10 Reasons Fox Might Have Been Right

Lets get one thing straight right here and now. FOX cancelling Dollhouse right after the best freaking episode in the series is the second biggest mistake they ever made! Not only is Dollhouse awesome in its own right, but it may just be the best damn thing in  Joss Whedon’s canon!

What is that I hear you cry? Firefly? Yeah, I used to think so too, now I’m not so sure. Epitaph One changed everything about this show, it has so much unrealised potential and on a different network it may have even flourished. If I could have Firefly back in one piece or Dollhouse the decision would be more painful than ripping off my own arm but I think it would come down simply to timing. Right now the Dollhouse crew are fresh, they are ready to pick up where they left off, while Firefly’s crew is scattered across a dozen networks. Dollhouse too has a lot of story to tell, while, with Firefly, you have already concluded much with the film Serenity. If you had asked me last year, right after Dollhouse finished, I would have bitten your hand off if it meant I could have Firefly back, now is a different story…

But that is not what this post is about. This is 10 reasons why FOX might have been right to scrap “Echo” for “Ghost”. For those of you who don’t know, “Echo” was the title of the unaired pilot for Dollhouse. FOX declined the pilot and requested Joss write something they wanted to air and for once, they may have been right…

1. Narrative – When I watched Echo, I thought to myself, where did FOX get off scrapping this, it’s infinitely better than that drivel they forced Joss to write, however, after watching Ghost again I realised, actually, it’s not. The story told in Echo covers too much ground from a narrative view point. Ghost covers just enough. We learn a small amount about the Dollhouse, a small amount about the actives and a small amount about Paul Ballard’s investigation, all while we are told an interesting and involving story.
2. Paul Ballard – In “Echo”, Ballard is possibly the most developed character. While in “Ghost” he remains an enigmatic shadow. We don’t really know who he is, how far he is willing to go to find the Dollhouse and most importantly of all he doesn’t meet Echo!
3. Baby Steps – Rewriting the Pilot allowed Joss to spread out information over several episodes, all the information we are given in “Echo” comes throughout the opening couple of episodes of the series instead. This gave a greater significance to the reveal that Victor was a Doll. It allowed us to wonder when, if ever, would Ballard find Caroline and if he did would he, could he help her.
4. The Cold Open - “Echo” opens with an introduction to what Dolls are. This is useful I guess for non-Whedon fans, or those without an internet connection or those without eyes maybe, but for most of us, we knew what the show was about long before it aired… I mean, like, waaaaaaaaay before. The opening for “Ghost” however was much more effective (even if I didn’t realise it first time around.) It was much more “Joss”, giving us questions without answers and yet managing to fill in just enough blanks to help us get by.
5. More than just a pilot – The aim of a pilot is little more than to introduce the world, the characters, the core concept of the show. What Joss managed to do with “Ghost” was to do all that and yet tell a one shot story too. Ghost didn’t ask the viewer to return, it was a story, plain and simple, a story in a greater, more interesting story, but you could just walk away at the end of it. Which I guess could be why so many people did. However “Echo” was just an introduction. Looking back at it now, it never broke out from the internal world of the Dollhouse. It dealt purely with Ballard’s investigation into the Dollhouse, it was, about the Dollhouse, it was not a story in the world of the Dollhouse, it was a mythology episode, it tried to engage us, to invite you into the world of the Dollhouse and while that was a worthy endeavour, I doubt it was an invite the public at large would have accepted.  
6. Sierra and Victor – The entrances for both these characters improved dramatically. While Victor’s dual identity was revealed almost instantly in  “Echo” it took weeks to be revealed because of the way Ghost unfolded. In fact, I remember thinking that Victor was only a recurring guest star, not even realising he was one of the main cast. While Sierra’s entrance was changed significantly. In “Echo” she was already a Doll, already with attachments to Victor and Echo. In Ghost we first she her crying out in pain as she is “broken in” by Topher and his team. Then the next time we see her she guns down two kidnappers with River-like accuracy, seriously cool!
7. The Little Things – Ok so I’ve kinda said they spread stuff out, but they also changed a few important details. For example in “Echo” Boyd requests Topher perform a remote wipe on Echo. Topher tells Boyd that a remote wipe if iffy, but he doesn’t say he can’t do it. However, in Dollhouse as we know it, he can’t do it by season 2. Why is this minor detail important? Because I believe remote wipes hold the key to the future we see in Epitaph One. Removing this element from the pilot, to me, seems to have altered the show at its foundations, perhaps without intending to. 
8. Alpha – The closing moments of “Ghost” give the audience potentially more food for thought than those of “Echo”. While the latter merely hints at Echo becoming self-aware (a scene that is later planted straight into a another episode) the former reveals an “eyes only” document on Alpha and a rather disturbing, intriguing scene with a naked man and a video of Caroline. A man we later learn is non-other than Mr Lawrence Dominic. Of the two, the former is certainly more of an attention grabber than the latter. After all, in “Echo” we already know who Caroline is, Ballard has already met her and we also know that Alpha cut up Whiskey, but in Ghost we know none of this. We don’t even know the name Caroline, while all we know of Alpha is the name!
9. High Octane – Ultimately FOX was looking for a pilot that opened with a bang. It the reason they scrapped “Serenity”, the character driven pilot for Firefly and replaced it with “The Train Job” a story about a high speed train robbery involving space faring cowboys. The same is true of “Ghost”. There are gunfights, kidnapping and bike racing. It’s adrenaline pumping stuff, with enough character development thrown in to keep Joss from picking up his ball and going home. While Echo is all about the characters, even with Echo shooting Ballard, a truly shocking endgame for a brilliant episode, it just doesn’t have the same exhilarating feel that “Ghost” has.
10. You need one last reason? Well how about this, we lucky DVD owners get 14 episodes of Dollhousy goodness instead of 13!

