Recap: Dollhouse 1.1
Never tried this before, so let's see how it goes. Note that I took notes while I was watching, so if I missed anything, then, you know - it's not my fault.
Eliza Dushka, who I have a bit of a girlcrush on, enters the scene: but is something up with her face? It looks…off. I don’t know, maybe I’ve just never seen it in HD before. Gotta love technology.
Anyway, cut to our newfound heroine, apparently, being badass in leather pants that…disappear? She’s wearing something that I’m assuming is meant to be a shirt, because there is no way that covers all the important parts. She parties a little with her pretty boyfriend, then gets in a sketchy black van and rides away.
Now, members of the Dollhouse call themselves “humanitarians” - so are they good guys or bad? I’m going with bad here since apparently the emperor’s wife has been “taken care of” by Echo, and the comment about the police shutting them down sounds, well - this obviously isn’t the job you want your daughter doing.
Okay, so we’re kidnapping now - is this the leader or something? Lady with the accent from Scene 1 is telling him the “actives” will do his job just fine, but that they’re not gonna remember doing whatever it is they’re doing. We get it, they’re programmed; what I don’t get is whose side we’re on here.
Cut to Echo getting fixed up by some girl with a bunch of scars acting very confused. Echo heads to the “massage area” (man, this place is great), while Scar makes a call. Annnnnd…there it is. Echo walks in another girl getting programmed, or something. Personally, I prefer Badass Eliza to Cher over here, who has no idea what’s going on and keeps on asking questions.
Oh, and here’s the name: Case Dollhouse - a boxer dude whose done some bad stuff claims the Dollhouse exists. Typical. No one’s gonna listen to crazy-boy who talks about the perfect women set up to be everything. “The only way to imprint someone with a personality is to remove their own,” he says. That’s how come post-partying Echo is so boring - she’s empty. Anyway, crazy-boy’s told to back off, that he’s an idiot, blah blah blah.
Back to Echo, getting re-programmed. And here’s the fun part folks: what’ll she be this time? Accent Lady informs us that she’s catching a kidnapper…alright, so they’re good guys? I’m gonna hold off on that, for now. Echo comes out in full-out librarian gear, and you just know that whatever Whedonverse fanboys weren’t drooling over the leather and shirt-dress are falling on the floor right about now.
Echo’s told she’s not right for the job, and she pulls some lawyer-talk to get back on top. And by the way, I really want her suit right now. We’re told a little more about the Dollhouse thing, like the fact that they can not only change her personality but also her eyesight - who knows what else. Why give her bad eyesight? Everyone has flaws. She has asthma, too.
She’s smooth and negotiates with the kidnapper to…get the price up? Because there’s more than one kidnapper?
Crazy-boy’s back, stalking someone. Echo gets back on the phone with the kidnapper only to hang up again, but she does manage to get the daughter on the phone. Aw, father-daughter Hallmark moment - before Echo interrupts. “You have to trust I’ve done this many times,” she says. Father laughs: “You have to make me believe.” Echo says she was kidnapped, that’s why she is who she is - well, who she thinks she is, anyway. There’s a glitch in the Dollhouse, apparently, and she sees some flashes of girls being programmed. So…is it just Echo, or what?
Cut back to crazy-boy, holding a gun to someone’s head. Dollhouse! Dollhouse! Dollhouse! Get me information! Dollhouse!
Echo and Father go to the dock to meet the kidnapper. Strategically placed man-with-sniper (who is also the one making deals with Accent Lady and Father from before) is hiding out while she negotiates. And then Echo has, um, an asthma attack? And apparently asthma attacks = lying, so Father starts yelling for daughter and he gets shot. “You can’t fight a ghost,” Echo wheezes. Um, okay, whatever you say, honey.
Aw, that cute PC commercial is on!
Right, back to the show. Echo mumbles nonsense that apparently means the kidnapper is also her kidnapper or her personality’s kidnapper or something. And did I mention I want this suit, too?
Echo needs a “treatment,” but she doesn’t understand that she can’t get it if she’s gonna find this dude, because, well, she won’t remember how to find him. Accent Lady and man-with-a-sniper fight over whether to clear Echo’s head or not, but Accent Lady’s got the upper-hand here. She gives in at the end, and Echo is so ready to kick some kidnapping ass.
She psycho-analyzes the phone call with the kidnapper and determines that there’s gotta be someone Daughter knows previously working behind the scenes here. She takes a few puffs from her inhaler and BA-YAM. We’re told Echo’s personality implant is dead-afraid of this guy, even killed herself over him.
Echo busts in on the kidnappers and tells the main guy’s acquaintances to getthefuckout, this dude is crazy. She knows from experience, ya’ll. After, her big speech, main guy gets shot and Echo jolts with Daughter. And then…another Doll walks in, and shoots everyone. They get the girl, the money, and OUT.
There’s the obligatory shower scene, and then, very creepily, there’s a guy watching a video of Echo…clearly before she became a Doll. And there’s a dead guy. And a dead girl. Just lying there.
And Echo and her friends get implanted again. Annnnnd SCENE.
Overall: I’m likin’ the concept. And I have faith in Miz Dushku, who never fails to entertain me. I also have faith in Whedon - but I’m hoping for some kickass storylines or it’s just gonna get confusing.
