Dollhouse Review: Season 1, Episode 5: "True Believer"

Dollhouse: Season 1, Episode 5: “True Believer”
Grade: 6.8

This was a vast improvement over “Gray Hour” which while addressing some of my favorite aspects of the show failed to actually come together to makes good episode. Granted this episode still had flaws but it was to me the most accomplished episode the series has come up with so far although I must say that “The Target” is my personal favorite of the 5.

This episode continues to heavily address the morality issues involving the Dollhouse It does this on a number of ways but never by really knocking us over the head with the comparison. The religious cult and the Dollhouse both have people who have essentially been brainwashed and who have volunteered to commit to the society or organization. While we are seeing everything from the Dollhouses point of view, these people are basically the wrongdoers in this story which makes for an interesting twist on the perspective we are seeing the story from. The two major plot oriented way in which the morals of the Dollhouse are questioned in the episode are by the surgery that the Dollhouse performs on Echo which is questionable in how right that is. Saunders clearly had issues with it. The second way is the story involving Victor and the fact that he is getting erections when he looks at Sierra and is not supposed to be. When we see the reaction that the people have when such a natural things occur and he has to be scrubbed and the “problem” has to be fixed, we see just how messed up the Dollhouse actually is. The other reason that I liked this story is that it allowed for a bit of humor to enter the show without making what was happening pointless or irrelevant. I know this show does not have the humor aspect; Whedon flat out has said this but it was still nice to see that it is possible for the show to allow humor to make its way in sometimes. I love Saunders so much. Topher I still hate hate hae but I found him a little less annoying in this episode than I have in previous ones. I think its interesting to see that these little flaws in the organization’s system is trickling through from Echo being able to adapt and remember things to Victor having “man-reactions” and so on.
We did not learn enough about the religious cult. I guess it was just supposed to be a typical religious cult that happened to be a hoax that was a holding place for guns but honestly I thought we could have learned a bit about the cult to understand what is making these people stay, what is the foundation behind it. Also I really liked that nobody within the cult wrote the “save me” note. Creepy.

I also am excited about the subplot with Dominic and the fact that he actually attempted to leave Echo for dead in this episode. Obviously this is going somewhere. And also as the end of the episode showed…Echo remembers this! Great end of the episode.

Eliza Dushku did a really decent job in the episode. I cared for Esther; you felt that she really believed. Even though I can still see those mannerisms I thought she did a good job with a different character.

What is the deal with Mellie? I think I hate her as much as Topher. Obviously they are going somewhere with this and I know that she was originally cast as another Doll but ugh…she’s awful and uber creepy. I’m sure she will have an eventual purpose but I hate her. Making him food, calling it leftover and bringing it into his work is creepy teepee.

Why did Boyd sign up for this job in the first place? And Saunders too? They both seem totally apprehensive about the whole thing although with Saunders I can understand why; Alpha’s attack on her.

Okay so…when Ballard coud not find any information on Caroline it made me wonder what happens to these peoples records when they sign up for this. I guess they disappear but what about friend and family? What do they think happened to the person? I want to know this because if they file a missing persons report that should be in the system.

So Esther hadn’t read since she was 9. But she can pronounce Nebuchadnezzar. Right.

So the episode even though I said in the video blog was great it was not. But it was quite good for the show’s standards so far.

Next week should bring what is supposed to be THE episode to watch. The one that Joss writes and directs. The one where FOX began to back off. The one where the plot starts coming together. Hopefully its great; it has a lot of buzz behind it. Let’s hope.