All that said, “Echo” is an excellent episode, one that probably deserves its own post on here one day. Some brilliant lines have been lost to the extras section of a DVD release but at least we can have them now and treasure them. I hope that with the back to back airings of Dollhouse in December we can make our presence known and convince FOX to change their minds. But if not, then I hope Joss can at least get the rights to produce a couple of TV movies to really finish this awesome show, the way it was meant to be finished!

By the way you can find my original thoughts on Dollhouse here.

This has been My Very Sad and F***ed Off Two Cents… Long Live the House!

Tv Nibble: Heroes Showdown in Parkman/Sylar Grudgematch!

Pretty damn good episode this week, I’ve gotta say! The episode focused for the most part on Matt and Sylar, with their roles now reversed, Matt the voice in the head, with Sylar in control of the meat suit. Although there was a significant amount of Claire/Noah/Samuel stuff going on too.

NBC leaked the fact that one of the Heroes was on their way out and did they leak that information at the right time. With Hiro, Nathan and Mohinder all either dead or dying and now with Matt and Peter showing signs of potentially leaving the show before the season ends, it really is anybody’s guess.

Firstly Peter’s new found ability to heal is draining his strength significantly. Unfortunately Peter is too stubborn (or focused on helping people) to give it up, even if it kills him.

Secondly Matt, who Sylar took control of a couple of weeks ago, was playing the Villain at his own game, this week. A very entertaining series of events that ended with Matt sacrificing himself for the greater good. Matt managed to take control of Sylar long enough to write “I have a gun and I’m going to shoot everyone in here” on a napkin. When the police came to arrest him he forced Sylar to appear as if he was drawing a gun and the officers promptly gunned him down.

Of course, it would be too simple to just kill him then and there, surely better to leave us wondering. Before the episode closes we see him under the care of a group of EMTs, no doubt winging his way to Peter’s hospital! And lets not forget, this is not the first time Parkman has been shot. At the end of season 1 he was shot five times in the chest.

