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This week's 'Dollhouse' would make Solid Snake proud photo

Longtime viewers of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse -- both of us -- may have noticed that this week's episode shared a pretty prominent plot element with everyone's favorite postmodern stealth series.

Without getting into specifics, The Bad Guys in Dollhouse create an army made up of soldiers with genetically linked minds, who can wordlessly synchronize their actions and read each other's minds.

Sound familiar?

Of course, Eliza Dushku defeats the psychic soldiers roughly eleven hours quicker than it took David Hayter to do the same thing, but you get the general idea. Rat Patrol 01 functions almost exactly as the Rossum corporations mentally-linked soldiers do -- a few of the scenes (especially one where a group of soldiers simultaneously pose and aim in different directions) look downright eerily similar to moments from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. I'm not at all trying to suggest that Joss Whedon ripped Kojima off, or anything, but it's an entertaining coincidence.

In other news, Dollhouse is actually quite good now. You should start watching it again.

 


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45 comments | showing # 1 to 45
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Arkhon's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:09
Arkhon
When I first clicked on this link, I got redirected to some sort of fake anti-virus site that tried to give me malware. I never expect that sort of thing from Destructoid. The site that came up was at:

http://fast-scan36.com/1/?sess=%3DGGz9jDwMS01NyZpcD05OC4xMTcuMjQ0LjE3MSZ0aW1lPTEyNjYzMYgMOQkN
Rinsako's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:10
Rinsako
Dollhouse is cancelled I believe. So it'll run its course and die a quiet death.

I never really like Josh Whedon style. Most of his pieces play off the strengths of the actors rather than the strength of the writing. David Boreanaz (sp), Alyson Hannigan, James Masters, Neil Patrick Harris and a few others have all gone off to different non-Whedon shows and have experienced relative success outside of the Whedonverse.

As for Dollhouse, I endured the first season and found it bland and unentertaining, and I have not heard enough positive reviews of the second season to even make an attempt to begin watching it again. Overused tropes about mind-control and issue of what constitutes a human being are just that, over used tropes. I attribute the weakeness in Dollhouse more to poor direction from Whedon, and any success from the strength of the actor.

Case and point being NPH in Dr. Horrible vs. HIMYM (Although much weaker showing in the current season). The strength of these shows is directly in the delivery and not in the material. I feel that alot of the love for Whedon is misplaced, he does some things right, but he gaffs on many of his concepts.
Rinsako's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:13
Rinsako
@ Arkhon

XSS Exploit?
Kuram's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:14
Kuram
The show was canceled during the production of the 11th or 13th episode, cant remember quite, back in november, but I hope Fox is smart enough to pick the series back up because the past 3-4 episodes have totally redeemed the series in my eyes, where it was previously circling the drain.
D-503's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:15
D-503
MGS is postmodern?
Tubatic's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:15
Tubatic
I hope that one day someone will say "Heroes is quite good, you can start watching again": I jumped ship after the implied mutant registration act, Syler became a mentor and Hiro continued to not grow as a character...

Sounds awesome. Alan Tudyk's a villian in DollHouse, right? I'd like to see that...
Arkhon's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:16
Arkhon
@Rinsako:

I have exactly zero idea what that means.
Rinsako's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:17
Rinsako
@ Tubatic

Alan Tudyk plays Alpha who is supposed to serve as a counterpoint to Echo the protagonist of the story. He's also supposed to obsessed with Echo.
Rinsako's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:18
Rinsako
@ Arkhon

Joss Whedon Sucks
Rinsako's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:18
Rinsako
@ Arkhon

Oh you mean XSS

Cross Site Scripting exploit.

Just google it, you'll get an explanation pretty quickly.
CRAZYAPE69's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:19
CRAZYAPE69
BROTHER!! And @Arkhon: had the exact same thing, really wierd, thank god im protected... i hope
Brice Gilbert's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:19
Brice Gilbert
The show has been good since the last episode of Season 1. Season 2 has pretty much unanimous praise so now would be time to check it out if you care.
Hamza CTZ Aziz's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:27
Hamza CTZ Aziz
Now would be a horrible time to follow this series as it's about to die. I made that mistake with Firefly. So good and won't ever see anything else in that universe. But yeah, last few episodes have been great
capitan's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:31
capitan
rumor is at the end of this season, there will be an "epitaph two" which will tie up the loose ends. i certainly hope so because i don't think they will be able to finish everything in the remaining episodes.
Kordras's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:32
Kordras
@ Rinsako

Hurts to see that typed. :/ Then again, I'm probably just a rabid Firefly fan and will support anything that has to do with anyone that was involved with it.
Rinsako's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:32
Rinsako
@ CrazyApe69

There are quite a few XSS false positives (I'd assume). Either that or some script kiddy is f*cking around with the backend and the techies better mobilize and check for the NMAP scans that are bound to follow.
bluemeep's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 22:46
bluemeep
Wouldn't be the first time Whedon took something from Japan. I remember those crazy months after he first saw Outlaw Star, hoo nelly...

