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.

I was amused by his answer to "are I clear"? Notice that he didn't say that he agreed or wouldn't do it again, he just acknowledged that she had expressed her displeasure clearly.

I also liked "you do the work". Boyd, he has many levels. And I've always liked Harry Lennix.

Boston-area-istas, Joss is going to be making a local appearence for an award he's being given (from my weekly Newbury Comics email):

an evening with joss whedon...

Where: Harvard's Memorial Church, Cambridge, MA

What:

See a TV icon speak about his life as a Humanist! Academy and Emmy Award-nominated Writer & Director Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, Dollhouse) will receive the 3rd annual "Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism" as part of the can't-miss event that 1st recipient Sir Salman Rushdie called "Atheistmas." Following the presentation of the award, Mr. Whedon will speak about his life as a Humanist, discuss clips from his various creations, and answer audience questions. Whedon has a devoted following of fans, including the online web community whedonesque.com . In addition to his art, he has also been active in promoting women's rights through his work with Equality Now, an organization that honored him in 2006. His speech to that group shows his passionate commitment to the positive values of Humanism. Tickets are available from the Harvard Box Office here. Regular: $10; Student: $5.

x-posted with press

but the conversation between Paul and the millionaire was 10 minutes too long and entirely too anvilly

Oh, hell, yeah.

If Boyd is an inside guy, I think it's impossible that he's working alone. And there's obviously ties within the FBI that are keeping Ballard from being taken seriously, as wel as ties that are keeping him, well, still in the FBI. Does he just hang around all day and work on the DH? We've never seen him doing anything else!

I agree, the Mellie/Ballard thing was too quick. And yo, does he have diarrhea of the mouth much?

Re: violence against women. Does it bother me? No. One reason is that I think Joss has made it real clear his personal position about violence and women's issues, so I am not left with a weird Kripkeesque wondering about "Do you REALIZE?" with this. Also, I think we're supposed to be disturbed at seeing scantily clad women being hauled around or slapped. We're supposed to debate the societal factors that lead up to the thought of it being sexy.

Now, is everyone who sees it going to go down this path? No, because people are stupid. But I think it's being set up as a debate, even though some of it is being done clumsily. And the VAW in DH vs VAW in Buffy...well, Buffy was a superhero, even though her character was being drawn as the antithesis to the "blonde vic in an alley" and even though we have the whole imprinting irrealism thing going on, these girls are not superheroes. The stuff imprinted on them are within the realm of real human skills. They have been made into victims -- or chose it, I guess we'll find out (hopefully) more about the logistics of that, and that's another debate I think that will be sparked more -- but the show is taking up into real people, victims through whatever reason, and how they are going to deal with the victimhood...and how society looks at victims and abuse and how people either encourage it or choose to work against it.

They have been made into victims -- or chose it, I guess we'll find out (hopefully) more about the logistics of that, and that's another debate I think that will be sparked more -- but the show is taking up into real people, victims through whatever reason, and how they are going to deal with the victimhood...and how society looks at victims and abuse and how people either encourage it or choose to work against it.

Indeed. This is why, although I am squicked by it, I am still watching it.