So who’s number is up? Nathan’s reappearance at the end of this episode not only throws his name back in the hat but Sylar’s too. Peter could die attempting to save Hiro or Matt and of course if Hiro doesn’t help Samuel, Mohinder has had it. And right now… I couldn’t tell you who is the most likely candidate!

Tv Nibble: Change the Game

Well, this week’s Flash Forward certainly answered a lot of questions, while managing to open a whole Pandora’s box filled with different ones. If you haven’t seen this week’s episode, I suggest you stop reading now.

A couple of weeks ago I posed a question about ABC’s filming schedule and how Lee Thompson Young could manage a main role in Flash Forward and Scrubs: Interns, well now we know. One of the long standing questions about this show has been “Can you change the future?” and up to now, without any definitive answer, all signs have pointed to no. The exception to that rule being that Zoey saw a different future to Demetri.

Of course, Al Gough’s death changes everything. At the very least we know that the future is still malleable. It is either still in flux or the Flash Forwards were only one possible future or alternate reality. However, his death (which seemed a little too hurried from an audience perspective. It would have been nice to have some foreshadowing a couple of episodes previous to it) could essentially mean that the Flash Forwards were not visions of the future at all. After all, the butterfly effect is now active, Gough’s death will have a direct impact on how people live their lives and should cause a profound change in future events.

Of course an alternate theory (one presented in my favourite TV show of all time, Farscape) is that time runs to a set path, small changes in the timeline can essentially be erased as long as major events remain similar, time will course correct itself. That sounded confusing in my head. If you think as time as water, water takes the path of least resistance, if you divert the water, it will still take the path of least resistance and as long as it hasn’t deviated too far, it will eventually return to the original path. 

Flash Forward is far more likely to follow the second theory, that although changes in the timeline are possible, the eventual outcomes will remain essentially the same, give or take a small percentage. In some ways this was a necessary step for the show to take. Without the characters being under threat it is difficult to produce tension and knowing all but one of the major characters live happy, healthy lives for the next six months significantly reduces the level of threat and therefore the level of tension. Now however the tension is restored, not only have characters become effectively mortal again, they have been making decisions based on a possibly invalid future which, if there is an ounce of sense in the writers room, should have major repercussions.

Quickly to finish off, before this nibble turns into a three course dinner, we also learnt this week that Aaron’s daughter Tracy is still alive and well. We learnt that Bryce is in love with a woman he has never met, possibly in Japan. And we don’t know what significance the name Annabelle has to Simon, so we can just add that to the list of questions. 

Tv Nibble: Poggle Has To Go

This week’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was a truly stunning set piece. The action was non stop and beautifully rendered. After last week’s episode, which was more than a little disappointing, this was a welcome change of pace and clearly a set up for at least a two part episode, if not a three or four parter.

This week the Jedi hatch a plot to remove Poggle the Lesser from power and squash the planet of Geonosis under the boot of the clones, one last time!

This is the first time we see Ki-Adi Mundi as main character I believe, although he looked a little odd compared to his film counterpart. Ki-Adi, Obi-Wan and Anakin intend to storm Poggle’s base and capture him, however someone (Senator Palpatine possibly :P) betrays the Jedi and gives away their position.

The Geonosian’s are waiting for their arrival, blasting the Clone Dropships out of the air long before they reach the drop point, leaving the three Jedi generals no option other than to battle their way to the frontline, in a visually awesome spectacle.

When its not so good this show is watchable, when it’s good it’s freakin’ awesome! Long may it live! This has been My Half A Cent, until next time… may the force be with you!

Tv Nibble: Personality Transplant!

“We are going to survive, we are going to make it home!” The immortal words of Col. Young in the closing moments of this week’s Stargate: Universe.

