Red Tank Top and Gray Yoga Pants Inspired By Echo in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse

Click for larger version; click for the list of dolls.

So Brian and I watched Firefly and Serenity earlier this year, and I completely fell in love with the show. I haven’t yet seen any of Buffy or Dr. Horrible, but when I heard about Dollhouse I decided that this time I wouldn’t let Joss Whedon’s next potential hit pass me by, and I’ve been watching it on Hulu. I watched the first episode with Brian, and the next few on my own (my husband having bailed muttering jokes about “quantum leap with spas” and so on). Just as the hype had it, the second episode was better than the first, the overall beginning was kind of weak and episode six was tons of fun. The show is about an organization (the Dollhouse of the title) that removes the memories and personalities from their “volunteers” and hires them out as perfect human beings implanted with the personality and skills necessary for whatever job the client wants. In between jobs, the “dolls” are returned to a childlike state (one poster on the Whedonesque blog noted that they sounded a lot like lolcats — I has a book! — and I wish I could unread that because now I can’t not crack up at some lines) and spend the days in comfy clothes, doing yoga and eating lettuce. I’ve liked the subtle costuming so far, even if there aren’t the opportunities for fantasy like there were with Firefly.

I think Topher’s rather put-upon assistant Ivy is going to end up being the programmer Topher talked about in, I think, episode four — Topher seems to think that his rival Yuma Takahashi is definitely a guy, and rejects the idea that whoever disrupted the programming could be a girl when his assistant suggests it, but Yuma is a suggestive sort of name. “Yuma” seems girly to me, and there’s at least one actress with the name, but “Yuuma” seems more like a guy’s name; I wouldn’t expect Topher to know the difference. (The captions had it as “Yuma,” but that doesn’t signify much, I think.) Anyways, that’s my contribution to the rampant speculation, and I hope I’m right because I look forward to her smacking him down at some point. (For some reason I can so see a bewildered Topher with a line like “I thought all their names ended in ‘ko’?” A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.) For her to be the person who contacted Ballard seems like it might be too obvious, though.

Edit, April 6 – on rewatching Grey Hour, Topher says, I think, “Yumio” while the subtitles say “Yuma.” Yumio being a pretty manly name, I’m not so attached to my theory as I once was!

5 thoughts on “Red Tank Top and Gray Yoga Pants Inspired By Echo in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse

  1. I didn’t enjoy Dollhouse all that much but I only watched the first episode. Maybe I should give it another go… I do like the actress. Tru Calling was one of my favorite shows for a while.

    I was really hoping Joss would start Firefly back up but so far, from what I’ve heard, if he did then it would be post-Serenity. Awww…

  2. the show was ok in the beginning, but it is much to conveluted for me to watch now. too bad, but i guess there are other things i can do with that hour now lol.

  3. First, thanks for the paper dolls and clothes.

    If you never watched Buffy, you might not understand how Whedon works. He is telling a story. You really need all the episodes in the season to understand what he is to say. Buffy always started slow and then by the 4 episode it picks up. He is laying a foundation. You have to give him time.

  4. I shouldn’t come back to old posts and comment, I realize, but I can’t help but say if you haven’t already seen Dr. Horrible, it’s well worth watching!!!

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