TV: Dollhouse

[Munsu]

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/4182/dollhousecastlongcw5.jpg

I'm pretty sure that there are quite a few Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Serenity) fans in here; so here's his newest tv series project: Dollhouse. It should come out next fall, so you guys might want to keep an eye on it. I think it's airing on FOX.


The drama, stars Dushku as Echo, a member of a group of men and women who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. In between tasks they are mind-wiped, living like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dorm/lab. A group of people, known as "Actives" (or "Dolls"), have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas and hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies and occasional good deeds. When not imprinted, the Actives live, childlike and unremembering, in a hidden facility nicknamed "The Dollhouse". Although the Actives are ostensibly volunteers, the operation is highly illegal, and under constant threat from a determined federal agent on one end and an insane rogue Active on the other. The story hinges around a greater and more subtle threat: Echo, a female Active, begins, in her mind-wiped state, to become self-aware.

Some articles of interest:
http://www.tv.com/story/10957.html
http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/story/510146.html

[Sapphire]

This idea sounds so awesome. If TV ruins this idea like it ruined Bionic Woman I'm gunna be pissed.

[saman]

i'm really excited about this series. the plot sounds really intriguing. FOX had better not screw this up like they did firefly. i don't know why whedon keeps going with them.

[Munsu]

I myself hope they've learned their lesson... that it's a Joss Whedon project almost guarantees that it'll at the least have cult success.

Anyways, here's some casting news:
http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Ausiello-Scoop-Whedons/800036353

[saman]

project's previous winnage + helo = super winnage :D


I myself hope they've learned their lesson...

lol i wouldn't bet on that. although stranger things have happened.

[Munsu]

Well considering that Joss had vowed not to do another show for FOX, and now he is... I'm have a feeling that Joss and them had a good talk about expectations, etc.

[Munsu]

Here's a picture of the cast:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4985/209268fs5.jpg

[saman]

i did a double take after i realized that the head actives lady played mrs darling in the most recent peter pan movie. it's such a different role.

show premieres jan 2009! there are a couple of videos uploaded on the dollhouse page on facebook too.

[Munsu]

Seems like they're pairing it up with 24. So through fall we'll have Mondays with Prison Break and Terminator, and January we'll have 24 and Dollhouse together...

Wonder how they'll work that out, especially with Terminator and PB come January, unless they're making short seasons... or they're thinking of bringing them back come April or some shit.

Edit: And another thing I forgot to mention... FOX is running with a new format with it's two new shows, Fringe and Dollhouse. They'll have less advertising spots, so instead of approximately 40 minutes per episode, we'll get about 50 minutes. Less ad breaks, longer scenes, and overall a longer episode. Good stuff. They're calling it "Remote-Free TV"

[Munsu]

Here's a new trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHSuuQkFXjk

The show will be airing on Fridays, after Terminator, at 9:00 pm EST. It begins February 13.

[rockmanj]

Sounds interesting...and fyi, its the same name as this "bar" I went to before; also an interesting place...

[Assassin]

rockmanj visited a tranny stripclub in korea

[rockmanj]

Not so, sir! Korea has no strip clubs.

[Munsu]

Exclusive clip of a scene for those interested:
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2008/12/exclusive-dollh.html

[rockmanj]

Seems more and more intriguing.

[Abdula]

Dollhouse is tonight at 9 on Fox, after Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

[Penner]

Wooo, hope this is good, but mr Whedon rarely dissapoints.

Also, Dushku is hawtness.

[Penner]

Just watched the first episode, and i liked it alot.

Another good show i'll have to follow, and good lord Dushku has a rockin' ass :P

[Ryllharu]

good lord Dushku has a rockin' ass :P
I give heartfelt concurrence to this point.

I definitely enjoyed the pilot. It's neat to see a series again where you're not really sure if the "good guys" are good guys. Echo's handler seems legit enough, and pretty cool with a rifle I might add. Maybe even the boss lady has good intentions, but I can't help but think the tech guy (doing the brain wipes) is a total sleazebag. He's a little arrogant and way too into fucking around in their heads.

I wasn't surprised to see her Total Recall brainwipe start to have issues, where her impressed personality caught (excuse the obvious pun) echoes of her life as a doll. That's standard fare for this kind of material.

I wonder if the scarred doctor was a former doll who got cut up on a mission so they gave her a permament personality.

I also got the impression that the boss lady was a part of the negotiator personality that Echo adopted. I had thought she was the one who was raped by the 'ghost' but with the admission that the girl had committed suicide I guess that was out of the question. She was definitely making an exception for this case though.

[Munsu]

Good start to the series, though from the beginning they had a bit of trouble introducing us to the world (though things started to fall into place later on in the episode), which made me see why they were having some problems with the opening of the series and why they needed to do a different pilot episode than the one that was originally intended (I think it's the 2nd episode now).

How hot was Eliza on the white dress dancing? I mean, wow.

