tv talk

song+ Don't keep Me Waiting -Britney Spears -Femme Fatale
book+ DQ9 guide
quest+ starting the Draw EVERY Pokemon Challenge
upper+ i'm really motivated to DO something
downer+ i don't know what
attire+ pajamas
drink+ Dr Pepper

so i kinda watch a lot of tv. not usually when it's actually on tv, but binge-watching a whole series, or multiple seasons in the course of a few days. generally speaking, i've enjoyed most Joss Whedon programs i've watched, though my enjoyment never reaches any kind of fanaticism. i liked Buffy, Angel and Firefly well enough. honestly really loved Dr Horrible, and the Avengers was amazing. i think overall he's a pretty good writer, and for the most part i'm willing to give him a shot when i hear about a new project, though i never blindly throw myself into any of them.

Dollhouse was one show i actually made an effort to keep up with while it was on tv, becasue i knew going in that Fox likes to cancel things that look financially risky, (especially his things- the Firefly effect) and i enjoyed it. i never reccommend it to people because it's actually so hard to boil down the plot for simplicity. i wasn't sure if i was enjoying it for the first several episodes, and the plot was layered and handed out so slowly that i didn't really have any idea of the actual plot until it was season 2 and they had to time-skip and wrap everything up. Kyu's seen probably half the episodes simply because he was home when i was watching it, but he didn't like it and therefore didn't pay much attention to it.

it's a dark show with themes of power and abuse and choice running all over the place through it, and anytime a phrase is repeated, whether by one character or multiple, it's a safe bet that it has something to do with control of their mental state. we see a doll's control tightened: their handler asks "do you trust me?" and their programmed response "with my life" shores up the programmed personality. we see a character fall into madness repeating to himself "i know what i know" before he pulls (more or less) together and sacrifices himself to save lives. we see multiple times after a doll is wiped post-mission "did i fall asleep?" the answer is inevitably "for a little while" this is followed by a similar series of events that focus on "should i go now?" and "if you like" granting the illusion of agency to the empty bodies. there are other control words, but these are the big ones that really make an impact on the overall story.

this lays the foundation for my watching SHIELD. a Whedon project that ties into another Whedon project, with not-terribly-famous, but skilled actors and humor and drama scattered through. for the most part it's been a relatively lighthearted show (especially contrasted with the other two shows i'm keeping up with: Sleepy Hollow- hello apocalyptic things, and Elementary- murderers everywhere). last week's episode i was into and enjoying, until i completely freaked at the end when Coulson was dreaming about Tahiti. the instinctive reply of "it's a magical place" EVERY TIME it's metioned twigged me already, see the repetitive phrasing training above, but i was okay until (in his dream) he woke up and asked "did i fall asleep?" and his masseuse replied "for a little while". i honestly screeched and flailed and pointed and had to explain why i was SO FREAKED OUT to the Kyu, who found it kinda normal and not phenomenally off-putting.

we've been batting Coulson Lives! theories back and forth all along; clone, Life Model Decoy, straight up magical revival, sciencey!revival, skrull duplicate with implanted memories, we've entertained any comic bookish explanation offered, and this is clearly a show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and not the one Dollhouse happened in, but i think i only made it through the stinger because the dream!conversation did derail and we had that Skye/Ward/May bit.. at least i think that was the end? i was kinda freaked out, so i may just be remembering that part as the end.

but yeah, SHIELD is actually a really good show, my total Dollhouse-PTSD fit aside, and anyone who'd been wondering it it's worth watching should definitely give it a shot.