"You are touching my face"
Sep. 27th, 2009 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaniSeason 2 of Dollhouse has begun at last! "Vows" didn't blow me away but, as premieres go, it was a rather good episode. Much food for thoughts.
As usual I found Echo to be the least interesting character and Eliza the weakest part acting-wise, compared to the rest of the cast, and like probably many other viewers who hoped for an ensemble show this year I'm disappointed that the credits still focus on Eliza only. On the other hand, what I really like on Dollhouse is what I call the Echo Principle. It's just the way the show is written and the characters work. Dollhouse is a cavern filled with echoes, whose walls are covered with mirrors. So I've decided that Echo is nothing but an allegory. The credits make sense then.
On the show there are the obvious echoes and the less obvious ones, the A-plot/B-plot ones and the ones that lie in details.
In "Vows" we had the obvious mirror between Whiskey's identity crisis and Echo's confusion. Amy Acker stole the show, but perhaps her part was easier to act, her distress easier to convey than Echo's fragmented persona. I can't help thinking that Joss gave Amy a showcase to shine through, while poor Eliza got herself trapped in a pool too big for her(I found her final lines "we are lost but we are not gone" a bit anvil-like and therefore annoying). The episode clearly showed that, no matter how empty Whiskey was, no matter who the real Dr Saunders was, Claire Saunders does exist now and she doesn't want to die. She is a person.
I also liked the "Vow" theme that contained more subtle echoes this time. Echo's engagement was about deception; the active got married, taking a vow that meant nothing because the person who took it was not real. Paul Ballard also took a vow, first as a FBI agent, then as a wannabe knight in armor who dedicated himself to finding and shutting down the Dollhouse...to end up as a client of the Dollhouse! He wanted to save Caroline but ended up using her as an Active to con a bad guy, and he even turned Echo into a weapon (a neat scene by the way)...which kinda echoed the way Adelle triggered November into killing the deposed handler in Ballard's apartment. At the end of the episode, Paul seemed to fell lost in self-reflection and ashamed; he apologised and finally took another vow, binding himself to her mission. The episode started with a fake marriage and ended with a true union.
What about Dr Saunders' vow as a physician? Just an illusion since Whiskey was a doll and the real doctor died a long time ago. The oath he took should mean nothing to her. Yet she kept behaving like a doctor, especially in the scene with Victor in spite of feeling jealousy and bitterness. Looks like some vows bind more strongly than others.
Speaking of Victor, Enver had little exposure but was wonderful. I think he managed to convey a new facial expression in the scene with Adelle. "You're touching my face" . He was innocent and yet not quite as childlike as usual when he said that. He could feel that Adelle was lingering on.
Later Sierra echoed Adelle's gesture, touching Victor's face.
The Dollhouse's money and technology confuse the echoes, cloud the reflections. Sierra telling Ivy about her xenophobia against Asian people was a comic relief but I couldn't help recall that Topher used to hire Sierra to be his game buddy. Ivy is his assistant now, basically she is his real Lab buddy.
There were many other echoes of course. Adelle told Paul that the Dollhouse activities were involved in the Rossum's research programm. Basically the dolls were Lab Rats, and Topher's lab was invaded by white rats thanks to Dr Saunders! Topher's mickeyphobia (an echo to Anya's bunnyphobia?)must be a metaphor that he has a love-hate relationship with his job –and we know where this will lead him in "Epitath One"– which echoes his love-hate relationship with Whiskey/Claire. By using his fears and desires, Claire tried to mess with Topher's head. Messing with heads is what Topher does for a living.
By the way Topher is turning into a somewhat tragic figure, not only because he's forced to face the consequences of his actions and morally growing through it (a bit like sociopathic Anya in BTVS) which humanizes him and makes the audience feel for him, but also because we already know that he is doomed. Same with Claire/Whiskey who said she couldn't go out and yet seemed to escape the Dollhouse for at least a little while at the end of the episode, except that we already know that Whiskey will be bound to the Dollhouse until its end and that Claire Saunders is doomed as well. Joss Whedon knows better than any other tv man the true essence of tragedy.
