Dollhouse - Episode 1x02: The Target

[Mathieu]

Ok I really liked the "Four brothers, none of them democrats" line too: ;-)

[BuffyFanOne]

www.rprimelab.com

Anyone check it out yet? I gave it a look but I have to run so I couldnt really see what it was all about.

But wow...what an episode. I loves the shoulder bump at the end! She might as well have given him an ''it's on like donkey-kong'' holla

[Greer]

I really enjoyed this episode! My favorite highlights:

-The Tabula Rasa line in the beginning

-All of the action sequences

-Echo totally kicking the stupid hunter's ass

I am very interested in this Alpha guy, and who the heck he is. I think that body-wise, he really looks like Agent Ballard. But who knows so far? I love that her Handler(I can't remember his name) came and found her, and was totally badass in doing so. I love how she beat the crap out of the guy at the end and then killed him. That was so excellent to watch. I want to know why the Russians are involved with Ballard, how the heck Ballard knows about the Dolllhouse, and why the hell the other operator of Dollhouse (the guy) is so damned creepy, especially in regards to the comment that he made to Echo at the end. I am also happy that she's starting to see what's in her memories and head.

This episode was so so so much better than the premiere, and I am excited about next week's. It looks to be action-packed and a much different mission than this week's.

Joss, much better, much more promising. Here's hoping this will hook more people.

[AndrewCrossett]

Oh, man. I loved this episode. This had a much more Jossverse-y feel than the last one. Great job by DeKnight, and not a Vampy Cat in sight.

There's a lot of chemistry developing between Echo and Boyd. Gotta say, though... Topher doesn't deliver the Xanderesque quips nearly as well as Xander did.

Did that look like Alan Tudyk as Alpha?

[spurtyknowledge]

If the series' stride is only supposed to start around the 6th episode, then it must be damn good because this episode was undoubtedly awesome. Absolutely loved the bond between Echo and Boyd, especially towards the end of the episode.

Will try to review more in-depth once its up on Hulu.

[hitnrun017]

Loved it!

I was really excited about the Echo being hunted thing, but at first it didn't deliver. I really didn't care about it until Echo, or Jenny, started seeing herself in the woods and when she finally went after that sick piece of crap. That was great action and Eliza was very good. I loved how ruthless and violent it was, very entertaining. The arrow to the neck was SO cool!

The flashbacks were very interesting. All the backstory on Alpha was very good. I'm little disappointed on how Claire got her scars, I was hoping for something more personal and something that would take awhile to get the full answer, hopefully there is more to it. And the image of Echo naked and bloody surrounded by dead people isn't leaving my mind anytime soon, so creepy!

My favorite thing about this episode was the Boyd/Echo dynamic. I'm loving that so much. Very, very interesting part of the story. The fact that Boyd actually cares about is Echo is amazing. The flashback in which he just didn't care or get, UNTIL he looked into Echo's eyes... I hate to admit I got a little misty, very beautiful. The whole scene in the woods with the 'trust' thing was probably my favorite. Their whole thing is easily the best part of the show so far I think. Boyd torturing a guy to get info was great too.

Aww, how cute was Mellie? I'm really glad Joss decided to keep Miracle Laurie around. I like the quick scene between her and Paul, really cool to see a softer side of him.

Laurence Dominic, what a prick. I want Echo to kick his ass. He's a great character though. I love that Echo is already becoming self-aware, the "shoulder to the wheel" at the end was strangely powerful and very shocking. I wonder what's in the attic....

[rufio]

I enjoyed this episode much more than last weeks! And I missed the first 15 minutes! But the rest was verry good! I mean, from the action to the atmosphere to the writing- just all around entertaining & greatness! I think I'm gonna LOVE this show. I'm a huge fan of Joss-obviously I can't get enough of Buffy & Angel, but I never LOVED firefly. I liked firefly, but never loved. Dollhouse is already grabbing my interest a little more b/c it seems like it's going to be really deep and philosophical. I looked at firefly more as a character study-like...just the life of these 9 people in space. Of course there was more there, there was an incredible setting and characters I probably could've grown to love. That's probably the only reason I never loved firefly. It only got one season and a movie. Nowhere near the length of buffy & angel. OK ok
Back to Dollhouse. There is major potential here. Lets hope it doesn't meet an end similar to Firefly!

