Dollhouse 1x12: Omega
9 May 2009 12:05![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quinaraWhat can I say? Best episode of the season; who the hell wouldn't renew this show? Who thought that Echo couldn't be a character?
I really don't know what to say, or where to start. I loved that Joss seemed to finally let his love of overblown set pieces be qualified by what the story demands. [ETA: Of course, it was Tim Minear... Maybe that's why. I still think Joss might pick up a clue!] Not that there weren't overblown set pieces (the Frankenstein chair, the whole chase in a power plant), but we know nothing about what happened to Alpha. Did I miss that bit, or is he still at large?
I love Whiskey/Dr. Saunders and the parallel it played to the whole Echo/Caroline story. She knows who she is, even living (permanently?) as someone else.
Because whether or not it's a soul, it would seem there's something that informs what we become in the Dollhouse verse. Same thing as what informs the Buffyverse vampires, perhaps, which we know is not the same as a Buffyverse soul. And that I can get down with. Caroline is not the be-all-and-end-all of Echo, but by being 'her' for the longest I think it's safe to say that Caroline is most informed by what Echo is. Echo's Whiskey1.1 is not the same as Whiskey's Whiskey1.1 - she becomes more questioning, more happy to state what she's feeling instead of just dancing in the light.
Echo is nobody, but the moment you give her a voice she makes it who she is. She is not Omega; she is not a god. She is an "I" though - such a great contrast to Alpha's constant switches.
[Side-note for that whole bit: "Pre-Hellenic" is a ridiculous description for the Minoans. Pray tell who the "Hellenic" Minoans are supposed to be. Plus Evans is rolling in his grave to hear you subordinate his pet civilisation to Classical Greece. And, more than that, we can't tell whether the supposed human sacrifice at Anemospilia means that the practice was wide-spread, let alone what it's purpose was, so let's plz not be simplifying Minoan religion (with its pile of debated evidence) to something pagan and weird and life-for-life sacrificey.]
Ballard works for the Dollhouse now. That will be interesting. He seemed to do a complete 180 very quickly, though there was still a little yay! inside me that he chose to free November from her contract. Though I wonder whether that didn't strike me a little as "you made her for me; I give in; now I say let her be what she was again". There's still very little choice there on November's part. He did say that he was nobody, but I think part of him still wants to the prince on a white horse.
DeWitt, Boyd and Topher are my new dream team. I love their characters and their interaction. I love DeWitt looking out of the window (of her house), and Boyd being what Ballard might become, and Topher possibly programming Dr. Saunders to hate him.
Do other people have stuff to say? I'd love to hear it - I don't think I can think of anything else in a vacuum. I need to watch the episode again.
I really don't know what to say, or where to start. I loved that Joss seemed to finally let his love of overblown set pieces be qualified by what the story demands. [ETA: Of course, it was Tim Minear... Maybe that's why. I still think Joss might pick up a clue!] Not that there weren't overblown set pieces (the Frankenstein chair, the whole chase in a power plant), but we know nothing about what happened to Alpha. Did I miss that bit, or is he still at large?
I love Whiskey/Dr. Saunders and the parallel it played to the whole Echo/Caroline story. She knows who she is, even living (permanently?) as someone else.
Because whether or not it's a soul, it would seem there's something that informs what we become in the Dollhouse verse. Same thing as what informs the Buffyverse vampires, perhaps, which we know is not the same as a Buffyverse soul. And that I can get down with. Caroline is not the be-all-and-end-all of Echo, but by being 'her' for the longest I think it's safe to say that Caroline is most informed by what Echo is. Echo's Whiskey1.1 is not the same as Whiskey's Whiskey1.1 - she becomes more questioning, more happy to state what she's feeling instead of just dancing in the light.
Echo is nobody, but the moment you give her a voice she makes it who she is. She is not Omega; she is not a god. She is an "I" though - such a great contrast to Alpha's constant switches.
[Side-note for that whole bit: "Pre-Hellenic" is a ridiculous description for the Minoans. Pray tell who the "Hellenic" Minoans are supposed to be. Plus Evans is rolling in his grave to hear you subordinate his pet civilisation to Classical Greece. And, more than that, we can't tell whether the supposed human sacrifice at Anemospilia means that the practice was wide-spread, let alone what it's purpose was, so let's plz not be simplifying Minoan religion (with its pile of debated evidence) to something pagan and weird and life-for-life sacrificey.]
Ballard works for the Dollhouse now. That will be interesting. He seemed to do a complete 180 very quickly, though there was still a little yay! inside me that he chose to free November from her contract. Though I wonder whether that didn't strike me a little as "you made her for me; I give in; now I say let her be what she was again". There's still very little choice there on November's part. He did say that he was nobody, but I think part of him still wants to the prince on a white horse.
DeWitt, Boyd and Topher are my new dream team. I love their characters and their interaction. I love DeWitt looking out of the window (of her house), and Boyd being what Ballard might become, and Topher possibly programming Dr. Saunders to hate him.
Do other people have stuff to say? I'd love to hear it - I don't think I can think of anything else in a vacuum. I need to watch the episode again.
(no subject)
Date: 09/05/2009 11:58 (UTC)I have a theory that Whiskey is Topher's sister and that he programmed her to hate him because he's somehow responsible for her becoming a doll and getting hurt.
Composite!Echo kicked ass. I also liked the growth in Caroline.
Ballard getting to save both girls was a nice touch. And his half-smile when Echo told him "you saved her" was wonderful.
(no subject)
Date: 09/05/2009 12:55 (UTC)I have a theory that Whiskey is Topher's sister
Oh, oh - I wonder if she's Topher's original BFF that Sierra was playing the other week, who gave herself over to the experiment in some way. There's definitely something going on there.
Everyone's progression really was impressive.
(no subject)
Date: 09/05/2009 12:38 (UTC)Ballard "used" November, knowing full well that it wasn't consensual because the person November used to be wasn't part of the decision. He hadn't realized up to that point that he could be a Dollhouse customer just as much as any of the extremely rich people who are the regular clients. Up until that moment, he had thought himself morally superior. I think he freed November so that working for the Dollhouse, he wouldn't be confronted by what he had done every time he ran into her.
And finally, he went to work for the Dollhouse because he no longer considers himself superior. It's his penance for having used an active. Rather than trying to free the actives, now he is going to dedicate himself to protecting them -- like Boyd.
(no subject)
Date: 09/05/2009 13:01 (UTC)I like that. He clearly thinks he's cleverer than everyone else, but having someone hate him for what he does is important to him too. *sigh* It would be so great to see more of the Whiskey-Topher dynamic.
Up until that moment, he had thought himself morally superior. I think he freed November so that working for the Dollhouse, he wouldn't be confronted by what he had done every time he ran into her. / And finally, he went to work for the Dollhouse because he no longer considers himself superior.
Yeah, I think you're right there as well. It was partially for his own gain, but ultimately a result of growth in his character.