Season 1 restrospective – your comments please
Okay, so, I want to know:
What did you respond to in season one of Dollhouse? Did any moments make you cry? What characters didn’t you like?
I’ll start:
I loved the episodes about the workings of the Dollhouse and liked the idea of the wider organisation, although that bit didn’t work until Epitaph One for me. (Thank you, Maurissa and Jed, for making the show awesome).
Two things made me cry – one was Topher in Epitaph One (pretty much all of it) (by the way, he has his fridge in season two). He is so broken. Two, Topher and Sierra in “Haunted”. At the end. With the cake. I got so upset I had to make a cup of tea.
Didn’t like Paul. Sorry. I get his intentions – I just don’t care. And leave the girl (Echo) alone dude, it’s a little bit creepy. And, uhm, I wasn’t too fond of Echo, because Caroline’s vision kinda bothered me.
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Let’s see
I didn’t like Paul. I honestly found him boring.and creepy, like you said,
I think my favourite character is Topher, who is smart and a bit arrogant and I like how he isn’t worried about morality issues, he’s just worried about his work. even if it does come back to bite him in the ass.he has a bit of mad sciencist in him and I’ve always enjoyed that.
Adelle is,I think,the most complex and interesting character on the show and I like not being able to figure her out, and how she actually does seem to care for the dolls and her employees.
I feel very curious about Claire Saunders, I wanna know more about her, we haven’t seen a lot of her but there’s a lot of potential there.
I really enjoyed learning about the character’s motivations, and the moment in E1 when Adelle comforts Topher was a big crowning moment of heartwarming for me.
I also found very intense the moment when Saunders find out she’s a doll and confronts Topher about it. especially when she says “why was it so important for me to hate you?” that one phrase,for me, opens many posibilities.
one of the most shocking moments was when we see Dominic get taken to the Attic- and the way Topher describes it.
I found ‘Briar Rose’ to be a very good episode, a complete game changer,though it was as scary as hell.
and while I found Alpha’s story interesting, I can’t say I was blown away by it.
I really liked E1 and I loved the story it told and the scary world it presented.
I also agree with all of this.
I loved Episode 9 when Sierra was Tophers friend. I also really liked episode 3.
I cried in episode 9 and in epitaph one and when Saunders was talking to Topher in Briar rose (dont know why though) and in episode 8 when Caroline was going to shoot Topher. I felt so sorry for him.
Also loved Briar Rose allthough I was worried about Topher after he got tazered.
The first 4 episodes are hard going as they seemed to have crap tossed into them that is disjointed and disconnected. It gets a whole lot better. Once they get Jane Espenson on board the show begins to move. Jane is probably one of the best producer/writers for women in episodic TV. The best episodes of Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13, all have her touch. From episode 5 on it gets crisp, and they finally kill off Reed Diamonds “Lou Dominic” character in episode 9.
As far as I am concerned he should not have been in the cast at all, and if for whatever reason, he should have been whacked in the first episode. His best work was getting it in the face by Vic Mackey in the Shield. David Caruso has more expression than Diamond.
Explaining the memory bleeds moving forward will be interesting. Hopefully they will let Amy Acker let the evil out of the closet. She does evil and remorseless so well.
Whoa. Comments are kind of thin, why not?
Agree, vis-a-vis Topher. But NOT Paul. Why? This is MUCH more the role I would have hoped for Tamoh following BSG, because Helo was just so gosh-darn noble and cuddly. Tamoh has the capacity to be the big, scary monster at the end of the alleyway, and he should have that opportunity. Ballard’s close to representing that ideal.
Perhaps what they should do is make the character a little less hard and dry-edged.
Which brings up my other favorite, Mellie. Because that’s where Ballard really got interesting — I couldn’t have had that little regard for an active.
Which brings up my biggest criticism — that everybody seems to treat them pretty badly. The idea that people would have so little common courtesy towards unimprinted actives just doesn’t sit right for me. Yeah, people are scum, but they’re anthropomorphic scum. Stick a couple eyes and a smiley on something and they see a person, even if they’re clinically brain dead or merely a lawyer.
My favorite bits are all about the backstory and the mythology behind it all, though. I could really care less about watching actives go on assignments that required them to play piano on a motorcycle on a high wire suspended over the Grand Canyon. Now that we know the underlying motive behind the creation of the place is cheap afterlife…
How many other power brokers are out there scheming to get a piece of that, hmm?
