Dollhouse ~ Epitaph Two: The Return

The end of a Joss show – it’s kind of a surreal experience. While Courtney is no stranger to a Whedon series finale, this was my first time going through it live (I watched Buffy, Angel, and Firefly on DVD). While it would be easy to rant and rave about how Dollhouse was never given a fair shot, that it had a crap time slot from the very beginning, and Fox just didn’t seem to get it half the time . . . but instead I’m going to be thankful. Yeah, that’s right. I’m thankful that we were given a second season, when it would have been perfectly understandable from a business perspective to have cancelled it after the first. I’m thankful that the second season got better and better with each passing episode. Finally, I’m thankful that Joss was given enough warning to craft a real ending for the series.

Most redeemed character: Topher, without a doubt. He began the series void of a conscience, completely narcissistic, and annoyed the crap out of some viewers. People tuned in expecting him to be the Xander of the series. Not quite. In the end he was broken, driven crazy by guilt, but he alone was the one that could save the world. Sure, his tech began the “brain-pocalypse”, but he would be the one to end it – sacrificing his own life in the process.

“I can bring back the world.” ~ Topher

Most sudden, but entirely expected death: Paul Ballard. In grand Whedon tradition, it was a stray bullet in a battleground that killed Paul in less than a second. There was no build up, and no time for a response. Truthfully, I never expected him to make it to the end. He fell into the category of “acceptable losses” that we had listed before the episode began (for the record, Topher was absolutely not a part of that list).

Most surprising ally: Alpha! Who knows what led to Alpha reigning in his craziness, putting aside his Echo obsession, and fighting the good fight. I’m just glad to have him along for the ride. Anyone else get a hint of a romantic thing between him and Adelle? That sure would have been a twist! We’re just going to go ahead and pretend that’s cannon now.

“ . . .we’re not freak shows. Well, maybe I am, and Echo. Topher’s a little off, but Adelle, she’s a class act all the way.” ~ Alpha

Best love-conquers-all-eventually moment: Priya introducing T to his father, Anthony (now that he’s sworn off the tech he can officially retire “Victor”). Joss allowing a couple to have a happy ending? Pretty much unheard of, right?

Character most softened to the point of being downright cuddly: Adelle. If you were to look at the woman we met in the first episode of the series, would you ever have expected her to turn out to be the motherly, nurturing, leader that Adele transformed into? Whoever just said “yes” is lying. Unless they are Joss. Then maybe.

Most missed: Claire/Whiskey. What happened to her at the end of Epitaph One? Did she fight off the invaders? Did she die? We knew that she wasn’t going to be in this episode, but her absence was definitely felt (at least by us).

Bonus lesbians: Mag (Felicia Day) turned out to be at least a little gay (we’re thinking full on lesbian, but we won’t be too presumptuous) when she revealed that she thought “the little asian’s kind of cute.” That little asian would be Kilo (Maurissa Tanchoroen). I think that during their year of confinement underground Mag will have a pretty good shot with Kilo, even if she is/was a tech head.

Best failure at a rousing speech: Paul.

Paul: The world still needs heroes, kid.
[Everyone pauses and then laughs.]
Echo: Did you really just say that?
Paul: What, I was being inspirational.
Echo: You are so corny.
Paul: You’re . . . fat.

There is much more that should be discussed, but frankly . . . I’m still a little fragile. So thanks for the memories, Dollhouse. See you on DVD.

PS: Somone please employ Enver Gjokaj ASAP. He is almost definitely the best actor Joss has ever stumbled upon. He deserves to be working, and preferably on a TV show where were can watch him every week.

TV Blind Dates ~ Part 2

Here is the second installment of randomly matched TV pairings. See Part 1 for more details and the first five match-ups.




Echo (Dollhouse) and Michael Scott (The Office)

Common Ground: Somewhere amongst all of those personalities floating around in Echo’s head there has to be someone with mad managerial skills and at least a passing knowledge of paper products. At varying points in her doll evolution Echo has had qualities that Michael would be sure to like: hard and domineering (like Jan), a playful dork (like Holly), and childlike wonder (like . . . himself?).

Possible Conflicts: Echo’s personality changes so often that’s impossible to keep track of her likes and dislikes, which I’m sure would be challenging in a relationship. Plus Echo is much too focused on her mission – no time for dating. Not to mention the fact that at any moment she could glitch and start kicking the crap out of Michael.

At the end of the date: 90% probability that Michael will think they are going steady, but only a 3% chance that they were ever see each other again.





Liz Lemon (30 Rock) and Dexter Morgan (Dexter)

Common Ground: Both of their jobs (plus Dexter’s dark passenger) require long hours and a lot of night work. Honestly, that’s about all I’ve got for these two!

Possible Conflicts: Despite having no similar interests Liz would be thrilled to be dating a handsome guy like Dexter who doesn’t mind her devotion to her job, and Dexter would appreciate the free time to take care of other priorities. Eventually, though, Liz would stumble upon his little secret and there would be no amount of “nerts!” or “sharkfarts!” that could save her.

At the end of the date: 72% chance of a second date. Likelihood that Dexter wouldn’t be the first serial killer Liz has dated: 35%.





Wilhelmina Slater (Ugly Betty) and Jeff Winger (Community)

Common Ground: Both are natural leaders. They are charismatic (when necessary) and attractive. They set trends and can be very persuasive.

Possible Conflicts: If Jeff was still a fast talking lawyer, he might have had a brief shot with Wilhelmina, but as a community school student? Please – she wouldn’t look at him twice. His lack of money, power, and ambition would be an insult to her.

At the end of the date: If someone managed to trick Wilhelmina into the date and forced her to stay, than there’s a 60% chance of a one night stand, which would be followed by a swift cover-up.





