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*dies of awesome*
If you know my feelings about Dollhouse at all, you must have thought about how incredibly much I would be freaking out over this episode. AND YOU WOULD BE RIGHT.
I might flail so hard that I die. Just to warn you.
First off: OH OTP!!! She liked Victor even when she was Priya! He wants to make sure she never has to use the bad color! They were playing with paints in the shower! He had a horrible flashback and she comforted him! She wanted him to come to her treatment! He'll wait for her right there! "He thrills me"!!!!! "I'm crazy about him. I love him"!!!!!!! "He loves you back"!!!! THE TWO OF THEM SLEEPING TOGETHER!!!! (With Echo overlooking them!!!!)
*dies*
And now for random thoughts in no particular order.
Priya's painting was beautiful. I loved it.
I love the Topher&Adelle dynamic in this episode. I think they may have officially become one of my favorite platonic relationships ever. Topher's getting more fascinating all the time, and I love that whoever-that-was called her on the fact that she convinces herself that she's morally okay. And then when she talks about everyone being morally compromised! Because she's trying to drawn lines--her rage over Nolen-the-rapist was very, very real and genuine--but she's not sure where they're supposed to be or even if she's capable of drawing them.
And Topher! I mentioned that he's getting more fascinating. He was always so slimy to me, but I love him having this moment of trying to do the right thing, even if it's in the wrong way. Paired with his relationship with Whiskey/Claire, I'm liking him way more as a character than I did in the first season where he was merely Warren-esque sleezy. And the interaction with Sierra at the end makes his birthday celebration heartbreaking. Anyone else think that when he told her that she got beer "on special occasions" he was talking about his birthday?
Echo's finally getting interesting! With noticing Sierra's problem! And the book! And I lovelovelovelovelove the writing on the inside of her bed--so awesome. And Boyd giving her the pass key! AWESOME STUFF IS HAPPENING, YO. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE STORM. (Even if the use of "storm" as a metaphor for coming conflict is the most cliched thing ever.
Interesting tidbit: Nolen is the name of my sister's jerky ex-boyfriend who convinced her that he was a nice guy and then ended up breaking up with her in a douchey way and then turning into a total tool after that. I was predisposed to not liking any character who shares that name. But the idea of how far he would go to get Priya? It's such an example of a culture that tells men that they deserve a given woman and that her desires just don't matter. Obviously, it's an extreme example, but here's this rich, powerful, very intelligent guy, and he absolutely believes that this woman exists only for his own benefit. It's chilling and disgusting and, boy, did he ever need killing.
One thing I really appreciated about this episode was the way they shot the violence between Nolen and Priya. It was ugly and it made me wince. It was just as painful as that sort of misogyny should be. There was nothing glamorous about it. And even though I lovelovelove that Priya fought back--she's a strong woman, no shrinking violet, and the victim is finally gone, which is what I'd been waiting for all along in her characterization--she was still a woman fighting against a man who was bigger and stronger than she was. You don't really see that a whole lot in Joss's shows, but it reminded me of when the Operative flings Inara across the room in Serenity. After Buffy taking on guys twice her size and River killing Reavers by the dozens, it's nice to be reminded that you can still be strong even if you aren't a physical match with the person who's trying to hurt you. Does that make any sense?
Even though she wins--and the knife thing was heavy--it's more a chance thing and a case of desperately fighting for your life than anything else. But I am so glad they let her save herself. The Sierra-as-victim thing was seriously the feminist (and racial) issue that was bothering me the most in the show. BUT PRIYA'S A BADASS NOW. YAY!
I want an icon of her silhouette against the backdrop of her beautiful painting. Stat.
Boyd is awesome. Just taking charge like that. I'm more interested in his background than ever, the way he knows how to dispose of bodies and that he had all the necessary elements to do so right on hand like that. Also, I wish we could see more of his tender relationship with Echo--that's the one thing I really miss from Season 1. They had a nice moment or two, but I miss that.
Jed and Maurissa have written my two favorite episodes of the show so far, bar none--this one and "Epitaph One," obviously--with "Man on the Street" still being my third favorite. They get the emotions right, but I think they need to work on dialogue a bit. Joss's stuff, and Tim's, too, it just sings. I love the words they put in people's mouths. I wish there'd been a bit more of that here. But that's my major complaint.
Where was Tahmoh? Not that I really miss Mr. Knight in Tarnished Armor, but he does bring an interesting dynamic to the show, and it would have been a cool contrast between him and Topher--Tahmoh wants to "save" Caroline, and Topher wanted to help Sierra here, even though he had no real idea about how to go about doing that.
Also, even the mentions of Whiskey/Claire got me all excited. COME BACK, AMY ACKER.
OH AND DID I MENTION MY OTP?!??!?!
Yeah.
Now I feel bad that my first (almost completed and still looking for a beta!) Victor/Sierra fic is so angsty. I need to write something fluffy and pretty to make up for it. And I need more icons of the two of them. Pretty ones.
I might flail so hard that I die. Just to warn you.
First off: OH OTP!!! She liked Victor even when she was Priya! He wants to make sure she never has to use the bad color! They were playing with paints in the shower! He had a horrible flashback and she comforted him! She wanted him to come to her treatment! He'll wait for her right there! "He thrills me"!!!!! "I'm crazy about him. I love him"!!!!!!! "He loves you back"!!!! THE TWO OF THEM SLEEPING TOGETHER!!!! (With Echo overlooking them!!!!)
*dies*
And now for random thoughts in no particular order.
Priya's painting was beautiful. I loved it.
