Dollhouse - 2x03 "Belle Chose" (US) - [**Spoilers**]

J-blk

Well, episode 3 is upon us and I'm getting the feeling that the end is nigh... There's even a campaign to "save the show" already:

http://www.activatedollhouse.com/?loc=interstitialskip

Though, honestly, if it continues the trend set by the first couple of episodes of this season, there's no saving it... Anyway, onto this week - TV.com summary:

At the request of a Dollhouse shareholder, Victor is imprinted with the mind of the man's nephew. The man's unstable, psychotic, homicidal nephew. Now, just as Ballard is starting to adjust to his new role, he must call upon all of his FBI training when Victor escapes the Dollhouse to wander the streets with a killer in his head.

That kinda of sounds promising and hopefully it won't end up being all about Eco again...

Thoughts, impressions, gripes sometime tomorrow...

anotherlostie

Maybe if they had used Victor a bit more, the show wouldn't be where it is today - his turns as the creepy serial killer and Kiki were great. I really enjoyed the episode, and the fact that it was Echo lite until near the end.

Monotype

I actually enjoyed this episode a lot more than the last two. Awesome performance by Vicktor, of course.

iguana

Really good episode, this should have kicked off the series. My main complaint is that there was a bit too much of Echo/Kiki and the professor talking about Chaucer. Other than that it was really strong. A good story, plenty of Victor, some nice humour and a little foreshadowing of Epitaph One with Topher needing to create his own remote wipe.

If this had been S02E01 there might not have been such a drop off in the ratings. It's frustrating to see that the show still has it when the first two episodes of this series have almost guaranteed cancellation.:(

Sherifu

Liked this one. It was fairly good. Not half as boring as last week.

Shades of Epitaph One creeping in already.

Ballard and his Quantico training Came in handy all the same.

J-blk

iguana wrote: »

If this had been S02E01 there might not have been such a drop off in the ratings.

This was actually meant to be S2E02 - as clearly indicated by the "previously on" section. It's clear in the episode too: Ballard has just become Echo's handler and is pretty uncomfortable in the role, especially with an "R" assignment... So it seems FOX is again f***ing with the episode order :mad:.

It was good but really for the parts Victor was in - if we ever needed proof of how weak Eliza Dushku's acting skills really are, well here it is. Victor was so much better as the psycho and he made a pretty hilarious Kiki too .

Still moving very slowly though and with no clear goal in sight...

iguana

J-blk wrote: »

Still moving very slowly though and with no clear goal in sight...

It wouldn't be slow if this had been the first episode. Then they could speed along to Caroline regaining control of Echo. Once that happens Dushku's poor range would be explained by the fact that she would always be Caroline pretending to be taken over by the imprint.

J-blk

Good point. I would have been happier even with this as the second episode, like it was supposed to be - if they "trimmed the fat" a bit from this episode and parts of the premiere and combined them, it could have made a much better premiere. Last week's episode was utterly useless though so hopefully there won't be many more complete clunkers like it...

JohnK

Definitely the best of the season so far and Victor certainly stole the show. Tophers first attempt at remote wiping was an interesting way to tie into Epitaph One; this along with his lactation work last week really shows him moving down the road to the events of that episode. And its nice to see a little bit more of the Dollhouse where they get their outfits etc. Its a small thing but it adds a bit more substance to the whole affair.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Much better episode this week and I think there was a very small boost in the ratings, so perhaps it could pick up again and potentially save itself...
Great to see them using Viktor and Boyd a bit more.

anotherlostie

Has Richard Dower given up on the show? Then it REALLY is in trouble!:D

iguana

I think he's passed his affections on to Glee.

ixoy

Thought this one was a lot better than the first two - mostly, as above, down to Victor. Enver Gjokaj is much more suited to 'Dollhouse' than Dushku because he's got a little thing called range - he was even better than her in the role of Kiki (and far funnier).

I also liked Langton's dry "Ah" to being told there was a serial killer loose in Victor as well as his "Topher's got an ethical problem... Topher!"

