Top 40 TV Characters Part 1

I was meant to do this a while back but now seems like a good time to do this. Basically a list of forty of my favourite characters from 40 shows I watch. I'll try and keep this as varied as humanly possible.

36: Miranda Hobbs (Cynthia Nixon) - Sex And The City

One of those guilty pleasure shows I have watched and while I've always found the obsession in the media with Carrie to be borderline disturbing at times (she's the only character to have shown no character growth), I've always loved Miranda. That fun, cynical, non conventional lawyer was the best bloody thing on the show and surely, I cannot be the only one to think so?

37: Victor/Anthony Ceccoli (Enver Gjokaj) - Dollhouse

It was sort of hard picking a favourite from this series what with Topher's geekery not making him particularly endearing or Paul being flat out dull at times, so Victor seemed like the perfect male character on the show. It's also a good thing, considering that he actually managed to make it out of the show alive too. Oh, screw it, it was him and his relationship with Sierra that gave this show more emotional heart than anything involving Echo.

38: Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly) - Queer As Folk

I never took to either Stuart or Nathan and while there's a part of me that hated RTD's horrid way of having Vince ditching nice guy Cameron in favour of Stuart, Vince was probably the closest to a character on this show I could relate to. His enthusiasm for a certain show certainly matches/practically usurps mine and damn, I found him a lot more interested in Stuart.

39: Alice Pieszecki (Leisha Hailey) - The L Word

Easily the best character on the show and one of the few to also call Jenny out on her pretentious bullshit at times, Alice is the kind of quirky, loveable character that feels like a genuine person than an exaggerated caricature. While the majority of the characters on the show had their moments, Alice certainly managed to stand out the most with her snarky quips and biting observations around her.

40: Kim Daniels - Sugar Rush

Long before Skins treated viewers to the excellence of Naomily, Kim Daniels was certainly the young gay teenager than the likes of LJ and Tumblr exploded over. Despite the show only running two series, Kim's ups and downs with her crazy family, volatile best mate Sugar and her turbulent love life certainly made for fun viewing. She wasn't particularly a saint as a character but she was never unbelievable though.

Part 2 will probably come towards the end of the week.

Top TV Pairings Part 2

I've decided to extend this a little bit to include 10 other shows before going into the other 25 I have as my favourites.

Dollhouse - Victor/Sierra

The show might have lasted two seasons but Joss Whedon managed to give us at least one couple worthy of rooting for. Both Victor and Sierra had the best chemistry with each other and definitely were the couple to watch on this shortlived series.

Will And Grace - Will Trueman/Vince D'Angelo

After spending the first five seasons flitting between boyfriends, the writers finally gave Will someone who complimented him and while him and Vince had their ups and downs, it's a credit to the series for this great relationship.

The L Word - Bette Porter/Tina Kennard

Relationships in this series were ten a penny but Bette and Tina were definitely the long haul relationship of the series, both with it's good and with it's bad moments. Still, they were definitely the best of a mixed bunch of couples on this series.

Alias - Sydney Bristow/Michael Vaughn

Bucking something of a trend here, Sydney and Vaughn for me were actually a pretty good couple. Sure we could've done without Lauren during S3 or Vaughn's fakeout death for most of S5 but other than that, I liked these two.

Shameless - Kev Ball/Veronica Fisher

The not so married but chaotic couple were a joy during the first three years of the series and while both Dean Lennox Kelly and Maxine Peake seem to be constantly getting decent roles after leaving the series, I do sometimes miss the pair.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x13: "Epitaph Two: The Return"

Written by Jed Whedon And Maurissa Tancheroen And Andrew Chambliss
Directed by David Solomon

Mag: “This is worse than the Butchers. At least by a lot.”
Caroline: “It’ll be okay.”
Zone: “You got a plan wonder kid?”
Caroline: “I guess I do.”

I never thought in a million years that a show that’s been so hot and cold for me as a viewer would actually do a series finale this satisfying. Now I wish Joss Whedon could go back six years and give Angel a far better send off than the nihilistic one we got instead. Anyways, back to Dollhouse.

It’s 2019, the apocalypse has been raging on and dolts like Harding get to pick and choose from as many hunky bodies as they possibly can when they’re not getting obese in the one they’ve got. Luckily, there’s also a nice scene where Echo gets to shoot Harding for all the good that it actually achieved.

Harding sensibly pointed out that he can upload himself onto any body he wants, so Echo shooting him every time he finds a new home was going to be futile. Luckily, Echo does have enough sense to break into the lion’s den with Paul in a bid to rescue Topher and if you thought he was broken in “Epitaph One”, then wait until you see him in this one.

I never thought that I’d feel sorry for Topher but the second season more than saw to that one. We saw his moral compass when he tried to help Priya get away from Nolan and his disgust when Adelle turned over his schematics to Harding and this episode brought all of that to fruition.

Topher was literally a shadow of his former self. No confidence, no wise crack, just a completely broken, guilt ridden man who couldn’t bear himself. I absolutely loved how Adelle fought his corner throughout this entire episode. Her maternal concern for him (and that’s what it was – maternal) was one of many effective moments in this episode.

When Topher finally realised that he could free everyone with a pulse bomb, he got down to business. He knew that the bomb would cause his own death but did it no less. The lack of close ups when Topher did the deed probably made his death scene far more effective because of it.

Kudos to Fran Kanz, who in the space of twenty six episodes took Topher a lot further than some actors get to with their characters in twice or three times the amount. Even by Whedon standards, I don’t think anyone would’ve expected that Topher of all people when this show started out would be the man to save the world.

And there was Alpha. Alan Tudyk is a great actor and this is a far better episode for him than “A Love Supreme” but it’s sort of weird seeing Alpha being all heroic. Not because it’s possible for him to go from homicidal maniac to hero but because if he had popped up in more episodes, we’d have at least seen the transition played out.

I’m gonna stop moaning because Alpha was brilliant here. Even as a good guy, he got some excellent dialogue and the little parting gift that he left Echo was certainly unusual to say the very least, though pretty much within character for Alpha as well. At least as a goodie, his fixation on Echo was non-existent as well.

As for Echo, it’s her finale in a way but like some of the best stuff that Joss Whedon has ever done, the strength of this episode was that everyone was important. Echo was important because she was leading a revolution and managed to rescue Caroline, Zone and Mag with Paul as well as taking the fight back to the Dollhouse to aid Topher.

But then there’s her relationship with Paul. I’ve never cared all that much for it but with this episode I actually did. I actually sympathised with Paul’s frustration with Echo not letting him, I felt bad that he died and while I could see it coming a mile off, I totally felt for Echo when she finally let her grief overcome and let rip in front of Priya.

In a weird way, I even found the idea of her imprinting herself with Paul’s wedge (Alpha’s parting gift) not quite as cringe worthy as I feared that it was going to be. I mean she still lost the man that she loved, but it was a surprisingly sweet scene in spite of the strangeness around it and Echo now finally has the chance to be herself in a world without imprints. Victories don’t come sweeter than that.

As for Mag, Zone and Caroline, it made total sense to bring them back. It’s interesting that Caroline didn’t want her original body back and was happy to be a child again but she did talk about starting over and that’s what the pulse bomb gave everyone along with their free will. Plus, it was awfully generous of Zone to take the girl under his wing. That was another thing I didn’t expect.

Mag on the other hand, I actually thought that she was going to be a casualty along with Paul, so I’m glad that she lived. It’s almost a pity that this show had to end because it actually had managed a third season, she would’ve been a character I would’ve loved to have seen in a recurring role.

In terms of Tony and Priya, some interesting conflict there. It made sense that they would have opposing views towards the tech. Priya herself didn’t want to be upgraded any further and Tony felt he needed to if they stood a chance of survival. Them having a child together was one of the things however that didn’t shock me though. At least now they get to be a family.

As for Adelle, it’s strange to think what the future can hold for her. I think that she’ll play a role in trying to help everyone who’s gotten their free will back and because of that, I imagine her and Echo will probably be in each others lives for the foreseeable future. She’s another character who’s really come a long way since “Ghost”

Also in “Epitaph Two: The Return”

Despite a certain press release, Boyd, Claire, Mellie and Dominic did not feature in this episode. It would’ve been nice to have seen them one last time but it does make sense that none of them appeared as well.

Caroline: “Are you?”
Echo: “Thanks for the insight, Mini-Me but you missed the last quarter of this game. We’re not ahead.”

Tony and his pals imprinted themselves with USB ports in their necks. Now that got to hurt a bit.

Paul: “The world still needs heroes, kid.”
Echo: “Did you really just say that?”
Paul: “What? I was being inspirational.”
Echo: “You are so corny.”

Mag: “I don’t know, the little Asian’s kind of cute.”
Zone: “She’s a tech head, Mag. She’s a girl, Mag.”

So, Mag is gay? Wonderful! Now, why couldn’t she have appeared in more episodes?

Priya (re T): “I wanted him brought up away from all that crap in the back of this truck.”
Tony: “You and me both did.”

Echo: “I hate it when you pretend to know me.”
Paul: “It’s not a claim I make. I’ve been knocking ten years. You still won’t let me in.”
Echo: “I’ve let you in a few times.”

