[review] Dollhouse - Unaired pilot
Jul. 18th, 2009 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grimorieMost unaired pilots I've seen are not that good BtVS's unaired pilot and from what I've seen and gleaned from the script Life's unaired pilot kind of sucked.
There's the other end of the spectrum where the unaired pilots are actually quite good. And then there's the odd duck where the unaired pilot is actually better than the one aired.
Dollhouse's unaired pilot falls in the third category. No, really. It's actually better than the script I read.
There's the other end of the spectrum where the unaired pilots are actually quite good. And then there's the odd duck where the unaired pilot is actually better than the one aired.
Dollhouse's unaired pilot falls in the third category. No, really. It's actually better than the script I read.
The unaired pilot opens with Adelle de Witt explaining the 'actives' to an unseen client and the scene intercuts between Echo and de Witt's explanation until we're thrown into three separate clients: helping a girl detox, a guy who wants to show how much the bride missed out on dumping him and helping broker a deal with a Latino gang boss. Then the story unfolds from there, extending from de Witt and Echo to Boyd, Topher, Paul Ballard and so forth and so on.
One of the things I really liked about this version is that despite the multiple clients Echo was very present and Eliza Dushku's performance here much stronger than her subsequent scenes in later episodes. Actually, a lot of the characters here are more interesting and even likeable than in their aired counterparts.
Yes, I found Topher likeable. Boggle on that! Okay, maybe 'like' is stretching it but he's more interesting. He still has a million justifications for what he does but you can also see that deep down he knows he's wrong and more, he knows while he is a genius and everyone relies on him he's still very replacable.
I think it has to do with the way the Dollhouse was presented. It's problematic and Boyd knows it, he isn't just resigned to it. He's cynical about it and even harbors the knowledge that if they stop working the way the management wants them to work it could get ugly. Even the lines of alliances are different in this version, in this version Boyd and Topher are more or less on the same page.
Speaking of Topher, his relationship with Dr. Saunders is interesting especially with what we know about Saunders. Topher really seemed uncomfortable with Saunders and its a different tone from the antagonistic relationship he had with the aired version. Saunders remains the same except the episode shows that she is very invested with the well being of the Actives, that she needs to assure herself that Actives can improve and evolve.
Another striking difference here is Paul Ballard, through the course of the series I came to dislike Paul because he seemed more and more like a hypocritical preacher than a good man.
In this version Paul's a mess his wife left him, his colleagues believes he's chasing fairytales, he doesn't clear cases and while he does get angry he doesn't have the rage I've seen in the aired pilot.I found the rage off putting in the aired pilot and because of it I couldn't connect with him.
But here, I could. He's frustrated, he's on the end of his rope but he's driven to find the dollhouse and this time his reasoning doesn't sound like lip service, it truly does seem like he believes.
More, I believe he's a good man despite claiming he isn't.
Then there's Adelle deWitt.
Just like with the aired version of Paul I couldn't connect with her, deWitt was a cypher to me and seemed a little too emotional for the job. This version though, there's emotion but with more steel underneath the velvet and she shows it well as she confronts Boyd and Topher. I shivered at that scene.
I wish this was the deWitt we saw more.
Most of all the Dollhouse looked a lot more interesting as an entity and as individual people working under its umbrella. You know what they're doing is skeevy and the people working there knows it too. They continue doing it, may deny it but they know it and somehow that's a difference and because of it you get slowly pulled into their world. It's not nice and they don't sugarcoat but it's interesting, the kind of interesting that gets me watching. Maybe because the unaired pilot felt a lot more personal and resonated with me in a way the aired version never did. And maybe because here, you can understand the interest in Echo. She isn't just a special Active but they show us why too.
It's a pity Fox decided to meddle and change the pilot because I can't believe Joss would willingly retooled this pilot into the aired version we had. Plus, we all know Fox's history with Firefly.
And, hey, look candy!
One of the things I really liked about this version is that despite the multiple clients Echo was very present and Eliza Dushku's performance here much stronger than her subsequent scenes in later episodes. Actually, a lot of the characters here are more interesting and even likeable than in their aired counterparts.
Yes, I found Topher likeable. Boggle on that! Okay, maybe 'like' is stretching it but he's more interesting. He still has a million justifications for what he does but you can also see that deep down he knows he's wrong and more, he knows while he is a genius and everyone relies on him he's still very replacable.
I think it has to do with the way the Dollhouse was presented. It's problematic and Boyd knows it, he isn't just resigned to it. He's cynical about it and even harbors the knowledge that if they stop working the way the management wants them to work it could get ugly. Even the lines of alliances are different in this version, in this version Boyd and Topher are more or less on the same page.
Speaking of Topher, his relationship with Dr. Saunders is interesting especially with what we know about Saunders. Topher really seemed uncomfortable with Saunders and its a different tone from the antagonistic relationship he had with the aired version. Saunders remains the same except the episode shows that she is very invested with the well being of the Actives, that she needs to assure herself that Actives can improve and evolve.
Another striking difference here is Paul Ballard, through the course of the series I came to dislike Paul because he seemed more and more like a hypocritical preacher than a good man.
In this version Paul's a mess his wife left him, his colleagues believes he's chasing fairytales, he doesn't clear cases and while he does get angry he doesn't have the rage I've seen in the aired pilot.I found the rage off putting in the aired pilot and because of it I couldn't connect with him.
But here, I could. He's frustrated, he's on the end of his rope but he's driven to find the dollhouse and this time his reasoning doesn't sound like lip service, it truly does seem like he believes.
More, I believe he's a good man despite claiming he isn't.
Then there's Adelle deWitt.
Just like with the aired version of Paul I couldn't connect with her, deWitt was a cypher to me and seemed a little too emotional for the job. This version though, there's emotion but with more steel underneath the velvet and she shows it well as she confronts Boyd and Topher. I shivered at that scene.
I wish this was the deWitt we saw more.
Most of all the Dollhouse looked a lot more interesting as an entity and as individual people working under its umbrella. You know what they're doing is skeevy and the people working there knows it too. They continue doing it, may deny it but they know it and somehow that's a difference and because of it you get slowly pulled into their world. It's not nice and they don't sugarcoat but it's interesting, the kind of interesting that gets me watching. Maybe because the unaired pilot felt a lot more personal and resonated with me in a way the aired version never did. And maybe because here, you can understand the interest in Echo. She isn't just a special Active but they show us why too.
It's a pity Fox decided to meddle and change the pilot because I can't believe Joss would willingly retooled this pilot into the aired version we had. Plus, we all know Fox's history with Firefly.
And, hey, look candy!
