So the obsessive Dollhouse fans in the audience may have noticed that I’m not posting my reviews. I’m hoping to enter this competition and my dollhouse writing energy is going towards that. I will start on full reviews after I’ve submitted my essay in mid-February. But in the meantime I thought I’d open up a thread so people could talk about it.
Some thoughts:
- The show went down hill a lot in the last three episodes I think (after a run of truly fantastic episodes). Possibly it was a mistake to try and take the show that far into the story. Epitaph 2 was, in the end, a more powerful ending to the future than what we got, I think if they had tried to tell less of a story it would have been more effective.
- I take back anything mean I’ve ever said about Eliza Dushku – she was great all the way through these end episodes.
- The portrayal of Keith Harding rather marred the finale and the ideas about people’s relationship with food it portrayed was really depressing. It must suck so much to believe that your appetite is all consuming and you must control it at all times, because being fat would be horrendous.
- Sierra & Victor 4 eva.
- The second to last episode was really incoherent – I can’t even work up the will power to get offended at the worst bits (mostly stuff involving Paul Ballard), because it made no sense.
- I thought it was neat that Mag was into girls – but it would have been even neater if Zone hadn’t talked about it so much (although I liked the point that they were making that these people had fought together and knew so little about each other).
- The Attic was good, but sub-Restless, and had even skeevier politics around race.
- When Paul died we burst into applause – but why the hell won’t they let him stay dead.
- How did Topher become my favourite character?
I really enjoyed Dollhouse, but don’t think that the last few episodes celebrated what I loved most about it.
Topher was the best character in the show hands down! I hate what happened to him, but Fran Kranz was solid in his portrayal all the way through to the end. He never lost the integrity of this character.
By the end Topher took the lead as my favorite with Adelle (Olivia Williams) in 2nd place, and Victor (Enver Gjokaj) in 3rd.
Gjokaj imitated Topher so well it was kind of frightening. He is an actor to keep your eyes on.
What was your reaction to You-Know-Who turning out to be the Big Bad? I’m kind of disappointed, actually.
I’m also a little annoyed at his MotiveRant during the “final battle”. I could have written a much better rant. Something kind of like this…
Maia — thanks for posting this. I’ve been missing your reviews. Good to know they’ll come back. And good luck in the essay contest — if your entry is up to your blog posts, you’ll deserve to win!
I disagree, though, that the last three episodes were downhill. I think the last 2.1 or so episodes were a let down — the first 9/10 of the antepenultimate episode were good, just the reveal at the very end was not (and that could have been good, maybe, if they’d sold it in the later episode). And while not up to Epitaph 1, I liked Ep 2, rushed though it was. So I’d say, over all, that the penultimate episode was poor, and that Ep 2 was a good ending to the story they didn’t get to tell.
Doug S — that is a *much* better villain rant. … Which is pretty depressing from one point of view.
“How did Topher become my favourite character?” The show was supposed to be about Echo slowly becoming a human being; it turned out to be about Topher becoming one — and becoming and unraveling at the same time, until all that’s left is a fully human, fully wounded being.
I’m also very curious as to what happened with Alpha during those missing ten years. When and why did he stop being crazy?
Thank you. I worked hard on it!
Yeah, the ending (and the whole show, really) suffered a lot from being so rushed. But overall, I still loved it, and I think the writers did as good of a job as they could in the time allotted.
What do you all think of Echo imprinting herself with Ballard’s mind at the end, from a feminist standpoint?
I know Ballard started out as the deconstruction of the white knight, and I always hoped that he and Echo would not end up together. He was, as many have pointed out, creepy and obsessive. But I honestly think he started getting over that around “Meet Jane Doe,” when he started to see Echo as more of a person and less of a damsel in distress. I can buy that he continued to make progress with this issue over the ten years we didn’t see (though it would have been nice to see this progress, of course) due to fighting alongside Echo, who was stronger and smarter and more capable than he was. I still don’t think they are the most fascinating couple ever, but they really sold a genuine love and connection to me in the last half of the season, and especially in “Epitaph 2.”
As for the actual imprinting, it doesn’t bug me. If the chair is a metaphor for social programming, then we can’t ever really stop using it; all we can do is choose what and who to “let in” and what and who not to. Echo chose to keep a part of a man she loved very much. I don’t think it means she can’t ever move on from Paul. But I liked that in the end, she was able to do what the Dollhouse always promised but never could deliver: a genuine connection, an antidote to her loneliness. A fantasy that didn’t hurt anybody or take away their agency.
I also liked that Echo showed how we can’t ever really go back to some clean slate after a traumatic event, the best we can do is deal with our experiences and use them to become someone else, maybe even someone better than we were before. Some people did go back to who they were before, but since we don’t actually know any of them, I don’t think that messes up the metaphor too much.
And yeah, Doug S., that is a better explanation than what we got from Boyd, though I was still mostly OK with how the twist played out.
Oh, and good luck in the essay competition Maia! I entered too. You’re some tough competition, but hopefully we’ll both make it in. :)
Chris – I actually didn’t enter in the end. After the last three episodes dollhouse was so incoherent, I didn’t really have anything to say about it. Or at least I didn’t feel that it was worth my time sorting out what I was saying. BUt hopefully I’ll get onto the reviews soon.
That’s understandable, Maia, although I would have loved to see what you came up with. Oh well, I guess this gives me a somewhat better chance! :)
Shameless plug, but…I won! My essay is called “Boyd Langdon and the fantasy of trust,” and will be published this fall. =)
http://www.smartpopbooks.com/1682
Wow that’s awesome – congratulations!
Thanks Maia! I have to say I was inspired by the insights you and other feminist bloggers had on this show. I don’t think my essay is quite as good as anything you’ve written, but I am still quite proud.