Dollhouse production update, episode reordering
Dollhouse wraps shooting it’s first series in a few days. 14 episodes are more or less in the can, with 13 due to air. Obviously, post production will run for a while on these episodes, but the sets shall be empty. Sad days.
Additionally, we’ve finally had it confirmed to us by FOX that Dollhouse is getting jiggy with the episode ordering. This isn’t a big deal, as the first episodes were shot relatively stand alone, plus some were shot knowingly out-of-order, so the idea of getting the best episodes on air first works.
What we haven’t managed to completely confirm is the running order, however reports on Whedonesque combined with FOX publicity material currently suggests:
Episode 1 – Feb 13 – “Ghost” (2nd episode shot – Joss)
Just what is the happening in this house of not-Dolls?
Episode 2 – Feb 20 – “The Target” (4th episode shot – Steve Deknight)
Who wouldn’t want to go bow hunting with Eliza? I mean, aside from PETA?
Episode 3 – Feb 27 – “Stage Fright” (5th episode shot – Jed and Maurissa)
A tale of a crazy obsessed fanboy. I know nothing about being a fan, by the way. Ahem.
Episode 4 – Mar 06 – “Gray Hour” (3rd episode shot – Elizabeth & Sarah)
Eliza is in your TV, stealing other peoples stuff.
Episode 5 – Mar 13 – “True Believer” (7th episode shot – Tim)
Can faith be programmed? No, not Faith.
Episode 6 – Mar 20 – “Man on the Street” (6th episode shot – Joss)
Just what is this Dollhouse urban legend, dudes?
3 Responses 
Kevinn, I thought I had heard that “The Target” was originally episode #8, but you show it as the 4th episode shot, above.
It’s not that crucial, except that Joss keeps mentioning episode #6 as a turning point so I was wondering whether The Target was “post turning-point” or pre.
– SteveP
SteveP, no, “The Target” was shot as their 4th episode.
It’s my understanding that by “turning point”, Joss meant that this was the episode in which everything really came together (i.e. the writing, the filming, the opinions of TPTB).
I hope that happens because right now… no matter how much I try to like the program, it’s like the show’s trying really hard to be liked. And that’s not working.
Each episode so far seems like it was heavily re-edited to sort of dumb it down and make it less morbid/disturbing and extremely accessible. And that’s bumming me out. So far the episodes feel like stand-alone fill-in episodes (unfortunately a lot like Smallville’s non-mythic fill-in episodes) with expository scenes haphazardly spliced into the story line to directly tell the audience what is happening, as if watching it happen was not self-explanatory.
And that’s killing it for me. So I hope the show has a great turning point. Right now the show feels patronizing and kind of fluffy even though the premise is disturbing. If the show was being presented with an overall dark mystery arc as the different missions occurred, that would be enthralling. So far, though, there is no mystery. We know exactly what’s happening because the “non-active” characters are spouting exposition. And that’s agonizing to watch.
It appears that someone at some point assumed that the audience/demographic for the show wouldn’t be smart enough to put an overall arcing mystery together all by themselves (or with their friends or other people on the internet). So instead of letting the show evolve organically, it was spliced and diced and neurotically re-edited into a different, less natural order so that not a lot of thinking or involvement is required of the viewer. To me, that’s the biggest disappointment.
So, I hope the turning point really gets the show churning beyond the exposition and the incredibly obvious hints as to what’s happened/happening/and going to happen.