Wow I think you’re the first person to complain about Reed. The character of Dominic and Reed’s performance were one of the very few highlights of the first season.
Anyways, things I didn’t like for example was the rather boring filming style. Joss’ shows are known for having great cinematography so it was really dissapointing to see that painfully absent for the most part.
Also, Ballard and Echo. Both characters were very prominently featured without supplying much of a reason to care about them. Paul’s obsession with Echo is creepy and annoying , especially because we have yet been given a reason for why he is. The original pilot provided one and the show really needs to do the same.
What I DID like about the show was the exploration of the characters and as mentioned Dollhouse inner workings, mythology. Oh and Sierra ,Victor, Adelle and Saunders.
I wasn’t moved to tears by anything in the first season but Whiskey’s “Was I my best?” followed by her sitting alone while the gas is being released struck a particular chord.
While I enjoyed (the majority of) the entire first season of DH, there were definitely some aspects that stuck out for me.
As other people have said, Adele is amazing. The rollercoaster that she (and the viewers) are kept on in terms of her gray morals and sometimes questionable tactics is brilliant. I love how some moments you want to scream at her creepy evilness and other times you just want to give her a hug and a stiff drink. Boyd’s clear objections to the organization that he also works for so complacently is brilliant, too. It really makes you wonder what the hell is driving him. He’s so compassionate and yet so willing to do his job. Very good, that.
I also enjoy the interaction the characters have with each other much more than when they go off by themselves. (The only possible exception, IMO, being the Ms. Lonelyhearts side story even though she was with Victor during that time). Basically, the more ensemble-y they can be in the future, the better. And that’s not saying it can’t still focus on Echo. Just less Echo going off on her own engagements, please, and more Echo interacting with Topher/Whiskey/Adele/Sierra/Boyd/etc. All the actors play off each other so well that the show really shines when it can have everyone together.
It wasn’t just Echo on her own that got tedious, though. Paul was…grating. In retrospect, I feel he’s so much more interesting now that I know how he acts when he finds Caroline and that he sets Mellie free. That fact that he’s so driven to learn about the DH that he is actually willing to embed himself into the organization is a brilliant turn. I expect to start liking his character more now that he’s actually there. Still, the endless broodiness might get old.
Moments I love include ALL of the heartbreak contained in E1. Other than that, the hint of bitterness you begin to see in Topher in Omega is great. Adelle confronting Dominic in her house was intense. You could actually feel the tension between those two. Mellie’s ‘I have a message from inside the DH’ moment still chills me, as does the whole ‘Three flowers in a vase’ scene.
Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I liked the series now that I know where it’s going. (Funny how that works). Now that I’m rewatching old eps like Needs, I’m beginning to see the groundwork that had already been set and I’m really appreciating it more now. If it keeps building and picking up momentum the way it has been, that’ll be excellent.
This was probably too ambivalent of a review to be constructive, but at least I tried.
What I Didn’t like:
Paul Ballard-
His Obsession with Echo is Borderline Creepy.
Too Many Standalones-
The First Season, IMO, didn’t really pick up until the Storyline as a whole Started.
What I Liked:
Echo, Sierra, And Victor-
The “Bison” Thing these Three have Going really intrigues Me. I Hope We’ll See More of what we Saw in “Stage Fright”.
November-
Five Words. “Three Flowers in A Vase”
Whiskey-
I Hope that The Eps They Got Amy Ackner In, Mostly Focus on Whiskey and her discovery.
What I Want to See in S2:
Expand November’s “Flowers”. I really wanna see More into the Sleeper Active. Even if that Means Madeline Costley Coming Back
Give us more Info on Victor Before the Dollhouse. We Still don’t why why he’s there in the first place.
Also, Give us More Info on Priya(Sierra). What Was She like Pre-Dollhouse?
Focus More on The Dollhouse’s Purpose, rather than the Individual Assignments. Sure, I DO want to see A Few Standalones, but i Want S2 to focus on the Main Plot
I thought the whole series was intriguing and exciting, but more importantly, it raised a lot of moral questions in my head that I found difficult to answer.
I found it very interesting to see the similar themes to Buffy and Angel – the question of what is a soul is addressed in every episode – the dolls themselves have given up their bodies voluntarily, but even though the brain is wiped, the soul remains, albeit a splintered version of a soul.