[VampSlayer]

Okay, Im sorry, Joss. But I need to be honest. -_-

So far the show is okay, IMO. It has a great idea, and great actors to make the characters be loved by fans. But I think there are way too many things going on at once, and too many characters. In Firefly we had a good many main characters, but they were all in one place, on the same ship. In Dollhouse we have many, many people doing things. I was very confused with different characters at points. I think I had look on my face saying,"What the hell is happening?" most of the time. I think I was a little mad the Dr. Saunders cuts on her face were told how they got there so soon. I would have been okay with it being revealed early if it was something more interesting. I think I started to get into the episode right around when Echo told her psycho lover that she was going to kill him. Things got really good from then on. I'm glad that Dollhouse has about 50 minutes in each episode, because, honestly, I would be a lot more confused if they only had like 42 minutes. Once again, too many things happening!

I would rate this episode with... 6 stars. ******

I really hope that I can get more into these storylines...

[wenxina]

I thought that this was actually a lot better in tone than the pilot. Especially liked the flashbacks to that fateful day 3 months ago, as well as getting to see more of the "science" of the show. What I really enjoyed about the ep was the poetry of the script. That bit about not shooting unless you're sure you'll make the kill... well that just came back to bite hunter-guy in the ass didn't it? I mean, his aim was compromised because of the arm injury, and he took the shot anyway. And the role reversal between Echo and her handler... kinda reminded me of that quiet moment between Inara and Book in Firefly (the Mary Magdalene sequence).
I'm kinda curious as to how much that drug actually kickstarted Echo's recall. The one thing I was disappointed not to see in the pilot was a sign that she was actually more aware than the other Actives. Sure she wandered in on Sierra being worked on, but it was almost childlike innocence, more than actual self-awareness. Tonight, though, whilst hallucinating, she made actual leaps around, and I'm really hoping to see more of that kinda thing.
Also, my favorite line was when hunter-guy says something along the lines of "Are you more than just an echo?" It's total foreshadowing! Well, I hope it is.
Definitely liking it better now... can't wait to see where this goes. And Alpha is shaping up to be a really cool mystery... but seriously... how much more pseudo-biblical can we get here?
Why name someone "Alpha" unless they're well, the first. It's the first letter of the Greek alphabet. If he was indeed the first Active... well, guess who else went rogue? Adam, the first man. If you buy into that story in the first place. Just saying... there are certain potential metaphor/allegory type things going on which are really juicy. More so than Eliza in that dress in the pilot.
Oh... and that shot of that cliff... did anyone get a slight deja-vu thing... ya know, with the end of NFFY and Twilight and Lt. Molter?

[Emmie]

I LOL'd at this line:

Topher: Are you getting this, mountain man-friend?

[Spiked]

I'll admit, I was a little worried about the episode at first...it started off way too fast, in my opinion. They seemed to set the whole plot up within the first 15 minutes of the episode, and I was just thinking, "Wooooah! Slow down!" But once it really got started, I LOVED it! It was even better than the pilot! I was genuinely concerned for Boyd after he got shot and thought the whole Handler/Active relationship was incredible. Oh, and I really want Echo to kick Reed's ass...after all, she did give him the shoulder bump. If it's not supposed to hit its stride until later, I can't even imagine what's in store next.

Oh, and I really liked Xander Wash Topher in this episode.

[Emmie]

I loved the bonding between Echo and Boyd. And it raises the question of the fine line between fabricating trust and creating real trust. What's real and what's an illusion? When does the illusion become real? Absolutely fascinating.

Boyd: Everything's going to be alright.
Echo: Now that you're here.
Boyd: Do you trust me?
Echo: With my life.

Tactile proximity enhances bonding protocol. I love how it starts off in the flashback with Boyd completely resistant and derogatory towards Echo. Fabricated trust. Then towards the end the trust becomes real as Boyd returns the declaration that he trusts Echo with his life. The trust becomes real.

And what's amazing is this switch occurs at the exact same moment as Echo and Connell switch positions of hunter/hunted. And Boyd switches from the protective handler to the one being handled. Wonderful topsy-turvy reality.

[Wyndam]

Great episode! I'd post more, but well I thought I would propose a little activity everyone could do each week, to kind of stir up some discussions or help us examine the episodes more.

So I was thinking we could start a little questionnaire that you fill out and post every week after the new episode.

Here is what I have come up with so far, and we can certainly add more questions if people like the idea.

And you don't have to do it if you don't want, but I thought it would be a fun thing to do after every episode.

Episode 2: The Target - Questionnaire
Favorite character:

Least favorite character:

Favorite scene:

Least favorite scene:

Biggest surprise:

Thoughts on Echo's personality:

Thoughts on this week's engagement:

Question you want answered most:

Did you enjoy this episode more than the prior one?

I'll post mine after I do a quick online assignment for school.

