laceblade | Dollhouse, 1.6

Since the first episode aired, various newspaper articles have run quotes from the cast and crew of Dollhouse, assuring its audience that in episode six, the show really kicks it into high gear. Eliza Dushku's specific quote was:

"We’ve now done 13 episodes, and people have said that the show took off once they finally realized that Joss is best off left alone to do his thing. That happens around episode six—six through 13 are just extraordinary. I love one, two, three, four, and five, but Joss’ first script that he did after the pilot is number six, which is called “Man On The Street,” and it is just unbelievable. From that point on, the world unfolds in Joss’ way, with Joss’ speed, and it’s really remarkable." Joss Whedon said that "Man on the Street" (and "Needs") "represent a much stronger vision of what I consider the show to be."

I respect people's decision to stop watching after the first episode, but I have a lot of respect for Joss Whedon, and I really didn't think he was stupid enough to have such a premise without being self-aware. I held on to hope and figured I'd watch at least through episode six and see if the turn was actually brought about, as was promised.

And I think I got exactly what I wanted in episode six. The entire episode is highly self-aware - of the skeevy premise, of the rape that is constantly occurring (and it is referred to as "rape" multiple times), of power dynamics, of everything else.

For the first time, the series was legitimately funny. Multiple times, throughout the episode. The pacing was excellent. I was genuinely surprised, again multiple times. And really, every time I thought a female character was getting shafted of stripped of power, that turned out to very much not be the case.

If you were turned off from this series from the first episode, please do try episode six. I really feel like it's the first one for which Whedon was let out of the box by FOX, and I think 1-5 were a lot of pandering to the producers.

IF NOTHING ELSE, THE FIGHT BETWEEN TAHMOH PENIKETT AND ELIZA DUSHKU MAKES EVERYTHING WORTHWHILE.

So....OMF! Was Echo imprinted with that message by Topher to begin with? Did her handler distract Topher so that an ally could eff with the imprint while he was talking to Topher? Did someone unconnected to either of them do it? WHO DID IT? WHY ARE HELO AND FAITH SO HOT WHEN THEY FIGHT AGAINST EACH OTHER?!

I think that it is SO MADE OF FAIL that a freaking FBI AGENT HELLO would spill his guts to his seemingly overly nice neighbor. Like....HELLO, WAKE UP. I hate that about secret organization shows/storylines....people always trust other people instead of NOT TRUSTING ANYONE, which I really feel would be the best option.

I'm eager to hear what other people thought of this episode, if there was fail that I didn't see. A lot of people get pissed when their shows are analyzed, but I love that shit! For me, this episode brought the game and I loved it. I really think that the framing tool of interviewing citizens of Los Angeles about their thoughts on the rumors they've heard about the Dollhouse was a fantastic way of using fan-made critiques and acknowledging them and turning them on their heads, which I think is what happened in this episode.

Again! If you didn't like the pilot, I highly suggest watching episode 6. I could feel Joss Whedon's hand all over it. If you think I'm wrong, please post about why you think so! I'll be reading!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Actually I suspect it's around episode 6 that the female producers - who eventually write later episodes - might have had a stronger hand (they get series writing credits on this ep): Sarah Fain (The Shield, Angel), Kelly Manners (Angel, Buffy, Sons of Anarchy), Elizabeth Craft (The Shield, Angel).

The Shield is key as it was a show premised on a protagonist who does something hideous in the first ep which, to their credit, continues to have consequences for the rest of the series. Also for a show which was brutal and naughty it tried to avoid endorsing rape culture.

Later Jane Espenson from Battlestar was brought in as well, so I'm thinking the intent is to make the mind control thing be about more than sex puppets.

See, I found some Dollhouse wiki somewhere, and I thought Joss wrote this episode! But yeah, it'll be good to have ladies writing more (although I don't really look to Angel as an example on how to do girl-power!). I haven't seen The Shield, but I'll take your word on that.

Jane Espensen also wrote a lot for Buffy and Firefly, and her Buffy episodes were some of my favorites, so that certainly is encouraging.

I appreciated the self awareness in this episode as well. Especially the last few interviews, where one woman said, tentatively, "having someone who could be exactly what you need.. maybe that would be ok," and the next one said, bitchily, "it's human trafficking. It's disgusting." I thought they were trying to show that people who have a problem with the show's premise are probably bitchy and unwilling to consider the hopeful side. But in the professor-type's interview he was like "no, people, this is seriously fucked up for a lot of reasons. It's really, really bad." I felt relieved.

Also: the fight was totally hot! And super realistic, I thought! Usually, someone gets hit and it's over, but in this one they were grunting and getting hurt and not giving up, and I liked it. Though, if she was just there to give him a message, I'm not sure why they had to fight like that at all. Maybe because he was going to fight her, and she had to dominate him so she could make him listen.

The FBI agent telling his pretty neighbor everything was ridiculous. Hello, unprofessional! Even if he totally trusted her, is he unconcerned about putting her in danger by telling her everything? This seemed pretty unrealistic to me, given his fanaticism about the case, and his conviction that the Dollhouse is majorly powerful. Also beating up the guy in his office? Completely unrealistic. Hello, you don't beat up your coworkers and keep your job.

The message imprint: maybe the girl working with Topher, the one he keeps sending to get lunch? She could have done it, but I kind of wonder if they put her there to give us someone to latch onto. Probably it happened some completely different way, she ate a sandwich a guy in the street gave her and it chemically changed the imprint or something.

I assumed the message thing was part of how they were playing him - he clearly is fixated on rescuing her and suggesting there's someone who could help him would feed into that.

That's my husband's take on things, too. They're already manipulating him, as we've seen explicitly, so it definitely seems possible that this is another aspect of that. Especially since they know he knows who Echo is, so why on earth would they have chosen her for the mission otherwise? I'm leaning this direction myself, but they did do a thorough job of setting up a potential time for the personality to be tampered with, so I could roll either way.

I definitely thought it was better that any of the episodes up until now - it surprised me, especially with the neighbour (not so much what she was but how, IYSWIM) and I liked the honesty of the millionaire dudes fantasy.

And yet ... it was still skeevy.

And...see...people said I was full of it when I said that Joss was anticipating and responding to a lot of the fan reactions from the very start. These episodes were written and in the can long before now, which means those self-aware moments were all based on foresight.

Does it absolve Joss of everything? No, but I think it does indicate that he deserves to get a fair look at where the rest of the season goes.

Just gotta say, your Valen icon is made of win. :D

I've been saving the most recent ep. for when I needed it, and now I can't wait to watch it! I've had faith in Joss since the start. I like shows that unfold slowly. I like seeing what Joss has up his sleeves. I knew the show had to be more complex than what we first saw or thought we all knew.

Cheers!

Dollhouse, 1.6

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