Dollhousebreaking

I was asked the other day if I'd stopped watching "Dollhouse," since Big and I haven't talked about it on our podcast in a while. And the guy referred to it as "Dullhouse."

At first, this bothered me, because I want Joss Whedon shows to succeed, I watch it every week, and the show isn't dull.

But he did have a point in that we don't talk about the show much anymore. And even though I promised myself I'd blog every episode, I care less and less each week.

About the show, or about blogging about the show?

Yes.

It's not a bad show, no, but since the singer bodyguard episode, I haven't been really grabbed by "Dollhouse," and in watching the episode tonight, which didn't really have anything wrong with it, per se, I realised that, unlike how I felt six months ago, when the show premiered, or even a month back, I'm not going to cry a river if it's canceled.

I lived in fear every week for the first six episodes that I'd check and see the show had been axed. But now that seven have aired, I am willing to accept whatever happens, whether it's renewed or not.

That being said, I fully believe that the last three episodes of the first season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," are the best three episodes of its first season. Had I seen "Nightmares" or "Prophesy Girl" back in 1997, I think I might have become a fan a decade earlier than I did.

And if there are people who love "Dollhouse" for the show's sake, then I'd hate for them to lose something they love. I understand that much.

So, we watched a "Sarah Connor" that felt, to tyranist and me, like a season finale, even though there's one more episode left. They killed one of the supporting characters last week in a somewhat abrupt way, and this week, they killed one of the main characters in a totally unceremonious way, much like Joss Whedon has done on "Buffy" and in SERENITY.

I don't know if that show will be renewed for another season. We were talking about TERMINATOR 4 coming out this summer, and how if FOX is smart, they'll cash in on all the free publicity and new viewers that film might send their way, so it could come back. Neither show gets very good ratings, though.

So, the episode that night was called "A Spy In the House of Love," and it was written by one Andrew Chambliss (a name I do not recognise). In it, we find out who the mole in the Dollhouse organisation is.

They find evidence that someone is messing with the Actives and/or trying to take it down, and since Adelle DeWitt is out, Head of Security Dominic (who I always refer to as tyranist's brother) is in charge of finding out who it is. That's the A-story. Meanwhile, Victor gets sent out to romance "Miss Lonelyhearts," an old broad he often wines and dines. That's the B-story.

C-story is that Paul Ballard and (sleeping Active) Mellie are continuing to romance one another, but suddenly, she gets taken over by a subprogram and delivers another message from the Dollhouse. He is absolutely floored to find out she's a "Doll," and it makes him look at her and their relationship totally differently, even though she comes back to herself with no knowledge that she is not who she says she is. This was interesting stuff.

This was one of those shows that starts with the end first and then goes "x hours earlier," like manymanymany shows nowadays do, so we know the mole is going to be caught from the very beginning. But who will it be? Dominic puts Sierra in charge of the investigation, making her up to look like an Asian lady at the NSA, and sending her in to find their secret files on the Dollhouse.

Topher is going out of his mind, because Dominic is pointing fingers at everyone, and Echo offers to help him in the investigation. I guess she knows that she is a Doll and can have talents and knowledge loaded into her head. So Topher does so, and she helps ferret out the spy.

I don't really know why, but I found the B- and C-plots to be more interesting than the A-, and particularly loved it when Miss Lonelyhearts winds up being Adelle herself, who has Victor visit her with a suave British accent at her home from time to time. She confides in him the nature of what she does in the Dollhouse and how she feels doing it, and when Victor comments on Adelle's sad, pathetic clients, she remarks at how ironic that is. In my favourite moment in the show, he chuckles at how people always misunderstand what ironic means, just like she did.

Well, Sierra finds the evidence of who the mole is, and everything is fine . . . at least until Echo reveals that information to be false, planted by Dominic, since he was the mole all along. Well, he is captured, and they take him to the Attic, which is a horrible-sounding place we've not yet seen. Apparently, they'll wipe his memory and stick him in some kind of stasis coffin, only to be brought out, brainwashed, if ever they have use for him again. The end.

The episode was a pretty good one, with the usual number of twists and turns, and it would be a long time before I'd see the show again. Not that this really has anything to do with that, but there was a big snowstorm during that day and night, designed specifically to ruin April.

On the way home from watching this episode at tyranist's house, I was in a car accident. I wasn't going very fast, and it was late enough at night that nobody else crashed into me when my car spun out of control and ended up facing the wrong way on the freeway. Luckily, only the back of my car was smashed in, so I was able to start up the engine again and get turned around and drive home alright (even though, I kid you not, the goddamn car spun out of control twice more before I got home, BOTH times also facing the wrong way of traffic). This is the sort of thing that makes me want to pack up my things and head to California right this minute.

Except that now I have to spend my move-back-to-L.A. money on fixing my car, or, if they decide it's not worth fixing, get a new car. Ah well.