Episode 4 – "Gray Hour" – Your thoughts
Come on down to the comments or the forum and let us know your thoughts!
28 Responses 
Dollverse (c) 2007-2009 Kevin Beaumont. Dollhouse (c) 20th Century Fox.
Come on down to the comments or the forum and let us know your thoughts!
28 Responses
I like the continuing build-up for Alpha, and the development of the competency of the Echo persona. It’s also nice when they find a use for Sierra. “Taffy’s” dialogue also smacked of Joss-speak, which was refreshing. Not a great episode, but good overall.
Taffy was an awesome character, I thought.
I loved it.
At last an episode I really liked. The ending was very beatiful, that scene underwater I´m pretty sure it´s from the original pilot, since it was on the first original trailer, as well as the talk about the actives remembering each other. Am I right??
I´m starting to have a good feeling about this show!!
Jim-
Much better than the first three episodes, which I thought were horrible. I want to like this show so badly, but it’s seriously lacking something.. a plausible plot, and good actors, maybe? I expect Echo to be wooden, but even the characters Eliza plays are wooden and unconvincing. Too bad the show isn’t about Sierra, she’s a much better actress.
Whedon has said himself he’s best writing for an ensemble cast – this episode gave Sierra more time, and also Victor and Adelle, and it was better in part for that reason. This may have been the strongest episode yet. I still don’t think it’s great, but I feel slightly less hopeless about the series as a whole.
I really liked how one of the bad guys, the one who got injured, really wasn’t such a bad guy. He was gentle with Echo, he understood the depth of art, and he would have rather surrendered peacefully than shoot his way out of a situation; I guess that’s why he got saved and the bad-tempered one was left.
It was a good episode.
I think it was the only time in my life I was upset to the point of hostility when the commercials started, because I wanted to see what would happen next so badly.
I am really liking the show, each episode keeps getting better and I agree that Friday night is not the best night, although the DVR numbers should be taken into account as well. Their are so many mediums to watch a show these days you can’t go by live viewing ratings anymore not really. You have the internet, iTunes, DVR and then the actual show – they should add all those up and go by that rating. I am starting to get invested in these characters and want to know where they are going. I like that we are starting to see the dolls group, and I like the build up to Alpha as well and that things are starting to really click. I hope they give it the chance that it deserves – if not I hope that another network picks it up…say Sci-Fi?
(sigh) I’ve stayed out of the fray so far, but it’s been four episodes – I’m jumping in now.
I do NOT think Sierra is a better character, or actress. That being said, I do not know what I’m looking for in all this:
- In Buffy, it was a mix of hope and tragedy because she struggled against her fate and occasionally won.
- In Firefly, it was the struggle of making enough money to be autonomous without sacrificing personal loyalty or independence.
- In Dollhouse… the struggle is… ? That’s the thing. What am I looking at exactly? Alpha v. Echo? Echo v. DeWitt? Echo v. Boyd? Echo v. DeWitt/Smith? Echo/Alpha v. Agent Ballard? DeWitt v. Agent Ballard? DeWitt/Smith/Agency v. Boyd/Topher/Dr. Saunders/Alpha? Too much ambiguity – Gimme something I can HIT! (Joss if you’re reading this then please understand that I emphatically trust your plot development and arc points, and I was never this tough on Buffy or Firefly when they first aired.)
When you’re left *wanting* to like the show, that’s a sign that it is not yet a likable show. And it has non-Joss fingerprints all over it. In some ways it feels like a blend of shows I didn’t watch more than a few times because they bored me (danger, will robinson).
Geek guy reminds me too much of Greg Sanders from CSI (the good one).
Chicks, chicks – I need more chicks. Or more chick-focus. Or stronger chicks with more depth. I am a Buffy fan – I’m not watching to see a show about “Sarah Palin, the younger years”.
The music, the music, the music. I swear I could live in a nutshell and consider myself a queen of infinite space if it weren’t for bad music. Bad audio in general – great writing (or even good writing) needs to be HEARD, not muffled by quick scenes and blah ambient music. Also, cadence, people… cadence.
Oh, and I’m not loving how suddenly Adelle DeWitt is answering to some dude.
I like the suggestion in the open letter on this site – and I agree with its core message. Reschedule the show. Friday night is a *terrible* time for this show to be on. I’m a geek, but I’m also a girl. I like going out with friends, colleagues, and the occasional boyfriend. Friday night is my “oh my god I’m so happy the week is over I want to do something to celebrate” day. I’m a huge Whedon fan, and even I forget until like late Saturday that “Dollhouse was on last night! I should watch it!” Tuesday night, however, is the *perfect* time for a Whedon pick-me-up. It’s the day I watched Buffy, it’s the day I watched Gilmore Girls, it’s the day I miss watching something awesome. Friday night=bad. C’mon. Girlfriends fighting with their boyfriends over what they’re going to watch live – BSG extended or the next Dollhouse – are you *trying* to start relationship wars, or just lose viewers?
