Episode 2 – The Target – Your thoughts!
So, here we are again – Dollhouse Friday!
What works? What doesn’t? Get into the Comments before for your say.
All hail The Middleman, Marky boy, Miracle – oh Miracle! – and, yeah, Alpha.
There’s also discussion in our Dollhouse forum.
29 Responses 
Dollverse (c) 2007-2009 Kevin Beaumont. Dollhouse (c) 20th Century Fox.
Not that I didn’t like the first episode, it introduced some very deep drama and got some important exposition out… Still, this episode was SO much better that it barely felt like the same show. Exciting, funny, really made you care for the characters… I’m much more optimistic about people tuning in each week for this show and I really do think it’s the type of show the general public will watch if given the chance… Oh! And a Hulu ad promoting the show? That’s a perk!
shoulder to the wheel baby
shoulder to the wheel
I thought this episode was great. I loved the flashback sequences for all that they offered, from major plot points that I’m sure we will see more of in the future to little things like how Dr. Saunders’ face got scarred. It was really nice to see Eliza in full throttle action mode in the woods as well.
awesome awesome awesome
i really like how they delved a bit into the other characters pasts. I was watching it with a friend who hadnt seen the premiere and they loved it too. it was a great episode, the writing was awesome and echo’s unintentional slips into self-awareness were chilling. All the acting is great too, especially elizas. I’m a bit suprised how fast things are moving but its definitely entertaining. Cant wait for the next episode.
The episode was great, the action, the humor, and the chilling flashbacks =]
2 episodes in and we already have a big bad (Who I actually find scary)
I think the series is starting off well!!
The pilot episode did what it had to do to lay out the premise of the show. This episode was much, much better in every way. The use of flashback to begin building character relationships was effective. The guy who plays Echo’s handler is really, really good. I remember reading somewhere that his character was actually added after the first pilot was trashed.
I guess I am a loner on this one, but I was really disappointed. To me it played like a bad comic at best and a Friday the 13th at worst. I feel like the lack of girl power Joss’s other shows had is almost offensive. That Echo kills the bad guy, to me that’s not girl power. I look forward to Echo getting a brain. I also feel that Eliza is being grossly objectionalized. The preview for next week only confirmed this to me. The name “Dollhouse” is quite apropriate as Joss’ version of Alias basically has a great actress being dressed up like Barbie from week to week to do other’s bidding. I do love Echo’s handler though – a great find for the Whedonverse. O.k. nuff said – let the slaying of my comments begin . . .
No slaying of your comments, I understand where your coming from Anonymous. I’m not too sure about the girl power comment you made though. Echo is imprinted and has no control over it. The girl power will probably come later in the series when she becomes more self aware. I thought when she switched roles with her handler, it was empowering. Besides if you remember the beginning of Buffy, she didn’t immediately start off with girl power (and she had super powers).
I do however share your concerns about eliza being objectified, I hope they don’t continually try to dress her up in skimpy clothes. She’s sexy without all that. But again its the beginning of a new series, fox is trying to pull in viewers quickly. I can’t wait to learn about the other actives, I was a bit suprised that Sierra made no appearance at all. I’m excited to see what joss has in store for us
Boyd is the moral heart of the show, and to me, Ep 1 worked because of Boyd’s relationship with Echo. So I am thrilled that Ep 2 was all about how that relationship developed. Smart move.
knitcrit, Boyd was in the original pilot episode, he wasn’t added later. (The security dude who insults Echo at the end was added to the show after the failed pilot episode).
this episode was quite weak! or should I say gross…The main story was idiot. I can´t understand why people thought it was a lot better than the pilot, it is worse.
I agree there were lots os good moments in the flashbacks, but that kind of overbright thing in Flashbacks is such a television cliche, Joss never used before and hope it won´t use again.
Dr. Saunders is my favorite already, her presence is so soothing, and I wasn´t that fond of Fred on angel.(only Iliria)
About the sexualition of Eliza, it´s natural it would be that way, it has to atract audience, joss would not want to get cancelled again…
loved it. seriously loved it. i was really scared after the first ep, but now i’m really into it. the bonding between boyd and echo really takes care of the greatest criticism for me: the show lacks a central character that viewers can feel for/empathize with. by supplying boyd, i feel completely emotionally invested in echo. and this will only grow as her self-awareness grows. fabulous. BIG improvement.
Anonymous, overbright flashbacks was used in Firefly in “Out of Gas” (which is Joss’s favourite episode, as it happens).
For the record, I loved this episode.
Kevin, that´s not true, Out of gas had diferent shades of color for each flashback scene, one was green, one was blue, one yellow…it was very artistic the way it was done, each had a especific mood to it, the first one that seemed overbright was because when he opened the door of the ship the light of day came in, it was beatiful..
that has nothing to do with the “let´s make the flashbacks brighter than the rest so everyone will know it´s a flashback” kind of thing.
don´t confuse things…
I´m hoping for the best as the series evolve…
Not really a fan of the pilot, but loved the second episode “The Target”. It had some cool action scenes, some drama (Echo’s relationship with her protector/”watcher” Boyd Langdon) and some comedy. I love the fact that this episode had some flashbacks that gave us some background info, but at the same time rises so many questions.
I really had my doubts after watching the pilot, but now I’m kinda optimistic. I just hope that Fox will give Joss, Eliza and “Dollhouse” a chance to develop.
Can’t wait for the next epi!
