I was meant to be doing these Dollhouse reviews as the new episodes began airing, but you know what it’s like. Also the fact that Dollhouse doesn’t exactly inspire me to write. I’ve got a few moments now to jot down some thoughts I’ve had since Dollhouse returned to see its self through to the end.

There’s been a lot of praise for Dollhouse since it came off its hiatus break, and I’m sure some of that is deserved, but I can’t help but feel that people are just cheering for the final hurrah. I’m not saying some of the hurrah isn’t deserved, but it’s still been pretty much the same old Dollhouse for me. Some hit, but a lot of miss.

Take Alan as Alpha for example. I think he’s a fantastic choice of actor for the role of Alpha and seeing him return was brilliant. Though the episode before that with Echo taking, in three short months, control of all her personalities, rescuing a random woman from a prison. I just didn’t see the point. Well I saw the point – we’ve got to see Echo as Echo, not a blank doll and someone special. But it was all far too rushed. And really, with all the powers of the Rossum Corporation and the Dollhouse they couldn’t find her?

The same could be said about last week’s double bill. Enver’s a fantastic actor, but Roger is such a stereotypical English gentleman it makes my eyes roll to the back of my head and never return. That episode wasn’t the strongest one either, despite Enver’s brilliant performance. Again, it felt rushed. I understand that with the cancellation they’ve had to rush some storylines, but part of me would have preferred to just have something satisfying and open than what we are getting.

I was also completely unconvinced of Rossum’s ‘army’. Really? That was them? And how easy it is for Echo to seemingly to anything and everything. What she does is right out of The Matrix! Was it ever really explained how she managed to get control of all the people in her brain?

The Attic was a much better episode. Seeing Reed Diamond again lifted it for me. However the best dream like episodes seen from a Joss show are Buffy’s Restless and Angel’s Soul Purpose. They get the dream like quality in the episode down so well. This almost got it right. The scene with the snowy tree in the atrium of the Dollhouse did look stunning.

I like how the attic is explained now. Before it was like the Boogeymen. You tell your kids about it just to scare the bejesus out of them. And what they did explain made sense. Get caught in an endless loop in the hope of escaping. Nice touch. Though it all felt a bit fudged. Being able to jump from mind to mind and how easily Echo did escape in the end. Shame she didn’t bring Mr. Dominic with her.

All in all, I still don’t think Dollhouse is one of the best shows on TV. Far from it. I have a list. It’s quite long and Dollhouse is nowhere near the top. Sadly. The last few episodes have been better than season 1 put together, but that doesn’t mean this show doesn’t deserve a cancellation. Despite having a brilliant supporting cast, Fran Kranz has been brilliant this season, the show still needs a leading lady who can carry the show. Which it doesn’t. The central concept’s still fairly loose and maybe too complicated for it’s own good.

I’m interested to see where the final episodes will take us. But I can’t say that Dollhouse has been like Firefly – short lived, but every episode a gem. Dollhouse is just short lived and utterly forgettable.

So if that’s picqued your interest feel free to read on. Everything’s hidden away to avoid spoiling anyone. But my bet is that you’ve already read the news, seen the images and aren’t all that intrigued by my mumbo jumbo.

BSC Review have posted some brand new promotional images for upcoming Dollhouse episodes Meet Jane Doe/A Love Supreme. The two episodes are slated to be aired back to back on December 11th.

Most notably in these images we see Keith Carrdine’s character, once again. (Though I’m a bit stumped – did he dump his Dexter role for this?) More excitingly there’s Alan Tudyk, back playing Alpha, who was a highlight for me for at least 1.5 episodes last season.

I really enjoyed seeing Alan on V, so once again, sad to see he’s effectively out of that one now. He plays one hell of a bad guy and can really deliver lines with some Whedon wit in them, which I think Dollhouse really lacks at the moment.

Your thoughts? I’m guessing the majority of Dollhouse fans are far more excited than me. But then I don’t class myself as a fan. Merely an interested viewer. Alan – yay or nay?

If you read the previous post I made (find it here) about Dollhouse and its current state, etc etc, I already posted my feelings towards it as a series. Effectively, pre-empted anything I could have said with the eventual announcement of a cancellation.

