Spoilers for Dollhouse

[Spaced Out Looney]

Spoilers for Dollhouse.

[Spaced Out Looney]

This doesn't reveal any specific plot development, rather it gives an overview and general impressions and so forth. But I posted it here just to be safe. Read as you will.






Echo-Dollhouse Episode One Preview.










Echo - Dollhouse Episode One Preview
Written by Kevin Beaumont
Monday, 02 June 2008

Well, I don't know if it's finished yet or not - stuff might get tweaked - but I had a sneak peak of the Dollhouse opener. It's titled "Echo" and is written and directed by some guy claiming to be called Joss Whedon. This is my own little review, with some new pictures.



First off - this is going to be the most bias review ever, since it's on a fan site for something which hasn't even made it to air yet, right? Well, maybe. I want to go into this one saying from the start, I don't like everything Joss Whedon has done. I don't think he's a God. I didn't think the original pilot of Firefly was a very good episode to hook people in with. And yes, I'm not even a FOX exec of yester year. Stop throwing things at me. Seriously. I'm not being mean (well, much) - I'm trying to be honest. I've always said, if I don't like Dollhouse, I'll hand this fan site over to somebody who does. So, trust me, nobody was more nervous about looking at this thing than me.

So, let's get to business. Is Dollhouse any good? Yes. As a stand alone show, it's a new and thoughtful musing on what being human means. It also features Eliza and Dichen, who are both pretty, pretty people (and I'm clearly very vain). If you don't know the premise of Dollhouse, I'll give you a short overview: 'Dolls'. 'In a house'. 'Puppetmasters send them on missions'. 'They're hired'. It's a bit more complex, but I don't want to spoil anything.

If you're expecting it be just like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or Angel, or Firefly - forget about it. I don't think every Buffy/Angel/Firefly fan will love this, the same way not all Buffy fans liked Firefly. Dollhouse is different to anything Joss Whedon has done before (much like Firefly was different to Buffy - you get the picture). That isn't to say elements of his previous shows aren't present - I gasped towards the end of the episode a few times, for example - but the premise on display here is different, and so is the execution. There's trademarked Whedon wit sprinked along proceedings - but less so than your average episode of Buffy. There's some serious musings going on, although it's reserved for the back half of the episode.

Whilst the core message of Buffy was clearly female (and - yes, to some extent male) empowerment, the message here is somewhat more murky. Yes, the concept makes me squick still slightly. I saw consulting producer Tim Minear ask online recently if people would be less squicked if they knew the dolls can be both male and female, and my answer is this: nope, still a bit squicked. It's not about being male or female - it's about the idea of human trafficking. The show clearly has this undercurrent on purpose, and to it's defense it doesn't appear to be trying to condone what is happening. Also, if you think you're going to feel punched in the face all episode with squick (yes, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, I'm looking at you), you're wrong - being a Doll can actually be a good thing, too. And the show has a river of fun flowing through it, too.

Almost every character (outside of the Dolls) on display had moments which made me think 'Wow, they're dicks', closely followed by '...But I kind of love them'. An interesting example is Topher, who's phrases have prompted me to sit and ponder how often I say certain things online and how I behave, crossed with a streak of my best friend Kirsty's justifications for her actions. Or in other words - he's funny, interesting, selfish and entirely too human. What he's doing, when you think about it - and the episode forces you to do just that - is worrying. Possibly even horrifying - but he sees the world from his point of view, and can even justify that. There's a price for what he's doing, and I can't help think there's a bit of arc setting up for his character in this episode. I wanted to hate his character, as I hate myself and he's the closest thing I've seen to me on TV - but I couldn't. Yep. It's a Whedon show.

Particular point of reference: FBI Agent Paul is a great character (and I can't think of better casting than Tahmoh Penikett). It's also worth keeping an eye on Dollhouse boss Adelle, and 'handler' Boyd, both of whom leap off the page to particular effect.

So, what doesn't work? I'm not sure I understand how it works on a weekly basis particularly well. Episode two is going to be important here. If people are tuning in to not engage their brains at all, I'm not convinced they will follow what's happening, as the opening 10 minutes are all over the place. The first 10 minutes, in fact, pull you through so much material and situations it's difficult to identify exactly who (or what) we're supposed to be watching for - which, in a way, is probably the point. It is well written, though. And that is, ultimately, about as flawed as it gets, I think. It's clear right from the beginning you're not going to be watching Every Other Show on your telebox. Goodbye, Gil Grissom - welcome to the Dollverse.

What follows is an introduction to The Dollhouse locations, followed by a look at how the Dollhouse works on a day to day basis, and the day to day staff running it, along with meeting a few of the Dolls in the house. One point here - we barely see the other regular Dolls in this episode. It's a shame, but it just leaves more characters for later episodes. One thing which hasn't been covered elsewhere yet - there are Dolls in this here house - or more specifically, lots of them. If you don't find a character to love straight away, don't worry about it.

