So firstly, yes I know this show is off the air. Has been for almost 3 years. I heard of the show when it was still on, but I wasn't really interested in it and I didn't get the CW anyway, so I never saw it. I got Netflix at the end of September though, so I've been trying to find new things to watch. One thing I can say about Netflix, they don't have a lot of shows or movies that are really popular with the public, a misconception that I think they helped feed. They don't have updated seasons of current shows--there are many shows in current seasons and Netflix may only have up to the last season or, if the show spans multiple seasons, may only have the first couple. For example, I love Bridezillas. I got caught up in that whole Dish Network-AMC feud earlier this summer as a Dish customer and as you know, they snatched our AMC programming from us for a few months while the two were in court. Because of that, I missed about two months of Bridezillas. I got Netflix and saw that it was there, so I was going to go watch, but to my confused surprise, they only had two seasons=7 and 8. LOL Why do they have two seasons in the middle of the show and none of the seasons either before or after them? Scandal, a very popular show on ABC, only has the first season on Netflix. Unfortunately, we're already in the middle of Season 2. My satellite dish is suspended at the moment, so I can't get my locals, which means no Scandal for me. I have to find it on Hulu Plus during the weekend because Netflix hasn't gotten the contract to stream current episodes yet. That's a huge disadvantage that I believe Netflix has, in addition to not having many popular series and movies and thinking that the many B-list shows and Hallmark movies are going to make up for it. With that being said though, it is still probably the best streaming service to use, and you do get a lot for the monthly membership price. I pay $8 a month and can watch whatever I want however many times I want (this doesn't apply to the rentals, ofc) and if I give out the code to my family, they can do the same. That's a great deal for $8 a month. There's a lot of lesser-known comedies and movies, so I guess the positive is that you can at least expand your viewing library and try something new that you may end up liking.
Anyway,
I've been watching Frasier for the past month and a half. It's become a bit of a nightly ritual, I realized. lol Watched the entire series save for a few episodes at least 3 times. lol Netflix doesn't carry a lot of my regular tv shows and movies, so I was on the hunt for something new last night and kept seeing this tv show Dollhouse on the "Best of Netflix" lists, so I figured what the hell. I like the techie shows, I like Eliza Dushku (I can admit with no shame that the real reason why I like her so much is because of
Bring It On), and the concept was something I hadn't seen before. It was like 1am so I decided to give it a go.
The show only lasted for 2 seasons, so it wasn't really given the time that many shows get to pick up steam, and usually achieve cult status after their premature cancellations. I believe this may be one of those shows. Joss Whedon, the creator of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
Angel, was behind this redheaded stepchild of the CW, but that part didn't much matter to me since I didn't like either of those shows. LOL Anyway, the concept is that the Dollhouse is actually a top-secret agency for the extremely wealthy in which "dolls," or Actives as they are referred to on the show, are leased out for certain periods of time to paying customers to fulfill their fantasies, then returned once the job concludes. Many are lonely, some want to dabble in wish fulfillment, others need actual jobs carried out. Think of it as a fixed Match.com for the Bill Gates level income bracket. Now for the part that serves as the major conflict for the show. These "dolls" are actually people, but they are programmed to be the exact thing that the client wants. They are programmed to fit the criteria and become complete people in that manner, complete with memories, feelings, thoughts and backstories that they genuinely believe, so they can become virtually anyone. When the job ends, the person is whisked away by their "handlers" for "treatments." Said treatment is really a memory wipe and after the job finishes, their minds are wiped clean and they stay at the Dollhouse until they are contracted, or engaged, to another job. Each person at the Dollhouse is under a mandatory 5-year contract, after which they can return to their normal lives. What happens to their personalities you ask? They are wiped and stored on hard drives, to be replaced in the person's mind once the contract is up. This allows for different personalities to be downloaded and imprinted in the doll's mind throughout their time at the Dollhouse. Between jobs, the doll is in a trance, child-like state with simple thoughts and actions and not many, if any, feelings. The Dollhouse, for obvious moral reasons, is an illegal activity and must be kept secret, but as is the case with many of these shows with conflict, there is already an FBI agent on the case trying to blow the lid off of the Dollhouse. There's also a rogue doll running around and helping the agent get closer to Echo, which adds to the drive that the Dollhouse has to find and eliminate him as well as keep the public from finding out.