The handler was good, Helo (from Battlestar Galactica) was good too, though I wasn't feeling his character when he was first introduced. The other handler, the blonde guy will surely betray someone at some point... I can feel it.

The good vs. bad discussions are good, there seems to be a gray area here and some interesting set of priorities. There are many subplots that seem interesting that will work outside from the episodic nature of the show, the mysterious people with power looking for Dollhouse, the detective looking for them, and the dude that has a trail of dead bodies looking for who Echo originally was (Catherine was it?). And with that, what made her want to "clean her slate" in the first place.

Ratings weren't good, but workable. Hopefully it'll do better. It at least did better than Terminator.

[Ryllharu]

The good vs. bad discussions are good, there seems to be a gray area here and some interesting set of priorities. There are many subplots that seem interesting that will work outside from the episodic nature of the show, the mysterious people with power looking for Dollhouse, the detective looking for them, and the dude that has a trail of dead bodies looking for who Echo originally was (Catherine was it?). And with that, what made her want to "clean her slate" in the first place.I believe the guy sitting naked in her house, presumably having murdered her parents, was the rogue doll they alluded to towards the end of the episode, Alpha.

[Penner]

Aye, i want to see more of Helo's character.
And i just had to look it up to confirm what i thought, that scarred doctor is indeed Amy Acker, or Winifred Burkle/Illyria from Angel :P

[Munsu]

I believe the guy sitting naked in her house, presumably having murdered her parents, was the rogue doll they alluded to towards the end of the episode, Alpha.

Could be, but isn't he searching for her? If he was a rogue doll, I'm pretty sure he would know where to find her right?

[Abdula]

Yeah I thought the guy in the end was Alpha too and it seemed to me that he was obsessed with her and was doing some research. Either way we'll find out what the deal is in the next episode

[Ryllharu]

Could be, but isn't he searching for her? If he was a rogue doll, I'm pretty sure he would know where to find her right?
Maybe it wasn't knowing where to find her, but more about who she used to be. It didn't look so much like he was looking for Echo (he knew her and obviously found who she really had been), but rather trying to make more people find the dolls. He sent the envelope on to someone, I'm guessing we're supposed to think it was the Fed.

It's too soon to say what he's really thinking, either way he's a psycho.

[Penner]

Yay for man-hunting crazypeople :P

I really like this show, hope it gets better ratings so it can keep running and not get canned too fast like alot of good shows....

[Abdula]

Yay for man-hunting crazypeople :P
That is one hell of an understatement man. I'm quite sure every single character on that show is crazy. Seriously the actives seem to be the only sane people on this show and they are programmed.

[Penner]

Btw, i wonder what the hell kinda of "imprint" they gave this Alpha dude....

They did say that basically all of his previous imprints 'surfaced' all at once and one of them was the killer one, and since they apparently get their imprints from actual people (or thats what i got from it) who the hell did they get Alphas uberkiller imprint from o.O

[Ryllharu]

I think the implication was that despite being wiped, Alpha started to remember his other imprints anyway. They combined as he remembered more and more. So you get an assassin one, but combine it with a surgeon and maybe a butcher, and then you suddenly have someone who can hit all the vital points in a body with a knife in 8 seconds or whatever they said. Some emotional trauma like how Echo's Negotiator was raped, and then you've got a psycho killer.

The tech guy said the technology wasn't all totally there at the time, but it has improved. What it looks like is that Alpha may be trying to have Echo fall into the same problem. She's starting to remember snippets of each imprint. Enough of those build up and combine it with an assassin one or someone who has been traumatized and then you've got another Alpha.

[Munsu]

Also, it seems that there was a problem with the "default" clean slate personality... remember when they commented about giving them ninja skills by default?

And yeah, it seems like Echo is suffering from the same thing that Alpha suffered. But why did it go berserk? Was it the doll personality by itself that went crazy? Did an implanted personality take over?

Ratings went down a bit, but viewership increased through the hour so there's some hope. But it needs to do better.

[Munsu]

Last week's episode brought up some interesting points, though I thought the "problem of the week" sucked. One, Helo kicked major ass. Two, I liked the reveal of his informant being a doll. Three, I liked at the end how it showed Echo kinda plotting/hiding things from the organization, while the other doll showed some recognition.

[Penner]

My thoughts exactly, also, the singer girl was annoying as hell -.-

[Honoko]

I <3 Joss Whedon so I'm gonna try watching this show for as long as I can but... the critics/haters did have a point about the huge flaw of the premise, at least in the first couple of eps. Why get someone to impersonate a negotiator when you can actually pay for a real negotiator? By the 3rd ep, though, I can grudgingly concede the advantages of having someone "customized," although the Dollhouse personnel haven't really said anything convincing yet. So far, they're just messing around with people's brains and exploiting that technology simply because they can, not because it's more advantageous to do so.