Eliza Dushku’s brother, Nate appeared in this episode as Ambrose. He also appeared in the Angel episode “Orpheus” with her as well.

Alpha: “Where’s Big Bad Ballard?”
Echo: “We lost him.”
Alpha: “Man, I’m sorry. When did this happen?”
Tony: “Ten minutes ago.”

Echo (to Priya): “Paul’s dead. And I’m alone, alone. I’m always alone.”

Standout music: Lissie’s “Everywhere I Go”, which was an appropriate choice in music for the series ender.

Adelle: “You’re not coming back.”
Topher: “Small price to pay. I don’t wanna cause any more pain.”

Paul: “Am I? Are we?”
Echo: “You wanted me to let you in.”

Chronology: 2019, like it was at the end of “The Hollow Men”.

“Epitaph Two: The Return” is actually a blisteringly brilliant series finale, far better than I ever hoped it would be and surprisingly positive. While I’m not sad to see this show end, I am thrilled that it went out on such a high note. Joss Whedon, don’t abandon TV.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x12: "The Hollow Men"

Written by Michele Fazekas And Tara Butters And Tracy Bellomo
Directed by Terrence O’Hara

Caroline: “How do I even know I can believe you?”
Boyd: “It’s like I said, you’ll learn to trust me.”

And don’t I wish that Sci-Fi hadn’t gone all triple bill on us during that last week with this show? Well, that and I wished that I hadn’t been ill either so I could’ve seen this episode much sooner and been amazed by it. And amazed I was.

Boyd as the founder of Rossum is still a hard thing to grasp because even in the flashbacks with Caroline, he’s showing a certain level of affection that seemingly cannot be faked. Yes, there were some more platitudes about how special the girl is and now we know – it’s in her spinal fluid.

Actually, the key to being immune to being automatically wiped and made into a Doll is Echo/Caroline and it certainly seems to explain a lot. From what we’ve already been seeing, it’s not remotely shocking that the girl’s physiology would be different in the literal context to any other Active.

She’s been put through the ringer long enough and apart from herself and Alpha, there is the argument that not many people would survive physically, never mind mentally with 40 different voices in her head. And Boyd was going to use that fluid so that a select few along with himself wouldn’t be abused by Topher’s advancement.

Which led to the interesting part – Boyd. I could gush about how brilliant Harry Lennix is in this episode but that’s too obvious, so I’ll focus on some other stuff instead. First off all, the select few – Echo, Adelle and Topher. All pretty obvious candidates to keep on side and also his strongest allies/opponents depending on how things could’ve gone down.

Also all of them overcame massive odds that Boyd had put in their path – Topher’s moral compass, Adelle’s underlying strength against Rossum, Echo’s process into becoming an actual person. No wonder Boyd wanted this lot on his team for the final days. I’d have chosen this lot a lot as well.

Then there are his claims of loving them. Can a sociopath ever be capable of love? I can believe that Boyd’s admiration of Adelle, Echo and Topher is true but I’m not sure of actual love itself. Even when the chips were down, he still had no problem with Echo dying provided that he could still drain her of that fluid in her spine.

As for Boyd’s fate – certainly one of the nastiest things the series has done but deserving no less. Reduced to a Doll like state by Topher and made blow himself and Rossum up by Echo, Boyd was never going to make it out of the series alive but I did think that his death would’ve been delayed until the next episode.

As deaths go, it’s more dramatically effective than it should be. I totally would’ve killed Boyd myself had I been in Echo’s position but I couldn’t help but feel sad to see him die. This was the man who basically acted like Echo’s father and protector and who most viewers trusted as much as Echo and the rest of the gang did themselves. Plus Harry Lennix was just brilliant in this episode with his performance. Easily his best in the series.

The reveal to others of Boyd’s betrayal also had the necessary devastating effect. You could tell that neither Adelle nor Topher anticipated that it could ever be Boyd and even Paul looked dumbstruck by it as well. Paul also had a gun pointed to his throat when that particular revelation was being spilled out.

Paul was another interesting point in this episode. The way Boyd talked about him being the relative that everyone tolerated but didn’t like made me laugh. He really was that character on this show. And I feel bad for Tahmoh Penikett because he’s not a dreadful actor but Paul never seemed to click emotionally for a lot of viewers.

But still Paul did have his moments in this episode. The main ones were trying his best to keep Mellie safe, even when Boyd set off her trigger and she tried to kill him. I wish we had seen Paul be more careful with her feelings in the first season (aside from the obvious times) but even he couldn’t stop Mellie from shooting herself.

Two deaths before the finale and I just know that there will be more but yeah, Mellie’s got to me more than Boyd’s. I know “Epitaph One” more or less hinted that she hadn’t a good outcome but I was hoping that this episode would’ve denied it. And then there was Claire as well.

Instead of a trigger, Clyde 2.0 was wearing her body and oozing every bit as much as callousness as he could in the body of Boyd’s lover. Amy Acker certainly made sure that there wasn’t a shred of Claire in this episode as Clyde saw Echo as little more than a lab rat and happily took a few swipes at her.

This episode had some memorable fight scenes – Echo vs. Boyd and Echo vs. Clyde 2.0/Claire. I think out of the two, I preferred the former because Echo certainly couldn’t handle being betrayed by Boyd but still didn’t hold back in her anger towards him either. It’s probably a good thing that Topher intervened with the remote wipe when he did then.

As for Tony and Priya, no way were they going to go off and abandon Echo. Nope, they’d have to go in the Dollhouse long enough for Tony to be Topher again and long enough for the both of them to learn of Boyd’s betrayed. I laughed when Priya said that her, Tony and Echo were family mainly because Boyd distorted the word for Echo a few minutes prior to Priya and Tony’s rescue of Echo.

And the apocalypse still came after all. Blowing up Rossum was never going to be enough but at least they set up the gloomy future and if the finale is anywhere near as good as “Epitaph One”, we’re going to be for a fantastic send off to the series.

Also in “The Hollow Men”

Caroline flinched when Boyd mentioned a certain relative at the start of the episode. I wonder who they were talking about.

Tony (to Priya): “Looks like the war started without us.”

I thought it was brilliant that while Topher didn’t have a problem with Tony’s body, he had great admiration for his own. I don’t know why but I liked it. Weird, huh?

Paul: “How do we get inside, Boyd?”
Adelle: “We walk in through the front door. There’s no need to sneak around. We have something Rossum wants.”

Topher: “She killed Bennett.”
Boyd: “She’s not Claire.”
Clyde 2.0/Claire: “He’s quick, very quick.”

Props to the costume department for Amy Acker’s slightly androgynous look as Clyde 2.0. I hope she fares better TV wise on Happy Town though.

Adelle: “Caroline’s going to save the world?”
Clyde 2.0/Claire: “No, no, not the world, just the deserving few. You’ll be happy to know you’ll be counted among them.”

Tony/Topher (to Priya, re Boyd): “That dude can act. I don’t know if I want to kill him or get his autograph.”

Tony did get upgraded with some super soldier skill prior to leaving the Dollhouse again but Priya didn’t want to be upgraded, not that I blame her.

Clyde 2.0/Claire (to Echo/Adelle/Topher): “I have enhanced weapon skills. Anyone care to see a demonstration?”

Boyd (to Echo/Adelle/Topher): “You’re here because you’re my family. I love you guys.”

How did Boyd really feel about Claire? I’m guessing not a lot if he was fine with Clyde having her body.

Paul: “I don’t think there’s an elegant way to do this.”
Mellie: “Good. I hate elegant.”
Paul: “Me too.”

Echo (to Priya): “Will you do me a favour? Call us whatever you want but just not family.”

Surely Clyde couldn’t have survived that blast to Rossum, even if Claire’s body managed to?

Boyd: “I try to be my best.”
Echo: “Good.”

Chronology: We’re in 2019/2020 now, thanks to the apocalypse.

“The Hollow Men” was a bloody terrific penultimate episode. Definitely worth catching up for and I’m certainly not going to wait any longer to go and watch “Epitaph Two: The Return” either.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x11: "Getting Closer"

Written And Directed by Tim Minear

Caroline (re blowing up Rossum): “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
Bennett: “We’re in it together, right?”
Caroline: “Til the end.”

And those fan boys who wanted an episode with loads of scenes between Eliza Dushku and Summer Glau; I bet this one must have been a godsend for them. Well, at least until a certain someone got shot and not by an expected person. This episode delivered a lot in terms of shocks and thrills.

First off all, some much needed flashbacks to the friendship between Caroline and Bennett helped this episode tremendously. Okay, so Bennett being a socially awkward young lady who came under Caroline’s wing was a little predictable – most of the flashbacks/back stories we’ve gotten have been but it doesn’t stop the flow of things nonetheless.

Overall, though this episode actually did a lot more to sort of endear me to Bennett than her previous two did. She wanted someone to accept her and ultimately thought that Caroline was that person. Even when she realised that Caroline was using her to get to Rossum, Bennett went out on a limb for her.

In “The Left Hand” the flashbacks where Caroline abandoned Bennett to her fate made her look like a cold hearted bitch but with this episode, it seemed like there was a method to Caroline’s madness. In a screwed up way, she actually protected Bennett from being punished by Rossum but Bennett obviously didn’t see it that way.

