New Dollhouse Episodes

Dec 23, 2009 by Kelly    No Comments    Posted under: Whedon Watch

Screen capture of “The Attic” ©20th Century Fox

Season 2, Episode 9: Stop Loss

There were several things about this episode that I found brillant. For instance, we finally got to see the exit process for a doll who didn’t need to escape. Victor’s time at the dollhouse was up, so he woke up, was shocked that it had been 5 years, filled out some paperwork, shook Boyd’s hand and found himself (after checking out his dollhouse provided suite) compelled to sleep in his elongated tile shower instead of his bed (nice touch Joss). So obviously there was some impression left-over of his time at the Dollhouse on a subconscious level, but he didn’t remember anything, not even Sierra at first, whom he was supposed to have dinner with that evening whom continued to wait for him.

Aside from the good points, I found the whole “soldier, one-mind” storyline a little cheesy and I’m not sure any of that was necessary. But the parts where Victor could physically see the soldiers’ planned strategy ahead of time was interesting and slightly eerie in its choppy cinematography.

Season 2, Episode 10: The Attic

Joss jokingly claimed once, on a Buffy special feature, that he “invented” the twist ending. In this episode he convinced me that was true. I predict most writers’ twist endings, but not Joss’s most of the time, which is why most un-Joss shows bore me. But Joss doesn’t disappoint, especially in this episode. I could’ve done without Joss’s creative version of nightmare-sushi though. Ick.

That aside I found the attic a very interesting place, and I like the Terry-Gilliam-esque sleeping contraptions the dolls were stored in and the dream-like sequences all shared by minds trapped together. I also love that Joss managed to tie the attic to Epitaph One! How interesting that the unaired 13th episode was merely a possible outcome of the Doll’s technology taking over the world, or perhaps it wasn’t? Hopefully Joss will address that as the rest of the season unfolds. The Dollhouse returns to its regular 8pm (central time) slot on January 8th.

For more options, like to view the episodes reviewed above or to watch the 15-second “Dollhouse Simplified” recap, see this link.

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