*stirs the pot and runs away*
Anthony Burch's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 23:05
Anthony Burch
I think the opposite of what Hamza said. Since the show is ending anyway, you can get on board and not have anything spoiled for you, and it feels less intimidating to start because, hey, the end is coming soon.

It's not like trying to get someone into LOST, where you've gotta go "uh, yeah, there are five seasons of many episodes, each an hour long, and a lot of the episodes aren't good but uh erm uh"
Xzyliac's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 23:19
Xzyliac
Oh shit did you say Eliza Dushku? I need to watch this show.
Happy Chainsaw Man's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/20/2009 23:39
Happy Chainsaw Man
I didn't get the MGS similarities, but I do agree that Dollhouse is quite good. And it feels like they've really been pushing towards a conclusion with these last few episodes. Which, even if it's a rushed and not-quite-neat conclusion, is bound to be better than what Firefly got stuck with.
Hamza CTZ Aziz's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 00:04
Hamza CTZ Aziz
Anthony: True, if it's ending is even possible of giving an overall closer.
ikiryou's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 00:31
ikiryou
What are the chances they'll actually do a series finisher? I wanted to get into this due to The Dukshu Factor, but my backlog is preventing it.
*lightbulb clicks on* But the whole series will be on DVD soon enough.
seltzermx's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 00:35
seltzermx
@Hamza: they announced the cancellation before the last few episodes had been filmed, which gave enough time to tweak them for a satisfying end. Whedon has stated that he wants to end that universe entirely, so there will be no hanging plotholes and the like.

Also, the title of the series finale in Januar is "Epitaph Two". For anyone who has seen "Epitaph One" this is mega-boner inducing
James M Patrick's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 00:39
James M Patrick
The first like 3 or 4 episodes this season sucked hard. Everything that's up on hulu right now is worth watching though. Whedon just didn't develop the show at a fast enough pace to make it interesting, though the first season's engagement of the week stuff was necessary for all the good bits coming now.

I hope they do an epitaph 2, epitaph one was the best thing about this show so far!
Arianol's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 00:44
Arianol
I haven't had time to watch this episode yet but I absolutely love this show.
Doobles's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 01:15
Doobles
I guess I'm alone in not getting the appeal of Eliza Dushku. Dollhouse was horrible coming out of the gate, kinda hard to garner a following that way.

And Heroes is just plain boring. How do you make a show about people with super powers boring? Turn it into a soap opera I guess.
angry midgits's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 02:11
angry midgits
Most of the best lines in Buffy came from him admitted even by the writers on the show. Firefly failed because they aired the second episode (which wasn't that good) before the pilot (which was awesome). Firefly works on DVD so well because you have the strong foundation of the pilot to step off of and set up narrative for the following episodes. Doll House couldn't catch my attention during the first season because Dushku just didn't have the acting chops to carry the show. Which is sad because I found the premise intriguing. None of this is really Whedons fault, except for casting Dushku which I personally believe was a mistake.
Matthew Marshall's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 02:17
Matthew Marshall
Yeah Dollhouse is quite good right now, except its going to be cancelled. Isn't that great...
Pure Poison 1's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 02:42
Pure Poison 1
I can't believe there are so few fans of Dollhouse. I rarely watch TV because I'm too busy playing games but Dollhouse is by far the best show I have seen.

If anyone has been following the series and watched the most recent episodes they would understand what a brilliant show it is.

Oh yeah and the last episode did make me think of MGS. I wish there were a Dollhouse video game that was actually good, it would be so awesome!
SneakerElph's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 02:42
SneakerElph
I don't understand all the Dollhouse hate. I've loved every episode from the beginning. I'm very sad that it's getting canceled. Maybe another network will pick it up? Nah, if things like that happened we'd for sure have seen the return of Firefly.

Dollhouse and Firefly have made me a loyal Whedonite though, that's for sure.
Xzyliac's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 03:19
Xzyliac
@Doobles
I thought I was alone in getting the appeal of Eliza Dushku.
Lance Icarus's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 03:57
Lance Icarus
It's not a Metal Gear ripoff until there's a completely ineffective soldier stumbling around the battlefield crapping himself.
Orionsaint's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 05:11
Orionsaint
don't point that weapon at me bitch!
Jon B's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 05:36
Jon B
I'd just like to chip in and say I've been getting crossscripting exploits a LOT from Dtoid lately. Thankfully AdBlock has picked them up if they've got through NoScript, but it really is something that the Dtoid crew need to look at.
Professor Pew's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 06:20
Professor Pew
The Wire. That is all.
Stevil's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 06:31
Stevil
@Pew: Agreed. For a start it was consistently good. Nobody ever said 'you should start watching again' about The Wire...You know why? Because it was amazing all the way through.

