Here’s my honest take on Dollhouse episode 1.02 “Target”, looking at the good and bad aspects from the episode.

The Good

• Topher Brink. I don’t think that he’s been all that great, at times he’s rather cliched and obvious, but those concerned do just enough to elevate him above most of the other characters on show. I liked seeing his ‘trauma’ during the Alpha flashback – he seemed more devastated at the imperfection of his own “Art”, than the lives that were being lost. This perhaps gives us further insight into his own self esteem – he seems to judge himself by the laws of his own science. Human cost doesn’t come into it, collateral damage is  not an issue..unless his own life is at stake, of course. I do think they perhaps showed us this side of Topher a bit early, but then they may only have 13 episodes.

• Langton Boyd. Again, the stand-out character.We saw a bit of his origins story, certainly in terms of his ‘Dollhouse’ career. The Alpha situation was a nice place to introduce this back-story and I liked seeing his relationship with Echo grow over the course of the episode. He started out cynical, almost indifferent towards Echo. He’s a man who sees the Dollhouse as a means to an end – a way to save people more effectively than working for the law. However, he sees something in Echo that connects with him – whether it’s because she depends upon him, or because he’s convinced that there’s still some humanity inside her, I don’t know. But it’s interesting to see the trust that they have in each other. Although, how real this is from Echo’s point of view is another story. Also, shout-out for Harry Lennix – by far the best performer on the show so far. He’s head and shoulders above everyone else.
• I kinda liked the end scene between Echo and Boyd. Boyd taking Topher’s place in telling Echo “for a little while”. He said it with such sincerity and warmth – contrast this to the gleeful, almost conceited way in which Topher delivers that line, and it’s clear to see the difference between these two men. Both Topher and Boyd are perhaps, at this stage, the only reason to keep watching.
• Although the Alpha story-line seems a little messy at this early stage, I am kinda interested in where they might take it. I like mythology, so having the myth of Alpha preside over the episode wasn’t too bad. We’re now being led to believe that Alpha has some sort of connection to Echo, and that he spared her ‘life’ for a reason. What could that reason be, I wonder? Does he want to help her to find her true identity? If so, why her, why not the other Actives that he murdered? I guess one possibility is that he was given composite of Caroline’s personality (among others that allow him to cut like a world-class surgeon..or “Jack the Ripper”), an imprint seeking revenge for what they did to her, perhaps? I’m not sure if the Dollhouse download personalities from the ‘volunteers’ themselves (how do they acquire these imprints, I wonder?), but if they do, then it’s possible that they took Caroline’s before wiping her. I mean, one would think that after the 5 year period, the volunteers would get their original personalities back, so the DH must be holding them on one of their servers somewhere? Anyway, I’m not exactly crazy about the Alpha thing in this episode, but it at least gave us something extra than seeing people run about in the “freakin’” woods.
• I liked that we had some carry over from “Ghost”, with Ballard investigating the cabin shoot-out scene. A series like this – with mind-wiped dolls that no-one (at this stage) cares about – needs at the very least to have some serialization. Although how Ballard acquired his magic detective skills I don’t know.
• I’m being kind here. Echo’s “shoulder to the wheel” ‘muscle memory’ towards the end was a decent touch, I guess. It could have been more subtle (how many times did maniac guy have to say it?), but at least they’re showing us glimpses of HOW Echo might begin to form her own ‘composite’ ‘identity’. Muscle memory is a viable option.

