Reworking Dollhouse

[theenglish]

Okay Christopher and Temis, thanks for your replies. Over the years I have grown to trust your opinions. As such, the solution to the series seems pretty simple to me. More back story should have been given out in the first episodes to "hook" the audience and give them an idea where the show stands.

Christopher, you're a writer, so I'm sure you know how important that is and that series television is intrinsically different than a novel.

When I pick up a good novel that is well told, I will give it a hundred pages or so to grab me, but I will not do that for television and I am sure most people out there won't either.

Dollhouse should have given the viewer enough information from the start so that you could show empathy and not go "eeww" they're raping this girl and possibly subjecting her to an STD and then allowing this guy to try and kill her--why the hell am I watching this when I could be less disturbed by watching Sean Hannity?

 

[Casi]

Caroline's lover got killed in the incident where they broke into the lab. Obviously she was experiencing deep grief at his death, and probably some sense of guilt at drawing him into the situation that led to his death.

The problem with that logic is that we don't actually know what happened after his death. Adele tells Caroline in the flashback we saw that they've been doing this dance for three years. Caroline's lover died in the first real attempt to do anything major to the company that was behind the dollhouse. Therefore, we've got at least three years worth of something else and we have no idea what that something else is. Caroline keeps talking about the mountains, and feeling safe there. We're still missing pieces of the puzzle. We have no idea what eventually brought her to the decision to sign that contract.

What concerns me most at the moment is that, even if she was well aware of what would happen to her after she signed the contract, it seems that the contract itself might not be all that binding. Adele was being urged to put Echo in the attic. How do we know that when Caroline's five years were up, Echo would be brought down from the attic. It's not like she's in a position to argue.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Having the characters fight to do good could would be a constant struggle against the corporation which owns the Dollhouses, where the characters have to maintain the image of "business as usual" while continuing to bring in the money.

And very familiar.

One of the fascinating things about this show is that everyone is so awful. If you sand the edges off of that in order to make them more "identifiable" and "likeable" then why bother to renew it at all? Put a stake through it and be done. All the principals can move on to doing more conventional and safe TV.

Although, nicely enough, there's a report at THR this evening that the show has actually been renewed against all odds! Talk about cutting the budget, but none about turning any of the folks into "good guys."

 

[Zeppster]

The problem is that the doll's are too dull. They need to start getting their actual personalities back somehow and make it more interesting. Everytime a doll or the doll's remember something they seem to forget it in the next episodes. It makes it more frustrating to watch. The other characters are pretty interesting.

 

[Casi]

The problem is that the doll's are too dull. They need to start getting their actual personalities back somehow and make it more interesting. Everytime a doll or the doll's remember something they seem to forget it in the next episodes. It makes it more frustrating to watch. The other characters are pretty interesting.

I do agree with that. I don't feel that we're getting enough plot progression with the Dolls. And the show itself is too Dull to fall into the "monster of the week" catagory that kept Supernatural going through seasons one and two, and that, to a point, kept Buffy going during that first year. (Yes I know Supernatural isn't a Joss show. Just making a point.)

Spoiler: But Then

When we get the last two episodes, and we suddenly have Alpha, after all this buildup...it just felt like it came out of the blue because of how long we'd been waiting for even the slightest hint as to who he was or what his agenda was. Then BOOM, we get him all at once. It was a bit jarring.

I have high hopes for season two. And high hopes also that Eliza gets a better acting coach.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

..during an interview for DVD Magazine, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles star Thomas Dekker declares Dollhouse “a piece of shit“.Dollhouse stars – from late October – his former Terminator co-star Summer Glau, who is joining Dollhouse as another geektastic character fans will fall in love with.Now, in order to settle this war of words, we thought we would not invite Eliza Dushku to judge a word fight which never happened

http://www.endofshow.com/2009/09/30...lau-the-dollhouse-fight-which-never-happened/

 

[Trekker4747]

Ok. The thread necromancy on this BBS has gotten out of control.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Well, it IS Halloween!