Thoughts on Dollhouse
Most Joss Whedon fans have come down pretty hard on his new series. And understandably so. Much of what made his previous series, Buffy and Firefly, so great was the witty dialog and the amount of attention given to the characters. Dollhouse, in comparison, doesn't have that, and seems to have a similar production style to Terminator and Fringe.
Unlike most Whedonites, I won't say this is a bad series.
One thing that helped me enjoy the first three episodes has been that I did expect something different. Expectations can mean everything, and I think many (but hopefully not all, or even most) Whedonites expected more of the wit and character than this series has offered.
My actual thoughts:
The good: The actual plot. The idea that Dollhouse puts forth, that the main character can be reprogrammed to be anyone, memories and all, has some legs and depth to it. The pilot put down rules and perameters that normally wouldn't be set until seasons later. The first episode used it rather well for that main storyline.
The bad: Yeah, that FBI guy plot doesn't work at all. It's set down as a long running storyline, but we've gone nowhere fast, and even breaks rules of storytelling. First, he basicly knows everything about The Dollhouse before the series even starts. How? We don't know. All we know is that he can't prove it, for some strange reason.
More over, at the beginning of the second episode, he comes onto a crime scene, fully knowing what happened. Again, we don't know how he knows. Actually, his "deductions" just make it so then he appears where he needs to be, not how he actually got there. This is one story that needs to be ditched, or severely retrofitted.
Needs work: The compelete lack of a point or theme. Now, the third episode showed that it was possible, and hopefully it's moving towards that direction. However, that story only applied to Echo, not her handler, not the corporation itself, and certainly not the FBI agent. And the other story arch, revolving around the mysterious Alpha, has barely been tapped; with only background given.
So, do these make Dollhouse a bad series. Not really, especially when comparing to how Fringe starts. If anything, Fringe and Terminator showed that even with a bad start, things can get good and make it worth watching. Hopefully Joss Whedon can fix all the problems sooner.
Unlike most Whedonites, I won't say this is a bad series.
One thing that helped me enjoy the first three episodes has been that I did expect something different. Expectations can mean everything, and I think many (but hopefully not all, or even most) Whedonites expected more of the wit and character than this series has offered.
My actual thoughts:
The good: The actual plot. The idea that Dollhouse puts forth, that the main character can be reprogrammed to be anyone, memories and all, has some legs and depth to it. The pilot put down rules and perameters that normally wouldn't be set until seasons later. The first episode used it rather well for that main storyline.
The bad: Yeah, that FBI guy plot doesn't work at all. It's set down as a long running storyline, but we've gone nowhere fast, and even breaks rules of storytelling. First, he basicly knows everything about The Dollhouse before the series even starts. How? We don't know. All we know is that he can't prove it, for some strange reason.
More over, at the beginning of the second episode, he comes onto a crime scene, fully knowing what happened. Again, we don't know how he knows. Actually, his "deductions" just make it so then he appears where he needs to be, not how he actually got there. This is one story that needs to be ditched, or severely retrofitted.
Needs work: The compelete lack of a point or theme. Now, the third episode showed that it was possible, and hopefully it's moving towards that direction. However, that story only applied to Echo, not her handler, not the corporation itself, and certainly not the FBI agent. And the other story arch, revolving around the mysterious Alpha, has barely been tapped; with only background given.
So, do these make Dollhouse a bad series. Not really, especially when comparing to how Fringe starts. If anything, Fringe and Terminator showed that even with a bad start, things can get good and make it worth watching. Hopefully Joss Whedon can fix all the problems sooner.
posted by SeanM at 10:42 AM
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