The Bad

• Let’s get right to it shall we? The writing and dialogue for Echo, in particular, is all over the place. So she’s given an imprint which makes her an ‘expert woodswoman’, and yet we constantly see her falling over like an amateur? One minute she’s being a “freakin’” bad ass, and the next minute she’s Bambi on ice. Sorry, I just don’t buy it. The whole ‘the hunter turning into the hunted’ didn’t fly with me either. Too cliched, too low concept for what I thought was a high concept and ‘unique’ show. So far, Dollhouse is anything but unique. They don’t even attempt to explain the science behind the mind-wipes! I’m running out of ‘leaps of faith’ here.
• I don’t see how the Dollhouse could even be in business, considering the amount of ‘red alert’ situations that happen. It seems that there’s ALWAYS something going wrong down at ‘Dolls R Us’. I know that we’d have no show if there wasn’t some upheaval, but at the moment it seems like too much of a leap to believe that people would spend millions for faulty Actives. The word MUST surely get round, because they must have a pretty small pool of clientele and a bad rep in an industry like that..well, it would be devastating. In “Ghost” we see Echo ‘break down’ due to a bad imprint, now we see flashbacks of Alpha’s wave of destruction, and Echo also has flashbacks of her own..I hope these dolls come with a guarantee? Also, I know that  we had some mention of an “attic” in this episode, which may or may not go on to explain what happens to faulty dolls, but why hasn’t Echo been ‘terminated’, de-wiped or sent to this mysterious “attic” yet? Trouble follows her around – would a ‘secret’ organization like the Dollhouse really take the risk of keeping her activated? I very much doubt it. The only way to make that plausible is if Adelle is on some kind of personal crusade to ‘save’ Caroline or Echo or whoever. Also: Background check, people!
• Was this Echo, Miss Penn, or hunting chick? I can’t tell there difference. It’s too early, in my opinion, to suggest that the similarity between ALL of the personalities signify Echo’s true identity. I’m not saying this to be mean, I want to believe that I’m seeing different personality imprints from week to week, but Dushku’s portrayal of hunting chick seemed like a hybrid of  her Miss Penn and Biker Chick portrayals from last week. The Hunting/Penn ‘imprints’ both dipped in and out of being feisty and helpless. I just don’t buy it – I see Dushku, and not the different strokes of different folks. I also don’t buy her ‘blank slate’ portrayal – she seems to be too aware of herself,  in my opinion. I’d really like to see Sierra in a mind-wiped state, just to be able to compare and contrast the way in which Lachman pulls it off. Of course, she might be equally unconvincing, but it will be an interesting to see. Will she get the opportunity? Also, as an aside, I think Dushku would perhaps be better in a Ballard-type role – a detective or FBI agent, where she didn’t have to become 2 or 3 different characters each week. Just sayin’.
• Stupidity of a Doll. Firstly, who runs into an isolated old cabin when they’re being chased by a bow and arrow wielding manic? Who then proceeds to drink a substance from a canteen in that cabin? She didn’t even smell or check to see ‘what’ it was – she just just downed it as if she had taken it out of her own fridge! Sorry, but that was stupid beyond belief – it was so obvious that maniac man had spiked it with something. But wait! The ridiculousness doesn’t stop there! The ‘poison’ sets in and causes Echo see to see a reflection of her past self, she then contrives to fall backwards into a magic river which appears out of nowhere, and is dragged under by the waves. THEN, she somehow wakes up on the banks of the river (maybe saved by the fishes or something?),  and miraculously, the poison that caused her delirium has vanished and the ‘game’ continues. Nothing like a good swim to take the edge of things! Sorry, but that was seriously bad. Also, why did Echo tell manic man that she had a gun? Why Echo, why?
  
• Bad Movie. For much of this episode I couldn’t tell whether I was watching a really bad version of the movie “Wrong Turn“, or “Dollhouse”. In fact I’m pretty sure that all of the ‘hunting’ scenes were based on the Wrong Turn script.
• I thought that the shoot-out was a lot silly. I know that they tried hard to make it look “cool” and “hip”, but it just took me right out of the show and into a Matrix (not THE Matrix). The slow-mo bullet thing just didn’t work, it looked completely wrong. They introduced a classic sci-fi element into a show that simply doesn’t have the visuals or vibe for that sort of thing. Also, the shoot-out itself was terrible. I know that bullets are faster than arrows, but the maniac dude fired his arrow a good second before Echo fired her gun – how did the dude get hit with the bullet, yet Echo escape getting hit by the arrow? I know, I know..she’s an Active, she’s got a sooper-dooper imprint with ninja skills. But if that’s the case, why did she spend half the episode falling over and doing stupid things? It doesn’t make sense!
• I thought that it was a bit convenient that with all that technology, it took Topher so long to get Boyd back online with Echo. Also, fake-cop guy is beat up, has a crushed windpipe, has two bullets in either leg and he’s still able to talk, let alone play games? Okaay..
• So, is Victor an Active or what? I don’t get it, how does Ballard have his phone number? Why is he using the same phone? Maybe I’m only seeing part of it? Perhaps this is what Adelle refers to when she says that Ballard is being ‘taken care of’ – is Victor part of that ‘run around’? If this is the case then fair enough, but according to Adelle, Ballard isn’t even a threat, so why go to all that effort?
• The episode, like “Ghost”, is devoid of humour. The show deals with some serious issues (identity, human trafficking, abuse..), but both “Lost” and “Fringe” find a way to inject humour into proceedings to give a little balance. The funniest moment from “Target” (perhaps the only funny moment), came when Ballard’s colleague made the “Hansel and Gretal/Red Riding Hood” (or whatever) joke. It wasn’t all that funny, but it’s the only time I have smiled whilst watching the first two episodes. So yeah, props to colleague-guy.
• Production values. The Dollhouse looks quite good, but the aesthetics away from the facility look bland and unmemorable.