Eliza Dushka, who I have a bit of a girlcrush on, enters the scene: but is something up with her face? It looks…off. I don’t know, maybe I’ve just never seen it in HD before. Gotta love technology.
Anyway, cut to our newfound heroine, apparently, being badass in leather pants that…disappear? She’s wearing something that I’m assuming is meant to be a shirt, because there is no way that covers all the important parts. She parties a little with her pretty boyfriend, then gets in a sketchy black van and rides away.
Now, members of the Dollhouse call themselves “humanitarians” - so are they good guys or bad? I’m going with bad here since apparently the emperor’s wife has been “taken care of” by Echo, and the comment about the police shutting them down sounds, well - this obviously isn’t the job you want your daughter doing.
Okay, so we’re kidnapping now - is this the leader or something? Lady with the accent from Scene 1 is telling him the “actives” will do his job just fine, but that they’re not gonna remember doing whatever it is they’re doing. We get it, they’re programmed; what I don’t get is whose side we’re on here.
Cut to Echo getting fixed up by some girl with a bunch of scars acting very confused. Echo heads to the “massage area” (man, this place is great), while Scar makes a call. Annnnnd…there it is. Echo walks in another girl getting programmed, or something. Personally, I prefer Badass Eliza to Cher over here, who has no idea what’s going on and keeps on asking questions.
Oh, and here’s the name: Case Dollhouse - a boxer dude whose done some bad stuff claims the Dollhouse exists. Typical. No one’s gonna listen to crazy-boy who talks about the perfect women set up to be everything. “The only way to imprint someone with a personality is to remove their own,” he says. That’s how come post-partying Echo is so boring - she’s empty. Anyway, crazy-boy’s told to back off, that he’s an idiot, blah blah blah.
Back to Echo, getting re-programmed. And here’s the fun part folks: what’ll she be this time? Accent Lady informs us that she’s catching a kidnapper…alright, so they’re good guys? I’m gonna hold off on that, for now. Echo comes out in full-out librarian gear, and you just know that whatever Whedonverse fanboys weren’t drooling over the leather and shirt-dress are falling on the floor right about now.
Echo’s told she’s not right for the job, and she pulls some lawyer-talk to get back on top. And by the way, I really want her suit right now. We’re told a little more about the Dollhouse thing, like the fact that they can not only change her personality but also her eyesight - who knows what else. Why give her bad eyesight? Everyone has flaws. She has asthma, too.
She’s smooth and negotiates with the kidnapper to…get the price up? Because there’s more than one kidnapper?
Crazy-boy’s back, stalking someone. Echo gets back on the phone with the kidnapper only to hang up again, but she does manage to get the daughter on the phone. Aw, father-daughter Hallmark moment - before Echo interrupts. “You have to trust I’ve done this many times,” she says. Father laughs: “You have to make me believe.” Echo says she was kidnapped, that’s why she is who she is - well, who she thinks she is, anyway. There’s a glitch in the Dollhouse, apparently, and she sees some flashes of girls being programmed. So…is it just Echo, or what?
Cut back to crazy-boy, holding a gun to someone’s head. Dollhouse! Dollhouse! Dollhouse! Get me information! Dollhouse!
Echo and Father go to the dock to meet the kidnapper. Strategically placed man-with-sniper (who is also the one making deals with Accent Lady and Father from before) is hiding out while she negotiates. And then Echo has, um, an asthma attack? And apparently asthma attacks = lying, so Father starts yelling for daughter and he gets shot. “You can’t fight a ghost,” Echo wheezes. Um, okay, whatever you say, honey.
Aw, that cute PC commercial is on!
Right, back to the show. Echo mumbles nonsense that apparently means the kidnapper is also her kidnapper or her personality’s kidnapper or something. And did I mention I want this suit, too?
Echo needs a “treatment,” but she doesn’t understand that she can’t get it if she’s gonna find this dude, because, well, she won’t remember how to find him. Accent Lady and man-with-a-sniper fight over whether to clear Echo’s head or not, but Accent Lady’s got the upper-hand here. She gives in at the end, and Echo is so ready to kick some kidnapping ass.
She psycho-analyzes the phone call with the kidnapper and determines that there’s gotta be someone Daughter knows previously working behind the scenes here. She takes a few puffs from her inhaler and BA-YAM. We’re told Echo’s personality implant is dead-afraid of this guy, even killed herself over him.
Echo busts in on the kidnappers and tells the main guy’s acquaintances to getthefuckout, this dude is crazy. She knows from experience, ya’ll. After, her big speech, main guy gets shot and Echo jolts with Daughter. And then…another Doll walks in, and shoots everyone. They get the girl, the money, and OUT.
There’s the obligatory shower scene, and then, very creepily, there’s a guy watching a video of Echo…clearly before she became a Doll. And there’s a dead guy. And a dead girl. Just lying there.
And Echo and her friends get implanted again. Annnnnd SCENE.
Overall: I’m likin’ the concept. And I have faith in Miz Dushku, who never fails to entertain me. I also have faith in Whedon - but I’m hoping for some kickass storylines or it’s just gonna get confusing.