My mother, who is more of the viewing masses than I am, really liked it, fwiw.

The promos didn't squick me, I found them more funny in a whatever you have to do to keep the shows on the air kind of way.

I didn't think it was as bad as others seem to think. It did feel like they crammed a whole lot of info in there for the sake of getting it in the first episode.

A problem I'm having is that with the actives being so devoid of personality, it's hard to connect with them. It's really going to be on the supporting cast to pick up the slack. Problem is, I wasn't vibing off of any of them except Ballard. Didn't care much for Adelle, Boyd or Topher.

Am I wrong that the promo is NOT under the control of the show? That is Joss can't veto it. Eliza can't refuse to participate in it. Well, Eliza could refuse, but she'd be in violation of her contract and it would cost her a shitload of money. Which given that this sort of stuff is in millions of commercials would be a hell of a cost for not much gain.

Like, they don't have interoffice PHONES? Handler!guy had to do the dramatic run down the hall to stop Tech!nerd from mindwiping Echo?

But then they had the misdirect where Handler!Guy gets there and Echo hasn't been wiped. I assume that was because a call had been made.

So they sign a contract to join. How do they quit?

Didn't they say something about a five year (or some fixed term) contract?

I wonder what happens when/if they are killed in the field?

Didn't they say something about a five year (or some fixed term) contract?

That was my impression.

Didn't they say something about a five year (or some fixed term) contract?

That was my impression.

But, given that they're not exactly paragons of ethical-ness (c.f., running the Dollhouse), and if the Actives are mind-wiped, how would the Actives know their 5 years was up? They're relying on the higher-ups to hold to their contract (which isn't legal anyway), and, like I said, the higher-ups aren't big with the ethics, so -- it could theoretically be an infinite "contract."

And *that* is a concept that I find interesting.

I'm with AnthonyDe on the problem of the Actives themselves. They appear to be doped up or something in between "engagements", and if they get a new personality every time, there's no way for the actor & writers to develop a new character. Or for the audience to identify with that character, because there isn't one. They're just these weirdly infantilized blank slates.

In a sense, I found the way the Actives wandered dopily around the Dollhouse more creepifying than anything else in the episode. Like, even when not on duty, they're suppressed. Which means that at no point in their lives do they have any free will. No discipline, no choices, no nothing. That's just deeply disturbing.

Am I wrong that the promo is NOT under the control of the show?

Kristen wrote all the promos for Drive, where the characters are talking about what they're in it for. I'm unsure how common that is.

if they get a new personality every time, there's no way for the actor & writers to develop a new character.

Didn't Echo have a flash of seeing Sierra being wiped while Echo was the negotiator persona? (If that makes any sense, with the excess of gerunds and women in that sentence.)