![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
exsequarJossssssss. ♥
Oooh. I really liked the Dollhouse finale a lot. I'm not, like, blown out of this universe or anything (in that respect I think Briar Rose was more WHOA-inducing) but I've seen it twice now and I really like what they did.
Lemme start by saying - Topher is my favorite. And it's not only because he's funny and entertaining - my Joss favorites are Faith, old-school broody Angel, and SimonandRiver, so not so much with the comedic-relief characters - but I'm actually getting really emotionally invested in him. He's very much a mystery, but there's so many moments where we see that he's not just a kid with toys, though that's his surface. There were a couple moments this episode that just made me go ooooooh. When Whiskey/Claire/!!!! asked him why he programmed her to hate him, his face.... in fact, his face in that whole conversation. He's so deeply discomfited and thrown, and yet I think at the same time it's sort of a self-flagellation thing. She's the imprint that sticks around, the one that's always there... and he made her hate him. That speaks volumes and volumes about his sense of guilt and self-recrimination. It's not expressed often, and in order to stay sane I imagine he has to sublimate it as much as possible, so instead of living it he made Whiskey live it. I bet he feels her eyes on him every day, judging him, and thinks in a sort of subconscious way that it's necessary, that it's good that someone's not just letting him get away with it. Maybe I'm totally off base here, but it's so ridiculously intriguing and I WANT TO GIVE HIM A BIG HUG.
And then, oh then, possibly my favorite moment of the episode, the first one that got me in the gut instead of just the head - when Echo turns back and touches Topher's heart. His FACE. He looks like the wind has been completely knocked out of him, thrown and touched and staggered, literally breathless, and I just want to hug him, AGAIN. This may be a theme in my Topher emotions, but geez. That moment brought tears to my eyes the second time around. And I wonder... I wonder why she did it, you know? She seems to be absolving him, for some reason. And from her last "Caroline" I think it's pretty clear Echo still is anything but a blank slate. But what is her connection to Topher? Why does she forgive him, or what does she see in his heart? I NEED ANSWERS PLEASE FOX PLEASE GIVE US MOOOORE. D:
Just one more Topher paragraph I promise - I may not love him only because he's funny, but he's SO FUNNY OMG. I love him and his talky hands and his effortless arrogance (favorite: "I'm smarter than everyone in this room!....Not as scary though." FAAAACE) and his snarking and quips and general all around hilarity. Ooh another favorite bit: "Why is there a tall, morally judgmental man in my imprint room, besides him?" I LOVE HIM. I love him a lot a lot. I think Fran Kranz was an absolute gem of a find. <33333
Okay! Other things! ALPHA! ALAN! He was so deliciously nutso and all over the place, Alan just played it incredibly. Very much shades of Jubal Early (Firefly), which was so awesome. I loved the "I'm not fooling. He's not kidding! WE'RE not bluffing! Well I'm bluffing... argh, BUT THE REST OF US! We mean business." Ahahahaha OH ALAN. I also loved when he went on a random rant about blood rituals, and when he said "Oh my gods" (perhaps a Battlestar shoutout?). He was just so... mmmm, delicious! <3 Also, him playing a doll is creepy and fabulous. I loved the scene when he kissed Echo and she didn't recognize it as anything important, just carried on her sentence. That was fantastic. And his wide earnest eyes, telling her she's the best. Ugh, creepy adorableness! And how awesome was the scene where WASH AND FRED/Bobby and Crystal/Alpha and Whiskey were being hot and psychotic together? VERY AWESOME. I couldn't get over it being Wash and Fred, heeeee. Joss sure knows how to pick em! <333 In conclusion, A++++++++ casting choice on Alan, obviously. I'm glad they left him loose for POSSIBLE FUTURE EXPLOITATION HINT HINT FOX HINT HINT.