Aside from that, watching Echo slowly develop from a nothing to a something is a pleasure to watch. I hope Fox gives this show enough time to develop and gain momentum. Joss is always meticulous about laying down the foundations before running with a storyline.

[KitKat]

I'm really enjoying this show so far. It has its cheesy parts and its ridiculous parts, but overall it's a lot of fun. I really liked this latest episode where we had a chance to watch Echo respond under pressure while in her 'clean slate' form. I thought the whole artwork-bonding thing between her and the wounded guy was really sweet, although going from that to stabbing the other guy in the neck with a syringe was a bit of a shock.

The introduction of remote wipes is an interesting addition to the show. They seem to be moving the plot along fairly swiftly. Now we know that Alpha just isn't 'out there' somewhere, but that he's keeping a very close watch on the Dollhouse. He demonstrated that he has the ability to shut down any of their operations at any time, and that he has the advantage over them in terms of technology and planning. I'm hoping that they'll reveal more about his motives soon.

[Penner]

Yah, great ep.

I've been thinking tho...if the Dollhouse is so hard to find even the FBI and whatnot just thinks of it as not existing or just a myth... where the hell to these people that purchase the "Actives" for various assignments get the contact info lol... and they must be paying insane sums of money for these services because the Dollhouse can't really be cheap to run.... :P

[animus]

I enjoy the show, but I hope I'm not the only one that wants some other doll interactions or focused on them. Don't get me wrong, Eliza Dushku is fucking hot, but the focus is solely on her and it'd be nice to see the other 2 dolls's faces I guess and some different focus.

But then again they all don't really have personalities anyways, but meh.

[sl00ke]

alpha is the pretender!! hoho :P

[Penner]

Jarooooooooooooooooooodddd

[KitKat]

Well, I was not very impressed with this last episode. Echo made a very unconvincing blind person, imo, but maybe that's just because I spent all of last summer working with blind and visually impaired people. One thing that really stood out is that, of all the blind people I met, they will never feel someone else's face. Blind people think that's just weird, and they really couldn't care less what other people look like.

Anyways, if there's one thing that we're learning from these episodes, it's that Echo has a very good sense of self-preservation. They programmed her to trust completely in the cult leader, and yet it didn't take her long to turn on him when her life was in danger. It'll be interesting to see how this sense of self-preservation comes into play, now that one of her imprints has witnessed that boss dude trying to kill her.

[Munsu]

The other handler, the blonde guy will surely betray someone at some point... I can feel it.

Did I call it or what? Dude has been typecast for roles like this.

Anyways, Joss Wheddon is saying that from episode 6 and on the show will become more intense and more in the vain of the vision he had for the show. So, this might become even better and quick.

As for the episode, I enjoyed the office scenes with the debates of wether to do the surgery or not, and then the whole boner investigation.

I wonder what's Alpha's motivation for the FBI guy to find Echo.

[Penner]

Ahh spending hours on hours watching through shower footage looking specifically for some dudes junk getting hard....good times :P

Upside? All those wtf hot female 'dolls' showering in all their nekkid soapy wet glory... o.O


Also... more intense and closer to Whedon's vision sounds fuckin sweet cuz Whedon is the shit.

[Assassin]

wow, major plot advancement this episode.

[Yukimura]

OMG MIllie FTW! I still can't believe they let a character so non-hollywood sexy be important to the show and she even got laid (to bad it was by Echophile Ballard but if that's what she wants I can't really complain. When they put her in wearing that tight ass shirt which showed exactly how not rail thin her figure was I almost fell out of my chair. I loved it, TV shows need more thick girls like her. I think Sierra is smokin hot too, but I also think she would snap in half if someone breathed on her too hard and that doesn't do as much for me.

Anyway, I hadn't been following this thread or Joss Whedon's blog or whatever but I got the sense from the ep 7 preview that 'shit' was going to hit the proverbial fan quite hard starting next episode. I figured there had to be a multinational conglomerate behind the scenes but sadly I'm worried that that will make the plot, sort of easy to guess. Multinational conglomerates pretty much always want to collect and secure power be it through money, information, or authority. I mean other than gearing up to fight off aliens/supernatural creatures what other use is their for what they're up to?

[Penner]

whoa ..just...damn shit this was fucking YEAH!
They took a great show and kicked it up to wtfpwnbbq.

Its like the episode fucked my brain and gave it an orgasm, thats how awesome this ep was.

Seriously. Ownage.

[Honoko]

Ya, this is what I was waiting for. Did NOT see the Mellie reveal coming at the end.

As for the Echo-hack, I'm guessing it's Boyd and Dr. Saunders in cahoots together? That scene when Boyd temporarily called Topher away from his comp felt a bit contrived but still pretty damn cool how it all worked out. The fact that the mysterious hackers don't even know all the dolls that are active at any given time adds a deliciously messy layer to this whole thing.

