Dollhouse 1.13 "Epitaph One"

"Epitaph One" was the unaired 13th episode of Dollhouse that is only available on the DVD (but which I watched online anyways). The circumstances between why the episode was even made is confusing, but all you need to know is that it was made, there are apparently no plans on airing it, and that that is a damn shame, because this was by far the best episode of Dollhouse I've ever watched. For the first time, I'm actually excited for the new season to start.

The episode takes place 10 years into the future and stars Felicia Day (Penny from Dr. Horrible), and a group of people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where the technology from the Dollhouse has caused the world to go insane, with people being imprinted against their will and 'actuals' being the few people who have been able to keep their identity. But what's most important is the flashbacks to the 10 years between the end of season 1 and this episode. We get little glimpses into what happens to the characters we've known from the show. Echo has apparently found a way to resist the imprinting, Paul is working with her, Alpha has been supposedly helping them, Claire has a relationship with Boyd, Topher has gone crazy, Sierra and Viktor gain identities and have hooked up, Claire fully becomes Whiskey. What I was seeing was insane, and honestly, I cannot freaking wait to see how each of these characters get to this point. All of a sudden the interest I have in this show has gone through the roof, because what is apparently coming up on this show seems so interesting. I really cannot wait to find out how Echo escapes the Dollhouse and how her and Paul were going to save everyone (and did they actually hook up?), and to see just how this terrible future came to be.

I wasn't going to watch this episode, because honestly, Dollhouse was a huge disappointment for me this year, but I'm really really glad that I did, because not only was it a fantastic episode of television, but it finally piqued my interest enough to make sure I'm definitely watching in the fall.

TV Season Recap Podcast Adventure!

Ashitakas Angels Podcast #3 - Ashitakas Angels

Long time no podcast, dear readers. That's right, Mind Grapes and I decided to do another podcast. This time around, we decided to do a sweeping season recap! Exciting, I know. We basically talk about all the shows we watched (in part or in total) and give our general impressions (plus bonus haikus! yay!). Just be warned, it's a long one. So, do whatever you need to do to settle yourselves in...grab your favorite beverage, pick your favorite chair, etc., and let the beautiful yet (hopefully) entertaining chaos that is an Ashitaka's Angels podcast overtake you.

ETA: Please ignore the random musical interlude around the 4 minute mark. Don't really know what happened there. Oh yeah...we're professional.

Finale Roundup, Part 1

*I thought I'd do a roundup for some finales that have aired recently. I didn't have strong enough opinions about any of these episodes to write full posts about them, so I'm collecting some of my thoughts about them here.

Chuck 2.22 "Chuck Versus the Ring"-
Single greatest scene of the finale: Jeffster. Mr. Roboto. Indian lesbian. Epic.
I actually think I may have liked "Chuck Versus the Colonel" better than this episode, but I still loved this episode a whole lot. I LOVED the end. Loved it SO much. And if we don't get another season, I may have to protest NBC forever.

Dollhouse 1.12 "Omega"-
Meh. I wanted to like this. I really really did, but man did that disappoint me. The best thing, by far, was Alan Tudyk's amazing performance, but where was the 'wow' factor? Where were the thrills? This was kind of boring. And while stuff happened in it, nothing really changed. Echo is still Echo (and why the heck would Omega want to become Echo again?). Not to mention we had to go through the whole episode hearing about how great and special and wonderful Echo/Caroline is with no real explanation as to why she was so special. Blech. I'll probably watch it next season, but I really would not be sad if this show got canceled.

House 5.24 "Both Sides Now"-
Oh I love it when House does its trippy finales. Some of my favorite episodes of television ever have been two of House's trippy finales, "No Reason" and "House's Head". While I didn't like this episode quite as much as those two, I still loved that it screwed with us in the end. House has been so hit or miss for me this season, but this episode I thought was fantastic, mostly because of that freaky realization (the direction for that scene was brilliant as well). House going into the mental institute was intriguing, but at the same time, this show constantly pulls these sorts of storylines that seem to be huge changing points for the series, but ultimately lead nowhere. Methinks that's what's going to happen with the mental institute storyline as well, but I'm still excited to see where it takes us anyways. I'm just happy I finally like this show again!

The one thing that could finally make me fall in love with 'Dollhouse':

WASH! So. Fucking. Awesome.

I'm not taking back the things I said about Dollhouse in my last post, but this episode ("Briar Rose") goes a long way in getting me on the right track to maybe eventually love this show. Even though I was spoiled for the Alpha twist in the end, I thought this episode was awesome in large part because Alan Tudyk is just so darn awesome!

Well played, Show. Well played.

My problems with Dollhouse....

...let me show you them.

I finally got around to watching the latest episode of Dollhouse, "Haunted", and lets just say it wasn't my favorite episode. I think this episode sort of summarized everything I don't really like about this show. True, it has been getting better. The last few episodes have been the best episodes of the series thus far, but I don't get all of the "Dollhouse is the greatest show ever!!!" talk that's been floating around lately.