I love the Topher&Adelle dynamic in this episode. I think they may have officially become one of my favorite platonic relationships ever. Topher's getting more fascinating all the time, and I love that whoever-that-was called her on the fact that she convinces herself that she's morally okay. And then when she talks about everyone being morally compromised! Because she's trying to drawn lines--her rage over Nolen-the-rapist was very, very real and genuine--but she's not sure where they're supposed to be or even if she's capable of drawing them.
And Topher! I mentioned that he's getting more fascinating. He was always so slimy to me, but I love him having this moment of trying to do the right thing, even if it's in the wrong way. Paired with his relationship with Whiskey/Claire, I'm liking him way more as a character than I did in the first season where he was merely Warren-esque sleezy. And the interaction with Sierra at the end makes his birthday celebration heartbreaking. Anyone else think that when he told her that she got beer "on special occasions" he was talking about his birthday?
Echo's finally getting interesting! With noticing Sierra's problem! And the book! And I lovelovelovelovelove the writing on the inside of her bed--so awesome. And Boyd giving her the pass key! AWESOME STUFF IS HAPPENING, YO. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE STORM. (Even if the use of "storm" as a metaphor for coming conflict is the most cliched thing ever.
Interesting tidbit: Nolen is the name of my sister's jerky ex-boyfriend who convinced her that he was a nice guy and then ended up breaking up with her in a douchey way and then turning into a total tool after that. I was predisposed to not liking any character who shares that name. But the idea of how far he would go to get Priya? It's such an example of a culture that tells men that they deserve a given woman and that her desires just don't matter. Obviously, it's an extreme example, but here's this rich, powerful, very intelligent guy, and he absolutely believes that this woman exists only for his own benefit. It's chilling and disgusting and, boy, did he ever need killing.
One thing I really appreciated about this episode was the way they shot the violence between Nolen and Priya. It was ugly and it made me wince. It was just as painful as that sort of misogyny should be. There was nothing glamorous about it. And even though I lovelovelove that Priya fought back--she's a strong woman, no shrinking violet, and the victim is finally gone, which is what I'd been waiting for all along in her characterization--she was still a woman fighting against a man who was bigger and stronger than she was. You don't really see that a whole lot in Joss's shows, but it reminded me of when the Operative flings Inara across the room in Serenity. After Buffy taking on guys twice her size and River killing Reavers by the dozens, it's nice to be reminded that you can still be strong even if you aren't a physical match with the person who's trying to hurt you. Does that make any sense?
Even though she wins--and the knife thing was heavy--it's more a chance thing and a case of desperately fighting for your life than anything else. But I am so glad they let her save herself. The Sierra-as-victim thing was seriously the feminist (and racial) issue that was bothering me the most in the show. BUT PRIYA'S A BADASS NOW. YAY!
I want an icon of her silhouette against the backdrop of her beautiful painting. Stat.
Boyd is awesome. Just taking charge like that. I'm more interested in his background than ever, the way he knows how to dispose of bodies and that he had all the necessary elements to do so right on hand like that. Also, I wish we could see more of his tender relationship with Echo--that's the one thing I really miss from Season 1. They had a nice moment or two, but I miss that.
Jed and Maurissa have written my two favorite episodes of the show so far, bar none--this one and "Epitaph One," obviously--with "Man on the Street" still being my third favorite. They get the emotions right, but I think they need to work on dialogue a bit. Joss's stuff, and Tim's, too, it just sings. I love the words they put in people's mouths. I wish there'd been a bit more of that here. But that's my major complaint.
Where was Tahmoh? Not that I really miss Mr. Knight in Tarnished Armor, but he does bring an interesting dynamic to the show, and it would have been a cool contrast between him and Topher--Tahmoh wants to "save" Caroline, and Topher wanted to help Sierra here, even though he had no real idea about how to go about doing that.
Also, even the mentions of Whiskey/Claire got me all excited. COME BACK, AMY ACKER.
OH AND DID I MENTION MY OTP?!??!?!
Yeah.
Now I feel bad that my first (almost completed and still looking for a beta!) Victor/Sierra fic is so angsty. I need to write something fluffy and pretty to make up for it. And I need more icons of the two of them. Pretty ones.
no subject
It's the action of changing people, of viewing people as toys that reminds me of Warren. The whole of the show is like what Warren did to Katrina blown up to a more epic scale. Every week I think of Katrina, especially in this latest episode, though obviously in this case, Nolen would be the Warren figure.
I'm not exactly shocked by Topher's development. It just felt to me like it's taken a loooong time to start catching a glimpse of his complexity. This is not true, however. It hasn't taken longer than it took to develop, say, Spike or Lilah or someone like that (as a matter of fact, you could argue that it's taken less time). It just feels that way to me because I've never watched a Joss show as it airs. My experiences with watching all his other shows (except for Dr. Horrible) have been very short and intense: I watched entire seasons in less time than the lapse between "Vows" and "Instinct." I'm having to relearn patience and experiencing it in a different way. It's interesting.
It really did end too soon, didn't it? I could have watched for hours. And it made me really mad at Fox, too.
no subject
Topher might have made it through life without ever encountering a major moral quandary, and so his amoral status wouldn't have been an issue. But his talents led him to the worst possible environment.
Spot on, I think.
Also the part about viewing people as playthings. One of my favourite scenes from the episode.
I also watched all of Joss's other shows in one great big chunk on DVD, so I get the being patient thing.
And it made me really mad at Fox, too.
I'm just relieved they're at least showing the remaining 9 episodes. I don't know what I would have done if they'd pulled it now.