Critical awakenings
Posted 24 March 09 by Scott AndrewsYears ago, during the dark days of the latter half of Buffy season six (Doublemeat Palace, shudder), Jim Smith told me his simple mantra: “trust Joss”. He was right.
Ever since episode two of Dollhouse aired and it became clear that reactions ranged from underwhelmed to hostile, Joss and Eliza have been saying “stick with it, please, it doesn’t get good ‘til episode six”.
Their subtext was clear: “the network fucked us up with moronic notes and made us write five insipid standalone episodes before they’d let us do the cool stuff we really wanted to do, but we can’t say that outright coz they pay our wages.”
Well, episode six went out in the US this week and it seems they were right. Lukewarm critics have suddenly warmed right up, saying the ep, Man on the Street, is a game changer that’s just as brilliant as we’d expect from Joss and that suddenly Dollhouse looks like a compelling winner no longer necessarily bound for cancellation.
I just want to say: I never lost the faith.
Now: do I watch it on the UK Sci-fi channel when it begins soon, or wait for the DVD? Decisions, decisions…
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I’ve been saying it since the stunning episodes that opened season three, but now, as the final episodes are being aired, critics are beginning to wake up to what an astonishing feat of storytelling Battlestar Galactica has been.
A few days back The Guardian ranBest TV ever?:
“You’ve finished The Wire box set? You’d like something else that is just as good as “the greatest show ever in the history of television” (© all Guardian journalists) but you’re not quite sure where to go next? How about a series that’s as passionate and intelligent as The West Wing when debating war and terrorism, or as emotionally articulate about death, loss and love as Six Feet Under, or as trippy, mystical and deliciously baffling as Twin Peaks? A series that’s not afraid to take you on an epic, existential journey during which you’ll grow to love characters who are wrangling with metaphysical issues such as the nature of humanity and god? A series that does all this while never losing sight of the idea that television should be entertaining?”
Battlestar Galactica has been the high watermark of US sci-fi telly, and stands equal to The West Wing, The Wire and any of those other non-sci-fi shows lauded to the heavens by blinkered critics who assume anything with spaceships is inherently silly.
Their loss.
