Could Be a Rough Weekend

Day 8 of NaBloPoMo...Wow, have I really made it this far? I'm quite certain that there's never been a time in my existence that I've blogged for 8 consecutive days. Too bad it feels like I'm running out of things to say. This turns out to be a hodge-podge of unrelated topics that just jumped out of my head onto the screen.

After a rather uneventful but tiring day at work, which included multiple morning meetings followed by a trip to a job site that was over an hour each way, I arrived home to find my poor wife in the early throes of a cold. Normally this would be a simple inconvenience, but in a household with two adults and three young children, it becomes an emergency. The primary caregiver (let's face it, I'm borderline useless without her) could be out of commission soon, leaving me to hold down the fort. This is analogous to the Hans Brinker story, where the little Dutch boy plugged up the dyke with his finger, averting a catastrophe? Now imagine, in the Grant family, the little boy represents me, while the dyke is the relative balance and operation of our family unit, and hole to be plugged, representing the chaos that will ensue if Mom goes down with a cold, instead of being finger-sized is something large enough for a semi to pass through. Yea, it could get ugly...

On the upside, there's the chance that we'll bundle up this family of ours, throw them into the minivan, and troop them to my office sometime this weekend. It may seem strange to say that, or even be something to get excited about, but the twins have been there a few time and have an absolute ball there. There are so many new things to explore and look at, and what must seem to them to be endless hallways to run up and down. One area of our office hasn't been built out yet, and might as well be considered an arena for their antics. Here's to hoping we don't disturb any people there trying to do some real work.

The first of the final three episodes of Dollhouse just ended, and the only question I have is this: Why did they save writing and drama like this for the series as it ends? If only the writers had been able to pull together some story lines with the impact of the type we're seeing now, maybe the series wouldn't be ending. Hopefully my frustration comes through when talking about this, because the series had such potential, with a cast and characters that I cared about, and a premise that offered such promise. It's just too bad to see it end, but at least it's going out with a bang.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit this, but it was difficult for me to sleep last night thinking about the fact that I would soon own an iPhone. It's been easy to downplay how much not having this shiny little technological bauble bothered me, when there was no real possibility of having one (due to financial reasons). Now that the dream is about to become a reality, I'm like the little boy waiting for Christmas day to finally arrive. The e-mail confirming my order and the shipment of the unit came this afternoon, indicating that the iPhone shipped from Texas today. With any luck, it should be here by Monday. You know what? Having been primarily around toddlers for the past couple of years, and seeing the unbridled and guilt-free joy they experience, I've vowed to try to grab onto feelings like that as much as I possibly can, because (as we all know) once you become an adult with real responsibilities, those feelings and moments can be hard to come by.

One last item of note, as least for me anyway. While packing up to leave the office and come home, my mind was humming away about how to approach the creation of standardized design documents, a task I've been wrestling with for a while. Just as I was walking out of the office, an epiphany hit me, one that I hope to follow up on. It has the potential to be just what we've needed for some time, and I'm ashamed that it hadn't come to me before this. The reason why I'm writing about it here is that it felt so good to come up with it, after agonizing over the same issues for so long, I just had to share it with someone else.

Well, there you have it, a veritable brain dump of the scary mess that floats around in my oversized dome. Feel free to leave a comment about anything you've read here, and hope to see you here again soon.

Dollhouse Cancelled

I knew the reprieve last season was only postponing the inevitable, but today's news still made me sad. One of the few shows I watch regularly, Dollhouse has been cancelled.

Dollhouse is done. We knew this was coming—Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon recently posted on fansite Whedonesque.com that the writers were "not exactly saving all the good stuff for 14-22," but still. 'Tis sad.

The biggest frustration I have with the news is that show had so much potential for character development, plot twists and compelling story arcs, but just didn't have the time to lay the groundwork to take advantage of the potential.

You can read more about it here. (Thanks Laurie for the heads up on this!)

