Dollhouse
I am going to talk TV again here, I dont do it very often (I think) but I just want to sort my thoughts out on this show before they get tainted by the internet etc. There will be spoilers (Hence the cut) but I will try to keep them to a minimum so that if you read my thoughts you will still be able to enjoy the show.
Premise
The show is at its core about blank slates. People who for whatever reason have given up thier bodys to the company Dollhouse. These bodys are programmed with memorys and experiences so that they can perform a specific function for rich clients. Really to me watching the first episode it is simply the pretender with some variations namely
1. The big company controls them instead of trying to catch them
2. The are programmed instead of being a genius who can intergrate themselves
The main characters blank slate name is Echo. She gets a new name every mission she goes on.
Sub Story - There is a whole sub story of an FBI guy trying to uncover the Dollhouse, everyone he works with thinks he is nuts. Think Mulder from X-Files.
Good things about the show
It should give us interesting storylines with people kicking ass on a regular basis
It has Faith and Fred from Wheadon verse and Helo from BSG
Suspected Bad things about the show
1. Character Development - The main character is one of these blank slates, all the character development is going to be based around other peoples thoughts and feelings towards her and her kind. While at the same time they cant develop her character as its a blank slate that gets wiped every episode. I think any character development they do for her would ruin the premise of the show. I suspect this is whats going to get on my nerves the most.
2. Missions - This one I can easily be proved wrong on. But I just dont see that many different types of missions where one of these blank slates are going to be called on. I hope I am wrong.
3. Echo overcoming trauma - With the creation of memorys to make this person they throw in what could be classed as background info. These memorys have been taken from people and help build up the reason this person became what they did and why they are so good at it. However I just see every episode echo having to overcome something from one of these implanted memorys to get the job done.
The character development is going to make or break this show. When you essentially say the main character cant develop you either have to be very good with your side characters or your going to have to break your own rule and develop them, making them a special case to all the rest of the blank slates and in essence ruining the very premise the show is built on. Its going to be crucial to the longevity of the show.
What I think would have been better setting for the show would have been one set earlier in the Dollhouse life. When they were still perfecting the techniques used to implant memorys, still learning what is required. Maybe sometimes memorys slip through from mission to mission or the implant just erases after a set period of time and they need to deploy others to clean up things like that. It would allow for a lot more scope, some potential main character development and able to break up the seasons with more then just mission of the week.
Also does anyone else feel that at least one of the main admin people will turn out to be one of these blank slates programmed to do the job? Say the guy that implants the memorys, that has to be hard working out which memorys are going to be best suited to the job. It would be a huge twist if the whole place is run by blanks, that the origonal staff have all been replaced.
The show wasnt bad, but it wasnt extrodinary either. I will give it a couple more episodes and then make up my mind one way or the other, but I just feel like I am not really going to like it. I know Joss is well known for doing some unexpected things but after 1 episode I could already see where some things were going, I could be wrong, I hope I am, but I suspect I am not.
Premise
The show is at its core about blank slates. People who for whatever reason have given up thier bodys to the company Dollhouse. These bodys are programmed with memorys and experiences so that they can perform a specific function for rich clients. Really to me watching the first episode it is simply the pretender with some variations namely
1. The big company controls them instead of trying to catch them
2. The are programmed instead of being a genius who can intergrate themselves
The main characters blank slate name is Echo. She gets a new name every mission she goes on.
Sub Story - There is a whole sub story of an FBI guy trying to uncover the Dollhouse, everyone he works with thinks he is nuts. Think Mulder from X-Files.
Good things about the show
It should give us interesting storylines with people kicking ass on a regular basis
It has Faith and Fred from Wheadon verse and Helo from BSG
Suspected Bad things about the show
1. Character Development - The main character is one of these blank slates, all the character development is going to be based around other peoples thoughts and feelings towards her and her kind. While at the same time they cant develop her character as its a blank slate that gets wiped every episode. I think any character development they do for her would ruin the premise of the show. I suspect this is whats going to get on my nerves the most.
2. Missions - This one I can easily be proved wrong on. But I just dont see that many different types of missions where one of these blank slates are going to be called on. I hope I am wrong.
3. Echo overcoming trauma - With the creation of memorys to make this person they throw in what could be classed as background info. These memorys have been taken from people and help build up the reason this person became what they did and why they are so good at it. However I just see every episode echo having to overcome something from one of these implanted memorys to get the job done.
The character development is going to make or break this show. When you essentially say the main character cant develop you either have to be very good with your side characters or your going to have to break your own rule and develop them, making them a special case to all the rest of the blank slates and in essence ruining the very premise the show is built on. Its going to be crucial to the longevity of the show.
What I think would have been better setting for the show would have been one set earlier in the Dollhouse life. When they were still perfecting the techniques used to implant memorys, still learning what is required. Maybe sometimes memorys slip through from mission to mission or the implant just erases after a set period of time and they need to deploy others to clean up things like that. It would allow for a lot more scope, some potential main character development and able to break up the seasons with more then just mission of the week.
Also does anyone else feel that at least one of the main admin people will turn out to be one of these blank slates programmed to do the job? Say the guy that implants the memorys, that has to be hard working out which memorys are going to be best suited to the job. It would be a huge twist if the whole place is run by blanks, that the origonal staff have all been replaced.
The show wasnt bad, but it wasnt extrodinary either. I will give it a couple more episodes and then make up my mind one way or the other, but I just feel like I am not really going to like it. I know Joss is well known for doing some unexpected things but after 1 episode I could already see where some things were going, I could be wrong, I hope I am, but I suspect I am not.