Dollhouse - Episode 1x01: Ghost

[BuffyFanOne]

!!!!More spoilers!!!


well, the first ep is over for me. It was very good. it almost had a csi feel to it but i think htat was jsut the plot for this episode. next week looks great!
PS: Creepy naked dude???
Do we think that was Echo's family that was dead at the end? So she has a stalker orsomethign? That little bit at the end there made me want to keep watching! I am very intrested in Echo's back story. We got a nice little book end there with her initiation into the dollhouse saying that she was jsut trying to make her mark on the world and then the yearbook video at the end with her saying she wanted to make her mark... very nice whedon touch
Speaking of his joss-ness, anyone wonder what Dollhouse would have been if fox hadn't forced Joss to re-conceptulize and let him go with his more thoughtful approach?! I sure do!

I really liked the idea that the dolls are programed with personas of actual people. I thought it was going to be a Matrix type thing where they were actually programed with information from a computer or something like that.

Over all, I really enjoyed it. A good start. Not a whole lot of introduction but I am looking forward t osome of the back story that was lacking tonight to filter through the first season!

[JBrow]

Feb 13, 2009 21:50:29 GMT -5 BuffyFanOne said:

!!!SPOILER!!!

I am confused about somethign.
Echo keeps saying that she has to get her treetment to solve the case. what does she think that the treatment is?
So she dosnt know that she is an operative. she thinks that she is the person she is programed to be. What does she think her treatment is? And how does she know she needs it. like at the begining, she just left th eparty and went right to the van?

Another thing...Why would they program her to have asthma???

!!!SPOILER!!!

I took it as a subliminal trigger that they are implanted with each time, sorta like a 'safe-word'.

I think the asthma thing was just a way for Joss to illustrate how much ability the Dollhouse has to manipulate the mind.

[VampSlayer]

The episode was AMAZING!

It gets five stars from me, for sure! *****

Eliza was so great! And I love the woman she was, Ellie. The whole episode was just incredible! And the "Grr-Arg!" at the ending brought back many good memories! Cant wait for the next episode.

[faithlehane]

Hmm. I really liked it, but I don't think I'd go as far as to say I loved it. It WAS only the first episode after all, though. I loved Amy Acker! She needs to become part of the main cast. =D

[jml2490]

it was an amazing show. i love it. i can't wait for the rest of the season. i loved to see the mutant enemy logo at the end! JOSS IS BACK! with an amazing show!

[AndrewCrossett]

I thought that was really good! I don't understand what all the harsh criticism was about, really. I missed the trademark Joss humor (except for "wash your hands... and your shoes" heh)... but this was an establishing episode and there was too much else to cover to spend a lot of time on jokes.

SPOILER: Click to show

I think the asthma thing was because of what Topher was saying re: why Echo had to be nearsighted, etc... when they imprint a person with the characteristics of another person, they have to include the negative aspects as well or it doesn't work properly... the personality is an integrated system, not a set of "greatest hits."

I thought Eliza looked sexy in her shortie white party dress... but even sexier in that Hot For Teacher outfit. Dayum.

I was very pleased with this ep. The setting and all the characters were clearly defined, the relationships set in place. It's more than solid enough for Joss to take it and run with it now.

[Emmie]

My favorite scene that explains the philosophy of the dolls' personalities:

Boyd: Why would you? Why handicap her in a job like this?

Topher: You see someone running. The first thing you gotta ask is are they running to something or running from something. The answer is both. See these personalities come from scans of real people. Now I can create amalgams of those personalities from here or there but it's not a greatest hit - it's a whole person. Achievement balanced by fault. By a lack. Can't have one without the other. Everyone who excels is overcompensating. Running from something.

Boyd: The past?

Topher: Sometimes.

Boyd: So what's in the past that you gave Echo?

Topher: That's her business, Boyd. She's right for the job. She spent her life profiling and negotiating with kidnappers. That's the person they needed so that's who Echo is. The expert.

Boyd: Who's near-sighted?

Topher: She also has asthma.

So that's how I understand the dolls. Topher can tinker here and there, but if he removes what he views as a potential flaw he's also damaging the strength that's created to overcompensate for that flaw. By removing what they view as imperfect they would in fact make a person even more imperfect - like pulling a loose thread in a sweater and creating a huge hole. One piece removed makes the whole construct collapse.

[Spiked]

I've gotta say, out of all of Joss Whedon's shows (Buffy, Firefly, Angel, and Dollhouse), this one is my favorite pilot! I LOVED IT SO MUCH!

ARGGHHH, IS IT NEXT FRIDAY YET?!?!?!

[BuffyFanOne]

I liked Amy too. It always strikes me as odd to see her not acting all goofy and nerd-ish though!
I want the backstory on her scars! I feellike Joss wouldnt have given her character the scars if he didnt plan on making her more of a main character. She clearly has an intresting backstory that needs to be tols asap!

As a side note, I was waiting to see what the show was like and who all of the characters were before I started this but now I have an idea of where to go...
I love the idea of individual missions. So, with that in mind, I am planning on making a few mini, hand drawn comic strips with some Echo missions!
Maybe jsut 3 or 4 page somics with a mission, not a lot of back story. Just the story of a mission. HSould be fun!
If anyone has any ideas for a story please pm me asap!

[BenTaylor3907]

That was a great first episode. This show is going to be pretty tricky. I might like one character in one episode, but dislike them in another. Depending on their persona. You know? *wishes I was Elle's inhaler*

[BuffyFanOne]

I agree that it was his best piolet. If didn't feel like it was on the cheep or rushed. It seemed like a mid season episode (quality wise).
The more I think about it the more I liked it. The episode wasn't perfect but it was still awesome and the premis is sooo amazing!