And as for the Dollhouse - it looks beautiful. I want set designer Stuart Blatt to come and redesign my flat. And my work. And... You get the picture. And if you don't, here's an actual picture:


When I first heard of Dollhouse, I pictured it being some kind of Matrixesque underground facility. Or ultimate blandness. Not so - I'd love to live in this place. It's also very big. I don't know how much time the producers plan to spend inside the Dollhouse in each episode, but they could quite easily spend an entire episode not leaving the thing. In fact, they could shoot it all as a one shot. The One Where Adelle Breaks A Nail And Has Revenge.

So, spoilers! What are the reveals we hadn't known about, who are the characters we hadn't heard about who inhabit the world, and what are the core locations? What clear mythology elements are set up? I'm not saying. That's the show's job. What I will say is there's more going on that we all knew, and there's other people in this show we're all gonna be meeting.

A fandom aside: I predict Dollhouse will be fanfic central. The premise is so wide yet there's clearly defined parameters going on at the same time (read: it's a rich world to draw from), this is going to generate a huge amount of fic. And probably specs. Seriously. If you want a show where your characters can do anything, this is it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited am I? 8. It's a solid opener. There's an awful lot of set up to get through in the episode, so I'm keen to see how it works week to week. I get the feeling there's huge potential for fun in this series which people aren't yet aware of -- and heartbreak people aren't expecting. "Echo" really sets up a slow brewing storm, and how these characters react is the thing which interests me. They can be brilliant, or they may be terrible. Or both. When the shit starts to hit the fan in Dollhouse, the situation will be... Fluid.

Is it January yet?

PS: I'm not handing the website to anybody.

[Michelle]

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse Is Even Creepier Than You Thought

Some script pages from Dollhouse, Joss Whedon's new show about mind-wiped agents who can be programmed to become anyone, have turned up online. They show an even creepier side of Eliza Dushku's brainwashed character Echo than you might have been expecting. And they simultaneously make me more excited for Dollhouse and more dubious that a mainstream audience will appreciate it. Do we have to say spoilers ahead?

The script pages are "casting sides," which means they're script pages sent out to casting agencies to be used in auditions. But they appear to be actual pages from Joss' script for the new Dollhouse pilot. It replaces the original pilot, which will become the show's second episode instead. It does a good job of introducing the show's concept, which is that Echo has had her personality erased, and now she can be imprinted with any personality, including any skills, her clients require.

We see Echo embody two people in the new pilot. At the start of the episode, she's the dream date of a guy named Dave, who's kind of a nerdy hipster with rich friends. It's his birthday weekend, and she spends the whole weekend with him. (There are supposed to be "no strings attached," but that rule gets thrown out along with the "no ropes" rule.) Echo lets Dave beat her in a motorcycle race to a party where a bunch of his friends are, and then everybody watches Dave and Echo flirt and dance. Dave gives her a classy little gold heart pendant, and she's really touched. She tells him he's a great guy, and he says he almost believes it, coming from her. Then Dave realizes that Echo's time is almost up, but she says the night is still young. And then her face gets a blank expression and she walks out of the room, like a robot. Dave watches her go, and then a friend asks where she went. He explains that it was time for her carriage to turn into a pumpkin, or words to that effect.

But that's not the creepy part — the rest of the episode supplies that. After she's finished being Dave's ideal dancing kinky-sex-loving woman, Echo gets reprogrammed to be an expert on saving kidnapped little girls from kidnappers. She's Ellie Penn, who has a million degrees in hostage negotiation and years of experience handling difficult situations. She rattles off a huge list of (fake) qualifications to rescue little girls — but we quickly realize that Ellie, Echo's fake personality, has a more personal reason for knowing all about child-molesters who kidnap little kids. Even though she keeps control over the situation at all times, we see her struggling with her (fake) childhood abuse trauma and at one point a single tear rolls down her cheek. It's actually quite disconcerting to see Echo go from sex kitten to survivor of child sexual abuse — and I think that's the effect Joss Whedon is going for. But will anybody go for it?

Echo's child-kidnapping-expert persona is needed because a wealthy Latino businesssman, Gabriel Cristejo, has had his daughter Davina kidnapped by an evil guy named Mr. Sunshine. Cristejo is a shady character, because he has a menacing bodyguard named Chui, but also because we're told he can't go to the police about the kidnapping because of his business interests. But we also know he's a caring father, because we see him admonishing his daughter not to watch some crappy reality show in an early scene. She shouldn't melt her brains with that garbage (does Joss have an axe to grind?) but should be a good kid and be rewarded — with knowledge! It's actually a very cute scene.

So the evil Mr. Sunshine kidnaps Davina and demands $5 million. At first Gabriel Cristejo is unwilling to accept Echo's help — I'm guessing he doesn't know she's just a mindwiped pretender — but she wows him with her expertise. And then she takes charge of the negotiations, offering Mr. Sunshine $8 million and forcing him to call her Ms. Penn. She short-circuits his macho crap and tricks some information out of him. At one point, Mr. Sunshine lets Gabriel talk to his daughter, but Echo cuts off the conversation before Davina can try to tell Gabriel anything and endanger herself. Finally, they make the exchange, the money for the girl, and it predictably goes wrong. Some script pages are missing, but it sounds as though Gabriel and Mr. Sunshine both get shot.

