Well, we knew the rumblings of cancellation were coming at some point, right? Of course, the truly surprising thing is that Fox is committed to airing 12 episodes, not that they aren't airing the 13th. Tonight's ep is:
Spy in the House of Love. When a traitor is discovered inside the Dollhouse Echo and Sierra are programmed to root out the spy. Meanwhile, Paul receives surprising news from Mellie.
I must admit that the main show I'm still pulling for to escape cancellation isn't this one–it's Life. That was some finale, and if it has to be the series finale, it'll work, and almost beautifully. But there's still a lot of (::groan, eyeroll::) life left in that show. Come on, NBC execs. Don't be jerks this time.
(p.s. I think we're going to take in a movie this afternoon. Any suggestions? We haven't seen anything that's come out in the last, oh, two months.)
Duplicity’s not bad at all. Nothing earthshaking, but smart and funny and highly entertaining, and personally I really love watching Julia Roberts grow older so gracefully.
(PS. Just remembered to make some remark about the Dollhouse cancellation, but though I’m sorry to see it go, I’m not all that sorry… which pretty much sums up the problem.)
‘Life’ has had two seasons, plus if it’s cancelled you still have ‘The Mentalist’ and ‘Castle’, to name but two which are pretty much exactly the same show. ‘Dollhouse’ has had less than one season and had barely had a chance to display its considerable potential. If it’s cancelled I, for one, will be heartbroken and furious – not just at the network, but at the fans who should have been the very ones to support it but who, for whatever reason, decided it didn’t live up to their oh-so-high standards.
In addition to Dollhouse, it seems Kings is doomed to be canceled as its now moving to Saturday night. It’s a shame; I watched it initially out of curiosity and I was blown away by a great drama. As I’ve watched each succeeding episode I think, “Why is it that I’m watching this show? It just doesn’t seem my cup of tea,” and then I find myself riveted to the screen.
All 13 episodes of Kings were filmed and should be aired; unlike Dollhouse, it seems the network didn’t tamper with it. Dollhouse’s first episodes were diluted by Fox’s interference; it didn’t really excite me until episode 6. As I watch Kings, I keep thinking, “what if Dollhouse had been allowed to be this good from episode 1?”
Rumors of Dollhouse’s death, and even the death of this 13th episode, have been greatly exaggerated. In all likelihood, the 13th episode — more coda than finale, since that’s episode 12 — will appear on the DVD. The show is still struggling, but it’s not sunk yet.
Just three weeks ago, I’m not sure I’d have cared. I’d have been mildly disappointed, maybe, but it’s only in the past few weeks that Dollhouse has become a genuinely good show.
We saw Duplicity, and found it entertaining, but we thought Julia Roberts was wearing an atypical amount of makeup.
I’m still watching it and agree it’s getting better — I was one of the people advocating to give it time. But if I had to choose between those two shows? I’d pick Life, which is similar to Castle and The Mentalist only in that it blends drama and humor with the standard procedural format. I like Castle, don’t care a thing for Mentalist (or watch it), but Life’s characters are what raise it above pretty much all the other cop shows I’ve followed (excepting Homicide and The Wire, of course, but those are different types of shows entirely). Plus, the music supervisor is a genius.
I hope Dollhouse survives, but given Sarah Connor’s dispatching and the fact we’re talking about Fox, I’m not holding my breath. I wish I was more attached to the show, but I’m just not yet.
I know! I was actually shocked they canceled Kings so fast. It just seems crazy, and that they didn’t even make an attempt at marketing anything but the first episode. I’m beginning to think almost everything will be gone next season.
Hopefully, this is just a suit’s idea of a ploy to sell more DVD box sets of a wildly uneven first season. Fingers crossed.
I didn’t notice the makeup so much, but then I don’t find Julia attractive so I wasn’t looking at her much. It was a pretty good flick, though; the ending made up for some irritation with the flashback structure.
That was the best episode yet. I know I’m a broken record on this point, but Olivia Williams is tearing it up on this show. Adelle is such a great character; I only wish they hadn’t had her break down with Victor–it felt a step too far for someone so controlled. But otherwise, wow. Takes a gunshot and barely flinches. I like that she’s not a “Big Bad” but something a little more nuanced, and a helluva lot more ruthless and competent than most Buffy villains.
Sorry to see Reed Diamond exiting, though I hope he’ll be back in some form. I’ll miss having the Dominic/Adelle dynamic at work.
Dave, I agree. Wow!
I had high hopes for Kings, but despite real potential I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not much more than a cut-rate Deadwood. It’s a shame that it’ll probably die because we need something more than cop, lawyer and doctor shows, but I won’t weep for its demise.
Wow, that last episode of Life! I love how the show manages so many different types of elements — humor, drama, serious, a multi-episode arc and standalone stories. And with the last episode, I feel I have need to rewatch from the beginning. I hope there is a season 3.
If Dollhouse gets cancelled, I won’t be upset. If it stays on, I’ll keep watching. Next week is the first time I’ve gotten excited about an ep, because it’s the first time that using Dolls makes sense.
Slightly more articulately this morning, I wanted to second Dave’s praise for Olivia Williams. An amazing performance — and her character becomes more and more fascinating. I love Adelle’s ambiguities.
Reed Diamond was also wonderful — and I can only hope Dominic gets taken out of his box often. Those final scenes where he is being pushed into the chair, and Adelle takes that bullet, I liked how adult the characters felt — like something was really at stake, and how compromised they felt. (I was missing that in much of last week’s episode which, for me at least, had a very “going through the motions” feel.)
Terminator: STC’s finale was also incredible, and all I could think after the 1-2 of both shows was, “Fox, please keep them on, and I promise I’ll never go out on a Friday again.”
Oh, Dollhouse. I know the premise required a slow build-up to the point where we get to know the characters, but if it had brought half the excellence of last night’s show from the start, it would be a force to be reckoned with. I hope it’s not too late, because that was some great tv right there. NOW if it’s canceled I will be truly sorry.
I would hate to see Dollhouse go but it seems doomed after all they picked the worst night and this show unlike others of Joss’s might take longer to get into but it is getter better and better. The only other show that I’m bummed about ending would be Pushing Daisies since that was such a great show. At least we’ll get Dollhouse on DVD but I think it will go the way of Firefly because the network is stupid. As for NBC I gave up on that network after they cancelled Crossing Jordan and Passions.
Good post. Keep on blogging!
I hadn’t actually watched yet, but had heard it had potential from trusted sources. Kind of glad I didn’t, now.
Yes, totally agree! What I’m wondering is exactly what we’re supposed to know (or are being set up for) by the showing of Adelle’s human/fragile/sentimental side. But, YES, good show. And hopefully we won’t see much of Security Man, who was a really irritating presence, imo. I like Boyd being promoted, and I’m curious as to what’s going to happen with the new handler. I also loveloveloved the way they used Sierra to play with the whole “of course all the asians look alike to the white people at the NSA” thing, without being too over the top about it. Nicely done. And almost regretfully said, if the show gets canceled. No longer mediocre, now GOOD!
Agree that the scene was well done, but there’s something that bugs me about Reed Diamond. I find him sharklike! Perhaps with a more moppish hair cut, I could find him palatable.
Yep.
I was struck by the thought that maybe Boyd is a mole who escaped detection during the cross-examination because of Echo’s built-in predisposition to trust him.
“it’s not much more than a cut-rate Deadwood.”
I really am just floored at that statement.