The Remote Island

“Dollhouse”: Did Joss Whedon Lie To Us? [VIDEO]

Posted by Olivia Purnell

 

He promised a “Game Changing” episode. Did he deliver?

We’re torn.

On the one hand, FBI Agent Paul Ballard discovered that the Dollhouse is part of a Dollhood, a whole cadre of high-end brainwashing brothels.  Gasp. And the brothel thing is apparently just a branch of the tree. The D-hood has an end game and it’s bigger than all the brainwashed whores in all the land!  Double Gasp.

Agent Paul ditches the FBI in favor of following the Dollhouse path wherever it may go. Little does he know he’s got a manicotti making sleeper doll in his very own home!

Check her out:



Who says dolls only come in one size?  What a pleasant surprise to see a curvaceous assassin!  And Manicotti Mellie wasn’t the only one issuing beat downs in this weeks ep.  Since the premiere, we’ve been jonesing for more Eliza-Kicks-Ass Moments.  This week, the D.house heavens opened up we got this:


That’s quite a beating Paul’s taking at the hands of one little doll isn’t it? We really love it when Joss opens up a can of welterweight whoop ass

All that ass kicking is well and good. But we’ve got to point out the obvious: Alpha did not show. And, and, Alan Tudyk (“Wash,” from Firefly) was nowhere to be seen. We were told we’d be getting both!!!! That’s what we were hoping for.

We were also thinking, hoping, praying that Eliza’s character would wake up from her Doll bliss (somehow, prob with Alpha’s help) and become a Dollhouse double agent with fiery dialogue and ever-present combat skills. That would truly change the game.

Although the FBI, Dollhood, and sleeper doll developments were interesting and somewhat well played, we’ve gotta say, we’re not sure they changed the Dolliverse that much. There was very little new information and these plot developments don’t change how the brainwashed hooker stories will play out. The “engagements” will still be mildly disturbing, and Echo will still be brain sterilized afterward.  

We’re a little disappointed. You?


Previously:

REMINDER: Joss Whedon Swears Things Are About To Get Interesting On “Dollhouse” [SPOILER]

Eliza Dushku Hits Her Stride On Hulu

“Dollhouse” Second Time’s The Charm?

Top 3 Ways to Fix “Dollhouse”

"Dollhouse" Gets a Little Love on iTunes

 


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Posted Mar 23 2009, 03:00 PM
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Comments

Greg said:

You missed the most crucial development in the episode, which was Patton Oswalt's role. This was the first time that a client/john was relatable, and incredibly so. With the introduction of this we now have reason to care about the maybe-monsters like Adelle and the handlers pulling the strings. Mostly we've just had boilerplate rich guys, even the man with the kidnapped daughter was just a rich guy who could have hired a normal negotiator, but the Dollhouse provides to Oswalt's character a service that cannot be replaced. That in itself is a pretty big gamechanger.

March 23, 2009 5:11 PM

Bryan Christian said:

Eh. Oswalt was great, but I kinda doubt that they'll consistently get acting/writing as good as that character, and really, the rest of the show was basically the same, just a little darker. It would be nice to think that this show could become as interested in the clients as the Dolls week to week, but there's too much drama in the Dollhouse for that to work. Who do they work for? Where are the Dolls from? Etc. etc. etc. I think it'll be pretty hard to refocus the show away from all that and towards the clients, and in fact, it might look bad to try.

March 24, 2009 10:32 AM

Pele said:

"But we’ve got to point out the obvious: Alpha did not show. And, and, Alan Tudyk (“Wash,” from Firefly) was nowhere to be seen. We were told we’d be getting both!!!! That’s what we were hoping for."

Yeah, I don't know where that rumor started but it was a MEAN ONE. I'm ready for some Alpha and/or Alan Tudyk action right about now. I think Joss mentioned we don't meet Alpha until the end of the season, and Alan Tudyk only appears in episode 12 according to IMDB, not that IMDB is reliable) so.. yeah. Another 6 weeks until one of the most interesting characters shows up. Wee.  

I thought this episode was game changing only because, for the first time, the show stopped being an awkward, poorly acted mess. Is that too harsh? With a little tweaking and expository dialogue it might have made an awesome pilot. But a game changer halfway through the season? Nah. They've had five weeks to paint the Dollverse for us and I think it's safe to say that the creators interests and approaches to (exploitation of?) their themes have failed to woo me so far.

That being said, I would love if Patton Oswald stuck around. I thought he did a bang-up job and his interactions with Ballard brought some life and emotional depth to the show for the first time.

March 24, 2009 3:20 PM

Bryan Christian said:

@Pele, nice point about it making a good pilot, I could see that too. Of course, the question is: what if that means we just want this show to be another show entirely?

March 24, 2009 6:12 PM

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