Persuading Bennett to help to piece together Caroline after the wedge went missing was going to be hard work. Kidnapping her wasn’t the best choice either but putting her in a room with Topher seemed to show that she’s not devoid of human emotion.

It’s weird watching Topher and Bennett because they’re both so emotionally stunted as people and yet their flirtation with each other is surprisingly cute. They’re probably the only people who in real life could be with each other as well but even Topher wasn’t enough to get Bennett to want to help with Caroline.

That’s where Echo came into the mix brilliantly. She no more wanted Caroline back than Bennett but she knew it needed to be done and offering Bennett the opportunity for payback later on was a good way of getting the one armed creature (blame Adelle for that one) to co-operate.

But of course there would be another spanner in the bloody works. This episode wasn’t going to end without someone dying and Bennett had to be that person. In a lot of Whedon shows, we’ve had some rather impersonal deaths from time to time so the only thing surprising about Bennett getting a bullet to the head (apart from Topher’s distress) was the fact that the shooter was Claire.

She’s been absent for nine episodes and Claire suddenly turned killer and boy, did she manage to get out of that building as quickly as possible? I know security’s crap in the Dollhouse but not one person even attempted to stop her from leaving the building. Topher I could understand but surely someone could’ve made an effort?

How did this happen to Claire? Well, she’s been living with Boyd for long enough and there was ample opportunity for Rossum to get to her, especially given that Boyd is a part of Rossum. The mysterious guy who betrayed Clyde and sent him to the Attic and I can’t even get angry or disappointed about it.

I know I should because the show has gone to great lengths to portray Boyd as a good guy and also as a paternal figure to Echo but I don’t have it in me. I guess Boyd’s just better at keeping secrets and given that there are only two episodes left, I figure that he won’t be a survivor anyways.

The final scene with him and Caroline though was delightfully perfect. Adelle and Dominic thought that they were sending her to her death but instead Boyd showed some affection towards Caroline and wanted her to change things. Even when Echo was becoming Caroline again in our time, he still looked at her with paternal care. Maybe he’s Richard Wilkins like.

Apart from the all the obvious, the only other highlights in the episode was Dominic being put back in the Attic for his own good (please let him in the last two and survive) and Echo getting Tony and Priya out of the Dollhouse. I also liked that Adelle got Topher to change all the Actives back to their original selves as well.

Also in “Getting Closer”

In the final flashback, the young man talking to Caroline said that he was the fifth version of Clyde.

Echo (re Caroline): “I was glad when I heard she was missing.”
Adelle: “It’s only natural.”
Echo: “But I didn’t take it.”
Adelle: “I only considered it briefly.”

There’s been a really fantastic dynamic with Echo, Tony and Priya in these last few episodes. I love that she keeps trying to get them out and they still want to help her.

Adelle: “Damn romantic fool. I’m surrounded by them.”
Boyd (re Paul/Madeline): “He couldn’t just leave her there.”

Bennett: “I was trying to kill your Active at the time.”
Topher: “Ah, you had your reasons.”

I’m not surprised that Paul broke Madeline out of the DC Dollhouse but I was a little surprised to have her reactivated as Mellie again.

Boyd: “Are you scared?”
Claire: “Not anymore.”

Caroline: “You’re not pissed because I used you?”
Bennett: “I’m hurt because you won’t.”
Caroline: “Want to blow up a building?”

Paul’s connection to Echo was removed and we got more flashbacks on Whiskey, post being attacked by Alpha.

Adelle: “Put him back in the Attic, it’s his best hope.”
Dominic: “No, you bitch, I’d rather die.”
Adelle: “I’d rather you didn’t.”

Caroline: “And I’m just gonna trust you?”
Boyd: “With your life.”

Sci-Fi UK made the unwise decision to air the final three episodes of the series as a triple so you’re going to have to wait for reviews on the final two.

With episodes like “Getting Closer”, this show is certainly ending on a high that I didn’t think was possible during it’s debut. Even now I’m not sad about the series ending but I do love the standard of episodes we’ve been getting a result.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x10: "The Attic"

Written by Maurissa Tanchereon And Jed Whedon
Directed by John Cassaday

Dominic: “I guess I’m glad I never did kill you.”
Echo: “Don’t get sappy.”

Adelle told us last week that the Attic was the worst hell imaginable but I don’t think there’s going to be a viewer remotely shocked by the things that were seen inside the minds of Echo, Victor/Tony or Sierra/Priya in this episode. Then again, that was not a bad thing.

For Echo, her mind just kept jumping from one disaster to another as she found herself unable to escape the Dollhouse’s clutches and barely stay alive. Some of the imagery for her stuff was brilliant, though a lot of it dream wise confused the hell out of me.

Was her running through the snow something that Echo herself was thinking of or something from one of the 40 imprints running through her head? A part of me had difficulty keeping up because far too many of the scenes just didn’t make that much sense.

Sure there was some excellent moments where both Paul and Boyd got to taunt Echo. Paul naturally wittered on about being a ghost and Boyd was pretty happy to remind Echo that she didn’t have any friends in the Dollhouse when he wasn’t reiterating about her bringing a storm down on herself.

The best thing about Echo’s dreams however was the return of Dominic. Yes, I’ve long gotten over my initial dislike of the guy and it’s great that dream wise, he was more interested in keeping Echo alive than doing her any damage. In fact Dominic’s whole mission seemed dedicated to saving people.

Except for the fact that Dominic’s mission wasn’t going to be straightforward. This being the Attic, there was going to be some killer inside trying to bump everyone off one by one with Echo next on his list. When Echo was trying to warn that guy who was focused on enjoying himself, I did assume that he would be Arcane.

That theory got put to rest when Arcane killed the guy and decided to go after Tony and Priya as well. I knew that neither of them would be killed but it was a decent tease nonetheless. Having Echo and Dominic then band with Priya and Tony in order to take down Arcane was wonderful.

The strongest part of this episode was the switching around. As soon as Arcane was captured, we got the information dump to end all of them. Instead of being stealthy and suited up, Arcane was little more than a bumbling wreck of a man named Clyde – one of the original founders of the Dollhouse and his motives were better than expected. Also dumped into the Attic and betrayed by his unknown partner in crime.

Killing to free the Actives they’re bound into because of the Attic does almost seem reasonable but the shocking part of all this was learning more of the Attic’s purposes – humans as mainframes for example might be a little Matrix-ish but we are talking about a show created by a man who’s been obsessed with that movie for a decade now.

The other stuff with Caroline knowing the identity of the other founder should’ve been expected. Echo might like being her own person but she’s certainly going to have to access her body’s original inhabitant if she really wants to obliterate Rossum once and for all, though she seemed too enthused about doing it.

Making herself flat line in order to try and escape the Attic along with Priya and Tony did make me wonder why others haven’t tried it before but it was nowhere near as pleasant as the reveal of Adelle’s true motives after all.

Of course Adelle would be on the side of taking Rossum out. Even without “Epitaph One” that should’ve been obvious but she’s certainly had us going in the last few episodes. I just hope that after the hoops she’s put Echo through that they do manage to achieve some victories because there’s one hell of a battle ahead for them.

In other stuff, it almost seemed that setting Ivy and Topher against each other was a little pointless and this might sound cold-hearted but I wasn’t exactly all that bothered when Paul was made into a Doll in order to aid Echo. Even his standoff scene with Adelle lacked a certain something.

Also in “The Attic”

Anyone who didn’t realise that the opening scene would play out as the start of Echo’s experience in the Attic should hold their head in shame – it was too obvious.

Guard: “We don’t use Active code names here, we use real names.”
Echo: “My name’s Echo.”

Priya’s nightmare involved her sleeping with Victor only for Nolan to constantly try and terrorise her over and over again.

Topher (re Adelle): “Darth Vader kills lieutenants not storm troopers.”
Ivy: “Thanks, I’ll be right back.”

What exactly other than being the new Topher did Adelle say to make Ivy react so coldly with Topher?

Echo: “And how are you doing after Alpha?”
Paul: “I’m a ghost. You can’t fight a ghost.”

Adelle (to Topher): “If you try to keep secrets from the corporation, you may have every expectation of being chopped to pieces.”

Adelle knew about Topher’s involvement in Nolan’s death, though she spent more time taunting Boyd over his fatherly love to Echo.

Nolan (to Priya): “You know this is a scenario I never tried. Rigor mortis, the new Viagra.”

Clyde (to Echo): “This isn’t a nightmare. This is the shape of things to come.”

Tony was constantly at war with himself, literally battling himself as well. He also killed Priya to get her to flat line.

Echo: “How do you even know this is true?”
Clyde: “Because it was my idea.”

Adelle: “I don’t want to die.”
Paul: “Then one of us is going to be disappointed. Any last words?”

Clyde seemed to have founded the Dollhouse technology back in 1993 and Echo mentioned that it was currently 2010. A lot has happened for the worst his technology.

“The Attic” definitely shows that cancellation can work wonders with some shows. If this show hadn’t been axed, we’d have had to wait maybe another season or two for all this information. Here’s hoping the final three put it to good use.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x09: "Stop Loss"

Written by Andrew Chambliss
Directed by Felix Enriquez-Alcala

Echo (to Victor/Sierra): “I don’t need thanks. I don’t need goodbyes.”

