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So, finally saw the fan favorite "Epitaph One" and the unaired pilot "Echo" from the Dollhouse S1, Disc 4 DVD - courtesy of netflix. (Gotta love netflix, it's managed to expand my tv and video watching even more than I thought possible, not that I haven't watched enough tv and videos in my lifetime already...but hey, we are nothing without our stories..right?)
As an aside, leaving the office today, I sniffed the air and thought, ah, that musty, smokey, smell of December, then glanced about and thought..or just the musty smokey smell of people smoking pot outside my office building. This really has nothing to do with Epitaph One, Dollhouse or Echo for that matter, but thought I'd mention it.
Saw Epitaph One first, so will review it first. It was written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Jed's wife or rather the story was written by Joss, and the teleplay by Jed and his wife. It was directed by David Solomon.
Was not quite what I expected. I can see why it got mixed reviews on livejournal, the episode's narrative flow is not really linear in nature, and it jumps around a lot. Also we have the fill-in for the viewer or outside narrator device - which does not always work well but Joss Whedon and science fiction writers in general appear to be enamored of for some reason. Whedon has used it before in episodes ranging from The Zeppo to Storyteller. I personally find it annoying and jarring, but a lot of people adore it. The device basically involves a guest star, a recurring character or minor character telling the audience what the world is like, we jump into their point of view and see all the lead or stars of the series through their eyes. Medical shows do this all the time - the sick patient tactic - where we, the audience are inside the sick patient, we see what they see and experience the characters through their eyes. Not sure who did this first - but I do remember seeing it done in old black and white 1950s Gunsmoke reruns and MASH. The other device - which is the one used in "Epitaph One" is skipping ahead to the future, and the outside character coming upon the remains of the show or the characters, and trying to figure out what happened to them. (Which is a common thread in many dark science-fiction and fantasy dramas. Lots of them end in this manner, although I'm regrettably drawing a blank on specific examples.)
( Lengthy reviews of Epitaph One and Echo...warning, if you haven't watched, there be spoilers within these woods, also the reviews are a bit on the stream of consciousness side of the fence but then most of my entries are, you should be used to it by now. )
As an aside, leaving the office today, I sniffed the air and thought, ah, that musty, smokey, smell of December, then glanced about and thought..or just the musty smokey smell of people smoking pot outside my office building. This really has nothing to do with Epitaph One, Dollhouse or Echo for that matter, but thought I'd mention it.
Saw Epitaph One first, so will review it first. It was written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Jed's wife or rather the story was written by Joss, and the teleplay by Jed and his wife. It was directed by David Solomon.
Was not quite what I expected. I can see why it got mixed reviews on livejournal, the episode's narrative flow is not really linear in nature, and it jumps around a lot. Also we have the fill-in for the viewer or outside narrator device - which does not always work well but Joss Whedon and science fiction writers in general appear to be enamored of for some reason. Whedon has used it before in episodes ranging from The Zeppo to Storyteller. I personally find it annoying and jarring, but a lot of people adore it. The device basically involves a guest star, a recurring character or minor character telling the audience what the world is like, we jump into their point of view and see all the lead or stars of the series through their eyes. Medical shows do this all the time - the sick patient tactic - where we, the audience are inside the sick patient, we see what they see and experience the characters through their eyes. Not sure who did this first - but I do remember seeing it done in old black and white 1950s Gunsmoke reruns and MASH. The other device - which is the one used in "Epitaph One" is skipping ahead to the future, and the outside character coming upon the remains of the show or the characters, and trying to figure out what happened to them. (Which is a common thread in many dark science-fiction and fantasy dramas. Lots of them end in this manner, although I'm regrettably drawing a blank on specific examples.)
( Lengthy reviews of Epitaph One and Echo...warning, if you haven't watched, there be spoilers within these woods, also the reviews are a bit on the stream of consciousness side of the fence but then most of my entries are, you should be used to it by now. )