It's main problem for me will still always be Echo. Do you know the reason why the last few episodes have been better? Because they didn't focus all on Echo, but instead let the other characters have the spotlight. Because "Haunted" was almost exclusively Echo, it was just....boring. I couldn't even pay that much attention to it. I'm starting to understand why people were saying this show couldn't work with a main character who was always a different person every week. It's because I have never felt connected to Echo once (and I kind of hate her real persona, Caroline, too. She's annoying). Maybe if Eliza Dushku was a better actress I could feel something, but she's not a very good actress! She's good at one thing: Faith. That's it. She cannot carry the show like this episode was trying to let her do. So it just ended up being SO boring.

Where this show does do well is in giving the other characters room to shine and focusing on the overarching story arcs. Most of the main arc revolves around Paul and his investigation of the dollhouse, so it probably comes as no suprise that I thought all of his parts of this episode were the best. I really liked his relationship with Mellie in the early episodes, but now it is just so disturbing (and that sex scene was totally hot, but totally icky). Every time we spend time with Ballard, we learn a little bit more about the dollhouse and the mystery, while at the same time getting some interesting moral stuff with the Paul/Mellie storyline. Why can't the show be about them?!

As far as the other characters go, this is another reason why I have a hard time with this show. I find Topher completely reprehensible, so the fact that the show constantly plays him for comic relief is disturbing to me. The same thing with Adelle. The show is trying to make her seem more sympathetic, but because I find everything she stands for entirely reprehensible, I can't muster any sympathy for her. The only people who work at the dollhouse who I sort of like are Boyd and Dr. Saunders, because they seem to have the most issues with what's going on, but even them I'm not too sure about. Heck, the only one who I could really truly like and not feel bad about was Laurence Dominic because he was such an asshole. And then he actually ended up being against the dollhouse the whole time! I loved him! I miss him already. Bring him back!

I'm finding that besides this last episode, I have been enjoying Dollhouse, at least moreso than I was at the beginning. But even when I am enjoying it, there's always that niggling thought in the back of my head that the show could be better. It just has to get a new lead actress, make the characters more likeable, and completely change around the plot. Yeah...that should work ;)

What does everyone else think about Dollhouse?

Dollhouse 1.06 "Man on the Street"

I know everything's crazy from the Battlestar finale, but I had to talk about the latest Dollhouse, because it was really pretty dang good. It had been advertised as the one that "changes everything" and that pushes the show into the right direction, but I was skeptical. I thought there may have been a little too much hype, but actually, I really liked it. It was the first episode of this show that made me go "wow. I actually want to watch this show." And that's a relief because I always wanted to like the show, it was just hard for me because of the first 5 episodes.

Funnily enough, I think the episode was good because it focused on Echo so little, heh. And maybe that's being a tad bit unfair, since really it's more about the fact that it didn't focus on one of Echo's cases, but I was still glad that the focus shifted elsewhere, particularly in setting up more of the myth-arc. But I was extremely glad it focused mostly on Ballard, heh. And yes, totally and completely biased here since I view each episode with my Tahmoh-colored glasses (and thank you Joss for making him shirtless a good majority of the episode!), but I liked seeing more of Ballard as a character rather than just a plot-device. And I absolutely adored his relationship with Mellie a lot and am kind of really really upset that she ended up being a doll :(. Like, I was all shipping them together when they were in bed, and now I'm kind of crushed. It was a really good twist and I'm intrigued to see where it goes, but it also makes me sad.

Some other thoughts:

• I really like the relationship that's developing between Victor and Sierra. Seeing as how they're my favorite dolls, I can't wait to see how that develops.

• Sometimes I ship Amy Acker's character (what is her name?) with Boyd. I like that pairing.

• Romo Lampkin! I greatly enjoy seeing him on this show.

• There is no way in hell someone like Eliza Dushku could take on a guy like Tahmoh. I know she had special ninja skills or whatever, but she didn't have super powers! He's huge!
  

• It feels wrong that I thought Patton Oswalt's storyline was so sad and touching. Because it was totally skeevy and wierd, yet I was kind of happy for him that he got his fantasy to come true.

• I still kind of want to punch Topher in the face, even though he looks like he could be Marian Hossa's brother.

Battlestar Galactica 4.21 "Daybreak, Part 1"

*I've just now realized that I've been numbering the episodes wrong this whole time. Fixed now.

Because I seem to not be able to do anything except bullet points, that's what you're getting again:

• I really really liked this episode. I'm not really sure why either. It's still very much a set-up episode, but it was a good one. I think I may like it because it hasn't been quite as depressing as the last few episodes have been. While sad things happened in this episode, I'm finally able to see some hope in the distance...
• I thought the flashbacks were really interesting. At this point I'm still trying to figure out what purpose they served though. Originally I thought they were put there to show how much everyone's lives sucked before they got on Galactica, and that they were finally able to be happy and connect with people on Galactica (much like what Roslin's speech to Adama last episode was about), but now I'm starting to think they were there to show just how far these characters have come. To show how much they've grown and how much they've gained. That, or it's going to turn into a "this has all happened before and it will all happen again" kind of thing.
• Obligatory scene which made mindgrapes cry: When Laura walked onto the flight deck, choosing to join Bill, and the rest of her family, in their suicide mission. Barely able to stand, but not about to be left behind. Just beautiful and heartbreaking.
• Gaius Baltar. He continues to be, in my opinion, the most fascinating character on this show. Lee calling him out about never doing a completely unselfish act really got to him, and you could just see it on his face as he decided not to join the mission. I think Gaius is going to play a really big role in the rest of the finale and I cannot wait to see what happens with him.
• Once again, some of the scenes that had the most emotional effect on me were all the ones with Helo. I hate seeing him like this, barely being able to keep it together, but what I hate even more is hearing Athena say that things are not going to be ok. They are! They are, Athena, shut up! :(
• I'm really wondering where this finale is leading us. I know the last mission can't only be to rescue Hera and kill the "bad" cylons, but I have no idea where the show is headed. Are they ever going to find a home? Right now, I'm thinking Hera's notes are somehow going to end up being a map, maybe? I'm assuming they had something to do with Anders giving them the coordinates of the Colony. I have no idea, and all the preview showed was things blowing up!

Hm, I was a little more thinky in my review today compared to my normal rambling reviews. I think I'm being a little more somber because I just can't believe this was the first part of the series finale. It doesn't seem real at this point. Next week is going to be a very, very emotional time for me.


Quick Dollhouse thoughts: Next week's ep really better be the turning point for this show, because I'm finding my attention slowly waning. Also, does anyone else think that the actress who plays Sierra should be the lead of this show? She's just...a better actress, and far less annoying. When you actively root for Kevin McKidd's brother on Journeyman to kill Echo, you know you have a problem.

Battlestar Galactica 4.17 "Someone to Watch Over Me"

Gosh, Battlestar! Way to make me feel all depressed! Why you gotta be like this, Show? I spent a good majority of this episode either totally freaking out, crying, or both. Initially I was crying for Tyrol and Boomer, and their love that could never be. In the end however, I was crying over Athena and Hera and how much of a crazy bitch Boomer turned out to be. Boomer and Helo sleeping together while Athena watched was one of the most disturbing things I've seen on this show, but the fact that Boomer took Hera away made me the most upset out of everything. While I started off sad over Boomer and Tyrol's tragic story, I still was very uneasy about Boomer throughout the whole episode. Still, even I was not expecting at all what she ended up doing! The depression levels on this show are what make it pretty hard to watch sometimes, but they also make it so absolutely brilliant. Still, you better fix this, Show!!!
In other parts of the episode, I thought the stuff with Starbuck was cool, but I was a little suprised that we didn't get more answers about what Kara really is. Even so, I thought the moment where Kara and her dad slowly start to play All Along the Watchtower was really cool and creepy. I'm still waiting for Starbuck-answers, but this episode used music to such awesome effects that it didn't really matter that we didn't get all the answers at the moment.

As part of the All Tahmoh Fridays, I also watched Dollhouse, but I don't really have too much to say about it. I thought the main plot of this episode was pretty weak, and I still think the second episode is the best one so far. My favorite parts of the episode were Sierra's super-fan and (big suprise) all the stuff with Paul. Now that I think about it, while this was the first actual All Tahmoh Friday, what with there being a Helo sighting finally, it was really not a good night for Tahmoh's characters, heh. Poor Tahmoh.

Welcome to the All Tahmoh Fridays

**I must first apologize for not posting in a while. If we're behind on the posting, it's most likely because school is really busy. We will try to rectify this soon!



Dollhouse premiers tonight! 9 o'clock on FOX! Whoo! You know what that means: it's the start of All Tahmoh Fridays! 2 hours of Tahmoh...every friday! I know most people are excited about the fact that Dollhouse is a new Joss show, and Eliza Dushku's in it, and it's going to explore deep themes like free-will and identity, etc. But I'm the most excited for the Tahmoh!

Confession time: Helo has been my favorite character on Battlestar Galactica since the miniseries. I love how morally upright he is and I love his relationship with Athena (OTP!) and I love how much of a big damn hero he is.

Confession time part 2: I love Tahmoh Penikett. I think the guys a great actor and very...ahem...handsome, and I was totally in LA this summer and he sat behind me at a movie theater and watched The Dark Knight with me and I could barely pay attention to the movie because all I could think about was Tahmoh behind me and I wanted to talk to him but I was too afraid to do it and it was like the greatest day of my life....yeah...

Confession time part 3: I wasn't really that interested in Dollhouse until I heard Tahmoh was cast in it. I was sort of intrigued with the show mostly because I absolutely ADORE Firefly (still not sold on Buffy or Angel...yet), but the truth is, the premise always sounded so weird that I was unsure if I was going to watch. The Tahmoh casting made up my mind right quick!

Conclusions: The All Tahmoh Fridays make me very happy. They should make you happy too! Come and join us in the All Tahmoh Fridays experience.

Dollhouse, 9 o'clock FOX
Battlestar Galactica, 10 o'clock Sci-Fi

For The Derelict: Goodness