The best thing about this show’s cancellation has been the progression of the Rossum storyline and also the fact that we got the back story on Sierra/Priya. Now it was only fair that the same should happen with Victor and I’m not gonna lie, his back story was good but was also certainly predictable.

Episodes such as “Needs” and “Belonging” hinted at a military background for Victor and it was no surprise that when his contract was up, he was reverted back to his original persona – Anthony Ceccoli, a soldier with post traumatic stress disorder. His five years were up and he was a free man.

This being Dollhouse of course, even when a contract was up, no-one is ever really free and Tony was barely out of the Dollhouse for a day when he was kidnapped by Rossum for some super soldier experimentation. There were only two people who could save Tony and one of them certainly wasn’t Adelle.

Having Echo and Priya (yes, that’s right – Priya, not Sierra) be the ones to launch into a rescue mission made sense. Echo had all the personalities for every potential obstacle and Priya would be the emotional anchor that Tony/Victor would respond to, what with his new pals brainwashing him and all.

The nasty part of being a super soldier apart from being dragged into another series of senseless wars was also the fact that you had the thoughts of all of your comrades and them your thoughts. That was more than enough voices in one person’s head and this is coming from someone who’s been watching Echo dealing with multiple personalities all seasons.

Speaking of Echo, of course her tactic to try and best all the soldiers during this little game would be to inject herself with the same grouping that Tony had to endure. It’s a good job that Echo already had a handle on different voices because I’m sure those soldiers certainly would’ve driven her over the edge.

The Tony and Priya of this episode were a shipper’s dream however. Both realised that they loved the other, tried to protect each other and thanks to Echo, they were about to get the opportunity to even go and start a life with each other. It’s too bad that Adelle decided to scupper that one big time.

Adelle’s been darkening in these last few episodes so I was hoping that Boyd’s pep talk about her getting her shit together would’ve worked in the favour of the good guys. Instead she turned out to be an even colder bitch than she was in “Meet Jane Doe” by deciding to restore order in her house.

Having Boyd arrested was one thing and I could almost understand deciding to put Echo in the Attic but Victor/Tony and Sierra/Priya as well? That’s just pure evil. Fair play to Olivia Williams because in this episode she made Adelle far scarier than Alpha could ever hope to achieve during his height.

I know spoilers in later episodes are supposed to redeem Adelle but right now, I never thought I would hate the woman that much. Her callousness towards everyone certainly raised alarm bells and that was before she opted for the Attic option with her three pivotal Actives.

Also in the first season, she seemed to favour Echo a lot of the time but here, she’s flat out resentful of the girl. She seemed to take a little too much glee when Echo was being punished. It’s lucky for us however that Echo did seem to be immune to the Attic effects as well. Make her pay, Echo, make her pay.

Also in “Stop Loss”

Victor’s the only main Doll we’ve seen fulfil his contract so far in the series.

Adelle (to Topher): “So where did this mystery woman come from?”
Victor: “Has anyone seen Sierra?”

Adelle had Victor programmed as Roger one last time. She also seemed to blurt out to Topher that she was Miss Lonely Hearts as well.

Boyd (re Echo): “You want her to suffer?”
Adelle: “Pain reveals who we are.”

Sierra (re Victor): “He wouldn’t leave me.”
Echo: “He’s free. They gave him his life back.”

Paul got moved to a location so Adelle could spite Echo. With four episodes left, I wonder if they’re going to kill him off and be done with it.

Topher: “Who am I talking to now?”
Echo: “Echo. You’re always talking to Echo.”

Victor (to comrade): “You want me to be a soldier? Where do I sign up?”

Harding didn’t appear in this episode but he certainly made his presence felt when reading Adelle the riot act down the phone. Adelle being drunk was oddly funny as well.

Priya: “Now we need to make sure Anthony sees me.”
Echo: “He’s already seen you.”

Priya: “I shot at rabbits, I didn’t hit anything.”
Echo: “Same idea, just bigger targets.”

Standout music: Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”. Not the first time the show has used her music.

Echo (to two soldiers): “I knew you were gonna do that. And you knew I was gonna do that.”
Adelle (to Echo): “They say it’s whatever hell you imagine but I think it’s far worse.”

Chronology: A few days after “A Love Supreme”.

Definitely one of the strongest episodes of the season without a doubt. “Stop Loss” is definitely Dollhouse at it’s most vicious and now, I really can’t wait to see this house come crashing down. Only four more to go.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x08: "A Love Supreme

Written by Jenny DeArmitt
Directed by David Straiton

Echo (to Alpha, re Paul): “He’s ten times the man you are and you’re like forty guys.”

At some eventual point this season, Alpha was going to have to rear his ugly head again and after the recent spate of events, I suppose now was as good as any to bring him back. Even the opening scene set up his reasons this time around.

One of Alpha’s minus points (apart from those sociopathic tendencies of his) was his obsession with Echo. He went as far as to try and get her to kill Caroline off forever and imprinted with 38 different personalities, so what he does this time around was hardly something that could dubbed as a shock to the system.

The poor unfortunate former client of Echo’s set up a template. Anyone who was stupid enough to actually be in love with Echo was a target for Alpha and let’s just say that Echo really did become the number with the amount of bodies that Alpha was going through in this episode.

His happiness at dismembering was in character for the guy and he certainly got inventive when he got his claws on Matt. Matt liked being tied up during his engagements with Echo. Alpha used that against him when he decided to blow the rich kid as well. Though that scene was a lot less gory that you’d imagine it would be.

After getting through nearly all of Echo’s lovers, the only other person left on the list had to be Joel Minor. It might have helped that he guest starred in the most memorable episode from the first season but what also helped was the series of surprises we got with the Dollhouse’s methods of trying to protect Joel.

First of all, it was a bit of a surprise that Joel wasn’t actually using Echo’s services anymore and it was also encouraging that he was getting engaged to a nice lady. He was actually progressing and had no intention of handing himself into the Dollhouse. Would you if Paul of all people came up to you?

Letting Echo pose as Rebecca again was a good way of getting Joel to come back to the Dollhouse. There was even some humour when he realised how easy it was for Alpha to break into the Dollhouse as well. The best part however was the fact that Joel wasn’t the actual target that Alpha intended on bagging.

Paul for his many faults became an unfortunate victim when Alpha decided to make him brain dead. I could joke that Alpha wouldn’t have had much to do there but damn it, even though I don’t generally care for Paul, I did feel bad for the guy.

Alpha’s little act of spite stemmed from the obvious. Not only was he blissfully aware of how Paul felt about Echo but he also knew that Echo herself reciprocated the feelings. Alpha really does take the biscuit as stalker type boyfriends go. In his little minds, if he can’t have Echo, then no one else is going to have a shot with her either.

Having people withering on about how special Echo is something that’s been done to death. We all know it and now Adelle finally seemed to have proof of it. She already didn’t buy any of Paul’s lies about Echo’s three month absence and when the signs were out that Alpha was back, she even assumed that Echo and Alpha had been working together.

The funny part was when Alpha broke into the Dollhouse again. Adelle was more than happy to put both Joel and Echo’s lives in peril to keep hers safe. I know Adelle’s a survivor but that was pretty cold of her no less. Not that Alpha actually needed Adelle’s help anyway so technically while their little interaction was fun; it was also a touch pointless.

Alpha was able to use his own tech to control the Actives into lashing out at the rest of the staff and while Alan Tudyk got all the best lines of the episode, Alpha and Echo’s round two was anticlimactic. Yes, he put Paul in a bad situation and there was some good fighting between him and Echo but overall, he just up and left. Why not just grab Echo there and then? What does she have to do or become for him to think she’s ready?

Speaking of Echo - way to torture in the first bit of this episode. Adelle certainly enjoyed depriving her as much as possible, even if it was to make Paul and Boyd squirm and I don’t think she’s suddenly going to go easy now, even if Echo did manage to stop Alpha.

Topher’s reaction to learning that Echo could control all of her imprints was brilliant. He had absolutely no idea how to really react to it as such and it’ll be interesting to see where his loyalties lie in the next episode.

Also in “A Love Supreme”

Apparently Echo married a lot during her romantic engagements, including at two different times, marrying women. I don’t really get why some romantic clients would go for the marriage bit.

Alpha (to Echo’s client): “You wanna know the saddest part? It’s the ending. It seems like maybe love wasn’t enough.”

The first client that Alpha killed blew all his money on the Dollhouse. I doubt he was the only one stupid enough to do that.

Victor (to Adelle): “No wonder you despise that girl, Echo. She gets to be the whore and the virgin.”

Topher: “Nice to meet you.”
Echo: “We’ve met Topher, don’t you remember?”
Topher: “She’s funny.”

Sierra had to pose a prostitute this week (as hired by Alpha to deliver a message) while Victor to play doctor and help with hurting Echo.

Paul: “Put it down, Alpha.”
Alpha (re Matt): “If I do, then he becomes a splash of colours. I’m thinking red.”