Overall I’m not sure that this was much of an improvement on last week’s “Ghost”. In some respects it was – we got to find out a bit more about Topher’s mindset, some back-story to the DH, and we saw the origins of the Boyd/Echo relationship. Although I’m having trouble connecting with that because it’s only real from Boyd’s perspective – Echo is just doing what she’s been programmed to do. If and when they try to show Echo having a semblance of her own identity, it’s either really messy or really forced.

I think that this episode gets half a mark more than last week’s on the basis that we saw ‘some’ progression (although without Topher and Langton I don’t know what positives would come from this episode). We had Mark Sheppard, Amy Acker and Olivia Williams in the episode and none of them left that much of an impression on me. I found Adelle quite jarring, and Claire was just..there..saying stuff. Sheppard’s character was OK, I guess, but he didn’t have enough time to shine (actually all of them need more screen-time). As for Ballard, well, he’s been rather uninteresting thus far. The most interesting thing about him is that he lives opposite an Active..at least, I think she’s an Active..the worlds best lasagna making Active, apparently. At least we didn’t get any dumbed down kick-boxing splices to tell us very slowly that he’s not a man who never backs down (thanks, writers!). He’s also a lone wolf and not very likable at this stage – I’m beginning to wonder if there are ANY likable characters in this show – other than Langton and Topher (of all people)? If they’re going to pursue the lone-wolf angle with Ballard, then they could do worse than to watch season 1 of “Lost” with the character of John Locke. Especially since they tried to steal so many of their story-telling devices – tabula rasa’s, flashbacks,visions,woods…I jest, of course.

Anyway, I’ll give this one a very generous 7 out of 10. Bearing in mind that this is a relative score based on ‘some’ improvement, and my appreciation for the fact that the show needs time to impress. Although I’m not sure how may shows get given such benefit of the doubt before giving an audience at least something to look forward to. I’ll tune in next week unless I forget.

“Did I fall asleep?”

…but it had some heart.

That’s my conclusion from watching the Pilot episode. Looking back on that first episode it’s clear to me that it lacks soul..identity.

Things are not what they seem..you’re only seeing part of it

I hope that’s the case, because “Ghost” didn’t seem to know who it wanted to be, or what it wanted to do. Like an actual ghost, it seemed to be trapped somewhere, between states. Was this the result of being passed through too many hands, causing each creators ‘vision’ to be imprinted on to it’s own blank slate?

You ever try and clean an actual slate? You always see what was on it before

As much as I disliked that line, it would perhaps be best if Dollhouse wiped away the imprints that have caused it to lose some of it’s early identity.

In my opinion, episode 1.01 ‘excelled’ when it got down to the basics – when the characters interacted, when moral met amoral, when Active spoke to Active. This is why I think a lot of people have responded so positively to Sierra - she was like a breath of fresh air, she gave the whole “Active” concept balance, whilst giving us a glimpse into the dynamics of how the Dollhouse operates when things get hairy.

It’s going to difficult for me to become invested in Echo without the help of the other characters. Sometimes the way we see others shapes us more than the way in which we see ourselves – it’s what gives us compassion, humanity, or otherwise. So think that it’s vital that we see the continued interaction between Echo, the Actives and the management – how will Echo shape Boyd, for example? It’s easy to assume that this is all about Echo – in my opinion, it was far more interesting seeing Boyd’s reaction to Echo’s (Miss Penn) condition. He disagrees with the ethics of the dollhouse, but he was the one fighting for Echo to be sent back in. He saw it as being for the greater good – through the damaged Echo, the life of a little girl could be saved. Echo may be lost, but at least Davina was salvaged. I think that Boyd’s perspective throughout this episode was the thing that gives me hope for the series. Now we need to let the others come out to play – Adelle, Claire, Sierra, Victor, Topher, Paul and yes, even Echo (I jest. Of course Echo).