Mere days later, the cancellation has been made official by FOX. Though they have said that they will air all of the remaining episodes and the series finale is tentatively slated for January 22nd. So my theory on not seeing any Dollhouse in 2010 wasn’t quite on the mark! Close enough.

There is a lot of sadness about the cancellation. For one thing I was really warming to Dichen Lachman in the show. Thought she was among the best bits of it. Despite me having massive reservations about her, based on her appearance in Neighbours!

One reaction made me giggle. Jewel Staite tweeted this:

Just found out Dollhouse was canceled. ‘SUMMERRRRRR!!!’

I know there’s a lot of anger out there from the fans of the show. Yes it’s based on ratings, and maybe it had a crappy timeslot, but still. It wasn’t a critically acclaimed show. Ratings weren’t great. It’s a no brainer. Fair enough, there is a lot more shows out there which are probably worse than Dollhouse, but they do well for the network they’re on. It’s business! This is the cold hearted cynic talking.

So I’ll say this again. Bye Dollhouse. I won’t miss you. You were marginally amusing while you lasted.

The viral campaign for Dollhouse is going strong with some interesting things popping up. The Ditch the Tech website being the latest and most interesting. Visit for a quick gander.

Then have a look at the source code – always a good place to find any nuggets of info. This is in the meta description of the page:

Civilization will fall apart in the year 2019. The Rossum Corporation is responsible. It is already beginning at the L.A. Dollhouse right now. Don’t let them wipe the future!

And then have a look at the keywords for the page:

Rossum, evil, future, 2019, L.A. Dollhouse, end of the world, don’t pick up the phone, ditch the tech, ditchthetech, wipe, brain, mind, soul

So despite it looking like Dollhouse is moving at a face pace, head-on towards cancellation, there’s still a bit of marketing juice going into, what could be, the final few episodes.

Let me know your thoughts on DTD’s Twitter or head over to the forums to discuss with other fans. Also screen captures for Omega are up at the gallery.

And don’t forget the poll on this page just to your right – vote there!

It’s described as:

Alpha’s continued obsession with Echo may cost her everything. Ballard makes a decision that could change the rest of his life. One Doll’s story ends as another’s is revealed.

And there’s also a few promos doing the rounds, this being a nice HD quality version:

I’m not sure of the Natural Born Killers vibe I’m getting off of it, but I’ll wait to pass judgement on it completely.

When you’re done watching the finale why not pop over to the forums to discuss Omega.

Brand new episode of Dollhouse. The penultimate episode – Briar Rose. I say penultimate because I don’t think it’s been confirmed as to whether Epitaph One will air. Who knows, well this is what tonight’s is about:

Echo uses the story of Sleeping Beauty to help a young girl overcome a past trauma, but does the story foreshadow Echo’s own future? Meanwhile, Ballard may have found the original designer of the Dollhouse, Adelle goes to the attic for answers, and Alpha reveals himself and his endgame.

The Alpha bit makes me vaguely excited about this episode! But that’s about it. Well, maybe not, but I’m trying to lower my expectations so when I see the episode it’s not such a let down.

» Discuss Briar Rose at the forums

This week’s episode is called Needs and sees a large part of the personalities of the dolls returnining. Which leads Echo, Victor and Sierra to plan an escape.

So I’m betting we’re going to see some of Caroline from last week and whoever Victor and Sierra were before they were dolls. I like that we’re seeing more history, but my first taste of Caroline wasn’t so brilliant. The thought of seeing more of her again doesn’t thrill me! Unless I missed a large part of her personality who was actually quite awesome.

» Discuss Needs at the forum

Echo tries to help a client heal the ache of a lost love as a TV reporter prepares an expose on the Dollhouse.

Right, the mission part of this doesn’t thrill me, but here’s hoping the rest will have something interesting that’s worth watching. This is the second episode we’ve seen so far to be written by Joss Whedon and with fellow ME director – David Solomon, here’s hoping this does produce something good.

» Discuss Man on the Street at the forums

Echo becomes a blind woman so she can infiltrate a very secretive and well-guarded cult.

Written by Tim Minear, so I’m hoping for something good, but this summary alone doesn’t fill me with any joy unfortunately. Call me an optimist! But I am still watching and waiting for something to spark with me and Dollhouse.

After you watch episode why not pop over to the forums to post your thoughts on the episode.