Doctors, Dolls, and the Decade

I have the penultimate David Tennant episode of Doctor Who sitting on my DVR right now. I want to watch it and I don't want to watch it. I'm not a lifelong fan of Doctor Who, though I do remember watching episodes on PBS with my dad when I was a teenager. I wasn't aware that the series had been restarted until I caught "Blink" a few years ago and I was hooked after watching that episode. I went back and caught up on the season with Christopher Eccleston, followed by as many of the Tennant eps as I could find. I am going to miss him tremendously...but I also want to see how he (and head writer Russell T. Davies) will exit the show.

Speaking of exits, let's talk Dollhouse, a show I held at arm's length when it first appeared and even gave up on. I documented my return to the show back in late September and was an avid viewer during the current season. Unfortunately, Fox cancelled the show (as I feared) and pulled it off the air. A few weeks ago they started burning off the episodes two at a time and with a few weeks off I've started to catch up. I was stymied today by a bad DVR recording, so I'll probably try to catch that episode ("Meet Jane Doe") on Hulu in the near future. The show has been quite good and it will join Firefly as a Joss Whedon show that got away (though I loved Firefly more than I do this one).

You know what else got away? My planned posts on my favorite stuff from the last decade. I would still like to put something together, as well as best of the year lists. Not sure if either will happen, though I'd put better odds on the latter rather than the former. Still, we'll see...

Broken Dolls

I've been a fan of Joss Whedon ever since I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer during its second season. As much as I loved that show, I think Firefly holds an even bigger place in my heart. I watched it religiously when it was being shown on Fox and was crushed when it got cancelled all too soon. So it was with some trepidation that I began watching his latest TV show, Dollhouse back in the spring.

I found myself not watching each episode right away and got a couple weeks behind almost immediately. The show didn't grab me right away and then a few characters were revealed to be "actives" (dolls), which seemed a bit over the top. I was also stressed out and busy with school and it seemed like I was perpetually behind on the DVR. I had to make a decision - should I keep recording a show I wasn't totally in love with and that would probably be cancelled anyway - and decided to stop.

Almost immediately, I started hearing that the second half of its season and made a dramatic turn and was now must-see. Still, I didn't bother. It was announced the show would return for a second season of 13 episodes and I wondered if I had been too hasty. When the DVD of the first season came out, there was high praise for an episode that hadn't aired which was set in the future of the show. I thought maybe I should pick up the DVD, but I couldn't justify the expense. Luckily, the internet and Netflix came to my rescue.

Hulu only had half of the season available for viewing but I had actually seen all the episode they didn't have. I started watching and was hooked. I saw that the first half of the season was really setting up the second and everything kicked into high gear. I used Netflix to get the last disc of the DVD set and was able to watch "Epitaph One." It was great.

Last night was the first episode of season 2 and I watched it not long after it aired. It was written and directed by Whedon and there was a lot going on. I also enjoyed it immensely. I will be watching the rest of the season and will probably put the first season DVD on my Christmas list. I gave up on the show too soon but now I've rediscovered it and am well on my way to loving it.

On the cosmic pop culture scale, however, it seems that things have to balance. I may have gained a new love but word came this week that I have lost another one. The Broken West announced that they have disbanded. I love their sound and I love their songs and I'm sad that there won't be any more of them. I saw them open for A.C. Newman back in March and it was a great show all the way around. They will be missed but at least they left us with two great albums (I Can't Go On I'll Go On and Now or Heaven) and an EP (The Dutchman's Gold, which was released under their previous name, The Brokedown). Go and search them out.