Nice to see Reed Diamond

Has he got a portrait in his attic or something? I feel like he's been on my tv for way more years than show on his face.

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I didn't make it through the ep. I think I might be breaking up with teevee. At the very least, I want to try seeing other people.

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Was anyone else squicked by the Summer/Eliza promos? They were just creepy and seemed designed to tingle the boy geek sensibilities (i.e. Eliza with with her leather clad leg propped up on the chair)

Oh God yes. "Look at us hot girls! Be our dates every Friday night!" Ick.

There was all sorts of preemptive squick in this thread when the show was first talked about, and I didn't really get the visceral reaction. Seeing the actual show, however, I get the squick. It's uncomfortable to watch, but it's not not supposed to be. I'm intrigued by most of the goings-on.

I didn't get the point of the boxing scene either. I just figured Agent Helo had watched "Unfinished Business" way too many times.

And, yeah, I loved seeing all the familiar names in the credits. DeKnight! Manners! Craft & Fain! Minear!

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I liked the boxing scene. And that's not merely shallow. I think it helped me with his character. He's the obsessive sort who'll inure himself to a beating and then click over into the zone and deal one out himself. I assume that carries over (or we're to assume it does) into what little he has of a personal life, and his professional demeanour.

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how it started, why do people volunteer for it, etc.

I think that's what the FBI dude's thing is all about. But clearly Dollhouse reaches above him, and has some tacit approval of the administration or something.

On the whole, that first episode didn't wow me. I'll watch next weeks episode when I get back from vacation.

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I'm intrigued but agree that it wasn't WOW. However, of Joss's shows, only Angel would have totally grabbed me with just the first ep and that's mostly because I was already in due to Buffy. It was great seeing Eliza and Tahmoh and all the familiar names and Grrr Argh. I'll def be there next Friday.

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Fay - next week's was the originally intended pilot. (Sound familiar?)

Next week's episode is episode 3, "The Target". It's not the intended pilot - Fox refused to pony up to reshoot certain bits, so it's in the bin. Then it's on to epiosde 5, then episode 2, then... Oh god it's 2002!

I actually like "Ghost" well enough. It's like The Inside, I think - Becky reloaded. I find the idea of human trafficking to be... erm, FUCKING AWFUL. To put it politely. So I'm surprised Joss has created The Sexy Human Trafficking Show, which is exactly what he's done. But the question is how it's handled. This episode makes it clear what they're doing is fucked up. Loading the personality of a sex abuse victim and putting them in the same room as their abuser, by the way? Sick.

I'm not a fan of the boxing scene. It basically tells you everything you need to know about why not to work for FOX.

Ep 2 trailer - [link]

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I find the idea of human trafficking to be... erm, FUCKING AWFUL. To put it politely. So I'm surprised Joss has created The Sexy Human Trafficking Show, which is exactly what he's done. But the question is how it's handled. This episode makes it clear what they're doing is fucked up.

I don't think any show about human trafficking would come across as anything BUT "Look! What we're doing is hideous!" No matter how the weekly plot played out. So I can't really give points to Joss for teaching us that Human Trafficking Is Wrong.

Loading the personality of a sex abuse victim and putting them in the same room as their abuser, by the way? Sick.

If I hadn't been at a Dollhouse party, I would have turned off the TV at that point. I get your message, Joss. But the heavy-handed, anvilly way you've chosen to convey it is nauseating.

And putting the actual victim IN THE REFRIGERATOR? I laughed and laughed and laughed. "Look how ironic I'm being! Because the victim survived and was in fact rescued by another woman, so my skeevy gender issues are okay!"

God almighty.

As I think about it, it might be a consent issue. it's like if you agree to be tied up for consensual sex

IIRC, a person cannot *legally* consent to be restrained/hurt by another person. Legally. Organized sports don't fall in that category, because they're regulated and so forth, but people who tie each other up for sex don't have league regulations, etc. (And therefore no cool jerseys and TV broadcasts on Sunday afternoons.)

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How much do we think that this is how writers/directors/producers see actors?

Is this how they wish it could be with actors, just zap them into their roles, and when done just box them up and put them away?

Do you think this is how actors see themselves?

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dcp, when Joss first pitched Dollhouse my first comment was something along the lines of 'Is this a commentary on how Joss sees himself in a work sense?'.

Steph, I don't think Joss is (or needs to) teach us why trafficking is wrong. At least, I hope not. I just think the show needs to touch on the reality of the subject, and I hope it does. The other big question is identity - you can wipe those Actives of their personalities when in the Dollhouse into a child like state, but kids do naughty things. They're still human, driven by impulses one would think.

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