And there are the echoes between the Alpha males. In Adelle's office, Paul and Boyd stood face to face, which emphasized the fact they mirror each other, rival each other and are about the same height, echoing Boyd's line "I'm very tall". Yes you are baby, but you aren't the only one, Tahmoh is a frakking giant too (Jamie Bamber must hate being on screen next to him)! A few seconds later Paul literally echoed another of Boyd's lines "Nice suit". The whole episode looks like a shift work. Boyd had to give up on thinking as Echo's handler, Paul slowly became Echo's handler(and he did handle her in the fighting scene!).
Adelle pointed out another echo, this time between Paul and that handsome senator Perrin who could become a threat and therefore is taking the place of agent Ballard as the Dollhouse's nemesis. By the way I felt a certain sexual tension between Adelle DeWitt and Paul Ballard. Those two definitely have chemistry, they should hook up. I think they both need it.
And of course there's the echo between the villain and the noble knight. The villain has sex with Echo while the Paul can only wait and work out(not my favourite scene, I found it too obvious and a bit ridiculous). The villain viciously hit the woman he married, Paul ended up hitting Echo as well, to trigger previous imprints. The villain was an arms dealer and Ballard weaponed Echo up! As he told Topher it was a much worse plan, morally speaking, even though it worked.
As for the rivalry thing, the show seems to play that card a lot. Fortunately it isn't done in the usual clichesque triangle way that so many tv shows indulge in. So far the Mellie/Paul/Caroline, the Alpha/Echo/Paul and the Boyd/Echo/Paul storylines were nicely written.
Having said that I bet that Paul isn't done with November/Madeline yet and that Miracle's return will affect his relationship with Echo. The Boyd/Claire/Topher angle was definitely interesting in "Vows", but my favourite triangle might be Adelle/Victor/Sierra.
It must be because Victor is my favourite doll and I think that Enver outacts everybody. Give me more Victor! Paul's storyline is quite interesting and Tahmoh does well, but his character isn't really touching, and I don't think that pairing him up with Echo will change that. Definitely not Helo.
Victor, on the other hand, you just want to touch his face.
As usual I found Echo to be the least interesting character and Eliza the weakest part acting-wise, compared to the rest of the cast, and like probably many other viewers who hoped for an ensemble show this year I'm disappointed that the credits still focus on Eliza only. On the other hand, what I really like on Dollhouse is what I call the Echo Principle. It's just the way the show is written and the characters work. Dollhouse is a cavern filled with echoes, whose walls are covered with mirrors. So I've decided that Echo is nothing but an allegory. The credits make sense then.
On the show there are the obvious echoes and the less obvious ones, the A-plot/B-plot ones and the ones that lie in details.
In "Vows" we had the obvious mirror between Whiskey's identity crisis and Echo's confusion. Amy Acker stole the show, but perhaps her part was easier to act, her distress easier to convey than Echo's fragmented persona. I can't help thinking that Joss gave Amy a showcase to shine through, while poor Eliza got herself trapped in a pool too big for her(I found her final lines "we are lost but we are not gone" a bit anvil-like and therefore annoying). The episode clearly showed that, no matter how empty Whiskey was, no matter who the real Dr Saunders was, Claire Saunders does exist now and she doesn't want to die. She is a person.
I also liked the "Vow" theme that contained more subtle echoes this time. Echo's engagement was about deception; the active got married, taking a vow that meant nothing because the person who took it was not real. Paul Ballard also took a vow, first as a FBI agent, then as a wannabe knight in armor who dedicated himself to finding and shutting down the Dollhouse...to end up as a client of the Dollhouse! He wanted to save Caroline but ended up using her as an Active to con a bad guy, and he even turned Echo into a weapon (a neat scene by the way)...which kinda echoed the way Adelle triggered November into killing the deposed handler in Ballard's apartment. At the end of the episode, Paul seemed to fell lost in self-reflection and ashamed; he apologised and finally took another vow, binding himself to her mission. The episode started with a fake marriage and ended with a true union.