Alpha: “Okay, tell me the truth. What do you think of the suit?”
Adelle: “You’re quite the dandy.”

And if Alpha’s really up to his British pop culture references, he might appreciate the Jon Pertwee reference. I’m not remotely surprised that he’s a Monty Python fan though.

Alpha (to Paul/Joel): “Bait meet switch. Hello lover boy.”

Alpha: “Are you gay?”
Paul: “No.”
Alpha: “Then it’s love. Dewitt thought so too.”

With five episodes left, it’s going to be interesting what exactly will turn Alpha into something good because this episode hinted nothing of the sort. Maybe it’s Paul’s imprint inside him.

Alpha (to Echo): “Boyfriend’s dead, wanna snuggle? Too soon.”

Chronology: A few days since “Meet Jane Doe”.

“A Love Supreme” had some interesting comments about the nature of love and obsession and having Alpha in an episode certainly livened things up a little but I was slightly disappointed with this one as well. Not sure why but something didn’t stick.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x07: "Meet Jane Doe"

Written by Maurissa Tanchereon And Jed Whedon And Andrew Chambliss
Directed by Dwight Little

Topher (to Adelle): “You are the coldest bitch on this planet.”

Coming from Topher, that’s a lot more powerful than you would expect it to be. Adelle turning to the dark side – why is this more alarming than it appeared on screen? It’s not like Adelle isn’t soiled with her association with the Dollhouse anyways but enabling Harding in a big way was a shocking turn of events.

In a lot of ways though, it shouldn’t be. Adelle might have something of a conscience but she’s a survivor through and through and thanks to the events of this episode, it’s easier to see why she would handover Topher’s schematic on a method of imprinting anyone at large. Even without taking in “Epitaph One”, there was an inevitability here.

Adelle was backed into a corner and reduced to nothing more than a servant in her own house, which to her was probably a fate worse than death in many ways. Harding took a lot of pleasure in humiliating her as possible, even to the point where she had Topher as a higher up than her. That’s not very comforting for the old ego, is it?

More to the point, Rossum were fairly advancing their technology, so even if Topher had actually not told Adelle about his little advancement, they would’ve probably figured it out at some point anyways. And Adelle managed to get control of her house back so she stands a chance of fighting Rossum in her usual position than the lesser role she was reduced to.

But it doesn’t justify the stinging level of callousness that she displayed to Topher when he realised that she stole his schematics and gave them to Harding. I don’t even like Topher a goof chunk of the time and I feared for his life. Also with Adelle’s morality taking a hit, the episode did balance things by showing Topher’s more compassionate side.

Especially when Echo was brought back in. Adelle’s gut reaction was to deprive her of any treatment to see if she could withstand it. There was a level of cruelty in Adelle that I would equate with some of the male characters we’ve seen on this show and as a viewer, I did not like it one bit.

One the other hand, she also knows that Echo’s special and a part of me is hoping that she’s going to aid Echo in taking out Rossum. Again leaving the events of “Epitaph One” out of the equation. She also wisely didn’t believe Paul’s claims that he was nursing Echo back to health for a week and even seemed a little suspicious of Boyd as well.

Echo on the run actually made for an interesting story. In blank state I did feel bad for her and Galena both trying to get food and being denied. I felt even worse for Galena, who suffered a lot of cruelty at the hands of some racist cops during this episode. This is why I’m far less critical of this show going all a little Prison Break with the first voluntary mission we’ve ever seen Echo embark on.

The nurse guise was an interesting touch and the whole wanting to bust Galena out of prison made some sense. Echo felt responsible and wanted to do something right. Galena was being victimised and was generally a harmless person. And let’s face it; Echo’s had the misfortune of helping far less deserving cases during her time.

The prison breaks had their moments, especially with Echo bouncing back and forth between different personalities. Ultimately she succeeded in freeing Galena, who was grateful for the help that Echo and Paul (from the money/fake passport side of things) gave her. This was definitely a mission worth caring about.

And then there was Paul and Echo. It’s not gonna happen – I’m never gonna care enough to ship these two but them playing house and training up was something I could get into. We were seeing them being proactive in trying to take down the Dollhouse and helping Galena in some way was supposed to be preparation for that.

But in terms of their relationships, it seemed one sided again. Echo tried to make the moves on Paul and he wouldn’t budge. He was probably trying to be an honourable gentlemen but there was also the chance that Echo’s fears of him thinking of her as a freak or not real were actually justified.

Viewers have been unable to connect to Caroline as a character and it hasn’t helped that we’ve seen anything to really make viewers root for her. The Bennett memory seems to have made Echo more determined that she has a right to live. I can’t believe that there’s a part of me that actually agrees with as well but it still doesn’t morally mean that Caroline should be wiped out of existence either. Damn this show’s moral quandary.

Also in “Meet Jane Doe”

No prizes for guessing that Echo would adopt the name of Jane when posing as a nurse. That’s my mother’s name as well.

Ivy: “So what happened?”
Topher (re Bennett): “I punched her in the kisser.”

I just realised that Topher’s essentially been betrayed by two females that he’s held in high respect in two episodes. I mean Adelle and Bennett.

Echo: “Where’s the tree?”
Store Owner: “Right through that door.”

Echo (to Paul): “Sometimes a girl likes to be chaste. Hungry?”

There was no continuity on what happened to Daniel in this episode. Presumably Rossum have either wiped him or put him in the Attic.

Paul: “Thirty six personalities and not one of them can cook?”
Echo: “Look who’s talking.”

Echo (to Paul, re Caroline): “I’ve been saving this body for her but I’m not her.”

According to Echo, she’s been made gay seven times, which is interesting given that we haven’t seen in on the show. Unless that flashback scene with Claire/Whiskey in “Vows” is supposed to count as one of those times.

Boyd: “We need to take this house back.”
Adelle: “And how am I supposed to do that?”
Boyd: “The Adelle I knew wouldn’t ask that.”

Galena (to Echo): “You are the strongest woman I have ever met. Thank you.”

There are now 23 Dollhouses including one in Dubai. Harding took issue with Victor and Sierra (who were imprinted as doctors) grouping and told Topher that he was sending Sierra to Dubai. The bastard.

Adelle (to Topher/Paul/Boyd): “Come on, we all know Echo’s special, let’s see what she’s capable of. It’s good to have to you back, love.”

Chronology: Three months since the events of “The Left Hand”.

“Meet Jane Doe” had the trappings of being more mundane than I thought it would be but a lot actually did happen and it’s good that things aren’t slowing down. Rossum are getting progressively worse and Echo better think of acting on her plan fast.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x06: "The Left Hand"

Written by Tracy Bellomo
Directed by Wendy Stanzler

Daniel: “Why are you telling me this?”
Cindy: “Because it’s funny and because in twenty minutes you won’t remember.”

Well that settles it – Cindy’s a total bitch. I know the last episode confirmed that but this one seemed to go a little further in decimating the slightest twinge of sympathy I might have felt for her. Rossum must have had a field day when they hired. Cindy’s got no conscience at all, not anything.

She showed her true colours when Daniel was strapped down by going into great detail about how Rossum manufactured everything that he believed in. Talk about being vicious. Daniel wanted to believe that he was fighting Rossum organically and Cindy made sure that she shattered the illusion with great detail.

Of course the one thing she hadn’t banked on was Daniel’s newfound friend in Echo. Echo and Daniel working together was great in this episode. They might have had help in escaping but at least they had a similar goal – taking Rossum down. The only thing was that their partnership was hampered thanks to Bennett.

Programming Daniel to go nuts on Echo wasn’t very sporting of Bennett, though consistent with the girl’s overall feelings for Echo. The only problem was that Cindy and her thugs got in the way and it was them who Daniel ended up killing instead of Echo. At least Bennett tried but clearly she’s no Alpha.

I’d like to say that Cindy’s death evoked some emotional punch but it really didn’t. I didn’t care about it one bit but at least her death had a surprise turnaround for Daniel. By pretending that the Dollhouse didn’t exist at his press conference and that was Madeline was insane was a genuine surprise.

I’m not exactly sure how this will aid him in his obvious revenge mission against Rossum but more power to him for refusing to be a pawn in their games. The flipside is that Madeline suffered as a result with Bennett having to wipe her at the DC Dollhouse instead. I guess it’s better than seeing her killed but even still; things aren’t looking good for her, are they?

As for Echo, the first quarter of this episode was dedicated to torturing her. The female equivalent of the beloved whump niche in TV. Bennett certainly had the best reasons in the world to be livid with Echo and I liked that we got to see them instead of having to conjecture what they were.

Caroline left Bennett virtually to die in some kind of a mission and Bennett got a dead arm for being her friend. No wonder Bennett’s pissed off with her. Not that I advocate what Bennett put Echo/Caroline through but at least it’s understandable and there’s an interesting little scene where Bennett points out that everyone seems to choose Echo most of the time.

I don’t know if it’s Meta on Joss Whedon’s part but it’s interesting. We’ve seen enough people on this show who are in love/attached to Echo in some capacity – Paul, Adelle, Boyd, Alpha but is Topher really one of them? Given that he chose Echo’s safety as a priority, Bennett seems to think so and she wasn’t happy with it.

