Comments on: Dollhouse: Needs

By: Philemon

Philemon — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:11:49 +0000

I really don't like this show, as I get an uneasy feeling it is just one long rape fantasy.
On some level this just really makes me queasy. I think I will stop watching or thinking about it.
Sorry.

By: saurora510

saurora510 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:44:09 +0000

Apologies on the incorrect accent…she spoke softly and there were times I wasn't sure if she even had an accent, so I got a little lost with it…the British label seemed to fit the best.

By: saurora510

saurora510 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:42:31 +0000

I want to believe the issues of who is a volunteer verses who's been forced has already been fleshed out even before the story/world began, but who knows…we got a taste last week as to one reason why one person would get approached (Sam, the memory drug poacher), but I'm really eager to see the beginning of someone we've already come to know, be it Echo or Victor or November, before we really see what happened with Sierra.

By: saurora510

saurora510 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:39:41 +0000

#1 – Yes, Shirtless Ballard all around!
#2 – I was disappointed too that the reveal was so soon, but I was still plesantly surprised as to why it was done. Tension free yes, but still peeled some of the layers back as to what's going on.

By: Doctor_Zen

Doctor_Zen — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:10:10 +0000

DeWitt had to know the truth, because she knew that Sierra needed "closure" with Nolan over it.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:08:01 +0000

He might have set her up for some crimes which she would have pleaded her innocence to but If the evidence was strong enough the Dollhouse wouldn't haven believed she was innocent.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:58:23 +0000

I really liked 'Needs'. Not only did it flesh out some more backstory, but it had a clever twist at the end, and plenty of good old Mutant Enemy dialogue. ("I have a thing she needs." ::snerk::)

The only thing that really bothered me about this episode — other than the squick of Sierra's origins — is that Ballard took so long to check in the ductwork for bugs. I mean, he's FBI. He knows how to spy on people. That would've been one of the first places I'd look and I'm just a civilian who watches too much TV.

(By the way, Dichen's accent is Australian, not British.)

By: Caroline

Caroline — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:41:11 +0000

. . .which could have been cleared up by asking her, unless we're to assume scumbag brainwashed her *first*.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:36:29 +0000

The guy who got Sierra into the house said it was through money and connections didnt he? That could have meant the Dollhouse thought they were getting someone suitable.

BTW Its a common mistake Americans make but Sierra's accent was Dichen's normal Australian accent.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:22:38 +0000

And that's a major storytelling problem. Whose euphemism is it, and who are they trying to convince? And who believes it? It seems like we're supposed to take Boyd as a decent person, but how can he possibly be complicit in this? And there's a degree of coercion in 'men with guns came and took me' that isn't there even with Caroline volunteering to avoid imprisonment, or "November" joining to hide from her grief. I'm just having more and more trouble with the world-building here.

By: AlphaGirl

AlphaGirl — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:17:08 +0000

I'm getting that "volunteer" in the Dollhouse is a euphemism for "coerced at the point of a gun or other threat".

By: Caroline

Caroline — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:07:25 +0000

The Sierra story really bugged me because on one hand we're being told that the dolls are volunteers but she's obviously NOT. So if the 'volunteer' thing is a lie, who is selling it, for whose benefit, and who actually believes it? I'm giving the show a chance to sort this out, but I can't help feeling that they're emphasizing the 'volunteer' aspect to make it less gross to the audience, yet contradicting it at the same time.

By: AlphaGirl

AlphaGirl — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:07:10 +0000

She did say that men with guns took her away. We know she was the only one who said no, but it's not clear what she said no to. It's implied that she said no to sex, but certainly a tool like that had been turned down before, yes? He was greasy. There's got to be something more.

By: AlphaGirl

AlphaGirl — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:01:18 +0000

Every episode should start with Ballard shirtless. And end with Ballard shirtless. And in the middle? Ballard shirtless.

I felt like the reveal that the awakening was orchestrated came too soon. Once it was out there, there was no question that it was going to be handled and resolved the way the Dollhouse wants before the end. So, it was a pretty tension free hour.

By: Salo

Salo — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:56:15 +0000

Was it clear that the rich guy just directly paid to have Sierra made an Active? I'd invented a scenario where he used his power and influence to make her life miserable and then just introduced her to DeWitt once he'd broken her down enough to agree to the deal. But then I tend to miss things and imagine more than is warranted.