Whedonesque : Comments on 22138 : What the papers say about last night's Dollhouse.

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October 24 2009

What the papers say about last night's Dollhouse. Best episode to date? The A.V. Club gave 'Belonging' an 'A'. The IGN.com reviewer said it "certainly has some of the best material Dollhouse has yet delivered" though there were reservations. TV Squad went with "it delivers one of the best episodes of its run". The LA Times' Showtracker thought "the episode was great, to say the least". And finally CinemaBlend sez "best episode of Dollhouse ever.

As ever if you've found other reviews out there, do post the link in the comments section.

Simon | Dollhouse | 07:40 CET | 18 comments total | tags: belonging, dollhouse

Thanks for the link! I cannot even handle how fantastic this episode was. I've watched it 3 times already... :)

GoldDust8912 | October 24, 07:49 CET

I wish reviewers wouldn't go, "How can [character or fan X] think that [active Y] volunteered? I don't think X volunteered! How could anyone believe X did?"

Mercenary | October 24, 08:49 CET

Excellent ep and one I will not delete from DVR. This needs watching several more times before the DVD comes out.

rehabber | October 24, 13:36 CET

I agree with one of the reviewers that Priya didn't exactly volunteer the first time around and Topher & Adelle knew it, but it didn't bother me the way it did the reviewer. I felt they were more horrified at how she had gotten to that state and the purpose behind it.

Lioness | October 24, 13:48 CET

Although I loved the episode, I also felt it strange that Pyria's return to her Sierra state was something that anyone (her, Boyd, Adele, Topher) would consider the ideal solution, particularly as her own final interchange ('if you ever bring me back again...') made it clear there was another option.

baxter | October 24, 14:08 CET

baxter, I think the answer to that is Priya's final comment of "I don't have to" .

She considered returning to her blank state as a refuge from the two hells she recently experienced. While I suppose Topher could have immediately "fast forwarded" her to Priya minus the memories, I think she wanted to metaphorically go to sleep for a while and later wake up with no memory that the bad things had happened.

SteveP | October 24, 14:43 CET

baxter and SteveP, I agree with SteveP and also will add that the fact that she saw Victor and 'recognized' him and realized she loved him made her decision easier...

To paraphrase Sierra: 'it is him...I love him...is this real ...

Topher: 'yes, that is real, he loves you.' or words to that effect.

coolpeace | October 24, 15:15 CET

TVByTheNumbers has a small recap, though I'm not sure if it exactly qualifies as a review. Someone else decide! :) Sorry, I realize I don't know how to use the html to make the link active...

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/23/drinking-the-dollhouse-belonging-kool-aid/31394

Oh, and HitFix has a lovely review/recap of the episode as a sort of Greek tragedy:

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2009-1-13-monkeys-as-critics/posts/recap-dollhouse-belonging

[ edited by CellarDoor on 2009-10-24 15:42 ]

CellarDoor | October 24, 15:41 CET

If all the episodes were as good as this last one, I might have to reconsider my tepid feelings for the show. Again, the episode proves the show has fantastic potential. Let's just hope the November gap doesn't break the show's back.

Strange, though, that the best episode of the series so far features so little of Eliza and Tahmoh. Or maybe it's not so strange...

ern | October 24, 22:39 CET

I'm amazed at how many people are saying "finally!, a great episode"... I loved 'Belonging', but I don't see how it is any better than Man on the street, Spy in the house of live, Briar Rose, Needs, Epitaph 1... even last week's episode was great.

It's weird how annoyed I am about people talking up an episode of dollhouse... but I don't see how this episode is any better than any of those.

mortimer | October 25, 00:30 CET

You're not alone mortimer. Dollhouse really has had an impressive run of great episodes and I don't feel like Belonging is the exception at this point.

It's also not fair, because you can't have a story that starts with this much emotional capital every episode. You only get to go through a main character's primary trauma one time. It's like wishing every episode of Angel was "A Hole In The World" or every episode was as good as "The Body."

azzers | October 25, 00:37 CET

Yeah, don't think I'd want to watch a whole season of those. (Yikes!)

jcs | October 25, 03:16 CET

I find no fault in people wanting more emotionally-gripping (to the point where they feel different from how they did before watching) entertainment as a rule. Yeah - the accompanying level of expectation may be unrealistic, but I hardly see how that matters given that the whole concept of entertainment is inherently unrealistic anyway.

And yes - I love watching tv shows in which virtually every episode packs an almost physical psychological punch to it (one of the reasons I like Firefly so much.)

brinderwalt | October 25, 04:09 CET

And IF Magazine's review is here:
http://ifmagazine.com/review.asp?article=3595

Shapenew | October 25, 04:19 CET

Raked Reviews weighs in here and here.

In the Latin | October 25, 09:04 CET

Has no one linked the IO9 review? I thought that was a nice piece of commentary, almost worthy of a link all to itself.

curlymynci | October 25, 11:00 CET

Great episode. I thought it was different in that
there was a certain amount of closure, something
which has been rather uncommon up to this point.

JDL | October 25, 15:18 CET

LOVED it. Best ep of Season 2 (so far).

Now I wish I had waited longer to watch it... :( I want more. Now. x|

Braeden Fireheart | October 25, 15:41 CET

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