And more importantly… is that the only one? But that’s a subject to be talked about after the jump, so as not to spoil anyone choosing to visit CliqueClack before they finish their television viewing homework. For now, a bit of an introduction. In a week where there was more bad than good press for the show, “Spy In The House Of Love” was just what Dollhouse needed. Another very good episode. Working off the theme of trust, we were given three big WTF? moments that again turn things all kinds of sideways.
Update: Another very good episode… more mediocre ratings. 3.6 million viewers with a 1.4 in the demo.
While it’s easy to roll your eyes at that opening scene, with Eliza Dushku’s butt yelling, “Look at me!” (Really, has the camera every focused on a character walking away that much?) There was a method to the scantily clad madness. As dominatrix-Echo talked with Boyd about trust, it set the stage for all the things to come. As the old saying goes, “There’s no honor among thieves.” So, how tough must it be to trust anyone in the Dollhouse?
So hard that one might be tempted to hire a doll of their very own in order to get an honest moment? Well, honest for one side of the conversation anyway. One of the big reveals was, of course, the fact that DeWitt is Miss Lonely Heart. It does speak to just how toxic the environment of the Dollhouse is. And the fact that she was betrayed by Dominic (big reveal #2) really drives that point home. But I found myself more interested in the things that weren’t directly on the screen.
She tells Roger/Victor that she used to grow new organs from stem cells and fantasizes about running away from the Dollhouse. It makes one wonder, why is she still there? Surely, anyone with the kind of education that leads to growing new organs could find a gig somewhere. Why not just walk away? What if DeWitt is every bit the prisoner that the dolls are? Is it that big a stretch to think that ‘the company’ has something to hold over her?
Big reveal number three wasn’t so much a reveal to the viewer. We already knew that Mellie was actually November. But it still felt awfully shocking when she made Ballard aware of the fact. That was helped by the fact that Ballard is on the verge of fashioning his own tin-foil hat. It also served to make the entire Ballard story just that much more confusing. “Investigate their purpose?” What does that even mean? I’m thinking ‘the mole’ has motivations and goals that we are just not privy too, yet.
Dominic’s explanation that he was in the Dollhouse to make sure Rossum didn’t lose control of the technology is sound. Deep cover, ok. But how giving Ballard any information at all, even if it is obscure, maddening, information, doesn’t really fit with that. It leads me to believe that while Dominic certainly was a mole, he wasn’t the only one.
As for Echo, it’s a tricky bit of business they have going on as she starts to develop her own personality. This wasn’t Caroline leaking through and taking action. This was Echo recognizing that Dominic was a threat and acting to fix it. And that leads to the conundrum that saving Caroline will destroy Echo. As good as the emerging Echo personality, and spy-hunter Echo, were, my favorite bit was the little scene at the end. Echo meets her new handler, Travis, but continues to speak to Boyd. Although, the more telling bit is Dominic’s preditcion. Resigned to his fate, he says of Echo, “One day you’ll be erasing them. Even after all this, they still won’t see it coming.”
I hesitate to call it a reveal, because I think the actual reveal is yet to come, but we did find out just what the attic is. It’s where they store the bodies of those that have been mind wiped, so they can pull them out and use them when the need arises. That could get very nasty. It’s likely where most of the skills the dolls are imprinted with come from, which leads to the question, “How many bodies are in the attic?”
And that leaves Sierra. Her mission did serve to point the finger at Ivy, and indirectly, back at Dominic. But mostly, it was just a really cool Alias homage. The wig… bypassing security… crazy technology. I don’t recall if it was actually in Alias or not, but if it wasn’t, the cell phone/retina scan/contact production device would have been right at home. I will point the waggling finger of details here though. Ms. Sato’s name is different on her office, and in the system.
That gets us to the end of the what was another excellent episode. We now know how the imprints were being tampered with, although I still think there is some question about who was doing the tampering. Echo is continuing to evolve, and has removed her biggest threat in the Dollhouse. And Ballard should be doubly focused on stopping them, now that he has two women to save. All that, and there are only three episodes left. Or four…
Which brings us to the elephant in the room. We can’t really do the weekly Dollhouse post without talking about what I’ve been referring to as the 13/12/14 shenanigans. More than anything, I’m calling “Bullshit!” For those of you that aren’t jacked into the internet 18 hours a day, the facts are these…1
FOX released press material detailing the upcoming scheduling of episodes and it turns out that episode 12 of Dollhouse, “Omega”, is the season finale. That’s all well and good, until you consider that there is a thirteenth episode, “Epitaph One.” A twitter message from Felicia Day, another from Dr. Horrible, and it was off to the races. And this is where the calling of the bullshit comes in.
