27 November 2012
Quote of the Day: "Mark Watches"
I'm really enjoying reading Mark Watches's reactions to watching Dollhouse. (Probably because I agree with everything he says -- that makes him seem REEEEALLY smart and perceptive!) He's up to episode 1.11, "Briar Rose":
I CAN’T. I CAN’T DEAL WITH THIS. I DON’T THINK I HAVE EVER BEEN SO UNFORTUNATELY UNPREPARED FOR A TELEVISION SHOW IN ALL MY LIFE. THIS SHOW WAS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS, AND EVERY TIME I GET CLOSER TO UNDERSTANDING DOLLHOUSE, THE RUG IS PULLED OUT FROM UNDERNEATH ME.
H E L P.
* This is, without a doubt, one of the most thrilling and tense hours of television I’ve experienced in the Mark Does Stuff universe. Like, this upstages some particularly frightening episodes of Battlestar Galactica, slaps [the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode] “Hush” in the face, laughs at the fourth hour of Torchwood: Children of Earth, and joins the league of The Prisoner or Breaking Bad when it comes to suspenseful television. I’m serious, this is one of the coolest science fiction stories I’ve come across, and I can barely wrap my head around what just happened.
* And look, I clearly enjoyed all three of Joss Whedon’s other shows, but since “Man on the Street,” this is the most consistent the man’s ever been. I also like the first five episodes, too, but Dollhouse really comes into form with this batch of episodes.
* Enver Gjokaj nearly steals the show. I can’t say he does this alone, because this episode also has Dichen Lackman and Alan Tudyk giving performances that are stunning and unreal. But I have to devote a bullet point to Enver’s truly inspiring acting. He is able to talk exactly like Dominic sounds. It’s eerie and unsettling. Did he and Daniel Day-Lewis make a pact with Satan? (Sorry, I just saw Lincoln the night before I’m writing this review, so he’s on my mind.) I think the casting agents should be given medals for this cast. And puppies. Give ‘em lots of puppies.
* Oh my god, I could not believe Paul Ballard’s story. I’m so heartbroken over his treatment of Mellie, despite that I know it was a way for him to get her to go back to the Dollhouse. And I know Mellie isn’t real, but Miracle Laurie plays her so fantastically that I’m confused by the whole thing. Should I feel so strongly for a programmed fantasy? I can’t help it!!!
* It’s weird thinking about Ballard breaking into the Dollhouse with Kepler because while I was watching it, it was both tense and hilarious. Kepler was the worst possible person to bring along for that mission, and I enjoyed Tudyk’s sense of comic timing. Except now, in hindsight, IT’S TERRIFYING. THAT’S ALPHA THE WHOLE TIME. God, I need to know so much more about Alpha right now. Was he the remains of an identity? Did he invent it himself? Did he take over Stephen Kepler’s life? I DON’T EVEN KNOW.
* Alpha’s reveal is seriously one of the most shocking things I’ve seen in any of Whedon’s shows. As soon as he cut up Victor’s face, it was unmistakable that Kepler was really Alpha the whole time. But there was a cue just before this: Dr. Saunders’s reaction. That really gave it away. My god, how is she going to cope with this? The man who slashed up her face nearly did it again.
I CAN’T. I CAN’T DEAL WITH THIS. I DON’T THINK I HAVE EVER BEEN SO UNFORTUNATELY UNPREPARED FOR A TELEVISION SHOW IN ALL MY LIFE. THIS SHOW WAS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS, AND EVERY TIME I GET CLOSER TO UNDERSTANDING DOLLHOUSE, THE RUG IS PULLED OUT FROM UNDERNEATH ME.
H E L P.
* This is, without a doubt, one of the most thrilling and tense hours of television I’ve experienced in the Mark Does Stuff universe. Like, this upstages some particularly frightening episodes of Battlestar Galactica, slaps [the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode] “Hush” in the face, laughs at the fourth hour of Torchwood: Children of Earth, and joins the league of The Prisoner or Breaking Bad when it comes to suspenseful television. I’m serious, this is one of the coolest science fiction stories I’ve come across, and I can barely wrap my head around what just happened.
* And look, I clearly enjoyed all three of Joss Whedon’s other shows, but since “Man on the Street,” this is the most consistent the man’s ever been. I also like the first five episodes, too, but Dollhouse really comes into form with this batch of episodes.
* Enver Gjokaj nearly steals the show. I can’t say he does this alone, because this episode also has Dichen Lackman and Alan Tudyk giving performances that are stunning and unreal. But I have to devote a bullet point to Enver’s truly inspiring acting. He is able to talk exactly like Dominic sounds. It’s eerie and unsettling. Did he and Daniel Day-Lewis make a pact with Satan? (Sorry, I just saw Lincoln the night before I’m writing this review, so he’s on my mind.) I think the casting agents should be given medals for this cast. And puppies. Give ‘em lots of puppies.
* Oh my god, I could not believe Paul Ballard’s story. I’m so heartbroken over his treatment of Mellie, despite that I know it was a way for him to get her to go back to the Dollhouse. And I know Mellie isn’t real, but Miracle Laurie plays her so fantastically that I’m confused by the whole thing. Should I feel so strongly for a programmed fantasy? I can’t help it!!!
* It’s weird thinking about Ballard breaking into the Dollhouse with Kepler because while I was watching it, it was both tense and hilarious. Kepler was the worst possible person to bring along for that mission, and I enjoyed Tudyk’s sense of comic timing. Except now, in hindsight, IT’S TERRIFYING. THAT’S ALPHA THE WHOLE TIME. God, I need to know so much more about Alpha right now. Was he the remains of an identity? Did he invent it himself? Did he take over Stephen Kepler’s life? I DON’T EVEN KNOW.
* Alpha’s reveal is seriously one of the most shocking things I’ve seen in any of Whedon’s shows. As soon as he cut up Victor’s face, it was unmistakable that Kepler was really Alpha the whole time. But there was a cue just before this: Dr. Saunders’s reaction. That really gave it away. My god, how is she going to cope with this? The man who slashed up her face nearly did it again.
Labels: Dollhouse
# posted by mamurd @ 8:55 PM 