At last, Echo shows up at the cabin where the kidnappers are hiding, along with an old man in a Deerskin mask. She knows all about them, including the fact that they're hiding Davina in the refrigerator (with the power off and the shelves removed.) She knows all about the old man, too, because he's the one who kidnapped her and abused her when she was a child. (And yes, this is just another part of her imprinted fake personality.) She confronts him:

ECHO: I know everything. All the girls he kept, till he was through with them, till he got bored or just broke them down... I even know about the one he dumped in the river... before he was sure she was dead.

The old man looks stricken.

ECHO: It's over. You can't hurt me any more.

He pistol whips her, but she turns back, not even feeling the cut on her cheek.

ECHO: (for his ears only). You can't fight a ghost.

This confrontation convinces the other thugs that the old man will turn on them and kill them, so he can have Davina to himself and abuse her the way he did those other girls. They shoot the old man, allowing Echo to rescue Davina. Later, Echo talks to Davina about overcoming the trauma of her horrible experience. Echo says some parts of it, you just have to do on your own, and other parts, you can't do on your own. Davina asks Echo how she copes, and she says she takes it one day at a time, and the hardest part is avoiding alcohol. Because if you can't control your demons yourself, what good are you?

And then we cut from Echo's speech about not drinking to a shot of Echo in a ballgown, drinking champagne at some fancy event, already a totally different person.

The episode also introduces us to Tahmoh Penikett's FBI agent, Paul Ballard, who's asked about his progress in the Dollhouse investigation. The scene is intercut with a scene of Ballard kickboxing some random guy, almost losing but then rallying at the last minute. We learn that Ballard didn't volunteer to investigate the Dollhouse but was assigned to it instead, and he can't be removed from it because powerful people believe the Dollhouse is real and poses a threat. So far, all he's come up with is incomprehensible scientific reports and hearsay. He's assaulted a senator and caused a major diplomatic incident, but his bosses can't touch him because of those aforementioned powerful people.

So all in all, after reading those script pages, I'm more convinced than ever that Dollhouse will be an addictive viewing experience — and that it may just be a little too weird for most viewers. Although I might have said the same about Lost, so you never know.

[Michelle]

Sneak peak at Amy Acker's scarred visage.

[Karen]

So excited for Dollhouse.

Other than Echo's story, which will be interesting to see unfold, of course. It will be very interesting to see how Joss handles the characters who are her handlers and what drives them and how they are affected by what they are doing in programming the dolls.

So excited!

[Anne, Old S'cubie Cat]

Since the show hasn't even started yet, I'm putting this in the spoiled section just to be on the safe side:

Los Angeles Times article, mostly about the sets with some plot info and pretty pictures as well. Also the usual pithy quotage from The Joss.

[Anne, Old S'cubie Cat]

Interesting Q&A with JW, in here because there is discussion of, and are spoilers for, Dollhouse.

[Anne, Old S'cubie Cat]

Review of Dollhouse on Salon.com

[Anne, Old S'cubie Cat]

Another county newspaper heard from: LA Times reviews Dollhouse.

The LA Times has always loved Joss Whedon and his works, but this time, not so much.

"If you sense a pause at this moment, it's me taking a break to wring my hands and brush away a tear. But no amount of fondness or admiration for Whedon and his work can disguise the fact that "Dollhouse," which premieres tonight, is beyond disappointing. Overcrowded with plotlines, high-tech gimmicks and ambition yet empty of emotional connection and purpose, "Dollhouse" tries so hard to be so many things it winds up being nothing much at all."

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[Sara]

Alan Tudyk will be playing Alpha. Let the rejoicing commence.

[Sue]

Feb 24, 2009 9:19:02 GMT -5 Sara said:

Alan Tudyk will be playing Alpha. Let the rejoicing commence.

Should have guessed when we saw those naked legs!

[6 years from now (hopefully, at least) will Joss kill him off again?]

[Lola m]

Feb 24, 2009 9:19:02 GMT -5 Sara said:

Alan Tudyk will be playing Alpha. Let the rejoicing commence.

**squeaks happily**

[Michelle]

Feb 24, 2009 21:55:23 GMT -5 Lola m said:

Feb 24, 2009 9:19:02 GMT -5 Sara said:

Alan Tudyk will be playing Alpha. Let the rejoicing commence.

**squeaks happily**

On-set photo of Tudyk as Alpha. Cool.

[Sue]

SPOILER: Click to show

Title of final ep: "Epitaph Two" Episode Synopsis: Echo and crew try to return order to the world and prevent humanity's extinction in the series finale, which is set in 2020 and continues the story of "Epitaph 1" (the "lost" episode from the Season 1 DVD set), when Rossum lost control of the imprinting technology, leading to global chaos.

Timeline:

final ep takes place after Epitaph One, in case you want to watch it before the final ep. Probably not necessary to follow the episode, just saying.

I can't tell you how incredibly pleased I am by this timeline -- that Epitaph One is incorporated into the storyline and we learn what comes after it.