24: Season 7, Episode 14: "9:00pm-10:00pm"

24: Season 7, Episode 14: 9:00-10:00pm
Grade: 8.9

This was another impeccably strong episode of 24 for the most part although it makes the Jack on the run plot a seemingly much harder one to get out of. However this season is doing a really impressive job of keeping up the momentum its’ built up in the past few episodes. I thought that while the beginning half of the season was good and certainly better than I had expected that it fell quite short of being truly great but showed the potential to be great. If this season keeps up with what its’ been doing for the past 4 episodes it could be an overall great season.
Janice is now on a power trip after Renee’s suspension, Chloe being detained and Sean and Irene being moles. She takes a great deal of pride by being Moss’ number 2 person that he can trust.
My issue with the episode lies with the fact that Jonas Hodges has a very unoriginal motivation for doing what he’s doing. It seems that sacrificing lives for the great good so that America can understand that terrorism is a legitimate threat and thus giving Starkwood a ton of power. Boring. Seriously I wanted something totally wacked out and crazy with Hodges’ motivations but it seems like it is the same as all of the Americans that help out in the destruction of the country on this show. Either way I still find Jon Voight to be an interesting and compelling villain.
Morris agreed to trade helping Moss with Chloe’s immunity. Honestly I think he made the right decision. I think that he held out as long as he could and that even considering letting his wife sit in jail for 15 years so that he could buy Jack some time shows his loyalty to Jack even if he ended up making the deal. Does Chloe know that Bill is dead yet? Does anybody on this show seem to care that Bill is dead besides Jack?

The Olivia and Ethan story made great headway tonight and I’ll say right now that there is no way in hell that she did not leak that story. The look on her face said it all. It sucks to see how quickly Ethan can lose his cool when dealing with Olivia and does not bode well for the future. I think Ethan might be my favorite new character of the season. I am finding that I care very much about him. Olivia on the other hand is a huge wench. Holy crap she is evil. I do not think that taking her idea and incorporating it into the speech was a good idea but I understand that President Taylor wants to show that she appreciates her daughters input but with an important speech such as this one that will set the tone for the country’s state of mind and be something that analysts will most likely dissect to no end I do not think this was the proper time to listen to Olivia. It looks like on next week’s show Ethan will resign which meant that the story will move along much more quickly than I had anticipated. I am so interested in this storyline.
Renee helped Jack out and Moss knows Renee so well that he immediately figured it out. Nice job Moss even though you are a moron. Now Renee is in holding instead of Chloe. Its musical holding room chairs everyone!

The most interesting stuff going on in this episode had to do with Jack. I thought that his conversations with Senator Mayer might have been my favorite stuff of the season so far. He opened up to Senator Mayer about his actions and about losing his family. They have been sprinkling Kim’s name or “my daughter” in spots throughout the season to foreshadow her return for the last 4 episodes. He mentioned Teri : (. They worked together on a common cause. The Senator admitted that Jack was onto something and that even though they still disagree about a lot of stuff he believed that Jack was being framed and was willing to help him out so that he could dig further into his lead. He even called him “Son”!!!!!!!!!!! Omg I almost cried! And then…Senator Mayer took a few bullets in the chest by the infamous John Quinn. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. I actually gasped out loud for the first time this season. I have no idea why I did not see this coming. Why would the police wait for 2 minutes for someone to answer the door? Why would someone who has a heart to heart and could help Jack’s situation actually survive for more than an episode? Why did I not think of this? I seriously was so caught up in the conversation that I had no idea what was going to happen. But why would Jack not look out the window or realize this? Why does he sometimes turn into a moron? This was so depressing. I am actually quite devastated to lose Senator Mayer because of the rapport the two of them had built up in the episode. And it makes Jack look like he’s on a killing spree! How can he clear his name on this one?

Then Jack leads Quinn into this little trailer office thing and knock it over with a fucking bulldozer. How awesome can this show get sometimes? Ok and then Bauer and Quinn have a knock down drag out fight; easily one of the top 5 fights in this shows history. This was sick. Jack throws a fucking screwdriver into his chest and then whacks him in the head with a fricking

board. Classic 24. So anyways now Jack is on the run and as if this episode could not be any more satisfying on a quality 24 level, Jack calls Tony for help to meet him at the dock. Jack and Tony working together!! I have no idea why it took him this long to call Tony. I thought it would be the first person he’d call. Also what was it that Tony wanted to say to Jack before he had to hang up? Hmmm.. All questions for next week’s hopefully a fraction as good as this week’s 24. Until then…

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5, Episode 2: "Real Me"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Season 5, Episode 2: “Real Me”
Grade: 6.9