The best episode was the one where the dolls were released to put to bed their own personal deamons to bed – it was very moving and shows off Wheadon’s style in a crisp and polished way.
I think that as this was the first season, it had to have more one-off episodes to introduce us to the quite frankly weird concept of the Dollhouse, but there’s enough evidence in all the episodes that there is a bigger-picture in mind for all the characters.
I’ll be interested to see how the second series develops, seeing as we’ve already had a glimpse at 2019! So I guess that will be Season 10!!!
what i liked –
adelle, one of the best on the show – i like how she is flawed and caring at the same time but the job comes first.
plus would really like to know her backstory of how she ended up there.
topher – has the best comedy lines especially his scenes with dewitt(were they are drugged).
some great episodes starting from ep 6(man on the street)although having re-watched the series the first couple of eps aren’t as bad as first thought, some good comedy and does lay some ground work but over all it lacks direction.
what i disliked –
caroline – although echo is cool the whole im on a mission thing, i dont care.
comes across to preachy.
ballard – Paul’s obsession with Echo is creepy, although i think it will make his character interesting in season 2, in season 1 its just creepy with no reason.
i think my biggest problem is with the characters that are preachy – the dollhouse is evil, it human trafficing – yes we get it!!!! dont need to remind us every time you talk.
Okay…
My favourite character was, without a doubt, Topher. He was, in my opinion, the guy who made it a Whedon show. The Xander or the Kaylee. Every time he was on screen, it was just like ‘yeah, you can see Joss all over the guy’. Can’t wait to find out more about his story.
Least favourite character…
I think, with a show like this, it’s really hard to say. Obviously, one of the Dolls would be my least favourite, because they’re boring and lifeless, but when they’re active, they all played really important roles in the story.
I loved the episodes based within the Dollhouse, rather than the weaker ‘monster of the week’ type episodes at the start of the series. Those early episodes, I appreciate that they needed to set out a base of ‘okay, this is what the Dollhouse does’, but it was very much like ‘and this week on ‘Look How Versatile Eliza Dushku Is…’.
I’ll stop there.
Really didnt like Echo at all and the ‘monster of the week’ type of episodes previously mentioned.
Loved Topher, Sierra, Boyd & Victor.
I agree about Topher in Epitaph One, he was just so broken. Also the birthday scenes with Sierra were definitely wonderful.
I think Topher’s my favorite character, at the very least he’s tied with Adelle and Claire/Whiskey.
I think that the characters who are more involved in the workings of the Dollhouse are far more interesting that the Dolls. As interesting as Echo regaining her memories are (not very), I think that the lives and moral dilemmas that Adelle, Claire, Topher and Boyd are far more interesting.
They also all hold awesome potential for back story; Adelle as Ms. Lonelyhearts, Claire as Whiskey and not knowing who she is, and Topher as the person who brings the world crashing to an end.
Out of the season, my least favorite moments were the ones with Caroline, her personality is not endearing at all and it makes it harder to feel sympathetic to Echo because of it.
I agree with Devine about the whole Caroline being lame thing. I think Caroline/Echo are the characters I least care about.
I love Saunders and Topher. I’m also big on the Boyd. And I hope we get a substantial amount of Miracle Laurie in some capacity this season.
Generally I am really looking forward to where this show can go, especially after the awesome that was Briar Rose, Omega and Epitaph One. I think Caroline’s lameness can be made less severe, and I think we saw flashes of that in E1.
Another thing I didn’t like about the first season was the opening credits.
It presents the show as all about Echo which is not where many find enjoyment of the show is anywhere near rooted by.
I love it when the credits are revamped a little in shows. It was a tradition on Buffy and Angel so I hope we see Dollhouse do the same.
Ha. I emailed somebody this very morning asking if we could get new opening credits. I hope we do.
Less Echo and more of the rest of the cast. The show has a great premise and I would rather see the main focus of the show be on the operations of the Dollhouse and Paul’s attempt to expose it and less on echo.
I actually have to agree completely with the moments you chose. I can’t even count anymore how many times I watched Haunted – but I only skipped through and watched the Topher/Sierra scenes after the first viewing! And yeah, Epitaph One Topher is so, so sad! I’m also a huge fan of Victor, though. I have to say he’s definitely my favorite doll. I love all the different accents he does.
Plus the lost puppy look he perpetually has when he’s just Victor.