My Thoughts on Dollhouse

I like Dollhouse, but I don't love Dollhouse. It makes sense, of course, that I would like it. What's not to like about beautiful people, such as Eliza Dushku, Dichen Lachman, and Miracle Laurie, having the opportunity to be all different types of people in outrageous situations, and often kicking ass at the same time? Toss in the fact that the show is created by Joss Whedon, a pop culture and geek icon, and it's the perfect recipe for a great TV show. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend finding the first season on DVD (it's currently airing the second season on Fox, Friday nights at 9pm EST) to catch up. I also recommend that you stop reading this now, because everything I discuss from here on out is definitely spoiler territory, and won't make a lot of sense unless you've been watching the show.

With all that said (here I come to the fly in the ointment of this whole conversation), I'm having a tough time throwing myself behind the show and the direction being taken in the second season. There are so many great characters and opportunities that they seem to be missing. Let's start with the likes in this second season, in bulleted form and in no particular order:

• Paul Ballard. I wasn't sure where the writers would take him entering this season, after all that transpired at the end of the first season. However, considering his position and the ability he's shown in the situation, it's hard not to root for him, even with the understanding his intentions are to bring down the Dollhouse. It's also interesting to watch him struggle with his feelings for Echo, even as he tries to remain detached and professional. There are a lot of options for them to take at this point, and they all appear promising.
• Echo, specifically that she is retaining the knowledge of all of her assignments. This particular twist was probably inevitable, considering that Echo had all of her previous assignment personalities pumped into her brain at once in last season's finale. There are several directions where the writers could take this, not all of them good. I hold out hope that they are building up to something interesting with this turn of events.
• Dr. Saunders and Topher. Even though the interaction lasted basically a third of an episode, it's intriguing to think where that relationship could go, and I hope it is explored further later in the season. This is, of course, assuming that Dr. Saunders comes back, since she decided to go for a joyride and hasn't returned.
• Mellie. Miracle Laurie's character made a brief appearance in the second episode, as her original personality. I hope that they somehow bring her back onto the ranch and have her as an active again, and soon.

Now for some of my dislikes, again in bulleted form in random order:

• The entire 'remote wipe' debacle of the third episode. It's understood when watching a show such as this that you have to check your disbelief at the door, but when they pulled out this stunt in the third episode, even I had to groan. It might not have been so bad if they didn't reduce the result to the ridiculous scene at the nightclub.
• The lack of an obvious recurring subplot. The first season of Dollhouse had Alpha's shadow over the organization at all times, culminating in the season-ending two part episode. The only storylines introduced so far that have the potential to become larger are the chances that Ballard will figure out a way to take down the Dollhouse, and Echo's self-awareness. While both have potential to become greater than they are right now, neither seem to have the same haunting quality as Alpha in season 1. While the writers took great pains to make the viewer feel like Alpha could rear up and wreak havoc at any moment, that thread hasn't appeared in the episodes so far, which leaves me feeling like this season is just a bunch of relatively disjointed encapsulated stories. More common thread and strong undercurrent of a story, fewer ridiculous one-off stories.
• Not enough Boyd. It's disappointing to me that they went to such great lengths to develop the Boyd character as Echo's handler, to then relegate him to a 'back office' position in the Dollhouse. He is strong enough as a character, and the actor clearly has enough to pull him off, to devote more screen time and story to the previous "I hate what the Dollhouse stands for, but I'm going to work for you anyway, while I come up with a way to bring you down." Ballard picked up that mantle and has run with it admirably.

Hopefully it's obvious that I enjoy this series enough that I'm not giving up on it. Hell, I took the time to write all of this, didn't I? To be honest, it's one of the few things that my wife and I watch together (Monday's comedies on CBS being the others), so I don't want to lose her as my watching partner. It's close to happening, especially after last week's serial killer episode. The show has such promise, and a premise that hasn't yet begun to be mined for ideas, while the characters all have room to grow, even considering that most of the main actors play a different part every week.

If there's anyone out there who is watching Dollhouse as well, and has opinions on this, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear more from fans and where you feel the series is heading. You can be sure I'll be watching until they take it off the air!