So many people are bending over backwards to try and put lipstick on the pig, as if this was the plan all along. Suddenly, the scrapped pilot counts as part of Fox’s original order of 13 episodes, and since they didn’t air it, they only have 12 to show. But the studio made the 13th to fill contracts they had for DVD and international. So, 14 were made, but Fox paid for 13, and they tossed one in the scrapheap… and you come up with twenty-two thousand telephone polls an hour.2 Or something. It’s all just so much spin.
Technically, I’m sure it’s correct. But you can’t think this was the plan all along. After the months, and months, of scrutiny this show has faced, before it ever even aired an episode, how is it possible that nobody mentioned this fact? Kevin Reilly was even quoted at the TCAs saying, “we’re going to let the show play out for 13 episodes and hopefully it will catch on.” Now, did the fact that he agreed to pay for an episode that was scrapped and not air it just slip his mind? Is there any way the president of the network doesn’t know that the studio made a 14th episode?
The more likely answer is that when Reilly said that, he had every intention of airing 13 episodes of Dollhouse. But, to use his term, the show hasn’t exactly ‘caught on.’ And now, the network is exercising its right to not pay any more than it has to for the show. Belive me, if Dollhouse was knocking down 8 million viewers and a 2.5 in the demo, episode 13 wouldn’t even be a question. And neither would season two, which gets to another point. Just about every story you read about the 13/12/14 shenanigans includes the disclaimer, “But this has nothing to do with whether or not the show is canceled.” Right…
Again, it’s technically correct, because the network hasn’t officially canceled the show. But let’s be serious here. The fact that the network is going out of its way to not air an episode of one of their shows sends a message. And that message isn’t, “Damn, we need more of that stuff.” Not airing episode 13 is a very bad sign. As things sit now, the show is canceled. The only remaining hope for a second season is some kind of drastic reversal in the ratings. Given what we’ve seen with the first eight episodes, that’s not a lot to grasp at. If you must have your cup half full though, the fact that Prison Break is replacing Terminator:TSCC does offer the hope of bringing some new eyeballs to the party.
Finally, bonus trivia for making it through my long-winded post. When Boyd came into her office, Saunders quickly hid the webpage she was looking at, meetcute.biz. So, maybe the good doctor is looking to finally get out of the Dollhouse for a little R&R.
1Pushing Daisies is coming back
2Wolf Creek Pass, just because
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Apr 11, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
Interesting article!
I’m pretty much a hardcore Dollhouse fan and I must say, what you’ve written is something I can’t find anywhere else! Especially the Sato/Saito error and Claire’s meetcute.biz!
As for the 13/12/14, I think it also has to do with FOX ending the fall season on 24th May and starting summer season on the 25th. The last hour of Prison Break will have to suffer being placed among summer shows if Epitaph One were to air.
And besides, I see the 13/12/14 issue as a good one from a hardcore fan’s perspective. 2 bonus episodes for the DVD! All the more reason to look forward to the DVD!
Also! (sorry for flooding your comments area) FOX might not want to air Epitaph One to cover up their April Fools spoiler glitch! I bet that spoiler scene was from that episode.
*POST AUTHOR*
Actually, it’s not unheard of for a show to run past the May sweeps deadline. Medium, for example, will be ending in June. I totally missed the April Fools spoiler, but it would seem that everyone is going to see the episode eventually, so no real reason to hide it.
You could be on to something with the DVD though. It’s possible that it’s an example of the studio and the network working in conjunction for the best interests of the corporation, the theory being that a DVD set with an unaired episode will sell better than one without. Although, I’m not sure how true that is in this case. Given that the episode will be showing in international markets, I would guess that those people that really want to see it, will have by the time the DVD comes out. It’s very much like Firefly in that regard.
Brett, that was a good read!
This might seem silly, but I like Echo far more than I like Caroline.