I agree with a lot of the other comments posted, it definitely got a lot lot better as the season progressed, I’m very glad I stuck with it. Only one other comment really – I want to see more Sierra!!! She’s very striking looking and the few times she’s been given some decent material she’s showed she can really act. More please!
What I liked:
Topher. Deliciously arogant, smart & funny. But also a fragile kid.
Fran Kranz, who consistently turned in excellent performances.
Olivia Williams, an absolutely wonderfull actress who will always be miss Cross to me. Like Joss I regularly wonder how they tricked her into this
. She also had some of the best lines of the season.
Tamoh, who blew me away with his presence. I’ve never seen BSG and somehow before the show I hated the idea of his character, but he won me over very, very quickly. Not even the creepy direction they’re taking him in can change that.
Alan Tudyk as Alpha. Stellar performance, wonderfull character.
Omega. Handsdown the best episode of the season, despite the ridiculously rushed ending.
The original pilot. Especially the first act. It showed convincingly what the series couldn’t in the rest of the season: why people would use the Dollhouse.
The second half of Ghost. One of the few stories that got to me.
And finally Haunted, a fun one off.
What I didn’t like:
The repetive plots all involving the same malfunction of the Echo doll.
The focus on Echo, one of the least interesting characters in the series.
Epitaph One. I love Felicia and I liked the evil kid plot, but the vision of the future and most of the flashforwards felt terribly bland.
I gotta agree with all the Victor love. How heart breaking was it when he said “I did something bad” and when Echo asked what, he simply whispered “they won’t tell me”. It is especially sad because we know that Victor in his blank form is drawn to Sierra. I don’t know who that actor is, but I became so fond of him, I actually cried when alpha cut his face up.
As far as alpha, I actually thought that episode was great. I didn’t see it coming. I could just be biased because I’m such a fan of Alan Tudyk. Honestly, I’m still a little butt hurt that Joss killed off Wash in firefly and that was years ago. But I digress.
All in all, I liked the show. It had this whole existential vibe. It makes a person ponder exactly what makes us who we are. I also wrestled with the hypothetical question of whether or not I’d employ a doll if I had the money. How cool would it be to be able to watch zombie movies and go shoe shopping with the same person? Its pathetic, but true.
E13 Episode 13…
Wow, what a intense turn of events… It jumps into the future to 2019 and shows a post apocalyptic future after the Tech goes public…
wow
Losing Jane, and Tim (and Amy), are body blows. Keeping the network sweet might force more creative compromises than is good for Joss, and the rest of us. I am still not sure that this show will blossom as the rest have. The show needs a Mal/Jayne/Spike/Anya/Xander or any number of great comedians to keep us glued. Topher and Victor have potential. Alpha is great, but Joss never had problems drawing out wonderful vilains, and casting them right. But there is a moral ambiguity in this show that might not work in the end. Too easily do the good guys compromise away their souls. Too often. There was a great story that explained Angel and co taking over the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart, and was the best contribution Connor made to the series. But too many of the good guys are getting sucked, far too easily, into this zombie playground for the rich and powerful. The final episode shows promise that the show could be rebooted into something very different. If anyone can pull this off, then it’s Joss Whedon. I hope Stephen can fill in for Tim and Jane, to some extent. But the network just might be trying to do to Joss what W&H wanted to do to the vampire with a soul. And I don’t mean hand him the keys to the LA branch of Fox.
It definitely got better as the season progressed, but i still like the early episodes a lot. Topher was annoying at first, but became one of my favorite characters and was freakin amazing in E1. Victor and Sierra are my favorite dolls; everything between them was fascinating, and they’re both great in every part they play. The buildup to Alpha and Alan Tudyk’s performance as him were really, really cool to me, i wish he would’ve had ninja swords at some point, but oh well. Just bring him back with some ninja swords in season two please!!!!!!!!!
I think ya’ll are being a bit harsh on Echo… It was rough getting through the first four episodes, and I do admit that I disliked all the focus put on her, but I think she’s becoming a very interesting character. I can’t wait to see the interaction between her and Ballard.
I looove the whole interaction between Victor and Sierra. I think their relationship is so interesting! Not to mention the whole Topher and Saunders thing. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
What I disliked:
The early “monster of the week” style of the show, which from what i gather from the dvd extras was pretty much FOX’s fault (though kudos for them giving the show another season).
What I liked:
The rest of it, yes even Ballard