BSG versus Dollhouse: The Weird Car Analogy

For those that hate weird analogies or are tired by my inability to get over my dislikes and disagreements with BSG, I apologize beforehand.

I've decided that BSG is like a wood-panelled station wagon. It's not a van, it isn't a true serial show; it doesn't quite meet my expectations on a great family getaway. It is a car, an episodic show, pretending to be a van. I keep railing on the station wagon for not being a good car and particularly for being a worse van. Sometimes I forget that it still capable of transporting a good number of people and baggage. I keep marvelling at the poor quality grain of the faux wood-panelling and sometimes forgetting that some people like wood-panelling. I like cars and I like vans and I think I may hate station wagons. But at the very least BSG's station wagon isn't something that sings to me. It's a serviceable vehicle, but in the end it leaves me personally cold and upset and does seemingly little to ask for my love and help me cross the detachment divide of an obsolesced style of vehicle. [1]

Tycho over at Penny Arcade recently accused Dollhouse of being a station wagon and that struck me. I recognized some of my own complaints about BSG and I've somewhat struggled to explain why Dollhouse is not, or at least, not yet a station wagon. I'm hopeful that it will never become a station wagon. What I seem to think the Dollhouse is: a Gadget-mobile. Right now Dollhouse is an awesome pimped out police car. The thing is a little unsightly, function over form to some extent, but it has amazing pick-up and can just scream across an hour. It's got a good, reset-able premise that works well as a good car. In fact, it almost a self-aware car in that resets sometimes occur mid-show, even. At least to me, it is already fun as it is. But then, slowly gadgets get used in a one-off manner, somewhat careful to restart back to episode formula at the end of the hour, but there is that lingering scent that the machine is more than meets the eye and that eventually those gadgets are going to come together and...

It may be a mid-season cliffhanger that does a quick "Go, Go Gadget-mobile" on us or it may be a slower, more methodical transition, but I've got a feeling that eventually we're going to see that hidden in the machine all along was the comfiest, most expensive van that our uncle's secret organization can afford. We'll pack together a picnic lunch and take along the dog and then we'll go for a wonderful transnational tour of a world that is much deeper than what it at first seemed.

Perhaps I'm overly hopeful and perhaps I've already drunk the kool-aid without realizing it (or perhaps like Victor I am secretly under the Dollhouse's agenda already, which actually would be kind of cool). But here's the trick, for me at least: right now Dollhouse is a good car. I'm enjoying what I'm watching and that's an important thing. Even if Whedon doesn't manage to pull the Gadget-mobile trick we'll have a few good episodes of wild drama. I think, however, if the trick is pulled well, and I'm hopeful that it might be, we might see several seasons of an ultimately great show...

[1]

Aside, just so that I can yell "I told you so" when they finally get around to calling it. I don't read spoilers, I'm just psychic about the show's writing or they are terribly painting themselves into the same corners over and over again. There are two major possibilities for Starbuck, and both are disappointing: 1) Starbuck really is the gender-switched "destroyed" Cylon model. I'm calling that the easy and lame choice. Lame because Cylons are lame and lame because they already did the "last Cylon model" thing and lame because then we necessarily get the "Oh David, welcome back to the family, tears" reunion. Lame. 2) Starbuck is the sign that "base model humanity" can make use of Cylon replication. This is a "twist", but in the M. Night Shyamalan school of over-built, ultimately rather stupid twists. It's too late in the show to explore any interesting repercussions of the fact, so we'll see "simple" quick repercussions: A) Everyone is actually a Cylon in their own way (snore), let's all join hands as a happy family or B) Time to build a new Ressurection Hub for the benefit of all, off screen and after the final credits roll. I rather doubt we'll see the writers pull a good rabbit out of the mangy hat. I still don't really care to watch it as it happens, but I'll probably watch it anyway and complain a bit more as it happens...