Dollhouse – True Believer
I guess this episode might have been my favorite yet. I’m still not sure that’s saying much though.
It felt reasonably suspenseful at the time, though in retrospect I’m not really sure why.
Until the end, the metaphor was actually reasonably understated. Of course, the final couple minutes blew that to bits. I mean, it doesn’t take much to convey that the dollhouse is equivalent to a cult where the dolls are kept hidden from the reality of the world outside. We certainly didn’t need an over-the-top obvious speech to clarify it for us.
I’m curious if there are going to be any episodes of this show where a masculinized figure DOESN’T slap or punch a woman? Seriously, what is up with that?
Eliza Dushku’s performance as Esther for the first 15-20 minutes was the most impressed I’ve been with her so far. I actually thought she was fairly convincing in the role. It was all ruined however, when her sight returned and she instantly transformed into…Faith. Out of nowhere, this religious, peace-loving, gentle person became super-aggressive, ordered people around, clobbered someone on the back of the head, etc. Even her tone of voice and accent changed. It was truly bizarre.
I guess it could be a suggestion that more and more of her “real” personality (whether that means Caroline or whether it means that there’s really an Echo personality that is developed). But once again, this requires faith on my part that there will be future revelations that help to make sense of what appear to be mistakes. And I’m getting a little bit tired of trying to invent excuses for them. Joss’s last show got cancelled after a dozen episodes – I’m not sure they can afford to play around with dangling modifiers and hope to tie them up later. There may not BE a later.
I thought the dialogue between Topher and Dr. Saunders was pretty well done, and funny. Some people seem to think that Topher was painfully awkward, but I think that’s exactly the point. I like that he comes off as brilliant, but painfully and completely socially maladjusted.
Maia at Alas, a blog makes a great point about this:
People have compared Topher to Wash and Xander, and I think this comparision is one of the reasons I enjoy the character so much. I think the connection goes beyond the smart-ass wise-cracking-ness. The way Xander and Wash treated women made me uncomfortable, there was possession and objectification, but we were still supposed to think they were loveable. I feel like Topher is making that point for me, we’re not supposed to love him – we’re supposed to find his comments about women sleeping together for his enjoyment repellent. It’s very refreshing.
Finally, I like what they’ve done with Adele lately. Her character is coming alive slowly, but with a subtlety they seem to be lacking with most of the other elements of the show. Dr. Saunders is much the same way. I’m feeling myself starting to like them, in part because they seem a lot more real than the hit-you-over-the-head stylizations of most other characters.