"Dollhouse" Season Two Talkback (Spoilers)

[screw on head]

The Season Two premiere aired last night at 9pm on Fox - Watch it Now on Hulu!

Episode 2.01: "Vows"

Written and Directed By: Joss Whedon

Echo weds a mysterious stranger and Adelle brokers a deal.

[ABrown]

I really should give this show more of a chance. The thing though is, I don't know if I'll ever get over Joss and Eliza not making this a "Faith" Buffy-verse continuation. I know, it's like when you go to the DC Board and hear (or rather see) people upset that the DC Universe movies aren't DCAU movies.

I've only seen a little bit of this show. And it feels like without having seen EVERY second of this show, it's just too hard to get into it. I just have absolutely no idea what's going on whenever I see it.

[Ioz]

It got a 1.0/3 (Rating/Share) and 2.56 million viewers last night which is horrible. I'd be shocked if it made it past the new season 13 episode order (if it even makes it that far).

[screw on head]

Someone pointed out on Whedonesque that this is the first season premiere Joss Whedon has written and directed since Angel, which is kinda neat, because the first episode of the first season was a series premiere.

Anyone else weirded out that the entirety of the opening credits featured Eliza Dushku but none of the other actors?

Gotta say I wasn't knocked out by this, and I had about the same feeling about the series premiere. This did a lot of setting up but there wasn't much satisfying in this episode. I was kinda bummed that Jaime Bamber from BSG played a guest star and a weak one at that. Knowing his potential as an actor it's sort of lame that that's all we're going to see from him in this series.

I didn't really care much about Dr. Saunders in this episode. I didn't expect her escape and I think that's a fine direction to go with her, but her harassment over the tech guy didn't do much for me. Her reaching for the scalpel during her scene with Echo was cool so it'll be interesting to see where she's going from here on out. Will she find her place in society, or will she come back to the only place she knows?

Knowing Whedon the future episodes will be much more rewarding but this one was definately a let down compared to the pretty awesome season finale that came before.

[Hobbes829]

I don't think the premise lends itself to what most whedon fans love about him. Even though many of his shows have a darkness to them, it never felt hopeless and unhappy. Also, having a character that for the most part isn't a consistent personality week to week is offputting.

This doesn't fell like a joss whedon show.

Also, i never cared for Eliza Dushku

[creeper]

It got a 1.0/3 (Rating/Share) and 2.56 million viewers last night which is horrible. I'd be shocked if it made it past the new season 13 episode order (if it even makes it that far).

Fox doesn't really care about Dollhouse. It only let dollhouse continue for another season because everyone is aware what they did to firefly.

As for the ratings, what do you expect with a terrible pairing? Brothers as a lead in, come on. A sitcom and a sci fi show; it just doesn't make sense. The only thing that will save Dollhouse at this point will be the online tally; but, like I said before, fox doesn't care about Dollhouse anyway.

[Hobbes829]

Fox doesn't really care about Dollhouse. It only let dollhouse continue for another season because everyone is aware what they did to firefly.

As for the ratings, what do you expect with a terrible pairing? Brothers as a lead in, come on. A sitcom and a sci fi show; it just doesn't make sense. The only thing that will save Dollhouse at this point will be the online tally; but, like I said before, fox doesn't care about Dollhouse anyway.

to be fair, this isn't exactly joss's best idea either. Actually i think the studio has kept it on this long because they like joss and eliza.

[creeper]

to be fair, this isn't exactly joss's best idea either. Actually i think the studio has kept it on this long because they like joss and eliza.

The idea is sound, provided you have an actress that can pull it off. Eliza Dushku is not that actress. I think she would have been better suited to play an agent or something that doesn't require too much range. I didn't realize how much she sucked until they put her next to Alan Tudyk. Every time he switched personalities you knew; however, with Eliza it was the same person every time. Of course there's nothing they can do considering she's getting producer credits now.

[O-chan]

Wow! Even if a lot of you guys are right I'm just shocked at how much negativity is surrounding this show. I've always liked the show and haven't really made a big deal about its episode to episode dealings. I thought as a whole package (serial) the show worked well. But I guess I have to get on the boat that if this many people hate the show or find it underwhelming I guess it won't make it pass Episode 13.

Oh well, if it gets cancelled I'm sure Joss will continue it in comic book form.

O-chan

[creeper]

Wow! Even if a lot of you guys are right I'm just shocked at how much negativity is surrounding this show. I've always liked the show and haven't really made a big deal about its episode to episode dealings. I thought as a whole package (serial) the show worked well. But I guess I have to get on the boat that if this many people hate the show or find it underwhelming I guess it won't make it pass Episode 13.

Oh well, if it gets cancelled I'm sure Joss will continue it in comic book form.

O-chan

The show itself is worth watching. I love how the story plays out in the whedonverse. The casting of the other characters actually makes up for dushku's performances. The other people Joss has are pretty good good, especially amy acker. Her performance in the first ep was great. I hope she will be back for at least a few more eps.

[halinar]

Anyone else weirded out that the entirety of the opening credits featured Eliza Dushku but none of the other actors?

Yeah, that hit me right up front.... very odd.

