona is just supremely annoying.
- The tech geek, who is annoying and way too young to be in such a position.
I'll give this show one more episode to convince me. I'm hoping this was just an over FOX-ified pilot.
First of all, a background of myself. BIG fan of Firefly. Not Buffy/Angel. But it was Whedon's involvement that got me to watch it tonight.
Positives...
- An interesting idea, even if it hardly is original. But I hope that they can take the concept and run with it to some interesting places.
- Very interesting secondary characters, in particular her handler.
Negatives:
- T&A... Geez. I appreciate beautiful ladies, but they are really laying on thick, aren't they? Blatant demographics reach, but not in a good way. Way over the top.
- Dushku... Is just not a very good actress, or at least did not seem to be it in this episode. I had heard about her before, but this was actually the first time I have seen her in a major role (yep, I'm not a Buffy watcher)
. I hope she can improve, because this was not good enough to carry a whole show. And as others have pointed out, her "Echo" persona is just supremely annoying.- The tech geek, who is annoying and way too young to be in such a position.
I'll give this show one more episode to convince me. I'm hoping this was just an over FOX-ified pilot.
I thought Dushku was perfectly fine (and I didn't mind her skimpy little dress at all 
), but I'm afraid this concept, and the whole Dollhouse mythology they're trying to build, isn't grabbing me at all right now.
There might be some interesting themes worth exploring somewhere in there, but for the most part this just seems like a thin excuse to have Dushku play dress-up and get involved in routine cop show plots week after week.
There just wasn't NEARLY the level of fun and creativity I'm used to seeing in a Joss Whedon show (a kidnapping plot almost feels like a waste for someone of his talent). Perhaps, if he was allowed to really let loose, I can see how this Dollhouse idea might be a lot of fun to play around with. But played straight like this, it just doesn't work.
), but I'm afraid this concept, and the whole Dollhouse mythology they're trying to build, isn't grabbing me at all right now.There might be some interesting themes worth exploring somewhere in there, but for the most part this just seems like a thin excuse to have Dushku play dress-up and get involved in routine cop show plots week after week.
There just wasn't NEARLY the level of fun and creativity I'm used to seeing in a Joss Whedon show (a kidnapping plot almost feels like a waste for someone of his talent). Perhaps, if he was allowed to really let loose, I can see how this Dollhouse idea might be a lot of fun to play around with. But played straight like this, it just doesn't work.
It has potential, I liked it enough to keep watching, but it wasn't great. It was fairly average as things go but it wasn't bad and I rather like the premise. I think given time it could be good, but as it is at the minute I'm still going to wait and see how it goes over the next few weeks.
Boring and overly complicated. I did not buy any of it. I'm a Joss fan, but this was forgettable.
I was bored. I liked the concept, but I don't know if they can sustain it over a period of seasons, similar to my thoughts on many of the other high concept shows that have been coming out since Lost. DH would probably work better as a film, novel, or a comic book/graphic novel.
Echo was the only character that made a lasting impression-perhaps because they mentioned her name a lot, and she had the most screentime (okay, I loved the little white dress at the beginning too), but I didn't find Duskhu's performance all that engaging. I wasn't a Buffy fan, but I did watch some of her episodes as Faith, on Buffy and Angel, and I liked her. I also loved Wrong Turn. The rest of the characters were ciphers.
As I was watching it, I just wondered if it would be more affordable to actually hire an escort/prostitute for a perfect date, or an actual hostage negotiator instead of hiring an active? Perhaps its a conceit of the show, but it just feels convoluted and contrived that people would go through all that much trouble when there are actual people/'experts' already that they could hire.
For some reason, I kept thinking about Alias when I was watching Dollhouse. I really had liked the Alias pilot. It was fast paced and far more interesting than DH. I was hoping for something along that line going into watching DH, but it was mostly boring and drab. Even the action scenes didn't excite me, and I wished it had a more streamlined, stylish look. It looked like a TV show IMO.
I might give it another chance, though I'm not sure. I've given up on Fringe, which started out far stronger, so I'm not sure I want to waste an hour on DH. Maybe I'll just check this board and see if the reviews get better before diving back in.
Echo was the only character that made a lasting impression-perhaps because they mentioned her name a lot, and she had the most screentime (okay, I loved the little white dress at the beginning too), but I didn't find Duskhu's performance all that engaging. I wasn't a Buffy fan, but I did watch some of her episodes as Faith, on Buffy and Angel, and I liked her. I also loved Wrong Turn. The rest of the characters were ciphers.
As I was watching it, I just wondered if it would be more affordable to actually hire an escort/prostitute for a perfect date, or an actual hostage negotiator instead of hiring an active? Perhaps its a conceit of the show, but it just feels convoluted and contrived that people would go through all that much trouble when there are actual people/'experts' already that they could hire.
For some reason, I kept thinking about Alias when I was watching Dollhouse. I really had liked the Alias pilot. It was fast paced and far more interesting than DH. I was hoping for something along that line going into watching DH, but it was mostly boring and drab. Even the action scenes didn't excite me, and I wished it had a more streamlined, stylish look. It looked like a TV show IMO.
I might give it another chance, though I'm not sure. I've given up on Fringe, which started out far stronger, so I'm not sure I want to waste an hour on DH. Maybe I'll just check this board and see if the reviews get better before diving back in.
Bad acting, forced dialog, beautiful people, fancy clothes, and lavish sets.
"Dollhouse" is like a porno that never gets around to the sex.
"Dollhouse" is like a porno that never gets around to the sex.
After reading this thread's comments I lowered my expectations appropriately before watching it just a few moments ago and for the most part I liked it.
It's got a Babylon 5 - Season 1 vibe going on, in that all these things are happening without context or explanation, but I don't feel like I know enough about anything yet to care until I see how things progress. No real story hook was evident, but I am intrigued about the underlying process of "this business" and why it even came into being in the first place.
Not sure that there's anything to rave about yet, but this show seems to be on a slow boil building towards something, although for the life of me I can't figure out what that might be or why I should care. But like anything else, I'm willing to give it a chance. I stuck with Terminator: SCC, having no real interest in the Terminator franchise and that seemed to work out pretty well. We'll see.
It's got a Babylon 5 - Season 1 vibe going on, in that all these things are happening without context or explanation, but I don't feel like I know enough about anything yet to care until I see how things progress. No real story hook was evident, but I am intrigued about the underlying process of "this business" and why it even came into being in the first place.
Not sure that there's anything to rave about yet, but this show seems to be on a slow boil building towards something, although for the life of me I can't figure out what that might be or why I should care. But like anything else, I'm willing to give it a chance. I stuck with Terminator: SCC, having no real interest in the Terminator franchise and that seemed to work out pretty well. We'll see.
"If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The Dollhouse."
Basically.....
cue Dushku dropping a ball from a crane,while she smokes a cigar
"I love it when a plan comes together"
Basically.....
cue Dushku dropping a ball from a crane,while she smokes a cigar
"I love it when a plan comes together"
No, that looks more like this.
Contrary to the belief of some, Joss Whedon's name is not enough to make most "fanboys
" like something. It's enough to get it a look. But we love Firefly because it was just that good. And we love Buffy because (for the most part) it was just that good. And so on with Doctor Horrible and Angel. This one.....it's not bad, but that's the best I can say about it so far.The creator's name is a draw. It's not the only draw. And I'd like it if people would stop implying otherwise.
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