[Yukimura]

OMG Mellie FTW! I can't believe they let such a non-Hollywood Hot girl have a remotely useful role in the show, and she even got laid by a ken doll! You go Millie. Seeing exactly how not rail thin she is through that obscenely tight (for her) shirt she was wearing just about made my night, here's to more thick but still hot girls on TV shows.

Anyway, I always figured there would be some shadowy organization floating in the background but I was hoping it wouldn't end up coming out too soon. I'm kind of over shadowy organizations since they all seem to boil down to the same thing, a bunch of rich and powerful people trying to become richer and/or more powerful. With any luck they'll stay in the shadows for a while longer and the show will continue to tell interesting stories without the search for the mystery organization taking up too much attention per episode.

[KitKat]

My roommate totally predicted that Mellie was a doll long ago, and I kept trying to convince her that there was no way Mellie could be a doll....but I stand corrected. However, our points are even, because I predicted that someone had messed with Echo's imprint after the short interruption. To mess with an imprint so specifically though, that takes some skill. Dr. Saunders does seem to be a likely candidate, since she's always disagreeing with the actions of the administration, but I don't know if she has enough technical know-how to have pulled it off. I guess we'll see.

[Assassin]

I had a feeling millie mite have been a doll, but it was more of a "wouldn't it be kool if" kind of thing...when they revealed her i was like ":O OMG I WAS RITE?? FRIGGIN AWESOME"

As for the saboteur, my money's on the asian assistant chick. She just appeared out of no where, we dont know much about her and she's rarely seen. Also she seems to be the only other person we've seen so far with the requisite technical background to pull something like that off.

I love the idea of triggers...it seems whedon has a thing for subliminal triggers as well. River, in the Serenity movie also had a psycho ninja trigger if you recall. I wonder if all the operatives have built in triggers, or only millie.

[Munsu]

Just watched last Friday's episode, and it was excellent. I like that Ballard can handle himself, even against a killer machine doll. I didn't know about Millie being a doll, but I suspected that something was going to happen just because I didn't think DeWitt was going to give that handler that type of mission without some real punishment, so I was sure there was some sort of trap there. Also, DeWitt killing Millie like that would've taken all the sympathy towards her from the viewers, so it really wouldn't have worked well going forward... at least it's too early for her to start sending people to assassinate good people.

I really liked the "Real Sex"-like interviews.

As for the mole, well I think it's the asian chick from NCIS. And I have a feeling that DeWitt might be involved in this too.

[Penner]

Well she was a mole in NCIS aswell (double-agent i think, been a while since those eps..) so it would be kinda silly if she was one in this aswell but you never know, perhaps she was cast as a mole in Dollhouse because they liked her mole-acting skillz from NCIS :P

[Honoko]

As for the mole, well I think it's the asian chick from NCIS. And I have a feeling that DeWitt might be involved in this too.
Thank you for verifying. I had suspected, but was too lazy to look it up on IMDB.

[Yukimura]

I wonder if all the operatives have built in triggers, or only millie.
I certainly hope not, that seems like a recipe for an army of Alphas. I remember when Echo's handler asked the programmer about giving all the actives ninja skills he said they'd tried it before and it didn't turn out so well. On the other hand that trigger phrase was somewhat obscure and not likely to come up in regular conversation, still I'd probably have put my trigger phrase in some obscure dead language just to be sure.

As to the mole my first thought went to the NCIS girl, but first that seems to easy since she has so little backstory anyway. Penner also brings up a good point in that she's already been cast as a mole in another primetime show. While it breaks the fourth wall to think about it this way it would still be kind of silly from a casting standpoint to put an actor who has a history of being a mole into a role where she'd be on the list of potential mole candidates and then having it turn out to be her. Viewers do watch other shows and have memories. Instead of liking her for it I will go out into left field and throw out the scarred doctor's as the mole. She doesn't seem particularly happy about her job or the organization and is already more or less ignored by everyone (a handy trait for a mole). Maybe she's bitter about the whole Alpha fiasco, or maybe she secretly fell in love with him after he rearranged her face. Who knows, I just don't want it to be the most obvious person. My next choice would be the programming nerd. That's so unobvious based on his personality that they could be going for the 'bet you didn't think it could ever be him!' angle.

[Assassin]

well, i trust wheddon's story telling style, so im sure we'll be pleasantly surprised once its revealed.

[Honoko]

So.... I guess it's safe to say that last week's episode was quite "meh"? Meet Caroline: animal rights activist.

[Ryllharu]

but...but....thigh high lace stockings and fuck me pumps!

Her past was definitely meh, but I can't say Joss Whedon doesn't know how to keep my attention, shallow as I may be.

The rest was a lot better, the way the admins of the Dollhouse reacted to the chemical adding some comedy relief and some revealing some important things to Echo/Caroline if she continues to go all Alpha and remember more and more of each persona, as well as learning a little bit more about what they do to the dolls to make them so different. Plus revealing at least a little of who not to make enemies with if you don't want to end up so screwed over you have to sign up.