I like the show – I really do – and I’ll keep watching (mostly on Hulu, because my computer screen is bigger than my TV screen), but for the love of Joss, give Whedon more control over this thing before you totally lose control of it (glaring at you, FOX).
I like Dollhouse. I really like it. A lot of people are comparing it to the other shows but it shouldn’t be compared. It’s a different show. Hell, I liked Buffy. I liked Angel. I loved Firefly. (I really loved Dr. Horrible..) and guess what? I like Dollhouse. It’s not the same thing! Here’s something else- I like these few episodes better than some first season Buffy (and I love first season and all season Buffy) I feel like it’s a nice introduction. The first book in a series. The book you have to read in order to read the really great books later on, y’know?
Joss Whedon is my favorite screen writer. He’s written almost every show in my top 5 list, a movie in my 5 AND my favorite musical (plus some comics I love). I’m staying and I’m going to love every minute of it.
Well, it was better than episode three – a Beer Bad-style washout that has led people I know to stop watching Dollhouse completely – but, even four episodes in, the show is still comfortably the worst Whedon show ever. The characters are uninvolving and the plots mechanical. To make matters worse, the premise itself is so vaguely explained that I’m losing the will to live. Basically, the Actives are just high-class prostitutes and I get the feeling Joss Whedon thinks we should be feeling uncomfortable about this. Fox, however, just loves its sci-fi whores and sees the show’s main selling point as sheer titillation. If it costs “in the low millions” to hire a Doll, how come Simon Cowell is hiring TWO of them to protect one terrible pop singer in episode three (he could employ HUNDREDS of guards for that, possibly THOUSANDS), and how does he feel about the fact that the handlers usually save the day? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to simply hire the handler? Oh, and if a pop star’s manager can just walk off the street into the Dollhouse, that makes “special agent” Paul Ballard – who’s been looking for it for 14 months without finding it – a card-carrying moron. Maybe there will be answers to all this later on, but so far Dollhouse is both dull and daft. If JJ Abrams were writing this, nobody would care.
In this week’s show, there’s a massive plot hole when the “remote wipe” happens – why doesn’t Boyd do anything? Handling the errant member of the thief squad shouldn’t take up too much time and in the other episodes Boyd goes frantic when he loses contact with Echo. Not this week! Was he getting a doughnut? Had they fallen out? In any case, he acts completely out of character *to make the plot work*. Also, although this was slicker and more fun than the previous three stories, there was far too much clumsy exposition in the dialogue and the heavy-handed “Blue skies” catchphrase for Taffy was so jarring I suspected that the writers had so little faith in the actors being able to convey this 2D character that they’d better make her say *something* ear-catching in case the audience didn’t get it. Yet again, the mission was cookie-cutter stuff and the only really interesting material is in the back story. Oh, and what’s this about *no-one but the person hiring the doll* knowing what the engagement’s going to be? Just when we thought the show couldn’t get any more unconvincing, they hit us with some other completely implausible element. Episode 6 had better be brilliant.
i thought this episode was amazing.
i’m watching it for the second time, now.
by the way, i’m looking forward to your podcast :]!
slipperbisk, Boyd doesn’t do anything because Echo gets wiped right as he leaves to take care of the backstabber guy. It wasn’t out of character–he was helping Echo complete the mission, and thus wasn’t there to hear anything go wrong.
The thing where only the client knows what’s going on is clearly a lie the Dollhouse spins to keep its customers happy. Adelle and Lawrence both clearly knew what the situation with Echo was, as did Boyd.
I really don’t think the show is more implausible than any other on TV. Blue Skies is a writing issue, not a plausibility one–and I partially agree with it, though I didn’t think it was so terrible. I doubt it’s a lack of faith in their actors, and more a need to convey quickly–as in, right before the commercial break–”NOW SHE IS TAFFY!”
Liked the episode. Like the series and want it to stay. Agree with the comment above that Buffy season 1 took a while to find its footing — and it did! This feels like it just needs a bit more time to pull the pieces together and then it’ll be rolling…
Eliza, big fan. Nice work!
@ 2sly4you
You might not think Sierra is a better character or being played better but I think you are pretty much on your own there. Every single review I’ve read that mentions her has nothing but praise and pretty much every single comment I’ve read from fans that mention her are full of praise also. Many people are saying shes been the best thing about the show so far while Eliza is commonly being held up as the worst thing about it.
Eliza on the other hand appears to have absolutely no range whatsoever.
2sly4you:
I think it’s easier for people to love Sierra because she doesn’t have Faith baggage – Eliza very well may be a lesser actress, but most people watching her already know her as one very strong character. That’s a lot to overcome.