Big improvement and more like we were seeing at the end of the first season. Could be too little too late of course.

matrim

I liked this episode too, it was much better than the last 2 and actually kept me fully interested for the whole episode.

As others have said again it kind of adds to the lead up to epitaph one with the new remote wipe tech.

One thing that's annoying me this season is that 2 people have now been able to break out of the dollhouse with suprising ease. Isn't it supposed to be a secure facility with only one guarded way in and out.

Richard Dower

Aye...i'm watching, remote wipe......twas best ep. so far but personally i didn't like it. Humour seemed incorrect foe the ep., prefer if it was Adele and Topher as a comedy duo.

Overall DH is nothing compared to last season, it's lost something.

Stark

Very good episode imo, showed off what the show could be (if Joss just gave up on the idea of trying to have Eliza Dushku as the lead actress). Victor was excellent as always and his moments as Kiki almost made up for having to endure Dushku attempting to portray a mild mannered serial killer and coming out with the same shouty bitch routine she comes out with every single week.

I anxiously await the episode where we find out what happens to Echo's body prior to the events of "Epitaph One". Something with a truck or an Attic would be nice.

iguana

Stark wrote: »

(if Joss just gave up on the idea of trying to have Eliza Dushku as the lead actress).

This reminds me of one of the things I found most annoying about the new series. I was really hoping that the opening credits would feature all the characters but instead it's just Echo, Echo, Echo. The show is called "Dollhouse" not "The Echo Show" the opening credits should feature the whole ensemble. Even "BUFFY, The Vampire Slayer" didn't have Buffy-centric credits, it had the whole cast.

Dollhouse is at it's best when it's an ensemble show, even if Dushku was as talented as Gjokaj it would still be stronger when all the characters have strong roles to play. Sarah Michelle Gellar is actually a brilliant actress but the strength of Buffy was the group dynamic, if it had been all Buffy, all the time, it would have gotten boring quick. But Dollhouse, with it's mediocre lead actor, in a part which she doesn't have the chops for, will suffer very fast if they don't shift the focus. And the fact that the credits feature nothing but Echo worries me that they have not realised this.

Richard Dower

IMO Dushku is killing this show....and where is Sierra???

ziedth

I'm constantl ysurpeised by how strong an actor Viktor actually is,

I might add the last scene to the episode was fairly good but I think they should have showed Ballard killing him.

A bit like that Episode of Buffy when Giles kills

Glory by smothering the other guy

. He said a really cool line like "she's a hero......not like us" very good moment and a missed oppurtunity.

and on a further note thats three former BSG characters on the show. Who's for starbuck as a doll? (Note regarging BSG if anyone mentions plotlines please use spoiler tags cause I'm onle into season 3 now.

don ramo

yeah i never really understood why dushku was the lead actor of the whole show, you have a dollhouse with what looks like 50-60 actives walkinga bout the place, and all we know is 5 of them (now 3 that the doc and november are gone)

i also think they played the FBI angle way to early, the first season should have shown actives going about there engagements, you could easily show 2 actives an ep, then near the end introduce alpha, and maybe later in season 2 introduce ballard,

i never understand why shows always go straight for conspiracies, goverment agencies, why cant the show be what it is, works pretty well for the likes of CSI, start trek and even heroes at first, unless its a political show goverment agencies should be left out for as long as possible

like what was said this is hands down the best episode this season, but it still not up to par on season 1, and victor dancing in the night club, priceless:D, id love to know how long that took to shoot

Richard Dower

No episode broadcast on Friday gone....American football was on, next Friday involves Sierra and the Rossum corporation, Sierra gets some backstory.

ziedth

Richard Dower wrote: »

No episode broadcast on Friday gone....American football was on, next Friday involves Sierra and the Rossum corporation, Sierra gets some backstory.

Good, with a bit of luck that'll be the start of it. If last weeks wasn't as much as an improvement as it was i would have been borderline giving up