[underbuffysspell]

Ok, this episode was AMAZING! I really like how things are starting to progress, and how quickly the questions are coming, and how fast the plot is developing!! This whole episode, to me, seemed to be like the showing of Echo's and Boyd's father-daughter-esque thing. This Alpha figure seems really interesting, in the homocidal-killer-who-was-a-doll-gone-wrong sort of thing.
The Tabula Rasa line was prettty neat as well. And Amy Acker!! I love her.
All in all, I'm quite pleased with this episode, and if FOX tries anything funny I will be willing to raise hell. XD
I'm so stoked for episode three!!!

[VampSlayer]

Episode 2 Questions
Favorite character: Echo,Dr. Saunders, Topher, and Boyd
Least favorite character: The one other doll dude with the big nose. lol!
Favorite scene: Echo telling her psycho lover that she is going to kill him
Least favorite scene: There were a few...
Biggest surprise: That Alpha did not harm Echo
Thoughts on Echo's personality: I liked this personality, but Ellie from the Pilot was more entertaining.
Thoughts on this week's engagement: Very strange, yet amazingly awesome
Question you want answered most: When will we see Alpha? Why did he not kill Echo?
Did you enjoy this episode more than the prior one? I liked them both about the same.

[Emmie]

Does anyone else suspect that 'shoulder to the wheel' was something that Caroline used to say? And that's why it clicked so suddenly when she was with Boyd and realized what it meant and how she had to kill Connell. And that's why it's the first sign we get from Echo that her true personality is emerging. That Alpha told Connell to say that because it would click with the Caroline within Echo.

[hitnrun017]

Cool!

Episode 2: The Target - Questionnaire

Favorite character: Boyd.
Least favorite character: Didn't really have one this episode, probably Laurence. He's such an ass.
Favorite scene: Either the "trust me" scene in the woods, or the flashback when Boyd is in the room for the first time during Echo's imprint.
Least favorite scene: Probably the rock-climbing. Wasn't terrible, just very fake-looking.
Biggest surprise: Echo's shoulder to the wheel at the last second.
Thoughts on Echo's personality: Jenny was great! I would love to chill with her, very fun and adventurous. Very happy she was tough chick who decided to go after him. I also loved the quick glimpse of the girl who was going on about the inside that matters.
Thoughts on this week's engagement: Even though he was going after her, I thought it was pretty yawn-worthy at first. I started loving it once Boyd got into the picture.
Question you want answered most: What connection does Echo have to Alpha? Why is he leaving her alive?
Did you enjoy this episode more than the prior one? A lot. Much more personal.

[Emmie]

Episode 2: The Target - Questionnaire

Favorite character: Boyd.

Least favorite character: Adelle didn't do much for me in this episode. I actually liked Reed because he was the asshole catylyst for Echo's true personality to emerge.

Favorite scene: Tied between the Handler bonding scene and when Echo returns the line "Do you trust me?" back to Boyd and he says, "With my life."

Least favorite scene: The car/cell phone scene between Victor and Paul Ballard. Not bad. Just everything else was better.

Biggest surprise: The dead body in the cabin and the cop shooting at Boyd and his partner both made me jump.

Thoughts on Echo's personality: Really awesome. I loved how Dushku played the fear and then the sudden spirit that emerged when she realized she had to protect Boyd.

Thoughts on this week's engagement: Exciting and fun. I loved the dichotomies that were explored between the hunter and the hunted, the handler and the handled, and how they were both turned on their ear in the end.

Question you want answered most: Why is Echo important to Alpha?

Did you enjoy this episode more than the prior one? Yes. While I really enjoyed the pilot, this episode served to remove all the doubts I had about the show.


Wyn, I'm going to add a category to the survey

Thing you saw coming a mile away: The water canteen was drugged.

[wenxina]

Feb 20, 2009 22:56:38 GMT -5 Emmie said:

Does anyone else suspect that 'shoulder to the wheel' was something that Caroline used to say? And that's why it clicked so suddenly when she was with Boyd and realized what it meant and how she had to kill Connell. And that's why it's the first sign we get from Echo that her true personality is emerging. That Alpha told Connell to say that because it would click with the Caroline within Echo.

It did cross my mind. Pretty sure that Alpha is somehow tied to Caroline's past. I mean, he seems pretty fixated on her. Also, there's the fact that she was the only one in the shower spared. If Alpha was the first Active to actually have some sort of recall experience, it's possible that Caroline/Echo triggered the attack/escape. Funny coincidence with the names again... Echo's awareness kinda echoing Alpha's. Speculative right now, of course.

[Emmie]

I've gotta say the quality of production on Dollhouse is just awesome. The look of the show is so dynamic and entertaining. Love it. It looks amazing on my HDTV.