The show will be far more interesting if the focus is spread around a little more. Being an Active isn’t quite like being a ‘super hero’ (super heroes have egos which we can measure them by), and it’s not half as interesting as being human. So, give us the human/Active interaction, let us see the light and shade, allow Echo to grow, but also give Sierra and Victor the chance to grow with her (or against her). Basically, the show should look to draw us in on the relationships – like the one we see between the unwitting Echo and her ‘protector’ out on the field. Boyd had faith (heh) that Echo could get the job done, that she could extract Davina safely – he believes in Echo more than Adelle seems to. He let her do her thing whilst others were looking to hold her back.

And this is what I mean by “Ghost” having some ‘heart’. This didn’t make it a classic episode, or even a ‘good’ hour of television (I would have turned off during the bike scene had I not known about the premise, seriously!), but I was at least pleased to see some interesting themes bubbling under the surface.

Trouble is, the themes that they forced down our throats – “You can’t kill a ghost” (or whatever), were too cliched and surely not becoming of the premise behind the show.

That said, if Dollhouse can show improvement throughout the 13 episodes, then I’d take that as being a positive.

Total Sci Fi have an interview with Dollhouse creator, Joss Whedon, where he talks about the origins of the show, how the series will strive to reflect the human condition, the writing process and building an ensemble around Eliza Dushku’s “Echo”. May contain very mild spoilers depending upon your disposition:

What’s Dollhouse about?

It’s about a girl trying to figure out who she is, while she’s imprinted with every personality you can imagine. It’s about acting, living, being a woman, being everything. Let me put it this way – when I thought it up and launched it at Eliza [Dushku, who executive produces with Whedon and plays main character Echo], the first thing she said was, “Oh, my God, it’s my life!” And she meant mostly as an actress, but then we realized it didn’t just mean that.

It’s a metaphor for everybody. If it isn’t, you’re missing something. The idea is, we all have certain assumptions about who we are, based on what we were told when we were little and what we think we’re supposed to do. And we have a lot of assumptions about what is good, and what about us is not good, and what’s sinful and what’s saintly, and we’re often wrong about all of them. Dollhouse is basically about breaking all that down and exploring it and finding out what it really means to be a human being.

How did Dollhouse come into being?

To me, Eliza is like watching a meteor shower. I’m just amazed. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I’ve known her for 10 years. She’s always been a star. But being a star and being a human being are two very different things. And over the 10 years, we’ve spent time becoming friends, but I’ve also watched her deliberately and painfully take control of her career and the way in which it’s going, the things she is portraying, and you don’t see that a lot.

I see it with Felicia Day doing The Guild on the internet, saying, “Nobody’s going to make my way, so I’ll make my own way,” and Felicia is smart enough to pull that off. The two of them share that. Eliza – when I first sat her down, years ago, to say, “Stop making bad movies!” she said, “We don’t set out to make them bad – I don’t know what to tell you.” But we talked about her agency, her choices. And it was a bleak landscape.

I seem to be the guy who spends his life saying how hard it is for beautiful young women – but it ishard to be an ingénue in this town. We got together a few years later, [but the people around her] insisted she do the big-budget thing, so nobody wanted to know what Eliza thought, except Eliza.

And when we got together for lunch this time, she was like, “I’ve made a deal, I don’t expect to write or control a show, but I do need to control the quality of what I’m doing and the image of what I am, and I want to make meaningful, decent, political, feminist, real, fun, sexy, interesting TV.” Those were all on her list. And I said, “There’s only one man for that job!” [laughs]

In the course of the conversation, the idea of Echo came to me from that exact thing. The story of Dollhouse is the story of somebody trying to figure out who she is while everybody tells her what they want her to be. That is the story of Eliza Dushku, and watching Eliza do that has been one of the great joys of my career. She’s always been an intellectual equal. She’s always been a seeker. I’m still trying to figure myself out.

That’s another point of the show, is that the people who control the Actives, the dolls, are just as much in need of understanding what they are as the dolls.

Read entire interview here.

Nice interview, even if it seems like I’ve read the same thing 1000 times already. Maybe it’s just me, but whilst Whedon seems to be doing the right thing in lowering expectations for the show (in general), he continues to ’talk up’ the talents of Eliza Dushku (and has done for as a long as I’ve been running this blog). Whilst I’m sure she’s a fine actress, it might be a good idea to start directing some of the focus towards the rest of the cast, especially in the current climate of doom and gloom? You know, spread the pressure out a lil’ bit? That said, I’m looking forward to watching her portrayal of Echo – if Whedon’s right, she should be well worth watching.

