"Engagement Of The Week"

[henzINNIT]

Is this format he reason why this show failed?

Sometimes you have to accept that a show isn't gonna get the numbers, but an early stretch of meandering engagement-based stories really slowed this down, and in both seasons for some reason. It wasn't until episode 6 of the first season that the show even caught up to the events of the original pilot. I'm not saying the pilot was perfect, hell it may have even been worse for the show's success than "Ghost"; but it put the blocks in place in a far more interesting and efficient way.

"Paul Ballard is a cop reaching the end of his tether when his fantasy case becomes all too real and kicks his ass, while the Dollhouse - an underground and highly illegal form of high-tech slavery - starts to come apart at the seams"

Very quick summary of the key plot. One episode that described what we eventually had to watch over 5. Ballard specifically is more interesting in the original conception because he is thrown right into the action. Thinking about his purpose in the show as it exists now, we watch him do little else but talk to people with no success for 5 episodes. zzzzz

I'm not fully against standalone episodes. They can be very effective and entertaining diversions, giving us nuggets of exposition and character development along the way. The Target was good, Grey Hour was good, Belle Chose was good. I liked those a lot, but there's as many bad ones as good that don't add anything. I really hate Stage Fright in particular, lol

What do you think?

[wytchcroft]

if you are looking at Whedon then Buffy season 3 or 5 (imo) proves the merits of a good balance between 'arc' and 'movie of the week' - whereas Angel S4 shows the dangers of too long an arc.

BSG was interesting because whilst season 3 showed some weaknesses in standalone episodes, season 4 showed weakness in its arc.

it all comes down to the writing; if the writing sucks the ep' will suck.

As for Dollhouse, i think the writing is just better in those episodes that move the characters forward - be they standalone OR 'arc' (God i'm bored of that word now).

As for the impact on the show - well i know people that were put off by Ghost and Stage Fright but i'm also aware that Dollhouse never pulled in numbers in the first place. The idea that it lost an audience is a bit of a myth.

[henzINNIT]

Very good points. I agree about finding a balance between arcs and standalone episodes. My issue with Dollhouse is how long it spent before striking that balance. I don't think the early string of "motw" did well to sell the potential of the show, 5 of 13 is a lot of time to waste. As you mentioned though, it didn't really do much to hurt the viewing figures.

[wytchcroft]

it's hard to know what would have been the win...
i mean, i love the original (scrapped) pilot and think that ep 2 seems stronger as a consequence - just as ep 5 is strengthened by the later reveal about the Dollhouse and it's architect...

but there are people who don't like Echo (pilot) either - and Gray Hour has it's fans while Stage Fright was written by the shows main team so... a tricky call i'd say.

look at season two - it's had very strong episodes (imo) but it still gets flack, people saying that Belonging is the first good episode (or best) so far.. which, really, i can't fathom.

i would certainly agree that bunching the stand-alones and arc episodes as they've done in both seasons seems to be a mistake, there's less sense of weaving plot-lines that way.

oh and an apparent absence of the elder Whedon may not have helped.

[henzINNIT]

The second season has come under a lot of fire but it got going much faster than last season. I liked 3 out of 4, Instinct was pretty dull for me, but it looks to be getting very heavy in the next few episodes. Whats the betting Dollhouse gets totally awesome after it's lost it's hope of continuing? That's just Joss's style lol

I'm feeling dense.. but why is episode 5 made stronger by the details of the creator?

[wytchcroft]

Yes i thought season 2 hit the ground running, especially if you compare it episode to episode with season 1.

As for True Believer i think the whole 'messiah / cult and compound' thing can be directly compared to the Doll House especially once we learn the bunker-like aspects of it's design later in S-1. Even more so if we allow for Epitaph One with its 'new religion' scenes.

And of course, Echo leading people out and into the light is foreshadowing of both Needs and Epitaph One. Alpha is comparable to the cult leader i think. And that's enough from me!