What about Dr Saunders' vow as a physician? Just an illusion since Whiskey was a doll and the real doctor died a long time ago. The oath he took should mean nothing to her. Yet she kept behaving like a doctor, especially in the scene with Victor in spite of feeling jealousy and bitterness. Looks like some vows bind more strongly than others.
Speaking of Victor, Enver had little exposure but was wonderful. I think he managed to convey a new facial expression in the scene with Adelle. "You're touching my face" . He was innocent and yet not quite as childlike as usual when he said that. He could feel that Adelle was lingering on.
Later Sierra echoed Adelle's gesture, touching Victor's face.
The Dollhouse's money and technology confuse the echoes, cloud the reflections. Sierra telling Ivy about her xenophobia against Asian people was a comic relief but I couldn't help recall that Topher used to hire Sierra to be his game buddy. Ivy is his assistant now, basically she is his real Lab buddy.
There were many other echoes of course. Adelle told Paul that the Dollhouse activities were involved in the Rossum's research programm. Basically the dolls were Lab Rats, and Topher's lab was invaded by white rats thanks to Dr Saunders! Topher's mickeyphobia (an echo to Anya's bunnyphobia?)must be a metaphor that he has a love-hate relationship with his job –and we know where this will lead him in "Epitath One"– which echoes his love-hate relationship with Whiskey/Claire. By using his fears and desires, Claire tried to mess with Topher's head. Messing with heads is what Topher does for a living.
By the way Topher is turning into a somewhat tragic figure, not only because he's forced to face the consequences of his actions and morally growing through it (a bit like sociopathic Anya in BTVS) which humanizes him and makes the audience feel for him, but also because we already know that he is doomed. Same with Claire/Whiskey who said she couldn't go out and yet seemed to escape the Dollhouse for at least a little while at the end of the episode, except that we already know that Whiskey will be bound to the Dollhouse until its end and that Claire Saunders is doomed as well. Joss Whedon knows better than any other tv man the true essence of tragedy.
And there are the echoes between the Alpha males. In Adelle's office, Paul and Boyd stood face to face, which emphasized the fact they mirror each other, rival each other and are about the same height, echoing Boyd's line "I'm very tall". Yes you are baby, but you aren't the only one, Tahmoh is a frakking giant too (Jamie Bamber must hate being on screen next to him)! A few seconds later Paul literally echoed another of Boyd's lines "Nice suit". The whole episode looks like a shift work. Boyd had to give up on thinking as Echo's handler, Paul slowly became Echo's handler(and he did handle her in the fighting scene!).
Adelle pointed out another echo, this time between Paul and that handsome senator Perrin who could become a threat and therefore is taking the place of agent Ballard as the Dollhouse's nemesis. By the way I felt a certain sexual tension between Adelle DeWitt and Paul Ballard. Those two definitely have chemistry, they should hook up. I think they both need it.
And of course there's the echo between the villain and the noble knight. The villain has sex with Echo while the Paul can only wait and work out(not my favourite scene, I found it too obvious and a bit ridiculous). The villain viciously hit the woman he married, Paul ended up hitting Echo as well, to trigger previous imprints. The villain was an arms dealer and Ballard weaponed Echo up! As he told Topher it was a much worse plan, morally speaking, even though it worked.
As for the rivalry thing, the show seems to play that card a lot. Fortunately it isn't done in the usual clichesque triangle way that so many tv shows indulge in. So far the Mellie/Paul/Caroline, the Alpha/Echo/Paul and the Boyd/Echo/Paul storylines were nicely written.
Having said that I bet that Paul isn't done with November/Madeline yet and that Miracle's return will affect his relationship with Echo. The Boyd/Claire/Topher angle was definitely interesting in "Vows", but my favourite triangle might be Adelle/Victor/Sierra.
It must be because Victor is my favourite doll and I think that Enver outacts everybody. Give me more Victor! Paul's storyline is quite interesting and Tahmoh does well, but his character isn't really touching, and I don't think that pairing him up with Echo will change that. Definitely not Helo.
Victor, on the other hand, you just want to touch his face.