Two more bits of Dollhouse content, first Amy Acker, who will portray Dr. Claire Saunders on Dollhouse, is featured in the December issue of Sci Fi Magazine. She talks about her upcoming movie and drops a few comments on how she got the part in Dollhouse the character she will play. A lot of it seems to be rehash from the TV Guide interview a few weeks back, but feel free to click the thumbnail’s if you want to take a read (Contains some spoilers):

Also, Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku drop a few comments about the premise of the show and the character Echo, respectively:

Joss Whedon on the premise of the show
“The premise of the show is that Eliza is one of a group of people who have basically had their personalities wiped and can be imprinted with any personality that anybody could want and they are hired out for various things. Some of them are illegal, some are romantic. They’re very expensive. The whole thing’s underground and so Eliza, every week, has a different problem to solve, person to help, thing to do, crime, whatever it is, action, romance. The idea was to keep lots of different genres going at once and always have her do something fresh for herself, but at the same time, when she’s in her wiped state, when she’s not imprinted with a personality, she has this childlike innocence and she lives in this sort of lab, dorm, spa place called the Dollhouse.”

Eliza Dushku on Her character Echo
“I’m excited about Echo. I think that’s an awesome name, Echo, and I’m excited about the fact that she’s in this entirely manipulated world but that she’s human. I mean, we’re not dealing with robots. It’s a universal thing that everyone can relate to and understand which is, like, trying to figure her true self, trying to figure out who she is. She doesn’t really know she’s trying to figure it out but it’s, especially in my life, I feel like you can be pulled in every direction and people want you to be a different person and people want you to be their version of you. And I really like the idea of exploring this young woman who doesn’t know who she is, we don’t think, but something deep inside her does and is going to start making it known.”

I guess Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” descriptions have always fit an episodic formula, in that each week Echo becomes someone different (etc), but I’d still love for the episodes to be more connected than what I fear they will be. I keep coming back to the episodic vs serialized thing, but it’s one of my main “Dollhouse” concerns right now. I’m really intrigued as to how it will play out – a show which has struggled, behind the scenes, to discover what it is – is coming across as being very much like it’s lead character, Echo.. Yet there’s still so much hope. Go figure, the human spirit prevails!

Thanks to Susan (Magazine Scans), Spoiler TV & TruEcho!

This post contains official character information which has been released by Joss Whedon, Fox and official channels at various intervals, however some may deem it spoilery, so continue at your own discretion.

One of the most intriguing Dollhouse characters in the lead up to the show has to be Dr. Claire Saunders, her scars painting a vivid yet ambiguous picture of her back-story. When I first heard that the character would be scarred, I speculated that the scars might be psychological, and whilst that may also be the case, it’s clear from the above image that Dr. Saunders is physically scarred. Interestingly the scars themselves may reveal a few clues as to how she got them – She has two very prominent scars, one across her forehead and the other underneath her left eye – both of them are very ‘clean’ and precise, almost. This leads me to wonder whether they might be self-inflicted scars? If so, what would drive her to do such a thing?

If someone else inflicted the scars upon her then who..and why? Could Dollhouse manager Adelle DeWitt be the culprit? How about an Active? It wouldn’t surprise me if an active went ‘rogue’ and attacked her.

It’s a clever move by Whedon to make her the doctor – the person who tends to the dolls needs, yet clearly she is pretty broken herself. Another idea which crossed my mind is whether Claire is herself an Active? In the above picture she seems to be smiling lifelessly like Echo is in this image. Are the scars her only reminder of what it’s like to be human? In a sick-twisted way, are the scars the only thing left of her humanity?

Perhaps she isn’t an Active, in which case I question why she has chosen to not to undergo memory-wipe. Clearly she’s had some trauma in her life, so why not choose to forget? Although the Dollhouse is a very unethical set-up, the science behind it, if used with proper consent, can also be viewed as a Godsend to those who simply want to erase the past, even if it means erasing the good memories as well.

I very much doubt that anything in this show will be black or white – it’s a show which will explore the human condition (rarely ever black or white) even if that condition is being reprogrammed by Topher Brink and his ethically questionable mind-wiping machine.

So, what do you make of Claire Saunders and her scars? Feel free to vote in the poll..and come January, we’ll begin to find out how accurate your guesses were.

Thanks again to Amy Acker Fan for the above image

Spoiler Spoiler!

