Dollhouse season 2: the end

[shapinglight]

Probably not the time to be posting, since everyone is probably watching Eurovision, but after tonight's DW, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I finally got around to watching the end of Dollhouse season 2.

Spoilers for that behind cut.



quinara, you were right. The last episode (apart from Epitaph 2) wasn't bad at all. In fact, the last two 'proper' episodes were both okay. They were very rushed, and once again had everything thrown into them including the kitchen sink, but at least there was a thread of coherence running through them. Admittedly, the Big Revelation about Boyd was no more believable than the retcon of Adelle's actions in her drunk phase (still not sure if we're supposed to think that was all an act or not), but there was a lot of good stuff too, notably Amy Acker as the evil Clyde and Enver Gjokai as Victor doing his Topher impersonation. There was even a genuinely moving moment between Ballard and Mellie.

However, then I watched Epitaph 2. :head-desk:

I think Joss is often his own worst enemy. I really do. A finale with no redeeming features whatsoever, I'm afraid. In fact, the attempt to give it a feel-good factor and have them all live happily ever after made it even worse. And as for the Mad Max elements...

If I ever do watch season 2 again (unlikely, though I might re-watch the bits of season 1 that I liked one day), I'll give this one a miss. I wish I could erase it from the DVD set.

DW was good, though.

Comments

[quinara]

Oh yeah, chuck all the Boyd stuff out the window - I came to that pseudo-finale episode basically frustrated with my own dislike of the show I'd once loved, so I made myself watch it as if all the plot twists previously had made sense up that point, and after that it worked really, really well for me. Exactly the right amount of pessimism and creepiness that the end of Dollhouse should have had (Echo turning Boyd into a doll in order to kill him - maaaaassive compromised principles there! So perfectly nasty.)

But then. Epitaph Two. I enjoyed it when I first watched it in the rush, but I've grown to dislike it more than more as time has gone on. Just like all the badness of S2's second half, the show's identity was basically stripped away so that Joss could squeeze in every single one of his favourite tropes. And twee self-sacrifice. Sigh.

[shapinglight]

Exactly the right amount of pessimism and creepiness that the end of Dollhouse should have had (Echo turning Boyd into a doll in order to kill him - maaaaassive compromised principles there! So perfectly nasty.)

I agree. A show that dark should have had a dark ending, not everyone (except Topher, obviously) skipping through the daisies.

And twee self-sacrifice. Sigh.

Not to mention Adelle's twee acceptance of said sacrifice. And even twee-er lesbian hints.

[quinara]

And even twee-er lesbian hints.

I think I said in my review at the time that it was nice to see a queer character in the show; it was just a shame that she was of the young, redheaded lesbian variety, which seems ever so slightly fetishistic on Joss's part...

[shapinglight]

Hmm, yes.

That reminds me that I always meant to read your reviews when I'd watched the show. Are they tagged?

[quinara]

Oh, yes I do (if you scroll down a bit)!! I think they mostly spin a bit more positively than how I feel now, because I was very caught up in the show, and with it being eighteen months ago I'm a bit worried there are parts that will make you roll your eyes... Hopefully they're interesting though!

[shapinglight]

I'll read them once I've watched today's GoT. I'm not entirely negative about the season myself, but an awful lot more so than I was about season 1.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Okay. Fair enough. But what I really want to know is if you think Echo's breakdown/speech is really a post-Chosen scene. Forget S8, and ask yourself if it's not really Buffy talking about Spike. My theory is Joss wrote it back then and put it in a drawer and when he decided to skip all that in the comics, he just stuck it into Dollhouse so it wouldn't go to waste. Thoughts?

[shapinglight]

I'd love to believe it - it's actually a good scene, probably the best scene in the episode - but it's very difficult for me, post season 8, to believe that Joss thinks Buffy could ever feel that strongly about Spike. :( Sorry.

I do like your theory, though.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember preferring season 2...

[shapinglight]

Bits of it were okay. Tim Minear's eps, for instance. They were pretty good. In fact, it works well until the storyline with Alexis Denisof ends. Then it all seems to go to pot, except for the penultimate episode and the one before that.

[yourlibrarian]

Enver Gjokai as Victor doing his Topher impersonation

I had forgotten how much fun that was. The guy's a talented actor. One thing I will say for Joss is that he often gives his actors wonderful material to work with. I saw Enver in his guest spot on Community, a good show itself, and he had almost nothing to do. I'd be willing to bet that every regular actor on the show probably did their best work ever for him.

I see you felt about the finale the way I did. I was completely emotionally disconnected from it. Even Firefly's unintentional finale was better than this.

Also, to follow up on something I meant to add in your comics post, I've noticed that as time goes on writers want to take their characters darker and darker. If the characters didn't start all that shiny clean to begin with this starts getting really problematic. I think that morally grey makes for an interesting character, but consistently dickish and hypocritical makes for a cast I no longer care to watch. To me, it's a similar problem to the "married couples can't be interesting" trope in that writers seem unable to think of anything else to do with the characters other than to sully them, rather than to think of different long-term storylines.

[shapinglight]

I had forgotten how much fun that was. The guy's a talented actor.

He really is. In fact, I got a bit irritated earlier in the season when neither Victor nor Sierra had much to do and when they appeared it would be in some grandstanding way, like Victor being Topher or Sierra being Mae West. However, now I think about it, at least that meant they had something to do that showed off their talents, instead of just hanging around in the background.

I'd be willing to bet that every regular actor on the show probably did their best work ever for him.

Probably. For instance, Amy Acker, who I think is a wonderful actress, had a small guest role in season 1 of The Good Wife, and she had nothing whatsoever to do. Also, I thought both her and Julie Benz's guest roles on SPN were bland and gave them nothing much to do.

I was completely emotionally disconnected from it.

Yeah, I've felt pretty emotionally disconnected from the show all through this season. I could just about summon some interest in Adelle, and that's more because I was so outraged when I thought they were turning her into a spineless villain, because Brit villains are so common in Hollywood. Even when that turned out not to be the case, I could only raise a small half-cheer, because it just didn't make sense. But Epitaph Two really was the pits.

I think that morally grey makes for an interesting character, but consistently dickish and hypocritical makes for a cast I no longer care to watch.

I know what you mean. That's the situation I find myself in with Comics Angel and Comics Buffy. I just don't care about either of them.

And where the 'married couples can't be interesting' thing is concerned, TV writers could try taking a leaf out of comic writers' books there, as there are several long term married couples in comics who the writers seem to have managed to keep interesting. They are in the minority, though.