Kudos to whoever did this… June 20, 2010
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Culture, Film and Television, Uncategorized.trackback
Any of us who like the output of one J. Wheedon will appreciate it.
Actually, speaking of Wheedon, just finished Dollhouse Season One. Got to say that although the premise was pretty good the execution was hit and miss. Some good episodes followed by some awful ones although quality control generally went up as it progressed across its 13 (or is 14) episode run.
It’s hard to pin point what precisely is the problem, perhaps it is simply that Wheedon can work the tragicomedy thing better in the context of what seems to be a show for adolescents (but isn’t just for them) rather than a show which was – at least on paper – decidedly more mature. And there was a curious evasion at the heart of Dollhouse where the true implications of the ‘dolls’ and what they did – essentially a form of prostitution, sometimes sexualised sometimes not, wasn’t quite engaged with. Perhaps it couldn’t have been because that would tip this into a territory that would have changed the nature of the show entirely and making it effectively horror.
That said the true finale, which wasn’t broadcast on television, Epitaph One, was something else, tightly plotted, low budget but somehow none the worse for that and a piece that pulled away from the more hokey elements that had dragged the season down throughout. This was closer to hard science fiction and horror and all the better for it.
Plain wrong.
Whedon is on record (can’t remember where I saw it) as claiming that there was a massive amount of interference by suits with the darker intent behind the whole show. Enough that he now says that at least his projects in the immediate future will be shown through the Internet rather than on broadcast TV.
Dismal isn’t it? He can’t even be experimental…