Have an opinion about Dollhouse?
This morning I was reading the blog at Buffyfest and they have something to say about Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse, which airs on Friday nights at 9 pm ET on FOX. I’ve also been giving my opinion of Dollhouse over at FanaticSpace. (To make sense of all I’m saying here, you should go read both those blogs.)
Anyway, I started to post a comment at Buffyfest, but it got so long winded, I thought I’d post it here and just post the link over there, cause not everyone may care. So here is my response:
Well, as part of the starry-eyed optimists, I can only say that for me, there was no struggle. That’s not to say that there couldn’t have been. I’ve certainly had my moments when I thought, and thought, and thought Joss-related stuff through again and again.
But in the case of Dollhouse, this is how I chose to view it. First of all, I was excited cause Joss was coming back to my TV in a weekly kind of way. Second, I chose to read nothing, and I mean nothing, about what was happening beforehand. (While I did hear about, and slightly freak about, the pilot re-writes, I moved on and chose to forget about it.) So I have stayed relatively spoiler free and, therefore, upbeat about the show.
Third, I trust Joss. He has never let me down, in the end result (although I have doubted at times), and I knew that if he had his own way with this show, he would not let me down this time either. I don’t trust the networks, but I do trust Joss.
In summation, I choose to believe that Dollhouse is a great show, has always been a great show and always will be a great show. Ad infinitum.
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:54 am
Hi BuffyGroupie! This is like blog-to-blog…hee! Fun. Anywho, yes I agree that there is the usual “faith is Joss” present and perhaps I should’ve detailed that point because without it the post sounds a bit angry when really I’m just confused. Even if I have faith in the long run, I always have this dilemma after each episode: I ask my boyfriend if he liked the ep (he’s not as obsessed as us Buffyfesters.) He’ll say yes, no, whatever and then I’ll bombard him with the usual questions. “Did you see the (fill in the blank reveal here) coming?” “Did Eliza’s acting seem Faith-ish?” “Who do you think Alpha is?” “Whedon says this is the ep to change it all, what say ye?” Etc. He’ll look at me every time like I have 3 heads and say “Tara, did you like it?” I don’t know. I never know.
So yes, I can choose to believe that DH will be a great show in the end. But can you choose to believe an episode is good or not? Can you choose to believe that Ep 3 was a quality hour of fiction and not an embarassing rip off of the bodyguard with forced twists and turns and lame pop music? I didn’t know what to think at the time, so I chose to say “that was the best ep…so far!” But looking back I think it might be crap. I just can’t know for sure how I feel and it’s frustrating. Damn Dollhouse Uncertainty Prnciple!
Sorry that was another rant
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 am
Fire bad, tree pretty.
Sorry, you just got really going there and I may have lost the thread a bit.
No, I completely understand what you are saying. So far, up until this week, my husband had refused to watch Dollhouse with me. This week he did and he was very impressed. He likes Joss but is in no way obsessive like me.
I guess I just try to not pull apart each ep until I’ve been given more information. As for example, Dawn on Buffy (I hated Dawn, btw), when she first got there and weeks went by with no explanation, I wanted to hit someone. But eventually, Joss made sense of it all and I was satisfied (not necessarily happy, mind you, but satisfied).
This is the same thing. I don’t expect every ep to be stellar or to make sense, I just believe that in the end, when we have all the facts, everything will make sense.
Plus, I’m very forgiving about not so good episodes. I can even find redeeming qualities in Beer Bad. So when you look at in that light, Ep 3 of Dollhouse is like an amazing thing. lol
And, once again, for me, its all about choice. I choose to like the episodes and I know that years from now, there will be some I like better than others, but for now, these 6 eps are all I have. And I like them.
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:45 am
I find the fun in Beer Bad too. Foamy! Hee!
No but seriously, the beef I’m having is not about quality at all. I’m totally ok w the show, it has tons of promise. My problem is just about being tainted with too much behind the scenes info since I’m in the cult of Whedon. There is no way of knowing what it would be like if I never knew of the man, but stumbled upon Dollhouse and made a totally objective decision.
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:59 am
I get it. I’m really not that adverse to being spoiled, myself (back in the days of BtVS, I would read the wildfeed even if it was moments before the show aired), but for DH, I’ve tried to stay as unspoiled as possible. Which means I’ve chosen to not read some stuff. That’s very hard.
I guess its my small way of staying objective. I was so afraid to fall in love with this show, just based on what happened to FF, but once I’m in love, there’s no turning back. Then I’ll read all the spoilery stuff.
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
That’s smart and totally the way to go. Usually we’re all zmiggies over at Buffyfest (that’s our term for spoiler-free…hee!) But It’s not even the spoilers this time. Hearing Joss talk at Comic con and Eliza & Joss at the Soho Apple store and all the interviews about how the show came about…I wish I could’ve avoided all of that in a way (but then all of that was super-cool and fun, so I wouldn’t trade most of it for the world!) It’s a tricky thing, this obsession of ours.
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I know, it is hard to avoid everything. I tried really hard, but that’s sorta bad when you want to blog all the good Jossyness. (I think I caught your camera guy in one of my videos from NYCC! Your videos were so amazingly good that I just linked to them when I blogged.)
Can I just say that I wouldn’t trade my obession for anything in any case? Even more so when it lets me meet up with lots of other awesome and likewise obsessed people.
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Agree!
And thanks! Yes, our awesome cameraman, Ivan, was totally in the shot of your video! He’s so tall. We had to split up that say so half the Buffyfest crew was there and another crew was at Amber Benson’s panel. Good times.
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Well, the next Comic Con I go to, I’m hanging out with you guys!
March 28th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
[...] already gone indepth about my feelings as regards to the Dollhouse Uncertainty Principle (see my blog post here). So, my point? Well, I had this great post I was planning to write, all about how much I enjoyed [...]