Useless Stevil Trivia No. 47: Cutty (the boxing gym owner) is also the voice of Coach from Left 4 Dead.
free touch's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 08:27
free touch
My wife and I watch this show religiously. Its one of the few shows that make us turn on the tv. The only reason its canceled is because Fox just doesn't like it. I would hope a lesser known channel... like the CW or WB would pick this up, and become one of their highest rated shows, much like what happened with buffy.

It is just a simply kick ass show.
BluDesign's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 09:47
BluDesign
FOX shits on every good show they own.

So Dollhouse being cancelled is no surprise.

@Rinsako

it's cute how you strung all those big words together without really saying anything.

It's the writing and directing that makes the acting work. I've seen amazing actors piss away their talent with shitty shallow writing and bad direction. Methinks you're a defeatist Whedonite who got jilted with Capt Mal. Deal with it. Some of you people expect too fucking much out of your entertainment w d if it doesn't start and stop the way you want it to you get pissy and disappointed. Fucking deal with it. There's far too much goddamned terrible television out there to try and piss in my pool. I'll gladly take the worst episode of Losr, BSG, any current Simpsons, Dollhouse , etc over nearly every fucking reality show most of NBCs current lineup, or 80% of FOX. Bitch all you want about how pedestrian Dollhouse may seem to you and your silver spoon palate, but you're missing out on some damn good Swansons Hungry Man-Television.
Doomsday Forte's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 10:43
Doomsday Forte
Eliza Dushku is about to shoot you! Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Never seen any of Dollhouse. My only TV watching last year was Chuck, which actually got saved from the chopping block. Somehow. Maybe I'll look up Dollhouse sometime.
Anthony Burch's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 11:21
Anthony Burch
Really, I can understand why (A) most people don't like Dollhouse, and subsequently (B) why Fox is cancelling it.

The first season was horrendous, and I say that as someone who considers himself a Whedon fan (even though I've only actually watched Firefly and Serenity, come to think of it). The episodic, "engagement-of-the-week" format was just really awkward and silly and wasted a lot of time. It wasn't really until the very last episodes of season one, and maybe the third episode of season two, that the show decided to put the larger arcs in the forefront. That's when it got really good.
Scroll's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 11:35
Scroll
I would watch it again but I want Whedon to get back to making something Firefly related.
Mulk Calathar's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 13:18
Mulk Calathar
Yeah and Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross has the triumvirate clone bioroids.

Translation for non animu:" Robtech Masters had those terminator:invid-fighter bioroids that had three guys piloting giant robots that only had one mind between them."
feighnt's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 15:51
feighnt
i'm fairly confident that Fox fucked this show, much akin to how they were responsible for the death of Firefly. as a matter of fact, the various things they did in order to ensure that Firefly *died* made Whedon say, after the fact, that he wouldnt work with Fox again...

which makes me ridiculously confused as to why Whedon then went back to them with Dollhouse.

i can guarantee you, though, Fox did screw with things - if you want to see a little of how the show was originally going to look, i suggest you try to find the *original*, un-aired pilot (which Fox rejected as they thought it wasnt actiony enough)... it was rather more subtle and intelligent than many of the earlier episodes of Dollhouse were. it's a terrible shame *that* wasnt what the series was like... i enjoyed some of the earlier episodes well enough, but it felt somewhat... unintentional? that is, like the plan for the series was fiddled with and they had to figure out something else on the fly.
SneakerElph's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 16:41
SneakerElph
@Anthony

I actually rather liked the entanglement of the week. They were diverse and helped us figure out how the Dollhouse works, what their protocols are. It sort of got us into the larger arcs while keeping them a little bit hidden and more of a "what's going to happen with that arc next?" Sort of thing. I'll agree that this season is much better, but I'd argue that the first season couldn't have been done that way since it wouldn't have allowed us to slowly soak up how the Dollhouse works, and set us up for the next season.

Whedon usually makes his shows start off slowly. While this is great for the people who are actually interested in what will happen in later seasons, it doesn't bode well for ratings on the network. Whedon said that he had plans for how all the characters would grow and evolve for five seasons. Too bad it got cut short.
mattcoz's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2009 20:01
mattcoz
Hmm, I thought of the Borg, although I've never played MGS4. The whole cybernetic implants connecting to a hive mind, they even sounded like the Borg. I kept waiting for Eliza to say "resistance is NOT futile".
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