REVIEW: Dollhouse falls flat in third episode
NOTE: This review is meant for those Dollhouse fans who watched Episode 3, “Stage Fright,” Friday night on Fox. If you have not seen the third episode, read at your own spoiler risk.
The third episode of Dollhouse is disappointing and falls terribly flat after last week’s phenomenal thrill ride. Despite strong performances from Dichen Lachman as Sierra and Harry Lennix once again as Boyd Langton, even they could not pull together a shaky plot that left “Stage Fright” limping along. Thankfully the backstory and fight scenes involving Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) dotted the show and kept most Dollhouse fans entertained.
“STOP! Who is eating a mint?! SOMEBODY is eating a mint!!”
OK, really? Dialogue like that from pop star turned psycho diva Rayna Russell (played poorly by guest star Jamie Lee Kirchner) did not help matters early on, and Kirchner’s portrayal was so over the top and annoying, I actually cheered when Echo (Eliza Dushku) pushed her off the catwalk. (If only it had been a slipknot…)
Despite the supposedly inordinate cost of Actives, Rayna’s manager secretly hires — not one — but two Actives to guard the pop princess. Let’s conservatively suggest that each Active costs $100,000 given the dangerous nature of the job — wouldn’t those 200 Gs be better spent on beefing up security at the concert event — may I suggest metal detectors?
Anyway, Echo joins the group as a backup singer from South Boston, and Sierra is imprinted as Rayna’s number one fan, an Aussie who won some type of contest. (Not exactly hard acting gigs for Boston’s Dushku and Australia’s Lachman though.)
The interaction this episode between Echo and Sierra was very well done, but there wasn’t enough of it, and far too often it was too difficult to get beyond the implausible Rayna story arch.
If only this had been what the episode was about…
That being said, the backstory rewarded Dollhouse fans who have tuned in since the series premiere. Joss Whedon threw us for one of his famous loops when he revealed that Lubov (Enver Gjokaj) is actually “Victor,” a programmed doll just like Echo and Sierra. It turns out Agent Ballard is closer to finding the Dollhouse than we were initially led to believe.
Back when roles for the show were first cast, Gjokaj was listed as playing Victor, but Joss said he recast Gjokaj after rewrites. Tricky, tricky. Here’s what you guys said at the time:
kevthuhu: Wow. Did not see that coming. Let’s stick with the Victor storyline tonight. #Dollhouse
The curveball was a nice touch although it’s not quite clear what mission Lubov is currently on — or why he had his memory erased and then went right back to being Lubov.
Perhaps Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond) got his wish when he told Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) they should take out Ballard. Lubov turned Ballard over to the Borodin family, and the Borodins worked Ballard over pretty good to say the least. Ballard taking a gunshot to the abdomen was another “Oh shit!” moment, and the entire fight scene was fantastic. It just made me wish the main story arch was as compelling. Now another big question lurks — Is Ballard’s neighbor, the lovely Mellie (Miracle Laurie) an Active, as well? Only time will tell.
I also enjoy the endings of each episode when Echo remembers something from her last imprint or mission. She is definitely not the blank slate anymore that she was during the first episode. While Eliza struggled some during this episode, she has absolutely nailed the slow progression of Echo. The shake of the head that she gave Sierra at the end of Episode 3 was goosebump-worthy.
Overall, while the third episode hit a rough note, the complex backstory is unfolding nicely. I — like most fans of the show — will be quite happy when the backstory comes to the forefront a little bit more. Based on the previews for Episode 4, it appears we may all get our wish next week!
The Good: Victor revealed! Agent Ballard fighting for his life…
The Bad: Rayna — everything about the performance was terrible, especially her disdain for mints!
The Ugly: The fact that Dollhouse ran with this episode while it’s struggling to find an audience…
ActiveDollhouse Grade: D
Sidenote: Next week’s episode looks a lot better. I believe the show will get back on track where it left off in Episode 2. I just hope an audience tunes in to watch after this week’s letdown.
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I don’t understand why Rayna’s people hired two actives—especially one that was imprinted with no helpful skills.
She was only to be activated if Echo failed she was essentially a safeguard
[...] REVIEW: Dollhouse falls flat in third episode [...]
I actually quite enjoyed the episode. When I thought back about it, I remember the back story, not engagement. As of right now, I see the engagements as weak filler to propel the back story along. Hopefully they will become a little more integrated or at least relevant.
A D really?? I didn’t think it was that bad of an episode. Perhaps not a good episode to show when ratings are low but thats hindsight for you.
I did find Rayna really annoying but that was more the character then the actor’s portrayal of her. I don’t think the audience was meant to like her a whole lot.
About the hiring of two Actives, Rayna herself said she was with the Mouse, so its a good chance that she’s got a shit load of money. Either that or her manager paid for them out of his own pocket. Again, the guy probably does have a good deal of money. Not to mention, he seemed to have a bit of a relationship with Adelle so he could have gotten a “buddy discount”. And he might not even initially hired two Actives. He could have hired one and the company could have added another one (pro bono?) because of the situation. I wasn’t that shocked that two Actives were brought in. For something like that, its not that surprising. And they did have metal detectors at the front door but the guy still made his way through it. To have a secret bodyguard with Rayna at all times does make for better protection, especially since Echo doesn’t know she’s suppose to be protecting her. I see that as money well spent.
I agree that I liked the Echo and Sierra interaction and there wasn’t enough of it, but I don’t think we’re going to get an entire episode with them in their inactive state. Not unless something bad is happening around them.
I loved loved loved the reveal of Lubov as Victor!!! I know I read online that he was originally suppose to be a close Active to Echo, but when the episode aired, I think everyone assumed that they changed it. We forgot for a moment we were dealing with Joss and that it could be both! Lol.
I think the taking out of Ballard wasn’t done with Laurence and Adelle knowing about it. Why would they need to know about that? Their active wasn’t involved. Lubov just pointed Ballard in the direction. I think that was a moob hit because he was sneaking around the Borodin family. I’m sure that Laurence and Adelle won’t mind them trying to kill Ballard but I don’t think they knew it was going down.
Echo seems to remember more this episode outside of her imprint state. There was the repeating of the line “Friends help each other out”, the deja-a-vous look that Echo and Sierra gave each other when Sierra tripped on the catwalk, the song, and the tension between Echo and Sierra’s handler Heam. I felt bad for Sierra when Echo shook her head. She’s starting to pick-up a lot of small things and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see in the next episode that Adelle and Laurence figure out that Echo is starting to remember things about her inactive state during her imprint and remember things from her imprint state when she’s inactive.
That’s my 2 cents on the episode.
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