Why Dollhouse was fail, and what you can learn from it
I love Joss Whedon… I really do. But, unfortunately, his shows are as hit and miss as the Star Trek movies.
Tonight I finally got around to watching the pilot of Dollhouse – which I’ve been looking forward to for a long time – and was sadly disappointed. Here’s why Dollhouse wasn’t for the win:
- Act 1, Scene 1: The opening scene was weak. Necessary, but weak. It’s important to see some background, but why not start the series with Echo being a doll and getting flashbacks revealing her background? You could then have shown the painful immorality of having to wipe her memories clean in order to make her function adequately. Oh wait, let me guess… saving that for an upcoming episode?
- Characters: Pilot episodes should always leave a viewer feeling connected to the protagonist. Do I care about Echo? Not in the least… her memories are not hers, and once her mind is wiped clean, she has no recollection. Inconsequential.
- Script: Whedon is usually whip-smart when it comes to dialogue, but since the dolls are mindless drones it makes it difficult to toss in pop culture references at all. I miss the Gilmore Girls-esque witty dialogue that was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer… (Rudy informs me that Firefly had its’ moments as well – I, myself,
hateddidn’t appreciate the show). - The fluff: Five bucks says that FOX told Whedon to sex it up. And action it up. The second scene in the pilot with the motorcycle race and the techno dance party was obviously just there to draw mindless male drones in to watch the show. Fail.
There is a lesson to be learned here… in all pilots, including web series:
- Create engaging characters; characters that viewers can identify with from your first episode.
- Write a script focusing on your best talents; in Whedon’s case, it was comedy.
- Keep it real; don’t force the sexy or the action if completely unnecessary to the plot.
- Leave your audience feeling like they’ve seen a complete story unfold, while teasing them with slices of a larger story arc.
Though I’m disappointed in the pilot, I’ll keep watching and give it a chance. After all, that’s what I did with Enterprise… and it ROCKED by the third season! [Sigh] I just hope I don’t have to wait that long…
And, Joss, if you’re reading this, you’ve written some of my absolute favorite things in the past and I have every confidence you’ll do it again. Go wipe your memory Dollhouse-style, and forget you ever read this silly little blog post ;)
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Agreed on all of the above. Afterward, I thought “Boy, I loved staring at sexy Eliza”. But then I couldn’t come up with anything else notable about it. I couldn’t sense anything Whedonesque about it either. Apparently this was the fifth episode too. Why air it out of sequence and confuse us? They did the same thing with Firefly and look what that did for the show.
Yup. I’ll stick with it though.
Rock on, Casey.
The pilot felt incredibly disjointed. You wouldn’t even have to tell me that it was reshot and I could see right away there were changes made to this thing.
I don’t think the concept itself is flawed. I can see where it wants to go – to get us involved in the people Echo becomes. “Miss Penn” of the pilot has an involved and dark backstory, and you get to know her quite a bit in a short amount of time.
I think the problem with the character development was the reshoot. It’s really hard to get actors to come back and bring their A-game long after they’ve moved on (and for Echo, it has a very high requirement to sell us on each person she becomes). Plus it’s harder still to get them to buy into it when they know the reason why they’re reshooting: that the network is yet again screwing with Joss.
Long story short: Joss needs to get away from Fox. Hell, get away from network TV. In Firefly’s time, there weren’t that many options. now? Throw a rock and you’ve got a cable channel down for dramatic original programming and a lot more willing to give more creative control to the creators.
Maybe because I went in with lower expectations I wasn’t as disappointed. I agree with you on Firefly, and find it refreshing to find someone else who it didn’t resonate with.
I guess I saw what I expected with Ep1 of Dollhouse… lots of building the framework to lay future plot twists on. At least it seems Fox started with Ep1. Didn’t they start Firefly with Ep3 in the story arc?
I think there were lots of little clues dropped in the pilot. Echo did seem to have some flashbacks – to her AND the template’s pasts. This repressed memory/PTSD like syndrome could prove fertile ground for interesting new directions. I think they dropped enough clues to the various puppet masters that it’s clear their motives & backgrounds are quite different and are ripe for future conflict. The guy amid the corpses watching her college video seemed as ominous as Firefly’s blue gloves.
My take is that Whedon & co have tilled a garden & are starting to sprinkle seeds. I have no problem watching it grow slowly & looking for subtle clues. Of course that is not the Fox way. I only hope that they don’t 24-ize it or kill it so we have to buy the DVD to follow the story arc – as they did with Firefly & Wonderfalls. Either way, I don’t regret getting on board, even if the ride is still slowly clacking up the first hill.
But, that’s just me :P
My happiest moment watching the show was seeing the name “Amy Acker” (Fred from “Angel” of course) flash on the screen with the guest stars. Then when I saw her, I thought, hey that’s nice to see her again. Aside from that, I thought, this seems like Alias, and I never even watched that show. But it was easy to setup the DVR to grab it, so I’ll let’er record and see what happens next week.
Well put. I’m a big Whedon fan and had been looking forward to the pilot for some time. I finished it and had the same reaction – I just don’t care about Echo at this point. While disappointing, I’ll give it a chance – who knows how it may come around.
You also make some great points for all writers to consider.
Great post Casey.
Nice post on the show. I agree with you totally with the points you have made. I’m not 100% sure yet if I will be tuning in next week, but hopefully the show will shape up and draw me in.
Lemme get this straight: you “didn’t appreciate” Firefly, don’t like Flight of the Conchords, and LIKED Enterprise? Really? ENTERPRISE?
I don’t think we can be pretend lady lovers anymore. It’s over.
I agree with your points, but I still liked the premiere as it made me want some more. To me, the back story and the investigation is what intrigues me the most. I hope that with time, we’ll get a deep story arc on that matter.
hrm. I was super psyched to be moving closer to you and Rudy but I am not so sure now and am going to have to side with Veronica on this one.
After I discovered FireFly I watched it every night in a row until I saw the whole series. Flight of the Conchords has some of the best lyrics and videos next to Weird Al and Tenacious D. Next you are going to be telling me that Ari from Entourage doesn’t get you all fired up and that the blond haired guy from Sons of Anarchy isn’t sexy. And if you even think to say that United States of Tara isn’t pure genious that you might as well go up to Diablo Cody and spit in her face.
That is all. Wooo, I have a head rush.
I, too, would have to agree that the “Dollhouse” pilot was a complete disappointment. With all the changes asked of Joss before it even aired, I expected some inconsistencies and the likes, but the total lack of clever dialog, which is a large part of why I usually love all things Whedon, and a pretty pale main character left me rather frustrated. Still I will keep watching, although I feel that FOX might pull the plug before I do.
As to “Enterprise” though, I’d have to agree with Veronica. In my eyes it was the pilot that was most promising, and the first season still is the best, followed by a slightly misguided second. But ever since their budget was cut in half, the show sucked worse with every week and one could really feel the frustration of Berman/Braga killing all the fun the show once was. Season 4 in my eyes is the worst Star Trek has ever produced, a sheer pain to watch.
But well, that’s all history now, let’s wait and see what J.J.’s come up with…
Now that the season is well over. Did you watch more? How about the last four or five episodes? I was hot and cold re: Eliza’s acting(anyone else have a hard time coming to a conclusion here?) but the writing definitely got better.
I doubt if it will be back. Do you have any inside info on that matter?
Thanks
Arthur (jazznutz)