I can’t believe that for a large segment of this episode that I was interested in the banter between Topher and Bennett. Only on a Whedon show do you get geek offs that are actually infectious, even if the two people in question lack a certain moral quandary. Then again, maybe it was also supposed to highlight that Topher does notice certain girls.

He was attracted to Bennett when they first met and certainly bowled over by her genius when he realised who she really was. He even felt bad about having to knock her out in a bid to try and stop Daniel from killing Echo and something tells me that the two of them will interact in the remaining seven episodes of the series.

As for Echo being alone in the street with parts of Caroline resurfacing – well, it was going to happen at some point. Having this whole smack down with Daniel and Rossum was probably the best opportunity for things to go down but something also tells me that Echo won’t be enjoying her freedom for too long. Especially given that a certain someone is back in the next episode and that Rossum are noting her specialness to boot.

Adelle in the DC Dollhouse was an unexpected highlight in this episode for me. I loved seeing her and Stuart going toe to toe with one another, only for her to gain the upper hand. With any luck, she’ll soon be able to achieve that one with Harding as well. Also it was far less odd that seeing Victor imprinted as Topher. Good likeness and physical comedy by Enver Gjokaj but still a little jarring. I guess the world can only handle one Topher at a time.

Also in “The Left Hand”

In regards to the title, is that referring to Bennett’s left hand being the one that’s dead?

Topher (re alcohol): “Mmm, good stuff. Drink?”
Adelle: “No.”
Topher: “Can I have one?”
Adelle: “Absolutely not.”

If Cindy was that repulsed with having to sleep with Daniel, why didn’t she ask her bosses to programme him into not wanting to sleep with her?

Topher: “Is it weird that I asked about your arm?”
Bennett: “Honestly, it’s refreshing.”

Adelle (to Stuart while grabbing his balls): “If you don’t return my Active, I will send someone to cut these off.”

Topher and Bennett worked together to try and get the disrupter to specifically target both Daniel and Echo’s brains. They were also surprised when discovering the other lied to them.

Echo (to Daniel, re Bennett): “She wanted to me to know how it felt. It feels bad.”

Daniel (re Rossum): “They didn’t create me, only parts of me. How can I untangle it?”
Echo: “Does it matter?”

It’s funny that Topher assumed that the real Bennett was dead and had his/her brain imprinted into Summer Glau. Mainly because people assumed that she would play an Active if cast on the show.

Topher: “This isn’t about Caroline, it’s about Echo.”
Bennett: “It’s the same person.”

Echo (re Daniel): “He’s gone. Something else is here.”
Cindy: “Oh God, Doll speak.”

Paul was missing from this episode as was Sierra again and Boyd’s had very little to do in these past two episodes as well.

Topher (to Victor as Topher): “It wouldn’t be a second opinion. It’d be the same opinion twice.”

Victor: “Did I fall asleep?”
Topher: “For a little while.”
Victor: “Shall I go now?”
Topher: “For the love of God, yes.”

Chronology: Takes place directly from where “The Public Eye” left off.

If this was a proper two parter (which it felt like to me), then “The Left Hand” was a good second part. Bennett’s still not a departure for Summer Glau as an actress but she’s interesting enough and Rossum’s overall scheming has now backfired on them thanks to Daniel’s turnaround.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x05: "The Public Eye"

Written by Andrew Chambliss
Directed by David Solomon

Echo (to Cindy): “You just woke up a lot of people and they all think you’re a bitch.”

During the Christmas period I had considered momentarily dropping this series, despite the fact that this season has risen in quality. A part of me wishes that I never took it on to review because the cancellation failed to remotely shock me. Was there anyone who was shocked by it?

Fortunately while this show may be on its last legs, at least it’s going out fighting. For starters, Daniel Perrin’s little one man campaign to expose a Dollhouse takes some interesting twists and turns. The first one being to draft in Madeline to go on record to testify against the LA branch.

As soon as I saw that, dread hit me. I like Madeline/Mellie/November and while she should help in ridding the world of the Dollhouse, it doesn’t mean that I want to see her bumped off as a result of doing so. Even Paul was worried about her well being, despite Adelle not looking as concerned as he did.

Mellie’s public appearance gave the media a face for the Dollhouse as opposed to all the hearsay that has gone before. But it also put Daniel in the firing line too. If Rossum couldn’t kill actually kill him, there would be other ways of trying to keep his silence, yeah? Such as Echo going undercover as a call girl.

It’s a good job I don’t partake in drinking games when watching this show; otherwise my bladder would be beyond repair every time Echo wore something skimpy. I’m beginning to wonder if Joss Whedon wishes he had just done his own version of Secret Diary Of A Call Girl at this point.

Dushku’s on fine enough form though and it’s nice to see her and Alexis Denisof actually interact with one another too, though surprisingly I had to remind myself that I was watching Echo and Daniel and not Faith and Wesley. Daniel’s reaction to being blackmailed by a sex tape came as no surprise though.

He figured it was Rossum’s piss poor attempt to get him to back off and quickly deduced that Echo was an Active. As soon as he realised that, he wanted to save her. Quizzing her about her family was one way of proving his little but the best part was the realisation that Daniel was also a Doll.

This was one of those excellent turns of the episode. From the way Daniel had talked about Cindy, it was easy to assume that she was a sleeper Doll who would probably kill her husband or Madeline when programmed. Paul even attempted to get Madeline away from Cindy’s clutches by using Topher’s little disrupter. All it did was reveal that Cindy wasn’t a Doll but Daniel’s handler.

Okay, Daniel being a Doll shouldn’t be that exciting either but what it was the fact that he really is Daniel Perrin, only with an upgrade and a sneaky game plan by Rossum. Daniel was programmed to believe that he was going against Rossum, when in actual fact he was aiding them. Now that I didn’t see coming.

But the problem is, how can this not backfire on Rossum? I know the LA Dollhouse has seemingly caused them more problems than usual but it seems like it’s a loose cannon that could easily turn. Ugh, I almost sound like I feel for Rossum and I really don’t. Especially Matthew, who’s still a vile prick from the last time we saw him.

Another interesting edition in this episode was both Daniel and Echo’s flashing moments. Daniel had to come to the crushing truth that his marriage was a lie and that he was being used and Echo just continued to remember many of her past engagements. The fight scene she had with Cindy though was a lot of fun.

Then there’s also Bennett. I’m not the bigger fan of Summer Glau and she does seem to only play two types of roles – bad ass and/or crazed but she was fun enough in this episode. I’m wondering exactly what Echo/Caroline has done to piss Bennett that she opted for some torture fun at the end of the episode? I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long for the reveal though.

Speaking of reveals, how interesting was Paul’s last scene with Madeline? She talked about having the freedom to make her own mistakes but at the same time, she was unaware that she still had some architecture inside. It’s not that much of a shock that no-one technically escapes the Dollhouse.

Also in “The Public Eye”

Sci-Fi UK have moved the episodes back into their 9pm timeslot, thankfully without the editing that we had to endure for the first season.

Madeline: “My name is Madeline Costly. Three years of my life are gone, stolen by the Dollhouse.”

The actress who played Kilo (the Doll Topher tested his disrupter on) is Maurissa Tanchereon, who writes for the series.

Adelle: “Any sympathy for Mr Hearn would be seriously misplaced. He was a serial rapist.”
Paul: “I wasn’t thinking about him.”

Daniel: “You’re a Doll.”
Echo: “Thanks. You’re cute too.”

Echo went under the guise of Bree for this episode.

Topher: “Uh, guys. Echo’s just kidnapped a conspiracy.”

Paul: “But you’re not a Doll.”
Cindy: “Because this thing doesn’t work on me? What the hell is this?”

The Dollhouse in DC seems to name their Actives after Greek gods. There was a mention of both Aphrodite and Hades.

Daniel (to Adelle): “Yay, you don’t want me dead. I feel like we’re bonding.”

Madeline: “Who was I that made you so obsessed with me?”
Paul: “Now’s not the time.”
Madeline: “It’s all you get.”

With all this furore from Rossum, I’m surprised that Claire hasn’t factored into things yet. Maybe she’s Plan B if Madeline backs out.

Madeline (to Paul): “You said you freed me. When someone’s free, they get to make mistakes. Am I free?”

Bennett: “The Senator doesn’t beat his wife. The Senator loves his wife.”
Cindy: “Lucky wife.”

No Victor and Sierra in this episode.

This is a very good episode. “The Public Eye” certainly keeps things on a rather even keel for the show and the shocks are good but it’s really the second that notches the tension up a bit. In eight weeks time for UK viewers, this will be all over.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Who Didn't See This Coming?

Getting caught up in other kinds of stuff, I neglected to address the cancellation of Dollhouse. I wish I could say it was a shock to the system but it isn't. It's a shame though, because Season 2 was showing an increase in quality and there are plenty of other things that FOX could bin instead.

Now that the show is gone, what are Joss Whedon's options? I can think of a few.

- Try taking the series to another station. Albeit a smaller one than FOX and even they might not be interested. Dollhouse is pretty out there as series go. Though SyFy are a likely choice.
- Movie it? It worked for Firefly mainly but I can't see studios fighting over themselves to bring this series to the big screen.
- Concentrate on the Buffy comics. 2010 will finally see Season 8 end and I'm pretty sure we'll get spoilers about Season 9 as well.
- Do another TV series. Preferably not on FOX.