Amy Acker talks to Scifi Magazine about her upcoming movie and her role as Dr. Claire Saunders in Dollhouse. A lot of this information I recall posting a while ago, but this time I’m also packing some scans of Claire Saunders and her mysterious scars! Click to enlarge/read:

“I’m the doctor who takes care of all the dolls in the dollhouse, and I have these horrible scars all over my face, so you get a sense there’s a little history to my character, and you’re going to find out what happened to her and why she got these and why she kept them, and all of that stuff.”

The other day I listed which characters I can’t wait to see in the show, and I completely forgot about Claire Saunders! I’d actually put her character right up there, perhaps at number 1 – how I forget her I will never know (blame it on Fringebeing so awesome). Claire already has a lot of mythology and back-story waiting to be told, and I for one cannot wait. It’s not just the scars, but it’s the fact she has these scars which are presumably the result of something terrible, a horrific event that she presumably cannot forget, and yet there she is trying to help people who have the ‘benefit’ of forgetting their own past. It kinda gives you some idea of the delicious complexities that this show could have. Her storyline has great potential and no doubt there will be a few surprises along the way.

Don’t forget you can help compile information on Amy Acker, her Dollhouse character and more, over at the fan-run Dollhouse wiki! It’s a great way for fans (and potential fans) to help build great DH content. I gave the official one a shout-out yesterday.

Thanks to Amy Acker Fan for the scans [via io9.com]!

Perhaps the most interesting, and certainly the most mysterious character in Dollhouse is Dr. Claire Saunders, portrayed by Amy Acker. SciFi Wire spoke to her about the character and Dollhouse. Some Spoilers ahead:

How did you get involved in the show?

Acker: Joss is also one of my very best friends since Angel, so he had told us about Dollhouse, and I kept telling him how jealous I was of Eliza and all the other people. And he was like, “Yeah, I wish I could write a show for my friends.” And then about a week or something before they shot the pilot, my husband picked up the phone and was like, “Joss wants to know if you’re going to come do the thing for Dollhouse.” And I was like, “What? What’s he talking about?” And this character sort of came in later.

So it wasn’t originally written for you?

Acker: Originally it was going to be an older woman, like in her 40s or 50s. And then I think he was worried about having a crossover between Buffy or Angel and this, and then finally he just said, “Ultimately I kind of thought you were the right person for it.” So they brought me on. And I was like, “Um, thank you,” because I was asking if I could do makeup or wardrobe or something. I just wanted to be a part of it. It sounded really cool.

Tell us about your role.

Acker: I’m the doctor who takes care of all of the dolls in the Dollhouse, and I have these horrible scars all over my face, so you get the sense that there’s a little history to my character, and you’re going to find out what happened to her and why she got these and why she kept them and all of that stuff.

So she’s a bit mysterious?

Acker: Yes. I’m always hiding in the shadows. It’s a really fun character.

How similar is it in tone to Buffy and Angel?

Acker: It’s hard to say. We’re only on the second episode now. I definitely see some similarities, just because most of the writers are people who were on Buffy or Angel or Alias [in which Acker also had a role, as an assassin] or all of those shows. So they all have such a familiarity. They’re all really familiar with each other, and they all just write so well together. It’ll be a little bit different, but I think the stuff that people love about the writing is all going to be there.

Is there a lot of humor in it, or is it a more straightforward drama?

Acker: The great thing about it is that it can really be anything. There’s going to be some dramatic stuff, and then I think episode three or four should be really just kind of a farce, the whole thing. It’s really going to switch between all different kinds of stuff, which is great for the actors, because if you’re going to be on the show for a number of years, you can’t ever get tired of your character, because it’s always changing.

Your character doesn’t get as much variety as the dolls do, though.

Acker: Yeah, but it never seems like Joss’ characters are really boring anyways. Even if I’m not a doll, I still get to do all sorts of cool stuff.

Some interesting answers, perhaps most interesting is the fact that Claire was originally going to be an older woman, perhaps around the same age as Adelle deWitt, who is being portrayed by Olivia Williams. That would have created an interesting dynamic, especially as I get the feeling that the two characters will be diametrically opposed.

As I’ve mentioned previously on the blog/forums, I’m also intrigued about her scars, but what was that about her ‘keeping the scars’? Is that simply a reference to the scars not healing, or is Claire constantly self-abusing, or being abused? I had previously wondered whether her being “scarred” was an emotional or psychological reference. Perhaps that can still come into play though.

Source/more: Scifi Wire