I wasn't completely sold after the first couple of episodes, but for some reason I couldn't stop watching. I ended up finishing the first season and it's kind of a bad show, like bad to the point that it's good. lol Eliza Dushku, the main protagonist of the show, plays No Last Name Echo, who is the Dollhouse's most requested Doll. Over the course of the show and despite the memory wipes, Echo begins to show signs of self-awareness and increasing ability to take initiative. This causes conflict, because obviously she is not supposed to be her own person and make her own decisions. She's also not supposed to remember her former life at all, which she also begins to do in bits and pieces throughout the course of the show. A couple of the dolls begin to break free of the mind wipes and fall in love, although the blank state between jobs and the various personas help them not to realize it. It ends up being that their love is part of their instinctual drive more than driven by mere feelings and finds ways to manifest itself. I like that side story, especially in my newly-single, bitter-driven state. lol
I'm still debating on whether or not I want to watch the second season. The first season was okay and the varying personas that Echo and the other dolls had to take on did allow the actors to stretch their wings, but again, still not sold. I got lost towards the end of the season and I'm by nature one of those people that wants a solid story so I kind of get drawn to any plotholes or other things that generally don't make sense. This kind of detracts from my experience, but that's a personal problem. Anyhow, there are a lot of elements about the show that I think were ingenious and I also liked that in one of the episodes they showed reactions from the public about how a service such as the Dollhouse would be received. I think the reactions, varying from disgust to intrigue to genuine interest, fear to avoidance and even acceptance, were a pretty good picture of how the public would really receive a service like that, which is where the conflict with self and within the show begins.
Some would see this show as a form of human trafficking or prostitution and be disgusted, which I can see because at first I was rather upset about the possibility of this being able to happen to us--these people are getting their entire lives wiped clean, as if they didn't exist, and being asked to become con artists in a sense with no control or power over their own minds; in essence, they don't have their own minds. To the outside world, they don't even exist anymore. They have a sleeping brain and neurons until the next job, when they are programmed to have them. Walking and breathing robots in a sense. They have to be programmed to feel! How crazy is that? We feel an array of things all day long. To think about being in a state in which I'm not sick but I still cannot feel, cannot even think enough to know that
not feeling, in essence not
being is abnormal, I'd lose my mind once I figured out what happened to me. If the real person were to get wind of what was happening to them, its more than likely that they would want to get out but in one of the episodes, we come to see how each of them ended there and unlike human trafficking, each of these people signed a contract to become Dolls. Not all of them had a great deal of choice in the matter, but the point is that they signed over their rights for the 5-year duration, which in court will hold up to being a voluntary decision, therefore not human trafficking. Very good point. Morally, however, is it wrong? Don't many people comment on wanting a fantasy man or woman to be all that they need in life, to give them the happiness they can't seem to find anywhere else? These Dolls are walking fantasies; they can be programmed to be damn near anybody--hell they can be programmed to be themselves. Crazy stuff. But back to the question, if many people indeed want such a thing at some point in their lives, would they turn it down if it were offered to them?
Some people are staunchly against the concept. But put this in the mind of a 45-year old just about spinster. Never had a boyfriend, lives alone, and just wants a man for her, that she won't have to worry about cheating on her, hitting her or otherwise taking advantage of her. The loneliness is overwhelming. Someone tells her that if she writes down everything she wants in a man and someone will deliver it to her, you really think she's going to say no? Some people wouldn't take a second to sign on the dotted line and finally have the man or woman of their dreams. Some would hesitate, but sign anyway. Some would hesitate and finally say no, and many would not only say no, but find the nearest FBI department and get them to investigate. It's a moral-twisting question and I can say that I enjoy that immensely about the show. You want to see this agency as the villain and sometimes, many times, you do. But when you see that they actually do get to help in ways that genetically or physically are impossible (its not all about the fantasy man/woman concept) and keep in mind that when the 5 years are up, the people get to resume their lives, you find yourself questioning sometimes.
Bitchy Review: This show makes me question many things when looking at my own life. Would I, if asked to do something like this, do it? Morally, could I do that to myself and become a Doll? Or on one of the flip sides, would I contract someone to me that way? Lonely or not, could I live with a virtual robot for 5 years, knowing that they're only with me because they're programmed to be? It takes the fun out of love, the adjusting and growing and learning. On the other flip side as a simple member of society with no personal stock in it, could I exist in a world where that sort of thing is okay, or would I want to do something about it? How would I feel if it were my loved one having to endure something like that for 5 years, being in various situations where I cannot save or protect them? How would I handle that? I enjoy that; I can't answer the question with a clear mind and I like the challenge it presents. The acting isn't always spectacular and sometimes that part's funny, but the camera and tech skills are on point. I also don't enjoy the plotholes too much because I find a few of them distracting and it can be confusing trying to keep up, but in general its a good show to watch when nothing else is on. Even though I see the potential that the show had to succeed, I can sort of see why it didn't. I don't think we were ready for anything of that caliber just yet; the interest level wasn't high enough. I wouldn't invite a date over to watch the show unless that's your sort of thing because again, its tech-savvy in a kinda campy sort of way and its not high on the humor factor, but in general its an okay show to follow for a little while.
Bitchy Rating: ***