I loved dinchen ( sierra) from the first moment she appeared onscreen, It´s too soon to judge both actress performances, but Dinchen is far more charismatic to me, I think that´s what it´s about… Her performance as Taffy wasn´t very convincing , it felt like she was reading her lines and waiting for her queues all the time, she wasn´t in the character…but because of her great charisma it´s hard to say anything bad about her…
-jim
Contrary to what some of you may say, I for one really enjoy this show. It has an interesting premise and lots of creative ideas brought to the table.
People just sound like they are nitpicking and trying to love the show as they did with Buffy/Angel/Firefly. Newsflash! It does not involve outer space or vampires and I doubt it will evolve into it. (Unless that floats your boat Joss.)
Eliza is an exceptional actress and has shown a much greater range than portrayed playing Faith. (Who knew she could belt it out?) Anyways, she obviously proved herself to Joss since he obviously made her the title character. I mean, this is the man who brought us the perfect actors for practically every part imaginable. (i.e. David Boreanaz/Angel, James Marster/Spike, Alan Tudyk/Wash, Amy Acker/Fred, Sarah Michelle/Buffy, Gina Torres/Zoe…. seriously the list goes on and on.)
So to those of you that like the show, Great! And if you don’t then maybe you should try getting your heads out of the gutter and stop trying to make assumptions before the story is told in its entirety. We’re promised 13 episodes and I am looking forward to the rest of the season! Still hate that it’s on Fridays but thank goodness for the fox.com and hulu.com!
I didn’t watch Buffy or Angel, so I’m not nitpicking over anything regarding those two shows. Newsflash! Outer space and vampires have nothing to do with how poorly written the show is, or how terrible an actress Eliza is. I’m giving it a chance because Firefly was so good. Otherwise I wouldn’t have watched past the pilot. No one expects the shows to be the same, but we do expect the quality to be on par.
Why would anyone hire a “doll” to deliver their baby? I would assume a real midwife could be obtained much easier, and for a lot less money. Did they need a midwife who could also kick some ass? I thought that was about the silliest thing in the episode.
Also, if the Dollhouse is so easy to contact, why can’t Helo find it? He must be the worst FBI agent ever. He should stick to Galactica, lol.
Anonymous directly above my comment:
It’s like Ballard said, people want more than what they have. So someone would hire a doll to deliver a baby because they want to be absolutely sure that this midwife will deliver the baby safely without harming both mother and infant. Maybe it’s because they had trouble in the past, or because they’re uuber paranoid, or whatever the reason was, they did it.
And the Dollhouse isn’t easy to contact. You probably need to be super rich to even hear about it.
And come on; we’re on episode 4. How much plot can come out in 4 episodes? There’s been a surprising amount already, and a surprising amount of character development considering the main character has no personality.
Re slipperbisk’s comment, I do think the dolls are just high-class prostitutes, and I do think Joss wants us to feel conflicted about this (uncomfortable, yes, but also thrilled when they kick ass), and I do think Fox would be just as happy if we weren’t particularly conflicted about them being high-class prostitutes, but I think Joss is using that, and all the other typical Fox action show hallmarks that show up in Dollhouse, for ironic effect.
I’m pleased with the show so far. It’s very different from Buffy etc., but I would’ve been disappointed if it wasn’t. I applaud him for doing something different. And the writing’s just as sharp, even if it’s not as humorous as in the past.
The first three episodes were way cooler than this one. Probably because this one was a little bit darker. I love Dark shows but it’s kind of hard to swallow an episode of darkness after three episodes of light and plus the twists which were added in this episode were way too much.
as far as the birth-giving? Did anyone pay attention to the fact that it was in the middle of a snowy field? Maybe the parents wanted to give birth in the middle of a snow storm and couldn’t find anyone who would do it. They didn’t give the whole story- so stop making it seem like there may not have been a reason!
Don’t know if it was commented on yet, but the midwife thing was a tie in to the loss of her imprint. The baby was born despite some complications, she survived being “reborn” despite complications. I thought it was a nice way to introduce what was going to happen, though I agree I’m not sure why someone would hire an active that likely cost a ton of cash versus an actual midwife.
Still, better episode. Someone else needs to write for Topher. I’m getting tired of his shtick.
There´s a lot we can´t understand yet, as for the midwife thing, of course it wouldn´t be half as expensive as others dangerous jobs, why hire an active? If they didn´t say it was suposed for us to wonder about it, and that´s good…
I´m interested to know how they got their costumers, if it´s illegal they cannot advertise their services, how such a big place can be hidden? do they have some cover, like pretending to be a healthy spa or something?
I´m curious about those things but I won´t be casting stones just because they dont explain everything on the first episodes, I will wait to see how it turns out…
-jim
Good point, Mr austin, I hadn´t noticed that relation, thank!
everybody says like ” why would they hire a doll for midwife?” and say it has no purpose, and don´t notice those details that make the story richer…
Also Topher said it: ” being wiped is not unlike being born”
We don’t necessarily even know if the couple themselves hired Echo…
The man who requested an active to be a safe cracker said to Adelle that the piece of art being stolen was a gift for someone. The midwife engagement could have worked the same way.