So Why *AM* I Watching This Anyway?
Mar. 21st, 2009 05:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quaggy
Lately, I’ve been pretty trigger happy when it comes to ditching new shows. Life’s too short to waste it on stories that do nothing for you. So, needless to say, I’ve asked myself a few times last night why I’m still watching Dollhouse.
It’s not that it’s a bad show. It’s not. It’s well written and (sometimes) well acted and I already care about some (not all) of the characters. But I’m often impatient with the storylines. Frustrated when an interesting plot point tempts me into sticking around for another episode.
I think the root of the problem is that while the monster of the week (or crime as the case may be) is something I enjoy about both Fringe and Life, I’m not that into the ones on Dollhouse. It makes me impatient. I just want them to get on with the main mystery. With Fringe… well, taking my cue from Lost and Alias, I’m only along for the monster of the week ride (and The Peter & Walter Show). I do not care about the conspiracy or to try to keep track of a bunch of cryptic clue whose meaning won’t be revealed for another six seasons. In contrast, I can’t tell whether I like Life’s weekly mystery or bigger conspiracy more. That is a sign of a VERY good show.
I actually think the Dollhouse is in the wrong format. It should be a movie and the focus should be on Paul Ballard and the dolls themselves should be in the background… except for the characters that turn out to be dolls themselves. The audience should be more familiar with Caroline than Echo,so that everytime Echo appears, it's shocking. What little we do see of the dolls and the Dollhouse should be through the eyes of Boyd, Topher and Dr. Claire (but that might be only because I really like those three.) Actually, I think the series would befit from the focus being shifted away from the dolls and onto the investigation.
Anybody out there got an opinion they’d like to share?
It’s not that it’s a bad show. It’s not. It’s well written and (sometimes) well acted and I already care about some (not all) of the characters. But I’m often impatient with the storylines. Frustrated when an interesting plot point tempts me into sticking around for another episode.
I think the root of the problem is that while the monster of the week (or crime as the case may be) is something I enjoy about both Fringe and Life, I’m not that into the ones on Dollhouse. It makes me impatient. I just want them to get on with the main mystery. With Fringe… well, taking my cue from Lost and Alias, I’m only along for the monster of the week ride (and The Peter & Walter Show). I do not care about the conspiracy or to try to keep track of a bunch of cryptic clue whose meaning won’t be revealed for another six seasons. In contrast, I can’t tell whether I like Life’s weekly mystery or bigger conspiracy more. That is a sign of a VERY good show.
I actually think the Dollhouse is in the wrong format. It should be a movie and the focus should be on Paul Ballard and the dolls themselves should be in the background… except for the characters that turn out to be dolls themselves. The audience should be more familiar with Caroline than Echo,so that everytime Echo appears, it's shocking. What little we do see of the dolls and the Dollhouse should be through the eyes of Boyd, Topher and Dr. Claire (but that might be only because I really like those three.) Actually, I think the series would befit from the focus being shifted away from the dolls and onto the investigation.
Anybody out there got an opinion they’d like to share?
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Date: 2009-03-22 06:13 pm (UTC)For one, Joss relocated his Whedonesque pen! (Template. Whatever. He found it. :-) It helps having Patton Oswalt -- who could not have been more perfectly cast to the play the uber-nerd Internet billionaire -- to deliver lines like "serious moral spankitude" and to call Ballard "F-bitch-I."
And then it's the funny things said almost in passing: Ballard ending his little vignette with " ... and I'd be writing the Great American Arrest Report." BWAH! A twist on the familiar works every time.
Plus, Topher throwing Langton off the scent with "Not everything is about you, Infinite Ego Man."
The two aspects that just weren't doing it for me were A) an overabundance of Eliza Dushku and 2) the absence of the wit that I love so much in Firefly. Thankfully, those two matters were addressed in this episode. I am SO back in. :-)