[hitnrun017]

SPOILERS!

I liked what I saw, I'm looking forward to more. The reviews were pretty spot on, good episode with a lot of potential.

I loved the writing. Just within the first few minutes you could tell the writing was way better than mostly everything on television. Eliza Dushku was very versatile, she surprised me, never seen her act like that. My favorite thing was probably the Dollhouse, everything about it and everyone in it. It's easily the most interesting thing about the show and I need to know more about it. There are so many questions that come up and I'm looking forward to finding out all about it.

Some pretty great acting and character development too. Boyd is the standout for me right now, really enjoyed his character and the questions he brought up. Sierraaaa... so little screentime, but made QUITE an impact. Thank god Joss included a hot-tough-sexy-badass-Lilah-like character in Adelle.

The only TINY downfall for me was the procedural aspect of the hostage story. We can see that on so many different shows, and while the story was enjoyable, I wanted to know more about the characters and Dollhouse. I'm glad it had the twists with Echo's flashes and the imprints, otherwise I'd feel like I was watching some random cop show that doesn't really matter. I couldn't really care about Eleanor in the short time we saw her. Great character... but now she's gone. Guess I should get use to that. BUT I do care about Echo, the child-like state, I'd hate to see anything bad happen to her.

Really excited for the setup of future episodes. A rouge Active? Sick! Could that have been Caroline's parents he killed? Also, what did Caroline do to get involved with the Dollhouse? These are questions I'm really looking forward to be answered, especially Paul's relentless search for the Dollhouse.

NEED MORE!

[Emmie]

In short, I thought it was a great pilot. Not the most amazing thing Whedon has ever done, but it was solid and I can see it only getting better from here on out.

I'm excited for the Dollhouse!

[commandercool]

It wasn't perfect, but it was rock solid. I had a couple of buddies over who are both big-time Firefly fans, and they liked it too. I'm eagerly anticipating next week.

[alycat7]

I love it. It cleared up alot of questions I had.

[BuffyFanOne]

Hey hitnrun, I am right there with yo uabout that being Echo's family. I said that a few posts up and also that the ending of the episode (with the naked guy and the dead people) was what hooked me into the series more than the plot of the episode.

Am I the only one that remembers hearing that the plot of the little girl getting taken in the pilot would re-surface in later episodes?

[Wyndam]

This was my first Joss premiere, so that alone is extremely exciting. That said, I thought this was a very good start to the series. I was, of course, worried with all the talk about restructuring and the less than stellar reviews, but I was thoroughly entertained by the premiere.

I loved the slow build-up in the beginning. After the (wonderful) scene between Caroline (Echo), and Adelle, I really liked what Joss did with the next scene and Echo's assignment. He let the scene continue on longer than most would, so that we could see and believe Echo's interaction with the guy she was "dating," I loved that.

Thanks to the limited commercials, Joss was able to set up a lot in this episode and really give us a sense for the characters. I can already tell I am going to enjoy Tahmoh's character. His character is exactly the type of character that I am drawn to when watching shows like this, and I can't wait for him to get further involved in trying to find the Dollhouse. I also hope we learn more about his motivations for getting so involved as well. It sounds like he was assigned the case, but he seems very committed to finding out what is going on, and I want to see that developed further. His introductory scene was one of my favorite's in this episode; I thought the back and forth between his meeting with his superiors and then switching to his boxing match were awesome. I like that he won both matches: the boxing match and then the confrontation with his superiors. Great stuff.

I was very surprised when I saw Amy for the first time. Since I have been keeping myself in the dark on a lot of the show's plot (basically everything except the overall premise/characters), I had no idea she would be in this episode. He initial interaction with Echo was great, and those scars! I can't wait to find out more about her past and how she got involved with Echo. Her dialogue was some of my favorite in this episode, as she knew exactly what to say to Echo and how to interact with her. I loved that. Claire's character, along with probably Adelle, Boyd Langton, and Paul are already very well developed (at least in terms of past events that have shaped their current frames of mind/motivations/etc.), which was an amazing feat for a pilot episode.

I was also very impressed with Eliza. Her negotiator character was a fantastic character to start the series with. It was a character that had a past and Eliza really did a great job making me feel for a character that really didn't exist. I think she is going to do great stuff with this character.

The stuff at the end of the episode was great too (shotgun through the wall ), and the set up for a rogue Active was great (I am assuming the rogue is the naked guy that was getting stuff together for Paul, and the guy with the bow and arrow in the preview for upcoming episodes).

Overall, I was super excited for this series to begin, and now that it has - I'm hooked. I can't wait to see what Joss throws our way next week.

[Tyler Austin "tiewashere"]

I really liked it! I loved the whole "Ghost" premise and the character development was spot on (AND IT WASN'T EVEN FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER!!). I loved how the personality of the person (who was dead in real time) was technically alive again in Echo. Very interesting concept.

My MAIN question, besides the naked man, is how do they get the personalities for the actives?

[BuffyFanOne]

Speaking of the guy in the preview with the bow...
I can't remember his name off the top of my head but he is a great actor!
One of my favorite movies is Splendor. He is one of the main stars in that.

[hitnrun017]

Feb 13, 2009 22:42:58 GMT -5 BuffyFanOne said:

Hey hitnrun, I am right there with yo uabout that being Echo's family. I said that a few posts up and also that the ending of the episode (with the naked guy and the dead people) was what hooked me into the series more than the plot of the episode.

I actually don't think it's her parents anymore after thinking about some stuff. Probably old college buddies, based on the college tapes and the youngness of the victims. Plus, during the first wipe, we see an older woman reading to a young girl, most likely Caroline and her mother. Seems like Alpha is just getting info on Echo/Caroline... I wonder why her.