What are other people's opinions on the Dollhouse situation? Were FOX right to pull the plug or has Joss Whedon been shafted by the wretched station once again?

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x04: "Belonging"

Written by Jed Whedon And Maurissa Tanchereon
Directed by Jonathan Frakes

Nolan: “I have offered you everything. What else do you want?”
Priya: “I wanna walk out the damn door.”

If this show doesn’t make it to a third season, then this is without a doubt going to be one of the most discussed episodes this show has pulled since “Epitaph One” to be honest. Last season we got hints of Sierra’s back story. This episode went one better by detailing the entire thing.

So, Sierra prior to her life in the Dollhouse was a nice girl named Priya who tried to resist the advances of wealthy Nolan. You can see why. Nolan might be a good looking man and loaded but he’s also a deeply horrible man and this story highlighted beyond doubt that some people really do deserve to have their ass handed to them.

Nolan realised quickly that he couldn’t buy Priya and he tried his best on that one. Even getting her to paint something for an art show wasn’t helping. Heck, not even Echo and Victor could try and get Priya into fancying Nolan. Actually putting Victor in proximity of Priya was a big mistake for Nolan.

It sucks fancying someone who doesn’t feel the same way but to completely destroy that person’s life because they refused your advances is unbelievable. Viewers hated Nolan when he debuted in “Needs”. Now that hate just tripled and intensified all the more.

Priya made it clear that nothing would get her into bed with Nolan. Of course this episode would have to open with Sierra in Nolan’s arms, believing that he was the perfect man for her. Another reminder of how horrific the Dollhouse is.

I did wonder how Nolan exactly got the right to be able to sign Priya up for the Dollhouse. It turned out that all he had to do was drug her up so badly that she was institutionalised and the likes of Topher would believe that he was giving a mentally unbalanced woman a better life. Yeah, Topher not the brightest button, is he?

Funnily enough, we have Echo to thank for a lot of this episode. In spite of the fact that she’s underused in the story, she did show Topher one of Sierra’s pictures that alluded to the bad man. In some ways, there were two bad men to speak of. Nolan doesn’t have to be explained but Topher was bad for not looking at everything properly.

It was only when he went through Sierra/Priya’s scans again that he realised that she was drugged. In a lot of the ways, this episode was to be proof that in spite of viewing the Actives as toys, there’s a part of Topher that actually gives a shit about them as people. It’s good to know. Better was his intent to try and remedy the situation.

Alerting Boyd to it was one thing, involving Adelle was another. Granted she overheard the exchange but even Adelle was disgusted by the lengths that Nolan went to keep Priya as his love slave. Was Nolan right to lambast Adelle as a hypocrite? Was Matthew Harding, the Rossum guy? Yes and no!

Working in the Dollhouse is a degrading business because we’ve seen that the majority of the Actives were often coerced or plain forced into signing up, so on that level, Adelle might not have a lot of moral high ground. However, the fact that Harding elected to do nothing but force Adelle to hand over Priya to Nolan forever was cold.

Seeing Topher and Adelle argue over the decision made for some of the best TV from the series. Both of them raised points about protocol and each other but the idea of Priya being trapped with Nolan forever was an unbearable idea in of itself.

Because of that it wasn’t surprising that Topher did some tampering of his own. Making Priya remember everything about her last year was supposed to be his way to help her and atone himself. Sadly, like some of the well intentioned plans, something had to do horribly wrong.

In a realistic world, I wouldn’t waste a second grieving over someone like Nolan. Even when Priya stabbed him, it was in self-defence and it horrified her. This was after seeing him knocking her into next week when she was finally able to stand up to him. Goodbye Nolan, you won’t be missed.

As for Boyd and Topher, it was their job to help cover the mess. Something tells me that burning the body aside in sulphuric acid won’t be enough. There will be some long term consequences to what just happened with Nolan. Even Adelle herself didn’t seem convinced when Boyd told her that Nolan skipped the country.

As for the final scenes with Priya and Topher, choosing to forget might be the best thing for her now. Until Echo’s plan goes into motion, she’s still stuck in the Dollhouse but at least one joyful thing came out of this story – her and Victor.

We know that they love each other and the writers and actors have made it hard for viewers not to love them as a couple and this episode proved why. Victor’s devotion to her (he tried to get rid of the black paint) and Sierra realising how he felt for her (after Priya taunted Nolan about her love for Victor) was just delightful.

Echo on the other hand, if Boyd can catch up with you trying to stir things in the Dollhouse, then soon enough someone else will to. Luckily for us, Boyd is actually on her side and even gave her an All Access card. He also might have a valid point about Echo causing a storm also.

Also in “Belonging”

We had a Season 2 episode of Angel, which was also called “Belonging”. This was obviously better.

Sierra (re black): “I don’t like this colour though.”
Victor: “Why do you use it?”
Sierra: “It’s always here.”

Matthew Harding, the Rossum guy was played by Keith Carradine. I have a feeling we’ll see him again this season.

Victor (re black paint): “Is this wrong?”
Echo: “No, it’s good. You’re taking charge. You’re taking matters into your own hands.”
Victor: “They’re in my shirt.”

Matthew: “What are we already?”
Adelle: “We’re not slave merchants.”

Because of this episode, we got to hear Dichen Lachman more in her native tongue, with the writers acknowledges that Priya is Australian.

Adelle (to Topher, re Sierra): “You have always thought of people as playthings. This is not a judgement, you’ve always taken care of your toys but you’re going to have to let this one go.”

Topher: “Do you know where you are?”
Priya: “I’m in hell.”
Topher: “You’re in Los Angeles but I can understand the mix up.”

In the UK, Sci-Fi will air the remaining episodes of Season 2 in January.

Echo (to Boyd): “I don’t care. Something bad is coming, like a storm and I want everyone to wake up.”

Priya (to Nolan, re Victor): “I love him so much more than I hate you.”

This is the first episode not to feature Paul and to be fair, it works perfectly well without him.

Topher (re Priya): “I was just trying to help her and now she’s ruined.”
Boyd: “You had a moral dilemma. Your first and it didn’t go well.”
Topher: “Priya does not belong in the Dollhouse.”
Boyd: “She does now.”

Priya (re Victor): “I love him, is that real?”
Topher: “Yes, it’s real. He loves you back.”

Chronology: A year since “Ghost”, according to the flashbacks we saw in this episode.

Without a doubt the best episode from the series. “Belonging” is just wonderful storytelling, brimmed with shocking and discussion worthy moments and sublime performances from Dichen Lachman, Vincent Ventressa and Fran Kanz.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x03: "Belle Chose"

Written by Tim Minear
Directed by David Solomon

Ivy: “First Paul is going to take you on a spree.”
Echo: “Shopping or killing? Joke.”

Whoever said this show had a dark sense of humour? Well if you haven’t, then why not? The humour might not tickle you in the same vein as Dexter but this show certainly doesn’t waste time in delivering one of the creepiest characters yet.

Opening up with Terry was a different tack in a way for the series. He looked suitably demented and it wasn’t that much of a shocker when we saw four innocent women paralysed and positioned like shop door dummies. Sadly when the paralysis wore off one of the women, her attempts of escape were thwarted with Terry bumping up her in quite a grim fashion.

Adding further to the violent opening, Terry himself got ran over when he decided to get a replacement for his Aunt Sheila. Karmically, it’s a beautiful thing to happen to the deranged sociopath but if that had been the end of him; we’d be 75% out of an episode as well, so Terry winding up in a coma instead was to be expected.

When even Topher has moral qualms against wanting to wake Terry up, it’s probably a good indicator that a) Topher does some scruples and b) a further reminder of how seriously we’re suppose to take Terry as a threat. His uncle Bradley wanted Adelle to wake him up, even after admitting to some of Terry’s horrid acts. Personally, I’d probably pull the plug Terry if I had the choice, so it’s probably a good thing that I’m not a doctor then.

Of course Adelle’s a lot shrewder and connecting the disappearance of four women from Bradley’s claims of his nephew’s nasty activity, she spotted a potential case to solve. This also meant Paul getting to utilise his FBI skills. Paul doing something useful. No, actually this is a good episode for him.

His approach with Terry was pretty good. I liked that Paul didn’t want to try the softly, softly approach even if Bradley felt it was the better method with Terry. Having Victor don the psycho’s body meant a great performance from Enver, who certainly has proved his capability as an actor on this show and in this episode alone.

Terry’s motives for his actions weren’t spectacular or even original. Paul conveyed that beautifully when he tore into Terry’s need for having a fake family, even though his real one was very much alive and breathing. The only problem was that in spite of Paul’s wonderful breakthrough (Terry admitted to killing the woman he forced to be Aunt Sheila), Bradley broke him out of the Dollhouse while still in Victor’s body.

Victor running loose as a psycho is not a good thing and even Adelle felt the pressure by demanding Topher to do a remote wipe. It was only a matter of time before someone other than Alpha would have to achieve and lo and behold, Topher did the deed. Too bad that he took the psycho out of Victor and slammed him into Echo. Not your best work, Topher.