Ok so the introduction of Dawn episode. From what I understand Dawn does not exactly have the strongest fanbase. She seems to be sort of a hated character…and I completely understand why. The entire dynamic of the show changes with her arrival. I know that everything involving Dawn gets explained and I am excited for that even though I pretty much know the general concept of it. Ugh I don’t really know where to start with this episode. It’s weird but if this were a difference character I would think this idea and the way it’s executed is brilliant. Seriously brilliant. But it’s hard when the character is about to take over the show and you aren’t a fan.
Ok well I really like that they introduced Dawn by letting us hear her journal entries. It established her relationships with everyone and her feelings toward everything. But because in the earlier episodes they had been writing for what they thought was a 12 year old instead of a 14 year old and you can definitely tell. It’s actually a pretty big problem in the episode. What we learn about Dawn is that…she whines…a lot. While I understand where this is coming from its still…annoying. While I like Michelle Trachtenberg as an actress in general just from her days on “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” and in “Harriet the Spy” and then in “Mysterious Skin” and “Gossip Girl” I find that her acting is pretty unpolished in this first episode so it makes Dawn even more annoying with her amateur acting during certain moments particularly just looking at her in shots where the focus is meant to be someone else. She’s overreacting with her face to everything.

I had no idea that Buffy and everyone treat Dawn as if she were there the whole time. I thought that Buffy and them find her presence completely out of the blue and confusing for the audience. But they treat her as if we were the crazy ones who missed her presence the whole time. I think I actually like this better than what I thought it had been just because we immediately get to see how she fits into the group. I don’t know. I know I’ll get used to it but..ugh. This show has officially changed course and I can tell you right now it’s not the same. And unfortunately at this point of the show Riley feels a bit like dead weight even though I do like him very much. I know he’ll be leaving half way through the season but still. You can see that he is getting pushed to the side and the troubles are slowly starting. Riley has nothing but Buffy. Buffy has a lot more going on in her life. It’s imbalanced and eventually will lead to the end of their relationship. And the climax was very very underwhelming although this was a character introduction episode and needed something not too heavy in the villain department so that they could concentrate more on Dawn’s intro to the series.

There were some good moments though:
- The scene with Giles and Buffy in his new car. I really love that Giles and Buffy have reestablished their Watcher-Slayer relationship.
- I love that Giles bought the magic shop.
- The conversation between Willow and Tara.
- While Harmony never posed a threat at all I think the idea of her idea of being bad is hilarious.
- I also really liked all of the references to Xander being Dracula’s man bitch in the previous episode.
- Anya bringing over the games Monopoly, Life and Clue and then when she thinks she’s losing Monopoly even though shows winning was the best dialogue of the episode.
- Buffy laughing hysterically at the idea that Harmony is trying to self consciously be a villain.

Favorite Quotes:
- BUFFY:
Harmony, when you tried to be head cheerleader, you were bad. When you tried to chair the homecoming committee, you were really bad. But when you try to be bad ... you suck.

- ANYA:
Oh, crap. Look at this! Now I'm burdened with a husband and several tiny pink children, more cash than I can reasonably manage...
XANDER:
That means you're winning.
ANYA:
Really?
XANDER:
Yes. Cash equals good.
ANYA:
Ooh! I'm so pleased! Can I trade in the children for more cash?

- BUFFY:
So I won't be taking drama with you.
WILLOW:
What? You have to, you promised!
BUFFY:
Well, I know, but Giles said that it just was-
WILLOW:
The hell with Giles.
GILES:
I can hear you, Willow.

GILES:
I'm just not used to this automatic transmission. I-I loathe this sitting here, not contributing. No, i-it's not working out.
BUFFY:
Giles, are you breaking up with your car?
GILES:
Well, it did seduce me, all red and sporty!
BUFFY:
Little two-door tramp.
-

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5, Episode 1: "Buffy vs. Dracula". Grade: 6.5

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Season 5, Episode 1: “Buffy vs. Dracula”
Grade: 6.6

Ok this was a weak start to the Season for me. I can tell you right now I miss the way things were on this show. I appreciate the show evolving and I think it’s necessary and it could be a lot worse and I know I’m only 2 episodes in to the Season but I was not a big fan of either of them. I really liked how the episode led to Buffy asking Giles to be her Watcher again. I liked that right off the bat we see Buffy in a situation that she cannot completely control. I just think bringing Dracula into it was kind of hokey. I know the show has always had an element of camp, an essential one perhaps that does seem to disappear quite a bit but never completely. I still thought Dracula did not fit in here. I thought the actor did an adequate job; it could have been a lot worse.