I know I’ve been pretty happy with the series so far, with the odd complaint here and there but this week I wasn’t so ecstatic. Maybe it’s the anticipation, maybe its the having to sleep at work on MY BIRTHDAY thing or maybe it was that the episode just wasn’t that good.

Essentially the crew of Destiny was ordered to attempt to return to Earth, however there was a possibility that the ship would explode. Col. Young therefore refused, but then, dumbass that he is, he used the ancient communications stones and was unintentionally marooned on earth while Col. Telford carried out the necessary tests.

What I didn’t like about the episode was the lack of tension. It’s episode 7, there is no chance that the Destiny would destroyed and no chance that the crew would return to earth, which left only the possibility of a mediocre outcome at best. Certainly, the cast did the best with what they had, but it just wasn’t a threatening enough.

I think that SGU needs to pull away from threatening the lives of everyone, because we know that it isn’t really a threat, certainly not this early on. Threatening the lives of other characters, especially more minor characters is a better way forward when trying to generate tension.

A special mention goes out to Chloe and Eli who really shone in this episode, despite the lacklustre concept for the episode.

This has been My Two Cents… Pretty Pictures to follow…

Tv Nibble: Trick or Treat?

This week’s episode of Supernatural “Changing Channels” has to be the best episode of season 5 so far. When the “previously on Supernatural” section began to roll and I saw we were in for a mythology driven episode, my heart sank, but then I saw the light at the end of the tunnel as Richard Speight Jr.’s face flashed up, the Trickster was back!

I’ve always enjoyed the Trickster episodes, they are a welcome break from the scarier or heavier episodes, but what was special about this one was the way Carver and Weiner worked the Trickster into the mythology of the show. I am about to reveal the twist at the end of this episode, it’s a big one, so you might want to look away now.

Honestly, if I had more time, I could write a full length post about how clever this episode was, but I don't have the time today. After Castiel warns the brothers that the Trickster is more than he seems the audience quickly puts two and two together and works out that he is in fact an angel. He is in fact, the Angel, the Archangel Gabriel!

I had thought that the writers were planning to use this rather fun-loving episode to force Sam and Dean to accept Michael and Lucifer, which would have worked for me, something so dark coming out of something so light-hearted, but instead they chose to introduce Gabriel. To have him air his feelings about the war between his brothers, about his missing father. “I just want it to be over!” He screams.

It’s so nice that Eric and the other writers/producers, decided to give us such a spread of characters amongst the Angels. Castiel the Rebel, Michael the Warrior, Zachariah the Deceiver and now Gabriel the Coward. I love the way that Dean throws down the challenge to Gabriel, calling him a coward, daring him to join their side of the fight… and I hope that he does. I’ve always really liked the Trickster and Richard too (loved him in Jericho, awesome show!) and I think it would be great, during this final season if he got to play a bigger part.

That’s about it, due to excessive amounts of work I might miss a post or two this week, but don’t despair, normal service will resume next week. This has been My Angelic Two Cents, until next time… 

Tv Nibble: They Came in Peace…

I can’t be the only one wh0 was underwhelmed with ABC’s new series V. Yesterday I wrote 10 reasons why we needed a new alien invasion show on the airwaves, but after watching V I’m not so sure.

When I first heard about the show, way back in the spring, I was really excited for two reasons. The first was Morena Bacarin, for too long has this beauty been absent from our screens, but V hacked off her hair and turned her intellect and wit into a dull drone. The second was Alan Tudyk, who played the excellent Wash in Firefly and the even better Alpha in Dollhouse. And Alan did manage to get off a few good lines before his character was axed, without so much as a good death scene.

Ok, so the two main reasons I tuned in were a bust but I didn’t  hate the show, I will certainly keep watching, but considering this was a pilot for an alien invasion show, very little happened. A minor skirmish and a news interview are hardly the most exciting ways to open a series and certainly not a patch on what we were shown in the trailers.

Hopefully next week will be a little more action orientated and please, whatever you do, ABC, please let Anna grow her hair!