Having both Victor and Echo swap from the imprints they had was a genius idea for this episode. Okay so Eliza Dushku isn’t quite as good as Enver Gjokai but she does a good effort in still conveying the menace when Terry killed/injured poor randy professor Edmund and also when he went back to finish the rest of his victims off.

The final few moments however with Echo trying to suppress Terry’s killer instincts and help the women out when she wasn’t attacking them was a little rushed. I did however find some of the ending confusing. Did Terry actually die in his coma and did Echo manage to retain him, even after being wiped? The latter is definitely not a good thing if true.

As for the other assignment, Echo as Kiki felt a little too first season for me. The naive girl, not getting her medieval literature and having a randy professor enlighten and sleep with her. Been there, done that does seem to be the nicest way of conveying that it’s nothing new. Edmund getting killed/seriously injured when Echo went from Kiki to Terry however was a bit more original. If he survived, could Adelle have a lawsuit on her hands?

However the best thing about this episode was Victor as Kiki. It might have been short-lived but it was certainly a lot of fun and far funnier than you’d ever expect a show like this to be. Paul was especially kind of cute when he stepped in from Victor getting potentially beaten up by a few disgruntled night clubbers. Certainly a talking point for this series.

Also in “Belle Chose”

The literary allusions in this episode were interesting. In his own way, Edmund was trying to encourage female sexual liberation while Terry was trying to suppress it.

Topher (re Terry): “It could also give him a man reaction.”
Adelle: “I choose not to hear that.”

Boyd and Adelle both argued over Claire in this episode. Even Victor commented on not liking the new doctor as well.

Boyd (to Adelle): “Topher has ethical problems. Topher.”

Echo: “I’m like the Scarlet Lady with an F on her chest.”
Edmund: “A.”

Bradley was played by Michael Hogan (Tigh from Battlestar Galactica). If we’re really lucky can we have Tricia Helfer or James Callis next?

Bradley (re Paul): “This is the wrong approach to take with Terry. He needs to know you’re on his side.”
Adelle: “But we’re not on his side.”

Echo (to Edmund): “I guess having a fat ass was a great thing in the 1300s.”

In the UK, Sci-Fi seems to keep airing their ads for evening repeats of Buffy during the breaks for this show. Gee, I wonder why.

Topher (re Victor): “He’ll be an empty headed robot walking around Hollywood. He’ll be fine. We’ll find him.”

Edmund: “You do have power over me. You’re an incredible woman.”
Echo/Terry: “What did you call me? I am an incredible woman. Goodness gracious.”

Victor/Kiki (to night clubber): “You suck. Trying to hit a girl. Oh Paul, why did you ever leave me?”
Paul (to man): “You got a problem?”

No Sierra this week but the next episode is supposed to more than make up for that, so I’m happy with that.

Paul (re Terry): “Think he’ll ever wake up?”
Adelle: “Wouldn’t it be nice if he didn’t?”

Paul and Adelle seem friendlier with each other. Either that or Paul is trying to be more clever in taking the Dollhouse down. Latter I suspect.

“Belle Chose” is definitely the strongest contender from the first couple of episode we’ve had this season. Some good performances from Eliza and Enver and priceless comic moments all help make this one a winner.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x02: "Instinct"

Written by Michelle Fazekas And Tara Butters
Directed by Marita Gabriak

Topher (to Paul/Adelle, re Echo): “Perhaps triggering lactation was a bridge too far. Live and learn.”

Oh, you don’t think? When you have to watch your main character breastfeed a baby that doesn’t belong to her, regardless of imprint, it’s a little hard not to be disturbed by it. It seems there are many things that Topher will happily do to advance his Dollhouse studies.

Taking another unusual route this week, Echo became the mother of a bouncing baby boy that she didn’t have to carry for nine months. The scheme unusual even for this show’s standards and Dushku’s acting must be improving because she was pretty convincing with this one.

As put upon Emily, Echo believed that she had a wonderful son that she bonded to easily and a husband who was somewhat cold and distant with her and the baby. We even got the soap opera aspect with Echo confiding in her best friend Kelly (the role taken on by Sierra), who gave her some pretty obvious advice.

Instead Echo did some snooping around on her own and became easily convinced that Nate was having an affair. When he admitted that the woman in the photographs was a former lover whose death he couldn’t really come to terms with, the jig was up.

The sad part was that Echo then became convinced that Nate wanted rid of her and the baby when she overheard him trying to call off the engagement. It got even worse for her when she realized that Paul was coming to get, so legging it out the window became her only option.

The police station scenes were some of the strongest. The female detective sympathized with Echo because she thought she was an abuse victim until Nate managed to get his son back and then have Echo dragged back to the Dollhouse. I have to hand it to Eliza Dushku for some great moments there. Her acting in this episode is arguably some of her strongest in my opinion.

The even more interesting part of this was her maternal instinct becoming more dominant when Topher tried to wipe her. Going by the choice quote I’ve used for the opening segment of the review, triggering lactation was a bridge to far. Next time, think your little upgrades out, Topher.

Echo escaping from the Dollhouse so easily seemed a little trite to me. This wasn’t “Needs” so I don’t see how she could’ve left the building. Are security staff really that lax in a place like the Dollhouse? Well, I do have to remember Alpha I suppose. He certainly had no problems getting out and back in that place.

As for Echo’s confrontation with Nate, parts of it felt like The Hand That Rocked The Cradle while other bits were surprisingly poignant. Nate finally came to embrace the child he couldn’t bear to look and Echo became disheartened when she had to deal with Jack not being her child.

The end scene with Paul and Echo discussing the latter’s distress at remembering everything was sad. That being said, I do have to admit that Echo choosing to be awake compared to the other Actives is an interesting idea, especially when you consider another returnee here.

It was nice that we weren’t going to have to wait long for Mellie/Madeline to return. Miracle Laurie was always going to be a welcomed appearance and thanks to some of the recent ads, it looks like there’s going to be some good storylines for her this season. Adelle was certainly keen on Madeline getting her diagnostic.

So from the diagnostic point of view, we can assume that Madeline is physically fine and unlikely to glitch anytime soon. However from the conversations that Madeline had with both Paul and Adelle, it seems pretty obvious that she poses a threat to the Dollhouse. Adelle didn’t exactly suppress the possibility.

Paul on the other hand seemed to be a mixed bag with Madeline. He went from being surprised that she was at the Dollhouse to sympathetic about her daughter’s death and curious about Madeline’s seeming happiness of not remembering much of her time. The exact opposite of Echo in those respects.

However if Madeline poses a threat, then I think it will be down to Daniel Perrin that she does so. Unlike Paul, it will prove a lot harder for the likes of Adelle to get a senator to back off, especially one that has little problems in drawing up clues as quickly as he does. Needless to say, I’m hoping for Perrin to win this one out.

He’s got the moral outrage, a supportive wife in Cindy and so far, an integrity to want to expose the Dollhouse that Paul seemed to lack in the first season. Also like Paul, he seems to have a face to attach to the Dollhouse as well. I think it’s obvious who the face will end up being.

Also in “Instinct”

This aired along with “Vows” for UK viewers on Sci-Fi UK. Sorry for the delays in reviewing the episode. I’m catching up as we speak.

Paul: “Yeah, I don’t understand.”
Topher: “Yeah but it’s so cute that you’re trying.”

Paul certainly looked at the chair with morbid curiosity at the start of the episode. Topher also seems to enjoy talking down to him.

Echo (re Nate): “It’s more than that. I hand him the baby and he acts like I’ve handed him a live grenade.”
Sierra: “Men are wusses.”

Adelle: “For your own wellbeing, come in and have your diagnostic. I won’t take no for an answer.”
Madeline: “No, I don’t imagine you will.”

Claire only left in the previous episode and they’ve already drafted in some new physician for the place. I’m surprised Adelle actually hasn’t sent out for her.

Nate (re Echo/Jack): “Just find them.”
Adelle: “We know already where Echo and the baby are and we are retrieving them as we speak.”

Topher: “We should put you in the recruiting DVD.”
Madeline: “Thank you very much. How do I get out of here?”

Madeline’s words were, “cucumber”, “boat” and “wire”. She sensibly also refused Topher’s offer of upgrades.

Topher (re Echo): “Did you offer her any treatment?”
Paul: “Gee, that’s a great idea, Topher.”

Paul: “So, what, you’re happy now?”
Madeline: “I’m not sad. It was nice meeting you.”

How early was Madeline released from her contract? From the way Adelle sounded, I got the impression that Madeline had barely served half of it.

Echo: “Babies need their mothers.”
Nate: “I know but you’re not his mother.”

Adelle made some perceptive comments about children needing love from an early onset. Nate clearly took that into account when dealing with Echo as well.

Echo: “All of these things happened to me, I feel them.”
Paul: “I know, Echo. I know you remember.”
Echo: “Not remember, feel.”

There was no Victor or Boyd in this episode and I’m not certain of the distance between this episode and “Vows”.

“Instinct” is a decent episode, nice plot, some good acting from Dushku but it’s hard to stay involved when you know that FOX are going to do away with the series pretty soon and that does suck.

Rating: 8 out of 10.