Dollhouse Pilot: An Ode to Point-Buy Systems?
[ movies/television ][ dollhouse | music ]
[ February 14th, 2009 ]
[ by: Alvan ]
Well, first episode of Dollhouse has now aired. I wouldn’t be a fanboy if I wasn’t excited. Sure, there were faults – things were way too clear cut for the Lost-age audience. I mean, everything about what was going on got underlined at least twice. But from what I’ve read, executive medling is somewhat to blame for that. The episode we saw wasn’t the original pilot. The original pilot episode will be aired later (next week?).
In case you’re still unfamiliar with the premise, the show is about persons (well non-persons, as they by default have their personalities erased) who get implanted with memories and skill sets and hired to do scenarios where those skills come in handy. The implanted personalities aren’t without flaws. As a character in the show says – “It’s a whole person. Achievement is balanced by fault, by a lack. Can’t have one without the other. Everyone who excells, is overcompensating.” Sound familiar as a roleplayer? That’s a point-buy system in a nutshell right there. To be good at something, you will have to play down on some other areas. If looked at from a certain angle, it’s about the same thing as a group of roleplayers who play a series of one-shot games. New problems to solve each time and new characters with appropriate abilities. But in the end, it’s the same people pulling the strings. Going to cool places, doing cool things. Being an expert. Being something that you’re not.
Another thing I just have to mention is the soundtrack. The sound of cymbals, bells and chimes echoes Ghost in the Shell on some levels and apparently I’m not the only person to think of using Lady GaGa’s Just Dance to background music on a situation where there is some personality uncertainity issues going on. The sound of the series is very distinctive, which is good, as it will hopefully build a strong subconscious connection with the show. From the creepy wind-chime like quality of the Dollhouse’s soundscape to the more controlled, rythmic sounds used when on the field. (edit/by the way: the other two songs I recognized on the show were The Duke Spirit – Into The Fold (the car chase scene) and Front Line Assembly – Civilization (the necklace scene))
I’ll probably have much more to say about this after a few episodes when the big picture gets opened a bit more.
P.S. Amy Acker’s hot. Even with scars and insecurities.