[Assassin]

Damn....alot of shit happened this week. DeWitt isn't the stone cold bitch she seemed to be at first. It was nice to see her vulnerabilities. The writing's been top quality so far in this show and im loving it.

[Penner]

Yep, nothing bad to say at all really.

[Penner]

yay more Dollhouse!

I liked Tophers play day with his Sierra imprint, he seems kinda lonely... he should totally hook up with Dr Saunders ^^

Also, imprinting yourself on a new body after death... thats some fucking Orochimaru shit right there, awesome!

[Abdula]

From the imprint he gave Sierra it seems to me that if he is going to hook up with anyone he works with, though I doubt they'd allow that, it would probably be his assistant.

[Penner]

Yeah probably true, Dr Saunders is abit too quiet/calm compared to Tophers personality but they both seem kinda lonely ;P

[Assassin]

ok, im only half way thru the ep, but let me just say, Helo + Walsh = awesome.

Edit:

Holy fucking shit....wow. that was one hell of an awesome ep.

alpha + echo = sexyness

[Penner]

That was EPIC!!!
Man this was so fucking good its off the charts!

A buffed up(from the looks of it) Wash playing Alpha, this is some serious awesomesauce right here, i pray to whatever god is listening that they won't cancel this show.

Edit:

I honestly didn't think anything would beat the season finale of Chuck in a while but damnit if Whedon didnt pull it off, he truly is the shit!

[Assassin]

definately...that man knows how to make awesome shows

[Ryllharu]

definately...that man knows how to make awesome shows
But always lets the broadcaster screw up the beginning of it, and the airtime, dooming it to a too-early demise.

Didn't see that twist coming at all.

[Yukimura]

A nice reveal but it got revealed a little too early from his demeanor. I liked the way things turned out though. I went into this ep expecting that Ballard would turn out to be a split personality of Alpha, my main clue being his single minded obsession with Caroline to the exclusion of all the other victims.

What started to bother me was the inconsistencies in Alpha's behavior starting about the time he got to Dr. Sanders' computer. He started out as a cowardly pot head mechanical systems designer than all of a sudden he was a claiming to be able to bring down all of the Dollhouse's security if simply allowed access to a terminal. This was why I became sure he was playing on Ballards obsession and was a lot more than he seemed. First, he said he had just designed the shell of the building and the recycling system, then all of a sudden he was a pro at their computer system and then he claims he designed the sleep pods and then next time we see him he's all "I'm in ur base h@xin ur C02 & alarms". A mere designer shouldn't have been able to do all that without ever having seen the systems before.

[Munsu]

Just watched the episode, it was great... loved the parallels with the prince saving the princess, which was a theme in this episode in 3 or 4 different manners.

Alan Tudyk was great as Alpha... good job casting him for the part.

Ratings keep getting lower, I don't think this has any chance of getting renewed. We can hope I guess if it has strong DVD sales, though I doubt that will be enough.

[Munsu]

Here's an interview with Alan Tudyk (Alpha) for those interested:
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/05/dollhouse-exclu.html

[Penner]

Good reading, thanks!

[Penner]

INTERVIEW: Alan Tudyk on Dollhouse Finale and the V Pilot (http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6856&Itemid=99)

Edit:
Ohoo, Morena Baccarin also in the V remake playing the alien leader? awesomecake!

[Penner]

The Grand Finale!

I WANT MORE! DONT CANCEL THIS!

Edit:

Son of a bitch!

I just checked the site i linked in the "TV Shows Renewed" thread (this (http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/04/fall-tv-cheat-s.html)) and according to that, Dollhouse has gone from "Could go either way" to now being a "Longshot".

God damnit.

[Ryllharu]

I don't know, I liked the finale, but the sappy crap with Echo and Caroline (who I didn't like in the flashback episode and loathed here) really got to me. Especially the line about a black president. It was like Disney teen movie material. It was really contrived, and totally lame. Caroline can stay on that wedge for the rest of Echo's life for all I care.

Other than the stuff with Caroline, I liked it. I loved the part where DeWitt sent out Ballard knowing that the Feds would think he was insane. A lot of good groundwork all season long helped them out. No one takes that jackass serious anymore. I'm surprised they didn't arrest him for a "false terrorist threat."

The most interesting part was that Dr. Saunders/Whiskey was programmed by Topher to absolutely hate him. Too bad we'll probably never see that plot thread to the end.

[Penner]

And now for the ep itself.. awesome!

So, Saunders is a doll, and was the rank1 active during her 'assignment days'.
I have to admit i really didnt think she was a doll ...sure there was always the possibility of her being a doll since pretty much anyone in the show can be one and not know it, nevertheless, nice reveal!