Ballard was less annoying this episode, a little less with the preachy self-righteousness and more with the actual police work to get this solved. He had absolutely the right instincts about Alpha, and I LOVE how he and Boyd immediately became the buddycop team. I mean, here they are walking around with cuts and bruises that they gave EACH OTHER and working together to solve the mystery. SO awesome. And Boyd is just made of win and fabulous and I wish they would use him in more active roles again (ha ha pun not intended). But anyway back to Paul. I think the most actually surprising moment of the episode was when Ballard freed November/Madeleine instead of Echo. I was SO SO pleased by that, because it was an absolutely character redeeming moment. I checked out on Ballard when he passed over November in the Dollhouse, but now it seems that he did that because he knew she was a sleeper agent, not ONLY because he felt she betrayed him. Though I do think that emotional response still played a role. But I'm glad he got over it and gave her her life back when he could. That was just lovely.
I thought it was really wonderful how the implicit message of the show became explicit from the mouth of Echo. I think it worked really really well and was written well enough that it didn't come off as preachy or whatever. I loved "We're not anybody because we're everybody." I loved how clearly she seemed to see everything all of a sudden. I loved all the little things like "New, superior people, with a little German thrown in. What could possibly go wrong?" and "I have 38 people in my head and not one of them believes that you can sign a contract to be a slave." and "To ascend to anything, at minimum, you don't CUT UP WOMEN." Her dialogue (and her conversation with Caroline) was just really interesting, and if anybody had missed all the enormous clanging alarm bells about IDENTITY IDENTITY and WE ARE ONLY OURSELVES and OUR SOCIETY USES WOMEN TOO MUCH D: throughout the season, they finally got told just exactly what Jossman is getting at here. I don't know, I just thought it... worked.
It was pretty hilarious to see Alan aiming a gun at a piece of circuit board though. XD
I continue to enjoy Adelle in a sort of distant way. Her facial expressions are fabulous ("*faintly disdainful* Alpha's a genius") and I like that she seems to show true regret for things like the death of the girl who was Caroline, Wendy, yet she calls the Dollhouse "my house" and is in general just so possessive of the whole idea. She is intriguing and extremely enjoyable to watch.
As for Whiskey - awesome. I mean, of course everyone picked up on it last week, but I was surprised and really enjoyed how much they delved into her this week. It was incredible how much younger Amy Acker looked as a doll - her bizarrely curled hair as Dr. Saunders has totally been throwing me, and of course the scars. But she's in such a strange position right now - she's an imprint who knows she's an imprint (although - what do the new imprints think's going on when they're watching someone else get imprinted? Like Sierra and November this episode? hrm) and yet seems to want to claim that imprinted identity as her own. Even though that identity is scarred and traumatized and dark! How very very intriguing. And then she had that moment where she gave Victor the lollipop, and even smiled a little bit - is knowing that she's a doll bizarrely going to help her find some peace? What a cool development.
One complaint: NEEDS MOAR SIERRA AND VICTOR. Those two are absolute gems in terms of actor finds, and this episode was seriously lacking. Enver did an incredible job with just, like, four lines ("How can I be my best, Dr. Saunders, please?" His gently pleading voice! sdlfjklsd) and I really missed him overall. As for Sierra (and November!) they had that amazing scene where she gets imprinted and gets all up in Ballard's business and it was AWESOME, but then no more! I know the rest of that storyline hit the cutting room floor and it's a shame. Kickass Sierra and November together? Fuck yeah! I loved "When you're done molesting the furniture, can we go?" "You're still in your pajamas." Heehee, kickass girls <333 But Dichen just LIVES whatever character she is at the moment, and she's riveting. I'm sad the story didn't leave more room for her.
In short, MADE OF WIN AND AWESOME. So much to think about and chew over. I cannot express how much I want this to be renewed! I want more stories!!! The characters have been left in SUCH interesting places, and I WANT MORE DAMMIT. If you fuck ths up Fox, you will be FOREVER KNOWN as the network that murders fledgling Joss Whedon shows. DO YOU WANT THAT REP?!? It's bad enough with Firefly alone! Ugh. I just hope they get their heads out of their asses FOR ONCE.
