Dollhouse 2.12 "The Hollow Men"

[hazelk]

Well that was just. Bad. Chaotically bad. It was as if they’d tossed every project Whedon ever wrote (and some he ghost wrote) into a blender and scooped off all the floaters.

OK some of those floaters were creamy considered in isolation. Echo turning the tables (or I suppose the chairs) on big Daddy (Papa Doc? But let’s not go there) Boyd was a scene Faith never got to have with the Mayor. Amy Acker acted the hell out of Warren in a girl suit. Olivia Williams played Adelle with Watcherly dignity (always dignity). Topher got in some funny lines, Enver as Topher was creepily accurate and I continued to find zombie Paul much more likeable than the original.

But the plot contrivances, the Heroes level skience, the B movie idiocy of thinking taking out one building and a main frame (which Rossum needed for what exactly) would stop a big bad whose biggest baddery was actually inventing the technology for multiple back ups. That one OK, the episode acknowledged.

Still those kinds of problem are what you notice when the story fails to make emotional sense and the biggest problem was that Boyd didn’t make sense. Boyd couldn’t make up his mind whether he was Terry Carrins we-are-family evil crazy; Alpha meet Omega and let’s repopulate the world with our Homo dissociative babies evil crazy or Dr Horrible the-world-sucks-but-I-just-need-to-rule-it evil crazy.

Having already used up the excuse that they’re still in the Attic dreaming bad TV dreams, I’m not inclined to give them that pass again but maybe for one more episode. Maybe.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

I didn't have quite the same problems with it, but I agree that even without the coda there wasn't any satisfaction with this episode as it was resolved. I though this:

Echo turning the tables (or I suppose the chairs) on big Daddy (Papa Doc? But let’s not go there) Boyd was a scene Faith never got to have with the Mayor.

was really insightful. Although, Faith did sort of do so since she gave Buffy the key to defeating him. And I do believe that Boyd cared for Echo in the same way he felt pride for Topher, but this was really a reflection on himself for having "chosen" them. I actually thought the Mayor cared more for Faith as herself.

I thought Enver as Topher was even better the second time around. At one point he does Topher's smile and it was uncanny how much he looked like him although they look nothing alike.

But returning to your main point, I totally agree that Boyd was never well explained as an individual and that's a major problem. I'm also confused about when Whiskey was taken over by Clyde. I don't remember if you watch BSG but I found curious similarities between this episode and The Plan.

[hazelk]

I watched the whole series of BSG but not The Plan. It's funny because compared with many people on my LJ friends list my antipathy to that finale was very mild but it does seem to have killed off any interest in going back to it. Still would like to see Caprica though.

Enver was amazing this time, I thought he slightly over did it the first time but this time my brain kept morphing his face into Topher's. He really did seem to get blonder and blonder.