Sarah Walker (Chuck) and Richard Castle (Castle)

Common Ground: Both are worldly and well traveled. They would be worthy fencing opponents. They both thinking well on their feet in high pressure situations.

Possible Conflicts: Regardless of whether Sarah is there undercover protecting him or there as her genuine self, her presence would inevitably turn out to be only temporary. She serves her country first and herself last. At this point in Castle’s life I like to think he’s moved past the casual flings he’s most known for – he has to think about Alexis, after all.

At the end of the date: 28% chance of a second date. 100% chance that Sarah is hiding a knife somewhere you wouldn’t expect.





Betty Suarez (Ugly Betty) and Don Draper (Mad Men)

Common Ground: They both work in New York City in high pressure jobs. Both of their jobs are affected by public opinion in one way or another. Don would appreciate Betty’s pluck and determination. Betty is an excellent listener, which is something Don could certainly use if he was willing to open up to her.

Possible Conflicts: The age difference wouldn’t mean a thing to Don (he’s had younger), but it would probably be weird for Betty. Also, Betty wouldn’t stand for all of that cheating – and you can’t ask Don to change.

At the end of the date: Only 11% likely to have a second date, but there’s a 79% chance that Don will offer Betty a job because he likes her spunk.

Dollhouse ~ Season 2 so Far!

Warning warning, we will be incredibly behind on TV all week! Since we’re mostly up to date (still need to finish last night’s Mad Men), we’ll try to cover what we can and see how it goes from there. First up: Dollhouse.
Dollhouse

To start off, we must apologize to Dollhouse because it has been getting the blogging shaft. We’ve been watching and loving, to be sure! I think it feels like there is so much to discuss, that any attempt to blog about it simply won’t be able to cover everything we’d like. So, with lowered blogging expectations, we’ll keep it brief  still be way too long, but not try to cover every second of the episodes.

As for the first episode, we loved Whiskey/Dr. Saunders going all sorts of crazy on Topher. Their scene together was awesome. For now she has fled the Dollhouse. Anyone else kind of amazed she was able to make it out of the building? I mean, I know she’s “the doctor” but she’s also an active – does this means he has a handler? Who’s not doing their job there? In the meantime, I eagerly await the inevitable moment when Fred and Wesley are reunited – it has to happen, right? Her path is destined to cross with Alexis Denisof’s character. Disgruntled active with too much information, meet over ambitious Senator with an eye for bringing down the Rossum Corporation.

And now, a brief detour back to the past to make sure we all caught what happened there. While Whiskey/Saunders was examining Echo after a particularly intimate engagement (meaning she was having a whole bunch of sex, so they need to make sure she’s ok down there), Echo flashes back to an engagement she had been on with Whiskey back in the day. During this flashback we saw the two of them about to make out. So just to be clear, she flashed to that while Whiskey/Saunders had her hands up Echo’s you know where. That happened.

Also, Sierra’s brief appearance in the premiere pre-wipe and hating Asians slayed us – hope no one showed her a mirror during her engagement. We were happy to see the beginning of the Boyd/Whiskey relationship we were teased with in Epitaph One – Courtney is all squees when it comes to them. Oh, and did we mention that Paul is Echo’s new handler, and that they are totally in cahoots! Echo is much more aware than she should be for an active, and she can remember the personalities that have been implanted in her. Paul is withholding this from Topher and the higher-ups (of course) and promises her to help find the real her – Caroline.

Oh and sidenote to Topher - try working on your sneaking around programming - she's failing on that front:

In the second episode we saw Echo go all sorts of crazy protective Mamma bear when Topher actually manipulates her physiology enough to induce breast feeding. While imprinted, Echo becomes connived that her “husband” is trying to have her killed (to be fair, a black van has been parked outside the house and he’s been acting all sorts of sketchy, so can you blame her?), so makes a run for it with the baby. Eventually they catch her and sedate her, and are able to wipe her. Unfortunately for Topher, the maternal instinct is fully intact and she punches him in the face post-wipe and makes a run for it. Again with the questionable security! So now Echo, only half aware of what she is doing, makes her way back to the baby and gets all creepy with a knife too close to comfort. The husband is able to talk her down somewhat, and the team arrives to wrap things up. Paul and an increasingly coherent Echo talk on a bench about how she can still feel all her imprints, and that it’s all real to her. Paul says that she doesn’t have to do this – they can tell Topher what is going on and then he can probably correct what is going on in her brain – do some deeper wipes or something. Medically speaking, yeah that would probably be wise, but I know Paul is supposed to be our Hero so we’ll see where this is going. Frankly, at times, he comes off as more of a villain to me, but maybe it’s just because I’m more attached to the Dollhouse team despite their moral and ethical discrepancies.

Also in this episode, Senator Alexis Denisof gets some info sent to him that seems to be really Dollhouse specific – almost as if it is coming from an inside source. Whiskey? Alpha? Also his wife weird me out. I would say that she’s an active, but they already pulled that with Novemeber. Speaking of Novemeber aka Mellie aka Madeline, she got summoned for her check-up which she had been avoiding. She’s looking pretty well off – fancy apartment, rich clothes, only a little dead inside. She ran into Paul, whom she only recognized from when she was released. We got a little more info on how she came to volunteer herself to the Dollhouse – Adelle tracked her down after her daughter had died and offered to free her of the pain, which is exactly how it worked out. As far as Madeline is concerned, everything went pretty spiffy, although she’s a little curious as to why she was released years early.

And that should just about catch us up on the Dollhouse front!

This post was brought to you by Season 1 Adelle and Topher, high as kites.