I liked Willow’s attempt to make Giles’ contribution to the Scoobies seem more profound in an effort to make him feel more appreciated since she was the only one that knew that he was going to be leaving. I thought Xanders’ devotion to Dracula was a bit over the top even though it had its funny moments.

I like Anya much more than I thought I was going to. I think Emma gives her such creative line delivery with that always amusing touch of obliviousness.

Giles and the lady vampires were funny particularly when Riley saves him and he wanted to go back for his shoe.

And of course the episode ends with the introduction of Dawn who I can tell you right now from that first episode with her “Real Me”, I hate. I know that they are going to explain her sudden inclusion into the Buffyverse and why everyone acts as if she’s always been a part of the show and I’m interested in that but I can tell you right now: not a fan.

Even though I’m not really big on this season so far I love seeing how far these characters have come since Season 1. These characters, their chemistry and their performances are just as strong as ever so no matter what, all of these factors are still a huge part of the show that I love even if I’m not a fan of the story.

Favorite Quotes:

Xander: I'm exhausted just looking at those two. All this splashing, and jumping, and running... shouldn't relaxing involve less exertion?

Anya: Absolutely. Exertion can lead to sweatiness.

Tara: Which can cause the pain and heartbreak of stinkiness. Better to just stay put.

Willow: I think we just put the finger on why we're the sidekicks.

----------
Riley: (to Buffy) It could have been worse. At least you weren't making time with the Dracu-babes like Giles here.

Giles: I was not making time! I, I was, uh, just about to kill those, uh, loathsome creatures when Riley interrupted me.

Riley: (grins) You were gonna nuzzle 'em to death?

The Simpsons: "Lisa's Substitute": Season 2, Episode 19

“The Simpsons”
“Lisa’s Substitute”
Grade: 9.5

I could never get into the Simpsons growing up. I could never see the obsession. I thought Family Guy was funnier. God how infantile I was back in the day. While I still very much enjoy Family Guy I am completely 100% in agreement with all of the points made in the South Park episode that completely puts the show in its amateur place. It has good characters (Peter, Lois, Stewie, Mayor Bee, etc.) and bad ones (Quagmire, the Old man, Chris) and can derive humor from their personalities but its main focus is on making random references to pop culture that have no place in the plot are not saying anything about what its referencing and takes no effort to integrate itself into the story in a clever way. Family Guy is a funny but ultimately lazy show. While “The Simpsons” from the little I have seen has changed so much from its early days, it’s still doing pretty well in what it does and I applaud it for continuing to be a part of pop culture for so long. But I had no idea what “The Simpsons” was doing in its early days. I had no idea it was sentimental, touching, told complete stories in a way that actually could say something about family while still keeping the humor in. It has scenes that go on for minutes on end with talking. It’s insane. In its early days “The Simpsons” could actually be a somewhat serious show for a couple of minutes and I am not going to lie here; this episode made me cry. Yeah it made me cry. This was one of the most touching episodes of any show I think I’ve ever seen. It was really funny but so balanced with what it was doing with its story. Anyone who can even begin to compare this show with Family Guy needs to see this episode so it can be proven that Family Guy cannot even begin to be what this show once was.