Still strange that Amy Acker is also a "guest" on the show.

[screw on head]

Tonight's 3rd episode of the season was written by Tim Minear and directed by David Solomon, the team behind one of Firefly's best episodes, "Out of Gas."

I thought this was the strongest episode of the season so far. Knowing this was a Tim Minear episode I expected something dark and he definately delivered upfront by starting the episode with a serial killer. I didn't expect him to go into coma right off the bat - I expected him to kidnap Echo or one of the actives to complete his mannequin collection.

This delivered a lot of nice twists and more humor than I expected, which contrasted well against the dark stuff in the episode. My only major complaint was the captive women were stopped too soon. I think it would've been far more effective and disturbing if they actually did come close to killing Echo and taking their revenge on the killer. Stopping them so quickly steals away all the suspense and also robs the scene of its horror movie feel.

The season still hasn't come together yet. It's getting there. I thought the last episode with Echo's motherly instincts kicking in was actually really good, but given it was a one-off story it didn't feel to progress the series anywhere. Hopefully the next few episodes hit closer to home at the Dollhouse and start to lead into some of the stronger threads in this season...

[Robin2099]

Fox doesn't really care about Dollhouse. It only let dollhouse continue for another season because everyone is aware what they did to firefly.

Not exactly. Fox didn't keep it because of Firefly. They kept it because the production company agreed to the budget cuts, and because Joss Whedon series' always do gangbusters on DVD.

As for Dollhouse, I just can't get into it. I try, but I just can't. With his other series, he always main characters that were likable, and supporting cast members that complimented them well. Here, it's hard to do that when your main characters personality changes each week,and the other times she has no personality. Honestly, this just feels like an inferior version of The Pretender, but with a female lead.

[The Penguin]

I'm not one for posting news that I don't have a personal interest in, but I stumbled across this article over on TVGuide.com...

Another Effort to Save Dollhouse Under Way

When the fans start driving after two episodes have aired, that just can't be a good sign. Who knows, maybe the demonstration throughout the season will mean more than a last ditch effort when the full season ends, but wow.

[screw on head]

I'm surprised there aren't more personal views of the episodes themselves so far.

To talk very generally about the series, I wouldn't worry too much for Dollhouse, since it beat Smallville's ratings last night and rose 11% compared to its ratings last week. It didn't air opposite Smallville but the higher take it got this week shows it isn't doing atrociously.

I wouldn't put much stock at all in fears of cancellation. It's a bit bizarre that TV Guide would link to a fan site wholesale rather than be a legitimate information gatherer and get word from official sources. Whedon fans are just being pre-empitve and a bit paranoid, ready to rally its forces, rather than sit back and see how the ratings progress. Whedon fans are taking it week by week living in perpetual fear of Fox and it's extemely odd TV Guide doesn't acknowledge the fans' motioning as nothing but business as usual. Whedon fans didn't just suddenly put up announcements to help the series - those ordinances have always been in effect for them, even during the first season.

Edit Oct 12th: The Hollywood Reporter relays confirmation by Fox that all 13 Season Two episodes will air.

[Master Moron]

It got a 1.0/3 (Rating/Share) and 2.56 million viewers last night which is horrible. I'd be shocked if it made it past the new season 13 episode order (if it even makes it that far).

This may not affect its chances for renewal, but if you include the DVR viewers its ratings go up to a 1.5 and it gains a million more viewers.

[creeper]

Wow!! What a great episode. It's sad when the absence of the main character makes the episode better. I love Eliza Dushku; but, she needs to stick to one character. What's expected of her is too diverse for her range. I loved the whole exchange between Topher and Sierra. Seems Topher isn't as full of himself as we thought. It also seems he has a better understanding of the part he plays; as well as, the consequences that go with it.

Boyd really stepped up this episode. I wonder where agent Ballard was; because, his lack of presence was noticed; but, not necessarily missed. I would love to see more story for Victor. I remember when they touched a bit on his story. It seems he still retains some memories.

[Ioz]

Dollhouse got a bad .8 rating last night.

Fox is pulling Josh Whedon’s drama “Dollhouse” from its schedule for November sweeps, EW.com reports, citing sources.


The struggling series will come back in December, with back-to-back Friday night episodes, a sign that the network is looking to end its run after the first 13 episodes are aired.

[EinBebop]

If they'd cancelled it with season one, it wouldn't have felt like a great loss... but now it's gotten SO GREAT.

[O-chan]

If they'd cancelled it with season one, it wouldn't have felt like a great loss... but now it's gotten SO GREAT.

A little Whedon history...

Buffy Season Five was godly and cancelled (on the WB)

Angel Season Five was excellent from "You're Welcome" on and canceled

Firefly was awesome and canceled

and now Dollhouse Season Two is turning into excellent Joss territory and already canceled.

There seems to be a direct correlation between how awesome a Whedon show gets and it being canceled.

The good thing is that thanks to Season One's unaired "Epitaph One" we already know where things are headed and technically we already have a "closure point" for the series.

Besides that, there's the good chance that the untapped seasons could end up in comic book form (I'm looking at you Dark Horse and IDW).

O-chan