Dollhouse

[thaumaturge]

I've tried to watch Dollhouse and had suspended my dissatisfaction with it over the past month, hoping that it would get better and something interesting would emerge. But after watching the latest episode I can't stand it anymore. There are simply no characters that I care about. Am I supposed to empathize with Ms. DeWitt--the stone-faced British

Comments

[stuffu]

WOW. hahahahaa.... have you........ just read my mind

[thaumaturge]

The show is designed primarily to be a procedural drama, where every week you have a more-or-less isolated story. After all, that seems to be the only format amenable to the premise that the protagonist's mind is erased at the end of every episode. This is almost self-defeating, though, since half the reason people watch procedural dramas is for the characters, and when you have lousy characters that nobody cares about, there is no reason to watch the show. Would the X-Files be good without Mulder and Scully? The other half is, of course, the situations presented in each episode. Even here, Dollhouse just uses a boring succession of generic action sequences

[other]

My understanding is that it isn't supposed to be a procedural. There is a five year arc and once Echo keeps all her memories, things are going to change.

Also Dushku wasn't chosen for the role, she explained to Joss what show she would want over lunch and Joss came up with the premise then and there.

I like the show, but I'm not gaga over it. Given that I'm completely bored with Heroes and Sarah Connor and Battlestar Galactica is almost over, I'm going to see where it goes.

[thaumaturge]

It many not be intended as a procedural but that's the most obvious way to treat it, and that's how Fox is treating it from what I hear. (The second episode aired was supposed to be aired 7th, for example.) And if there is supposed to be a story progression it's very slow and uninteresting. Since I really don't like Echo, I don't care what kind of personality develops out of her tabula rasa. There's no real hook for me. It would be better if the setting were darker and more cyberpunk, not this generic modern-day thriller--that would give me a reason to watch despite the one-dimensional characters.