It takes the whole inspiring substitute teacher story and actually squeezes something really great out of it. It deals with Lisa having to live with a moronic father, not having anyone to really look up to, etc. It sounds corny but seriously the way it’s done…I’m getting teary eyed just thinking about it. I’m so lame. Whatever it was touching. Dustin Hoffman once again shows that he has some of the best voiceover skills out of any working actor even the ones whose careers are voice work. He goes uncredited under a different name in this episode but it’s him playing the substitute teacher. Then there are hilarious moments involving Bart running for Class President against Martin. This is one of the flat out best episodes of television I’ve ever seen.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 1, Episode 1: "The Pants Tent"

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Season 1, Episode 1 “The Pants Tent”
Grade: 8.0

Wow I’m finally starting this show. Its’ been a long time coming. I am introducing Matt to Seinfeld which he has had ridiculously little exposure to and he is introducing me to “Curb” which he loves loves loves so much. I love watching Larry David but I would never in a million years want to meet him because he’s insane. I think many of the things he gets angry about are valid but he’s such an angry person that all he does is get angry about stuff. I could not watch a marathon of this show because I would get annoyed with him. But 1 or 2 episode chunks are a perfect dose of Larry David. I like everyone on the show; Larry, Cheryl and Jeff. Oh and Richard Lewis is hilarious. He kills me. I have not seen much of Suzie but Matt loves Suzie so I’m sure I will to. This is a really hard show to write about. I don’t know what to say. The episode was really funny. I always like on the show how all of the little plots come together and meet up in a really inconvenient way. Once you get the hang of the shows structure which is pretty easy to catch onto out of the 3 episodes I’ve seen, the special and experience with Seinfeld, you can predict at what points the other plots threads will come in. It’s predictable but always amusing but sometimes frustrating.

Loved the pants tent plot, the Richard Lewis plot, the Jeff’s parents hating Larry because he referred to his wife as Hitler plot. Every story in this episode was solid so I give it a high grade.

"South Park" Season 13, Episode 1: "The Ring" Grade: 8.6

South Park Season 13, Episode 1:
Grade: 8.7

What a solid season premiere this was. It stared out good but just kept getting better culminating with the greatest depiction of Mickey Mouse that will ever be seen anywhere in the history of anything. Kenny gets a girlfriend who is in 5th grade and when he finds out that she gets all hot and bothered when listening to the Jonas Brothers he buys them tickets to the concert. Then the Jonas Brothers call a few girls backstage to ask them if they want to wear purity rings. Kenny and his girlfriend start wearing purity rings while the other boys attempt to put a stop to everything going on. In the meantime the Jonas Brothers want to rebel against the purity rings which lead to Mickey Mouse being brought in to essentially beat them into agreeing with their contracts.

This episode perfectly exemplifies what I love about the show. I do not like when I think it goes over the top which is not all that often actually since I have a pretty high standard as to what I think goes over the top when it pertains to this show. I.E I thought the Woodland Creatures Christmas episode was brilliant if not disturbing. Anyways though this show has a very keen eye of basically ripping something in our culture, pop culture or of the moment popular thing and doing it in a way that actually manages to provide some level of insight and bizarre truth to the whole thing while simultaneously making humanity look absolutely absurd. I adored Kenny in this episode. His excitement and the boys’ disgust were amusing.

What I liked most though was the way it depicted the Jonas Brothers and Disney. Instead of showing the Jonas Brothers as kids who are the exact opposite of how they appear to be, they are shown as kids who really do have religious beliefs but increasingly believe they are being taken advantage of by Disney who is using their beliefs to promote the exact opposite of what they believe. They are also shown as having appropriately awful music and are kids who believe that they should sing “baby” in the most annoying way possible every chance they get. They are shown as kids who make bad music, are basically cowards and cannot escape their contracts. They come out relatively unscathed. (Outside of the part where Mickey Mouse kicks the shit out of one of them). Disney are the ones who are ripped apart here and rightly so. Mickey Mouse is shown as a psychotic power hungry Nazi sadist essentially and its one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on this show. I will never look at Mickey Mouse the same way again.

This episode takes a look inside of the phenomenon of the Jonas Brothers and places the blame for it all in the right places. It may be an obvious statement to make but it’s one that needs to be made and it could have been done in much less intelligent and insightful ways. Yes I am talking about South Park in this manner.

Also I think the most brilliant part of the episode might be the depiction of the Jonas Brothers concert. I nearly pissed my pants.