IIIII love Dollhouse the end. ♥
Oooh. I really liked the Dollhouse finale a lot. I'm not, like, blown out of this universe or anything (in that respect I think Briar Rose was more WHOA-inducing) but I've seen it twice now and I really like what they did.
Lemme start by saying - Topher is my favorite. And it's not only because he's funny and entertaining - my Joss favorites are Faith, old-school broody Angel, and SimonandRiver, so not so much with the comedic-relief characters - but I'm actually getting really emotionally invested in him. He's very much a mystery, but there's so many moments where we see that he's not just a kid with toys, though that's his surface. There were a couple moments this episode that just made me go ooooooh. When Whiskey/Claire/!!!! asked him why he programmed her to hate him, his face.... in fact, his face in that whole conversation. He's so deeply discomfited and thrown, and yet I think at the same time it's sort of a self-flagellation thing. She's the imprint that sticks around, the one that's always there... and he made her hate him. That speaks volumes and volumes about his sense of guilt and self-recrimination. It's not expressed often, and in order to stay sane I imagine he has to sublimate it as much as possible, so instead of living it he made Whiskey live it. I bet he feels her eyes on him every day, judging him, and thinks in a sort of subconscious way that it's necessary, that it's good that someone's not just letting him get away with it. Maybe I'm totally off base here, but it's so ridiculously intriguing and I WANT TO GIVE HIM A BIG HUG.
And then, oh then, possibly my favorite moment of the episode, the first one that got me in the gut instead of just the head - when Echo turns back and touches Topher's heart. His FACE. He looks like the wind has been completely knocked out of him, thrown and touched and staggered, literally breathless, and I just want to hug him, AGAIN. This may be a theme in my Topher emotions, but geez. That moment brought tears to my eyes the second time around. And I wonder... I wonder why she did it, you know? She seems to be absolving him, for some reason. And from her last "Caroline" I think it's pretty clear Echo still is anything but a blank slate. But what is her connection to Topher? Why does she forgive him, or what does she see in his heart? I NEED ANSWERS PLEASE FOX PLEASE GIVE US MOOOORE. D:
Just one more Topher paragraph I promise - I may not love him only because he's funny, but he's SO FUNNY OMG. I love him and his talky hands and his effortless arrogance (favorite: "I'm smarter than everyone in this room!....Not as scary though." FAAAACE) and his snarking and quips and general all around hilarity. Ooh another favorite bit: "Why is there a tall, morally judgmental man in my imprint room, besides him?" I LOVE HIM. I love him a lot a lot. I think Fran Kranz was an absolute gem of a find. <33333
Okay! Other things! ALPHA! ALAN! He was so deliciously nutso and all over the place, Alan just played it incredibly. Very much shades of Jubal Early (Firefly), which was so awesome. I loved the "I'm not fooling. He's not kidding! WE'RE not bluffing! Well I'm bluffing... argh, BUT THE REST OF US! We mean business." Ahahahaha OH ALAN. I also loved when he went on a random rant about blood rituals, and when he said "Oh my gods" (perhaps a Battlestar shoutout?). He was just so... mmmm, delicious! <3 Also, him playing a doll is creepy and fabulous. I loved the scene when he kissed Echo and she didn't recognize it as anything important, just carried on her sentence. That was fantastic. And his wide earnest eyes, telling her she's the best. Ugh, creepy adorableness! And how awesome was the scene where WASH AND FRED/Bobby and Crystal/Alpha and Whiskey were being hot and psychotic together? VERY AWESOME. I couldn't get over it being Wash and Fred, heeeee. Joss sure knows how to pick em! <333 In conclusion, A++++++++ casting choice on Alan, obviously. I'm glad they left him loose for POSSIBLE FUTURE EXPLOITATION HINT HINT FOX HINT HINT.