Alpha was a criminal and cut peoples faces before he was even enrolled in the dollhouse, that explains a little that even at the depths of his "core/soul" he is abit fucked up.
And Tudyk is so great to watch when he has his little mini-arguments with his other selfs :D

Echo is somewhat the opposite of Alpha at her core, as he thinks of them as gods, she thinks of them as nothing because they are not even themselves anymore.


RANT
I really wish 'they' would stop fucking Whedon over all the time and let him do a longer running show (aside from Buffy/Angel) and put his shows on a better timeslot and not on the end of the week "timeslot-of-death" when everyone goes out and parties or whatever, ofcourse the show wont have as good ratings as shows that air earlier in the week. Retarded tv studios >.<
/RANT

[Penner]

I loved the part where DeWitt sent out Ballard knowing that the Feds would think he was insane.

I thought he actually said all that stuff about the Dollhouse to the FBI dude on purpose, knowing he wouldnt believe him and just write it off as another one of his crazy dollhouse obsession antics :P

[Ryllharu]

I thought he actually said all that stuff about the Dollhouse to the FBI dude on purpose, knowing he wouldnt believe him and just write it off as another one of his crazy dollhouse obsession antics :P
You have a lot of faith in his intelligence, despite all evidence throughout the series that only showed the contrary.

[Penner]

Nah just the way he told DeWitt that he could fix/take care of this, and that after he told the FBI all the dollhouse shit and they left, he turned to the security cam and smiled, that was the biggest hint that he knew all along that FBI guy would just think it was another one of his crazy theories and dismiss it.

[Honoko]

This is definitely one of those series that need a lot of momentum before really showing how great the story can be. So much groundwork and little hope for an actual build =(

I thought the finale was somewhat unsatisfactory. Why would Echo, who can clearly feel all her personalities and still be rational about it agree to go back to the Dollhouse? And the fact that the FBI agent appears so easily in cahoots with the Dollhouse staff seems really contrived, especially with regards to how they were trying to kill him all year long =P To hell with Dollhouse. Bring back Firefly!

[Penner]

We all want Firefly back but alas, its just a dream!

[Munsu]

There are rumors of a possible renewal for this show. For 13 episodes, given that Joss agrees to significantly lower the budget.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/05/15/dollhouse-renewal-rumors/18711

Edit: Looks like this is pretty much a done deal:
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/primetime-pilot-panic-fox-gives-joss-whedons-dollhouse-2nd-season/
http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/05/dollhouse-second-season.html

[Penner]

Fuck Yeah!

[Honoko]

I'm so slow on the uptake. I only found out just now! Woohoo!

[Penner]

Well its officially renewed now :P

[Assassin]

w00t! props to whedon for being able to play to fox's greed and show them they can actually MAKE money from this show if they give it a chance.

[Munsu]

A bit of a scoop:


Question: With Sarah Connor Chronicles canceled, please tell me there is a possibility of Summer Glau making an appearance on Dollhouse! --Jenn

Ausiello: The noise you're about to hear is the sound of the Whedonverse exploding. Joss confirms to me exclusively that, well, he's one step ahead of you. "If anybody thinks [bringing Summer onto Dollhouse] hasn't occurred to me already then they have not met me," he says. "I mentioned it to her before [SCC] was canceled. I was like, 'You know, we should get you in the 'house.' But first we have to come up with something that works." And casting her as a doll would not work, insists Whedon. "Summer would be perfect to play an active, but she's done that [type of role] a lot," he says. "I'd rather see her play someone who talks too much. The most fun I have is when I get somebody who's good and comfortable at doing something, and then I make them do something else. Summer said to me, 'I would like to play a normal girl before I die of extreme old age.'" Got any ideas? Head to the comments section!

Beware of spoilers for other shows:
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/05/ask-ausiello--3.html

I guess something positive can come out of Terminator being cancelled.

[Penner]

Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeee *crazyfanboyshriek*

[Assassin]

This show gets more orgasmic every time i hear about it.

Now imagine the entire cast of Firefly and BSG appearing on dollhouse.....a whole bunch of awesome actors in a whedon show. Its just icing on the proverbial cake, if the cake is made of pure win and the icing is the ground up horn of a unicorn also made of pure win.

[Penner]

Oh my god if they got Nathan Fillion as a regular on this show...i don't even know how to put the awesomeness that would explode from it to words... it would melt my brain.

[Penner]

Joss Whedon talks abit about Dollhouse season 2 (http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/06/joss-whedon-buffy-dollhouse-1.html)

[Munsu]

Here's a clip from episode 13 that never aired, but will be on the season 1 dvd:
http://watching-tv.ew.com/2009/07/dollhouse-epitaph-joss-whedon-1.html

[KitKat]

Has everyone had a chance to watch episode 13? This is the Dollhouse I've been waiting for, and this is why I love Joss Whedon. He can take a situation and ask some thought-provoking ethical questions, but he doesn't just leave it there. He takes it to the extreme, and asks what you do once all hell breaks loose. Firefly/Serenity was somewhat like this too. He asks what you do when humanity has done something unspeakable. This episode is perhaps the best of the season, and I guess I can see why Fox chose not to air it since it is quite different from the rest of season 1, but for me, this is what Dollhouse really is. I would be ecstatic if all of season 2 picked up where this episode left off, even though I know it's not going to happen. I'm a sucker for the post-apocalyptic sci-fi.

