I think it bothered me less on Buffy because (1) she went out looking for vampires, etc., to kill; (2) she was aware of what she was doing and was pretty much prepared for it; and (3) I don't remember it being so unrelenting. It just seems that week after week we've seen women - who aren't actually aware of what's going on (having been programmed) being beaten. And, often, they aren't prepared for it - when the guy decided it'd be fun to hunt Echo, or in the cult show when the leader hits her, or this past week when Mellie's in the apartment and Hearn (that was his name, right?) breaks in and starts beating her.

And he had the striking FBI lady trying to find out who she was.

Let me also cast my vote with finding her very striking and cool. I wouldn't mind her character being expanded at all.

I wonder if some of it is the attitude Eliza projects during fight scenes. I remember the fights between Buffy and Faith (or Angel and Faith) were by far the most disturbing fight scenes on either show, and I think it was the vibe coming from Eliza.

Interesting point. ED does project a bruisedness very well.

Buffy fight scenes didn't ping me that way- she was a superhero and it was (usually) against fantasy monsters, etc. It just didn't bother me as much as Esther getting smacked around by various men or Echo getting slapped by the thief guy after being erased and confused or Mellie getting brutalized. However, the Ballard/Echo fight scene was OK in my brain, I guess because it was on equal footing.

For Hec, from way upthread (sorry I missed it).

Did you not see the pilot? Because the slash was very present and intentional.

Yeah, it was me who wasn't programmed to see the slash yet. I hadn't found you guys back then.

And back to Dollhouse:

I liked this episode, but the conversation between Paul and the millionaire was 10 minutes too long and entirely too anvilly. Also, they used 24-type logic to show Boyd back at CTU the Dollhouse before the millionaire had even begun drinking his champagne.

The Paul/Mellie romance was poorly executed. I guess they needed to rush it for the Mellie twist. Which was so expected that it took me by surprise. In a good way.

Boyd does not have the technical know-how to be the inside man. At least not alone.

Buffy fight scenes didn't ping me that way- she was a superhero and it was (usually) against fantasy monsters, etc. It just didn't bother me as much as Esther getting smacked around by various men or Echo getting slapped by the thief guy after being erased and confused or Mellie getting brutalized. However, the Ballard/Echo fight scene was OK in my brain, I guess because it was on equal footing.

I seem to remember when Spike hit Anya at the beginning of S7 it pinged a lot of people despite one being a vampire and one a demon, and they were essentially on equal footing in their violent abilities.

The Paul/Mellie romance was poorly executed. I guess they needed to rush it for the Mellie twist. Which was so expected that it took me by surprise. In a good way.

yes, it was. We went from Paul being nice to the annoying neighbor to her suddenly sitting in his living room and he's telling her the deep dark secrets of the case. Don't get me wrong, I definitely like the new Mellie more, she just came out of nowhere.

Boyd does not have the technical know-how to be the inside man. At least not alone.

Well, the fact that Topher walked away after putting the imprint hard drive (or whatever) into the imprint-bestowing machine was a HUGE red arrow, to me, that was practically screaming "Something is going to happen HERE!!!"

And since he walked away because Boyd came to talk to him, it doesn't seem likely that Boyd was the one who actually tampered with the imprint (plus he doesn't have the know-how to do so, from what we've seen), BUT it left me wondering if Boyd was in on it, and was the diversion to get Topher out of the room so that Tech Girl (for instance) could tamper with the imprint.

I want Boyd to be in on it. He's already shown he'll flout the dollhouse to do what's right.

(Can I just say, it's refreshing to have a character like Boyd without the issues always discussed in the Supernatural thread.)

I can see Boyd having help, but I don't think he did the programming. I'm not fucking with Boyd.

Boyd runs his own investigations inside Dollhouse? I love that. It's like he has been looking at them out of the side of his eyes since he was shot.

I also love that A) he doesn't need a bonus and B) Adelle has to give him one.