Ballard was less annoying this episode, a little less with the preachy self-righteousness and more with the actual police work to get this solved. He had absolutely the right instincts about Alpha, and I LOVE how he and Boyd immediately became the buddycop team. I mean, here they are walking around with cuts and bruises that they gave EACH OTHER and working together to solve the mystery. SO awesome. And Boyd is just made of win and fabulous and I wish they would use him in more active roles again (ha ha pun not intended). But anyway back to Paul. I think the most actually surprising moment of the episode was when Ballard freed November/Madeleine instead of Echo. I was SO SO pleased by that, because it was an absolutely character redeeming moment. I checked out on Ballard when he passed over November in the Dollhouse, but now it seems that he did that because he knew she was a sleeper agent, not ONLY because he felt she betrayed him. Though I do think that emotional response still played a role. But I'm glad he got over it and gave her her life back when he could. That was just lovely.
I thought it was really wonderful how the implicit message of the show became explicit from the mouth of Echo. I think it worked really really well and was written well enough that it didn't come off as preachy or whatever. I loved "We're not anybody because we're everybody." I loved how clearly she seemed to see everything all of a sudden. I loved all the little things like "New, superior people, with a little German thrown in. What could possibly go wrong?" and "I have 38 people in my head and not one of them believes that you can sign a contract to be a slave." and "To ascend to anything, at minimum, you don't CUT UP WOMEN." Her dialogue (and her conversation with Caroline) was just really interesting, and if anybody had missed all the enormous clanging alarm bells about IDENTITY IDENTITY and WE ARE ONLY OURSELVES and OUR SOCIETY USES WOMEN TOO MUCH D: throughout the season, they finally got told just exactly what Jossman is getting at here. I don't know, I just thought it... worked.
It was pretty hilarious to see Alan aiming a gun at a piece of circuit board though. XD
I continue to enjoy Adelle in a sort of distant way. Her facial expressions are fabulous ("*faintly disdainful* Alpha's a genius") and I like that she seems to show true regret for things like the death of the girl who was Caroline, Wendy, yet she calls the Dollhouse "my house" and is in general just so possessive of the whole idea. She is intriguing and extremely enjoyable to watch.
As for Whiskey - awesome. I mean, of course everyone picked up on it last week, but I was surprised and really enjoyed how much they delved into her this week. It was incredible how much younger Amy Acker looked as a doll - her bizarrely curled hair as Dr. Saunders has totally been throwing me, and of course the scars. But she's in such a strange position right now - she's an imprint who knows she's an imprint (although - what do the new imprints think's going on when they're watching someone else get imprinted? Like Sierra and November this episode? hrm) and yet seems to want to claim that imprinted identity as her own. Even though that identity is scarred and traumatized and dark! How very very intriguing. And then she had that moment where she gave Victor the lollipop, and even smiled a little bit - is knowing that she's a doll bizarrely going to help her find some peace? What a cool development.
One complaint: NEEDS MOAR SIERRA AND VICTOR. Those two are absolute gems in terms of actor finds, and this episode was seriously lacking. Enver did an incredible job with just, like, four lines ("How can I be my best, Dr. Saunders, please?" His gently pleading voice! sdlfjklsd) and I really missed him overall. As for Sierra (and November!) they had that amazing scene where she gets imprinted and gets all up in Ballard's business and it was AWESOME, but then no more! I know the rest of that storyline hit the cutting room floor and it's a shame. Kickass Sierra and November together? Fuck yeah! I loved "When you're done molesting the furniture, can we go?" "You're still in your pajamas." Heehee, kickass girls <333 But Dichen just LIVES whatever character she is at the moment, and she's riveting. I'm sad the story didn't leave more room for her.
In short, MADE OF WIN AND AWESOME. So much to think about and chew over. I cannot express how much I want this to be renewed! I want more stories!!! The characters have been left in SUCH interesting places, and I WANT MORE DAMMIT. If you fuck ths up Fox, you will be FOREVER KNOWN as the network that murders fledgling Joss Whedon shows. DO YOU WANT THAT REP?!? It's bad enough with Firefly alone! Ugh. I just hope they get their heads out of their asses FOR ONCE.
IIIII love Dollhouse the end. ♥
