Of notice...
Cast
Did you know that Eliza Dushku was kinda hot? I wonder if there is any possible way to show as much of her body as network TV will allow from as many angles as possible to get that across.... Oh she acts too? Yeah, she was pretty good with that. But the 'hot' thing. Someone should try to capitalize on that.
(Also, she is ridiculously tiny. That little girl she was carrying out of the pedo-kidnappers' hideout was as big as she was! Kind blew the seriousness of the scene watching this incredibly petite woman trying to struggle to carry a 10 year old who is already five feet tall.)
Thank you, Joss, for a little parity with the nice long scenes of sweaty, shirtless Tahmoh. Let's keep that up, 'kay? Thx.
Harry Lennix, Reed Diamond, Fran Kranz, Amy Acker, and Olivia Williams* are all those HITGs you wish were in more, and/or wish would be given more in the parts they're in.
Interestingly, these are the adults in this piece (er - maybe not techie Fran/Topher). The 'dolls' - both male and female, apparently - appear to all be relatively young and attractive, and are made child-like by the mind wipes so the actors still seem ... too young? Like they're all at a super high-tech boarding school or something? Or they're sexy 20-somethings that share one of those unrealistically posh beach-front houses you see on the teevee. Speaking of....
The Set reminds me of the House of Blue Leaves from Kill Bill:
Intentional? Think there will be swords? Joss, you should totally have swords.
The Promos
Those Summer/Eliza Terminator/Dollhouse bumpers were excruciating. The tank tops, the leather, the overly glossed lips and come-hither dialog.... Jesus. Using sex as a selling point is fine, but let's try to be a bit more subtle about it. Is imagination that dead in Hollywood?
Oh my. That was a silly question...
The Plot
I'll wait till the season's over to make a proper assessment of the series. A pilot is such a strange animal storytelling-wise: so much info to present in so little time. Right now it just seems like a decent weekly psychothriller, but I think it can and will be more.
*see Williams in Miss Austen Regrets. It's surprisingly good.
Yes, I second your (e)motions. The forums online so far are unbelievably harsh and almost cruel towards Joss and also Eliza. I wasn't thinking that Joss would write the pilot to end all pilots. He usually writtes the shows to end all shows, and they tend to take some time to develop into something unforgettable and poignant, and difficult and meaningful. I believe strongly that this one will be like that, IF the effing network doesn't screw things up too much. Hopefully we will see all 13 episodes IN ORDER and get a season 2.
ReplyDeleteNow, yes, I watched the outtakes of the promos (since here we didn't get to see the promos as Global bought the rights to the show from Fox and they have their own promos, very tame in comparison), and the promos were incredibly cheesy, as in cheesecake. Summer and Eliza are two sensationally sexy and sensual actresses, and the network would be insane not to use that, but there is always a way to do so that is, well, not insulting to said actresses, and to us women viewers (and men viewers too, honestly: men can think even when they're aroused. What a concept!). What is this, the 70's? I guess "irony" that is no irony at all is in. I could live without it.
Anticipating the second episode with a smile and a fast-beating heart, and not a machette like 90% of the posters I read today online...
After reading TWoP and some i09 posts, I'm kinda surprised there wasn't more negativity. Expected the worst I guess... Anyhoo, I did find some of the criticism valid: the first half was slow and boring; the Tahmoh scenes with his bosses were hamfisted and tacked on; the dialogue overall was rather bland and lifeless; and yes, Eliza, though I was impressed with her performance is the weak-link acting-wise.
ReplyDeleteI do hope they push the ensemble aspect of the show - the actors he has are pretty great so I hope he gets to use them to their full potential. Though, I did read somewhere that he had to cut a deal with Fox to do the first six or seven eps as stand-alones before he dives full-on in to mytharc stuff. Here's hoping we get to see beyond those stand-alones.
And, I forgot to mention that I was glad to see Tahmoh be something other than boyscout Helo. I was wary of his abilities when I heard he was cast - his BSG role is pretty two-dimensional - but it seems there might be some real depth under that ripped torso of his. Mmmmm...ripped torso. I'm such a fucking hypocrite ;)