I just realized that, since my last review of an episode of Dollhouse, I haven’t come back to mention how I felt the show has fared from the fabled sixth episode on. In sort, the show’s taken a major leap in quality since the sixth episode, and I’m glad I’ve stuck around. I’m interested in the mystery behind the Dollhouse, the stories and, most importantly, the characters. And by “characters,” I mean more than just Eliza Dushku’s Echo.
So, why is it that the intro sequence for Dollhouse completely ignores all characters besides Echo? Did the showrunners not see the performance that Enver Gjokaj displayed in the latest episode? More than a few characters deserve to be highlighted in that intro. Oh, and the whole thing, complete with creepy “la de dah dah” music, just plain sucks anyway.
It might seem a simple thing, but that intro could be one reason Dollhouse doesn’t attract new viewers. It doesn’t convey the kind of stories or action you’re likely to see episode to episode, and it makes it appear as though the whole show has to do with Echo and her little adventures. As we’re quickly finding out, there’s a hell of a lot more going on here than a girl going out on military and midwife missions.
What would make for a better intro? Off the top of my head, we open on a building at night. The front cuts away to reveal all of the rooms inside, like a dollhouse. Some of the rooms are occupied and we zoom in to one of them: it’s Echo, cracking a safe. We zoom back out and then in to another: it’s Victor, having a post-coitus smoke, in bed, with a new client. Same zoom-out/zoom-in to Sierra, who’s analyzing a crime scene or teaching someone advanced martial arts. We zoom out again and we see a hand reach into frame and place Ballard in an alley beside the building, snooping around the outside. Zoom out one last time, a bit further this time, and we see Adelle placing another doll into a room in the building, Topher and Boyd standing nearby … and a whole lot more buildings around them.
Hey, I just thought of all this just now. It sure looks a lot more interesting in my head than the one that’s on the show now. Got any other ideas?
Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on May 04, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
God, that song just irritates me! Not only is it creepy, but it’s been STUCK IN MY HEAD FROM EPISODE ONE!!! I have to agree that with an intro like that, many viewers probably tune out.
BTW, thanks a lot for the “la de dah dah” line. Now it’s playing even louder in mah frikken head! Please make it stop…
Similarly, I took FOREVER to catch on to Alias because I hated the intro of Jennifer Garner running around in her silly disguises, which made me think that was all there was to the show, a chick in a pink wig running around shooting people.
I agree that the other actives should be in it, and focus less on Echo. But I actually like the music, and the concept. Especially the [ACTIVE LOCATED] [ACTIVE SECURE] [ACTIVE ENGAGED] text on the screen. The whole idea that they’re out there, mysteriously mingling with a world that doesn’t know what or who they are, and they don’t know either, and they’re being monitored, is all delivered in that opening. And their childlike in-between state is represented by the dreamlike quality of the singing, and then the children’s bells at the end.
I think Fox is the reason for the intro – it shows what the first five episodes have been about.
To be honest I couldn’t care less about Echo, I love the other characters far more.
Concerning the intro I’d go for something like “Dark Angel” but just for a couple of seconds because of the other actors on the show. Why is everything so focused on Eliza Dusku? I love Harry Lennix and Olivia Williams as well es Tahmoh Penniket. And Amy Acker.
I don’t get it, this show is really intruiging and interesting – I can only blame Nielsen for the ratings it can’t be that this isn’t watched. I for instance piled up two episodes just because I have better things to do on Friday nights than watching TV. Dollhouse is a really good show and I just hope it gets renewed.
Considering what the other actors look like, it can’t just be a sex appeal question. Perhaps some of the other characters will not survive to the end of the show?
At any rate, Amy Acker can’t be in the intro, because she’s only a guest star.