Tea? Or maybe something a little stronger?

Dollhouse – Gray Hour

Talking to my friends, I’ve heard widely varied reactions to the fourth episode of Dollhouse. Some think it was (by far) the worst episode, while others think it was the best. I’m somewhere in the middle. I agree it had a lot of faults, but at the same time I’m not really sure I can justify any of the others as significantly better.

One possible reason for this is that, on the whole, the show overall just hasn’t been that impressive yet.

The Bad

– Helo. Oh Helo. I’m not sure they have any idea what they’re doing with this FBI plotline. I don’t like the character, I don’t think what’s happening makes any sense, and I’m not convinced it will ever get better. For one thing, they’re clearly *closely* monitoring this guy so why are we supposed to care about his “investigations”? Victor is an Active, okay. Well why did Ballard pick him to be the go-to guy for info on the Dollhouse? Is Victor out there in the world ALL the time building up this identity for Ballard to find it? That seems like a lot of work for an idiot FBI agent. It’s possible that they’ll be able to make sense of it all eventually, but I have my doubts.

– Everything with Echo post-wipe was boring and lame. The conversation about art. WTF. C’mon.

– More annoying self-aware dialogue with double-entendres about fame and identity and the like. We get it. People can unknowingly say things that hint at the way Echo is an Active. Ha ha.

– The line about “always wear comfortable shoes.” They weren’t wearing comfortable shoes. They were wearing heels, which are not comfortable and make NO sense for this sort of operation. It’s incredibly frustrating that the effort to convey “badass woman” seems to require her to be wearing heels.

– The episode description on Hulu: “Echo’s stint as a midwife doesn’t prove as laborious as when she becomes an expert safe-cracker.” Now, I love puns, but that is just horrible.

– This is the third episode in a row to end precisely the same way – with some evidence that Echo remembers something from the recent events. It’s getting old. Find some other way to make that point and get some new ideas.

– Another Faith character. And, her post-wipe acting leaves a lot to be desired. For this to work, Eliza’s gotta demonstrate a lot more range than she has so far.

– Why did the security guards open fire on people trapped in a vault filled with incredibly valuable art? Also, considering how blindingly easy it was for Taffy and what’s-his-name to escape once the guards showed up, why didn’t all three of them just avail themselves of that option without all the freaking out?

The Good

– First and foremost, most of the bad stuff above relates to pacing and the relative letdown of this episode’s plot. On the whole, I felt less anguished about the meta what-is-this-show-really-about stuff than I have in the other ones. They laid some interesting groundwork for what could turn into good plotlines later, even if this particular one was a bit of a dud. The scene at the beginning with the Actives “flocking” for example was great.

– The section from Tally running into the hall to find the security guard right up until she was wiped was excellent. Some neat little twists, lots of suspense, and the moment when she called Boyd and then was wiped had me on the edge of my seat.

– The “WTF just happened” scenes were very well done. Just the right amount of hint-dropping for the future and a demonstration of how much this disrupts their idea of what they’re doing. Both Adelle and Topher were very well portrayed – by far the best performances by Williams and Kranz so far.

Summary: there was less actively frustrating about this episode than the others – except for some general boredom with the second half of the episode and mounting evidence that they don’t seem that interested in avoiding plot holes or being subtle about “the point” of each episode. I’m still waiting for an episode that I would feel comfortable recommending to someone who isn’t already a Joss fanboy.

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