I’m not going to discuss the show, but I AM going to discuss ratings. I believe with every fiber of my being that networks are too fucking lazy to truly use niche shows to their advantage. I now place the blame solely on the shitty commercial sales department for not taking the time to determine exactly what products would sell like gangbusters after commercials airing on Dollhouse. And I’m talking about those 30 second numbers that air so long even fast forwarding at 300x normal speed I can tell you what three commercials that air in a 90 minute block are selling. And, yes, I do SEE them because I am LOOKING AT THE TELEVISION and not in the kitchen making a snack.
Every Friday on Twitter Dollhouse is a top 10 Trending Topic. These people are the damned niche market. Super Nanny, Ghost Whisperer, these people do NOT twitter. However, it does not mean Twitter people are less likely to buy shit, does it? Seriously – I find the concept of ratings so incredibly frustrating, as well as their lack of imagination and professional skills at what is supposed to be their JOB of selling advertising, that it makes me want to organize a march down Hollywood Boulevard to protest.
Thanks. I feel better now.
I’m with you, Mod, but I think you’re putting too much relevance in Twitter. Even with its explosion in popularity in the last six months, Twitter still is the most part, is still for the most part in a niche of its own. And I think that so much of these two niche’s overlap, that that’s why it trends so high.
Now, all that being said, I’m with you. I think that niche shows have a place in the television ecosystem. Yes, a larger percent of its viewership watch the show on DVR, but that is a trend that is only going to increase over the next ten years across all demographics. If this model is going to survive, then marketers and television execs are going to have to find a way to continue to capitalize on these viewers.
I, conceptually, get that these shows have to be profitable, but you’ve got to believe that there are smart people out there that can find a way to make shows that are critically acclaimed and find a way to turn a profit. There’s always been a struggle between art and commerce, but now I’m telling you art is getting its ass kicked.
I’m only using Twitter as an example, and because it is a niche itself. Somewhere all of these niches should have the opportunity to meet.
I was thinking about authors and musicians as an example. Every writer isn’t Stephen King and every band isn’t the Rolling Stones. Smaller, somewhat obscure artists continue to create. How is their market attracted?
Additionally, I would think that the juggernauts like American Idol and House would be able to bring in substantial advertising to allow time for smaller programs to gain a faithful audience. Perhaps not a large one, but a faithful one. Why does that not count for anything?
The whole system just seems like a mess to me, and that people have taken off their thinking caps in their quest for the next big thing. Not every program is going to be number one. The grass is not always greener. CBS sure found that out when they canceled Moonlight for that stupid boyfriend show. A faithful network fan will be more willing to invest in programming in the future. The more niche shows are canceled, the angrier fans get, and the further it pushes them to alternative entertainment.
I have to disagree that the advertisers lack professional skills and imagination.
I totally agree with bsgfan2003 about Caroline vs. Echo. Maybe its because Echo is such a blank slate, but Caroline is kind of obnoxious.
I always wonder why shows like these don’t just start on the Sci-Fi channel. I suspect its because Whedon requires too much money/thinks he’s too good for a cable channel, which saddens me, because I think it ends up doing his fans a great disservice. Even if its the production cost of the show, I’d rather see Dollhouse with a lower budget than not at all. Its not like they have a ton of special effects, and really only one expensive looking set that could be bluescreen anyway.
Actually, there was no hubris involved. Dushku had the production deal with FOX, and she brought Whedon on board to develop the pitch. There was no option to shop it around to other networks.
I think Dollhouse could easily be done Sanctuary-style with minimal dissonance. They could have even made the Dollhouse itself much larger than the practical set.
Ah, my bad. I guess I assumed, given Firefly being on Fox and Whedon having never tried doing a cable show, but you know what they say about assuming ;)
What if DeWitt was in fact a “doll.” Who better to run a Dollhouse than someone programmed to do so? Perhaps her real identity, like Echo/Caroline, is starting to gain influence. Maybe that’s why she feels a connection to Echo. She could in fact, be the mole.
I have no solid evidence to back my claim, but I am starting to get that impression the last couple episodes. She acted a little too calm after being shot. Also the stem cell stuff and love of fencing reeks of implanted material.
Either that or she’s just one badass bitch.
https://petitionspot.com/petitions/dollhouse
If you don’t want it to be cancelled, sign this petition.