Actually, now that I think about it, this reminded me a lot of a book I read recently called 'Shade's Children' by Garth Nix (he wrote the Abhorsen trilogy, if any of you are familiar with it....all fantastic books that you should go read now if you haven't).

[TwisT]

Yea it was awesome. But i just got the feeling this might have been a "series finale"-episode as if the series wouldn't got picked up for another season this would have been shown to give it a decent ending and then when it got picked up it was no reason to air it and gave it as a bonus for those buying the DVD. I'm probably wrong here but it was my first thought when i watched this episode because of the big difference from the rest of the season. That and it had some ending quality's with the whole "end of the world" scenario and Caroline taking them to to this sanctuary.

I don't know how i would feel if season 2 picked up from there. If i would prefer the whole season 1 or if i would want a future sci-fi. Both sound great. All i know is that it would turn out great no matter what happens. It's Joss Whedon after all ^^

[Assassin]

That ep blew my mind. Thats all i can say.

[Penner]

Think i'll watch it tomorrow, just got the 720p version.

[Penner]

New, and awesome, Dollhouse season 2 poster (http://reporter.blogs.com/.a/6a00d83451d69069e20120a50e5aaa970b-pi)

This is actually my new wallpaper, thats how much i liked it.
(i removed the date/channel in the bottom tho)

[Assassin]

Damn that looks nice

[Penner]

Oscar Winner Keith Carradine to appear in Dollhouse (http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/08/22/exclusive-oscar-winner-enters-dollhouse/)

[Penner]

Summer Glau joins Dollhouse (http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/08/summer-glau-joins-dollhouse.html)

This show just got even more awesome, <3 Glau and everything Whedon.

[Assassin]

lol nice....all we need now is Nathan Fillion, and it'll be perfect.

[Penner]

So true.

[Yukimura]

Just downloaded and watched the Dollhouse DVD Special Ep - Epitaph One (http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/5009748/Dollhouse.S01E13.Unaired.DVDRip.XviD-REWARD.5009748.TPB.torrent) it was both excellent and disturbing. According to Whedon (via the Dollhouse wiki) the ep was not really expected to air but the money people wanted one more episode for DVD sales or some such but didn't want to pony up the cash to produce it. He apparently also mentioned that the future portrayed in the episode is sthe canonical ending/eventual future of the Dollhouse universe. The events shown in the flashbacks may not portray exactly what happened leading up to it though since they were memories downloaded from people and thus potentially flawed.

I'm not sure I like the idea that the Dollhouse world will end up like that but at least there's hope left. I thought some of the eps of the first season were rather bland and uninteresting but seeing that it's all heading for what was portrayed in Epitaph One I'm a lot more interested in finding out how the world gets to that point now. I just hope I can suffer through enough of Paul and Caroline's frustrating personalities to get through to the season.

[Munsu]

Just watched the two dvd-only episodes.

For the pilot, I can now see why the network was displeased with it and made Whedon change it. Although Whedon improved on it a bit, the beginning of the season didn't depart as good as it could've. They should've kept the Caroline/Paul meeting in the early episodes somehow. I think it would've made the launch of the series better.

As for Epitaph, wow talk about completely awesome. I don't know why, but that "To Remember" wall got to me a bit in the end. Anyways, looking forward to the next season. Been looking for promos for the next season, but all the ones I've found a pure crap.

First episode will be directed by Whedon himself. It airs on the 25th, two weeks from now.

[Penner]

Ray Wise moves into 'Dollhouse' (http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/09/15/exclusive-ray-wise-moves-into-dollhouse/)

That guy was fucking perfect as Satan in 'Reaper', this is great!

Seriously, the awesome news for this show just keeps piling on, Season 2 is going to be BADASS.

[Munsu]

Wow, that's great. I really love Ray Wise. He's been really good in just about every part I've seen him play. Dollhouse is really stacking up, particularly impressive since they've cut their budget.

[Kusanagi]

Anyone else looking forward to the premiere tonight??

I agree with you guys saying Epitaph One was an awesome episode. It really cemented me as a fan of the show and now, I'm left just wanting to find out how the world got screwed up like that.

[Penner]

I think i read somewhere in an interview with Joss Whedon that they did Epitaph One as a place the story would head(or end up at) when they thought they were going to get cancelled and not get a second season, but when they got renewed i think Joss said something that the future might have changed from what was shows in that ep.

Can't recall with 100% certainty tho :P

[KitKat]

Speaking of interviews with Joss Whedon, here's a good one (http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/telefile/2009/09/welcome-back-to-the-dollhouse.php) that hints at some of the awesomeness to come in this season.