Anonymous, I think — could be wrong — the different tinting in Out of Gas was to signify different time periods of flashbacks, because it was jumping backwards and forwards in time. They used the same effect here, but kept one colour because it’s all one time period (3 months ago). They could have gone for wacky colours, but it wouldn’t have served any purpose.
Kevin, The point is that it looks like a fake computer effect on this episode, there is like a white blur…Is hard to tell the time on out of gas, impossible actually, but is not at all like this ep, on O.o.g there is a diferent shade of color to make it diferent but it looks natural, if you see Inara´s scene it has a very dark tone, kaylee´s too, it has nothing to do with this fake effect that is used on TV for flashbacks and dreams, in which everything is very bright…
check the episodes and again and note the diference
I’m really enjoying the show thus far – this episode was definitely more intense and I enjoyed it in a edge-of-your-seat-for-50-minutes kind of way. Boyd is definitely the highlight for me. I also really enjoy Olivia Williams. I’m just interested to see where Joss is taking us – the show seems to be developing quickly, as Girlanacrhonism noted, and I’m a tad concerned about the sustainability of the storyline.
But then again, it is Joss Whedon…
I think this episode is a lot faster paced and intriguing than the other one. I was pleasantly surprised that Echo is already beginning to “wake up”, at the end when she gave that arm gesture.
I don’t know what to think about Alpha. I think he may have known her from her past or something. Or maybe he thinks she might wake up eventually, and that’s why he left her alone.
What does everyone else think?
(the fact he was watching her video and looked like he was naked has me a bit creeped out though)
Oh, I don’t like how Echo is all objectionalized though. I know it’s likely to get the ratings, but it just seems kinda nasty to me.
Re: I dont think is just the ratings, the show is about someone who is used as an object acording to someone´s desire, be it sexual or other, the show is about that!!
Wake up people, Echo is an object, at first at least, she is not a feminist role model, she has no personality or free will, she hardly thinks for herself, that´s the initial state of the character, the point is where to it will evolve later…give time…
If people think that the show is promoting the “objectionalized” thing, then there´s no way to like the series…
Remember what Whedon said in an inteview a few years back. He commented on Airforce One being a terrible movie because where is the drama in an ex-fighter-pilot/war-hero/supersoldier defeating a group of terrorists.
His point was that a good story involves beating on someone who is allready lying down to see when they finally rise up.
In that interview he was discussing Mal, but I think the argument holds here as well. Echo will be objectified and misused untill she finally stands up at begins to fight back and then she will be all the more a real hero.
–DA
Absolutely word to the last comment. This is a show that has to build which, yes, is extremely risky. But hopefully the gamble will pay off. Personally, I don’t find it misogynist in any sense. And who are we to judge when we haven’t even really begun to see the real story? Already Echo is waking up. She’s becoming empowered as seen in the last ‘shoulder to the wheel’ gesture. Its all about where the show takes us and what they do with Echo in the future. For now, yes, I’ll admit she’s being used and beaten on, but the show is about her waking up. If she was awakening from everyone treating her sweetly and letting her be all girl-powered, there would be no show.
What I love about this show is that it does a consistent job of sending shivers up my spine. It’s thrilling and it’s scary. I think that, yes, Echo’s frequently a sex object, but that’s what makes the bad guys so scary – that they would use her like that.
You can tell Joss Whedon has feminist roots. During episode one, when the person Echo became remembered her rape, it was effectively scary, because Joss knows that to a lot of women out there, rape is a worse fate than death. I think people often interpret that as Joss being sexist for incorporating that into his shows, but again, that’s what make the bad guys so bad.
At the end of the episode, when that guy who was sneering at her about how she wouldn’t cause so much trouble if she was in the ground, the “shoulder to the wheel” salute she did when he walked away made me smile.
-Meg
RE: Meg, there´s an important detail on dollhouse, the boss of all is a woman!! Is important to note that to not say that whedon is just putting the men as the bad ones, that would be a feminist cliche like ” all men are nasty”…
The boss of the dollhouse is a woman , and the moral voice of the show is Boyd, a man…
Well, I have recaps of the two episodes so far, with my comments on what’s happening. It’s in jwnetwork.blogspot.com.
much better! I liked the incorporation of a kind of identity for Echo and a bond forming with her handler. I still need some of that Whedon humor before I can love this show.
When I said “bad guys” I was using the commonly used expression, just to clarify. ~_~ I never said that Whedon was putting “all men as the bad ones” I was talking about how the leaders of the Dollhouse project were allowing Echo to be used for sexual purposes, and in this sense making her to be a sex object. That’s why they’re the bad “people,” if you will.
-Meg
wait, you say Joss understands that rape is the worst thing that can happen to a woman, but the whole premise of Target seems to be that the guy hires a hooker he can make into whatever he wants. So how is programmable hookers a good thing again?
The one thing that he needs to explain for me to be able to accept any of this is why the hell the dolls are blanked after every trick, why can’t they be in on the joke? Why do they have to be pliable children to be sent out to be used?
Dollhouse is run by many a sketchy character. The villains are running the show! Of course they would let the paid sex thing happen to an Active. They’re the Big Bad.
Dollhouse clients want Actives to be their perfect idea of a companion. Everything in the mind of an Active that is not useful or relevant to their temporary perfection is wiped clean, so that the engagement will be a complete success. And again, only EVIL people would have pliable children sent out to be used. They’re villains.
Joss has created a different type of villain – there’s what he’s used to making, which is grotesque and horrifying monsters, and now he’s created a new kind of villain, cold-hearted humans getting carried away with their clever, self-indulgent plans.
Joss Whedon is not condoning all this, he’s portraying it.
-Meg