Geekshow

So, what does everybody think of Dollhouse so far?

I liked the pilot, but it wasn't anything great.  The second episode was much better, but it has a long way to go before it gets as good as past Whedon shows.  I'm looking forward to seeing if it improves again during the third episode tonight.

Don't think it's fair to write this off already, just look at Buffy/Angel Joss usually takes a few episodes to get things going. I'm definitely hopefull.

Didn't expect Eliza to be this good, Amy Acker will always hold a special place in my heard and i like the guy playing Topher. I do not like echo's handler though, not sure if it's the character or the actor. Seeing Matt Keeslar was great, and he is scarely good at playing evil.

Sadly, I have not watched any of this yet.

I watched all of episode one, flat out skipped episode two and watched about half of episode three before giving up and watching “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” instead. (Yes, you read that right.) I don’t think this show is for me.

I have to say I'm mostly impressed so far. I enjoyed episode one, but was not thrilled. I really liked episode 2. And I remember while I was watching episode 3 I was going “I could love this show” even though I was not huge on the plot of the episode itself.

I think it has a lot of potential and it just needs to hang on three more weeks… although it's unfortunate that the special episode 6 that we're all supposed to be waiting for is on the same night as the BSG finale which starts at 9… I know I won't be watching Dollhouse that night.

Hopefully Fox sees that success that Dollhouse has been having on Hulu and iTunes and will let it finish out the season.

The third episode, imo, was easily the best episode to date. I don't get all the hate AT ALL. Okay, so it was about a pop singer… so what?

I thought it was interesting how they drew parrellels between the dollhouse people and pop singer superstar types. They're both handeled and manicured by others, expected to be all things to all people. Made and modeled after the fantasies of others.

The episode portrays whateverhernamewas as the worlds most expensive stripper. But then it doubles back on our expectation and has a lot of respect for her. She's talented, driven and ambitious. It shows her having these diva moments but puts them in a sort of sympathetic light. She works hard all day and then on her down time her manager contracts her to hang out with some obsessive fan. That's not just annoying, it's creepy and exploitative.

She was a good character.

I finally watched episode 3 last night, and I'm still loving the show so far. I differ slightly from Scott's overall opinion. Episode 2 is my favorite so far, with Episode 3 slightly behind, and the pilot was a great starting point.

It kind of bothered me that Episode 2 was ripped from “The Most Dangerous Game“. But that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I really like the dynamic that started to build between Echo and Boyd in that episode. I don't feel that it was forced at all. Cops often form a sort of bond with victims, and that's mostly what he considers Echo to be.

I really don't think this show will survive past season 1. I hope it will, but I don't think so. Unless Dushku really knows what she is talking about when she says it really takes off at episode 6. But with that said, I'm a bit sad to hear that Amy Acker has a pilot episode for a new show, on the off chance that this one survives.

Saberj said:

It kind of bothered me that Episode 2 was ripped from “The Most Dangerous Game“. But that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I really like the dynamic that started to build between Echo and Boyd in that episode. I don't feel that it was forced at all. Cops often form a sort of bond with victims, and that's mostly what he considers Echo to be.

See, now I liked that it was an homage to The Most Dangerous Game. It's not the first time a Whedon show made references to literature and those little touches just add something for me. Could be the fact that I have a degree in English. Who knows.

I am enjoying the show. I don't think comparisons to Whedon's other work are fair quite yet. First of all, this is the first series we've seen from Joss in 5 years. He's in a different place now from where he was at the end of Angel. And frankly, I'm liking this dark and morally ambiguous place. Are there moments that down right creep me out (the dolls are physically affected by their imprints i.e. asthma)? Yes. And I like that. It's a strange turn to be on the bad guy's side and watch Echo become more and more aware of herself. The moment at the end of this week's episode literally made me cheer. While this episode wasn't my favorite thus far, I loved what was said with it (the rockstar/doll comparison; friendship beyond imprints, etc).

My fear is that we live in an instant gratification society and serialized TV suffers for it. I enjoy the ride each episode take me on and the hints it lays for future episodes. That's why I watch SO much scripted TV. And why I can't stand Reality TV.

Ok, but that's another soapbox for another day. If you've been able to enjoy the show thus far, I hope you stick with it! If not, that's cool too. Everything is not for everyone. But as for me: In Joss I trust!

Difference of opinion. And disregard the English degree comment if it's that big of a deal. I just once heard it said that there are about 5 – 10 actual stories. It's the originality in the way in which they are told that makes them different. We've seen all of these stories before in many many ways (The original The Most Dangerous Game film version 1932, the 1978 Japanese remake, and 1994's loose adaptation Surviving the Game). It was the way The Most Dangerous Game was used to further Dollhouse's plot that I enjoyed. And that is just my opinion. You are welcome to yours.

WonderJenn said:

Difference of opinion. And disregard the English degree comment if it's that big of a deal. I just once heard it said that there are about 5 – 10 actual stories. It's the originality in the way in which they are told that makes them different. We've seen all of these stories before in many many ways (The original The Most Dangerous Game film version 1932, the 1978 Japanese remake, and 1994's loose adaptation Surviving the Game). It was the way The Most Dangerous Game was used to further Dollhouse's plot that I enjoyed. And that is just my opinion. You are welcome to yours.

Oh, I wasn't offended by the English Literature comment, I just think it's moot in that particular example. I appreciate The Most Dangerous Game. It's one of those stories/movies that really stuck with me from school. We read it, we watched on of the various film versions. It was good.

So the English degree seems to imply that you enjoyed the show quite a bit because of the respect you had for the original source material. Which is not a different basis that I have. I felt a little let down also because of the respect I have for the material. Same origin point, different destinations. That's all.