It warmed my geeky little heart to see Jamie Bamber in this episode, and I found it strangely hilarious to see him and Ballard duking it out together. It's hard not to think of them as Apollo and Helo. I think one of the most surprising moments was when he cracked Echo's head off of the desk. I figured he was still suspicious and going to do something, but damn, that looked brutal.

I really like what they're doing with Amy Acker's character and it's a shame that they couldn't afford to keep her for more episodes. I think that out of all of them, she presents the most interesting dilemma. If you find out that your whole personality was programmed, how do you figure out what about you is real and what is fake, or does it even matter? The final exchange between her and Topher was probably the most honest we've seen him throughout the show. She's the only one that has succeeded in stripping away his bravado and revealing his doubts and insecurities about himself.

I'm glad that they've officially come out and stated that now Echo is aware of all her personalities all the time. Even if Caroline isn't one of them, she still has Caroline's crusader zeal to fight for a cause. It seems there are some things that the wiping process just can't remove, no matter how hard they try. I think this is the main difference between Echo and Whiskey - Echo always has a purpose and a cause, whereas Whiskey is still trying to find her purpose. Echo and Ballard together is almost a frightening combination because they are both extremely focused individuals and won't give up on what they decide to fight for. They could run into problems though if they don't learn to work together effectively.

Can't wait for next week's episode!

[Penner]

I agree with everything in your post, you nailed it ^_^

Only thing i wanted more was to see atleast a little of what Alpha is up to.

[Assassin]

the casting for this show keeps getting better and better....next thing we know, the guy in charge of Rosim (or whatever that company is) will be Bill Adama.

[Penner]

Fun little thingy: Virtual Desktop Echo (http://www.fox.com/dollhouse/virtualecho/)

^_^

[Penner]

Saul Tigh in da house ^^

[KitKat]

I love these BSG guest appearances. Looks like the XO was taken out fairly easily by his psychopath nephew. Too bad he didn't get to have a fight scene like Apollo did.

Victor as "Kiki" was pretty funny. I'm a little disturbed that now Echo has a serial killer inside her mind. Since we now know that she retains all of her personalities even after she's wiped, this could present some serious problems for the future. Serious enough that she told those women to kill her because it would be the ONLY way to keep him from coming after them again.

I find it interesting to watch the technology evolving, bringing us closer to the post-apocalyptic world we saw in Epitaph One. Looks like remote wiping, as well as remote switching has been established and is likely repeatable. The reach and capabilities of the Dollhouse has just increased in a frightening way.

[Penner]

Fox pushes 'Dollhouse' until December (http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/10/fox-pushes-dollhouse-into-december-.html#more)

This will probably hurt the shows chances of getting renewed for a third season alot...

But atleast we'll get a double-dose of Dollhouse for 3 fridays in December, so theres that..

[Munsu]

Not surprised, but saddened.... series got cancelled.

[Penner]

Bah, sad news indeed..

[TwisT]

Both sad and happy. Sad that a great series is canceled, but to be fair it was Joss Whedon's worst show so far that I've seen. Both Buffy and Firefly was so much better then Dollhouse, and if Angel (it's the next show on my list to watch) is anything close to Buffy it's gonna be better too. So in that perspective it's kind of good it's over because that frees him up for new stuff. Hopefully he comes up with something made of pure awesomeness like Firefly.

[Munsu]

Here's a great interview by Whedon:
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/12/dollhouse-fox-joss-whedon.html

Tonight we have a double episode featuring Summer Glau, should be good episodes.

I also learned that the series finale will return to setting of Epitaph, with an episode called Epitaph Two: The Return.

[Penner]

Anyone seen all the new eps yet?

SO AWESOME.

[Kusanagi]

Anyone seen all the new eps yet?

SO AWESOME.

Yes they were, and I think that is the prettiest I have ever seen Summer Glau.

[Assassin]

oh man, just saw the latest ep....

WHAT!?!?!

Did not see that coming.

More to come later

[Munsu]

Well, it's done. Last friday was the last episode of the series. Hopefully Wheddon will get back on the saddle soon.

[Assassin]

nice end to a nice series

[Munsu]

Good ending then? I still need to watch this season... wasn't in the mood knowing it was going to be cancelled, but with a good ending I might just watch it sooner.

[Assassin]

Well it was as good as they could make it in my opinion while still cleaning up all the storylines....but i think it was the execution that i found very satisfying rather then the ending itself. That is to say, if it had to end, this was the way to go.

[Penner]

Good ending then? I still need to watch this season... wasn't in the mood knowing it was going to be cancelled, but with a good ending I might just watch it sooner.

I felt exactly the same, and i stalled until now and i finally thought "lets just get this over with"...

So just finished watching the last 3 eps in one go... and my god, it was completely fantastic, i tip my hat to you once again Mr Whedon, you are the master.

Perfect ending for a great show.