Once I get the feeling back in my arm ...

... I'll get started on the huge backlog of reviews etc that I have piled up.

I consider myself somewhat of a pro at exams. I've done a lot, most of them quite well; for some perverse reason, I actually enjoy them; and once had a day during GCSEs where I had three in a day. But I don't think I've ever written quite so much as I did today. Three hour tort exam = 15+ pages of writing. I don't think my arm has ever ached quite so much as it did when I finished: from my fingers to my shoulder, it just hurt. Mostly faded now, but there's still a lingering ache.

So glad that exams are over. I only had three, so that was nothing compared to some other people. Still. This is law. I'm looking forward to being able to laze around and actually pick up a book and read it cover to cover without feeling guilty about it. And I have a LOT of exciting stuff lined up to read.

Some admin stuff: I was bad and fiddled around with a few things while I was supposed to be revising. You might not care, but I'll tell you anyway in case there is someone who does:

• Review Archive: now alphabetically by author. Not sure why I chose to do it by title in the first place, but I prefer it like this. Of course, it now means that it looks like I've reviewed hardly anything (true) because half of the books I have reviewed have been by the lovely Ms. Roberts.
• About Me: I rejiggled the info, but I'm not sure I like it very much. It'll probably change again soon.
• Misc: I added some new tags to things. Recipes, from what I can remember.

I promised myself that once my exams were over, I would have a Dollhouse Season 2 marathon. Problem is, I finished watching the last few episodes of season 1 without reviewing them, and I've probably forgotten what happened. So: to review or not to review I'll get back to that.

To be honest, I was planning to do a conclusion to the BGT semi-final review posts, but I just can't be bothered, so I'll just sum it up in a paragraph. I wasn't expecting Ashleigh and Pudsey to win and I'm not entirely sure why they did. I would have loved it to have been Aquabatique, but their performance wasn't that great. IMO, there was no outright winning performance, but I thought Jonathan and Charlotte did best on the night. Real shame that they didn't win.

I think that was everything I had to say. Now brace yourselves for a flurry of posts.

Dollhouse: A Spy in the House of Love

Episode 1.09

Nothing is as it seems in the Dollhouse ...

So much happens in this episode. A lot of revelations and shockers for some of our favourite (and maybe not so favourite) characters, and there's not much I can really say without spoiling the episode for those of you who haven't seen it. Believe me - this is one that you want to watch for yourselves. Possibly my favourite episode so far.

Dollhouse: Needs

Episode 1.08

Echo, Sierra, Victor, November and Mike wake up in their pods in a panic. They're not in their regular, complacent, doll-like state; they have no memories of who they are or any idea why they're there, but they're otherwise able to act like perfectly normal human beings. While they lack proper memories, they all have snippets of memories from their past lives.

Like you would when faced with such a situation, they hatch a plan to escape the Dollhouse and they succeed in doing so.

Meanwhile, Paul has a dream featuring himself, Caroline and Mellie (yes, as awkward as it sounds) that leads him to get thinking - then trashing his apartment. After making all this mess, he finds a bugging-devince-thing in the one place where he wouldn't really have had to make any mess. A quick visit to an expert tells him that even if anyone were able to replicate the thing (impossible) whoever was responsible was part of a much bigger and more powerful picture than Paul could possibly go up against..

That's pretty much all I'm going to say about the plot. You might guess as to the underlying aim of the escape (it's a tad obvious) but more important is the 'closure' that it results in that I don't really want to spoil. The episode reveals a few tidbits about Echo, Sierra, Victor and November's real lives, but I don't think that it personally adds very much to the overall plot. A 'filler' episode, as it were. Anyone care to disagree?

The Cabin in the Woods

I went to see The Cabin in the Woods with my housemate this evening as we're both huge Joss Whedon fans. I've been looking forward to this film for so long; the release date had just kept being pushed further and further back, so I was so excited when I heard that it was finally coming out.

Dollhouse: Echoes

Episode 1.07

I do love this episode and it covers a lot, so I'm going to try and be brief.

We start with that scene with which we are now familiar: Echo (while still Caroline) and Adelle sitting across from each other with that ubiquitous pot of tea between them, the papers not yet signed. We learn that Echo was caught in the middle of doing something against Rossum that she thought was 'right' and that Caroline and DeWitt have been circling around this for two years.

The Rossum Corporation, besides running the Dollhouses, do a lot of drug research. A vial of a new drug that they're testing (I can't remember what it does; A-level chemistry was enough for me) worth millions has gone missing and one student died by banging his head repeatedly against a window after ingesting too much of it. Rossum aren't requesting just one active - they need an army (dramatic, huh?)

Dollhouse: Man on the Street

Episode 1.06

This episode takes to the street with a documentary asking what the people of Los Angeles think of the Dollhouse. Many believe the Dollhouse to be a myth but we see a range of opinions about what people think about the idea of such an organisation existing with some ready to sign up, no questions asked and others who perceive it as an aberration and abuse of power.

As a backdrop, the 'documentary' is interesting, and I'll come back to it at the end since this episode really packs in a lot of other, very important scenes.

Dollhouse: True Believer

Episode 1.05

There's not really that much I really want to say about True Believer, but here's the gist of the episode: Jonas Sparrow has spent a lot of his years in prison and the last time round, he claimed a conversion and now lives just outside of Pleasant, Arizona leading a whole group of other religious believers. The people of Pleasant don't know what goes on inside the compound and so they're not exactly friendly. On their once-a-month trip to get supplies, the locals cause a bit of a ruckus with smiley, sing-y, much-too-happy compound people and when they leave, we see the shopping list has 'save me' written on the back. Hey presto, the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) have finally been granted their tiny window to find out what Sparrow is really doing.

Here's where Echo comes in. Only a true believer will be able to infiltrate the group but they go one step further: Echo has to be blind. Not just pretend-blind, but she'll have an operation that will make her actually blind, and the images that her eyes would otherwise see will be transmitted to the ATF's surveillance cameras. A tad extreme, huh?

Dollhouse: Gray Hour

Episode 1.04

Echo has been tasked with retrieving the Parthenon from a high-security vault with two other thieves and an artifacts expert on hand. The 'gray hour' is the time when the security systems will be down and they'll be safe to find the piece and leave. Only, of course, the job is complicated when the artifacts expert finds the piece and runs away, locking the three other inside. Echo has just updated Boyd on the situation when the line is hacked and Echo is remotely wiped - something that even Topher can't manage.

Dollhouse: Stage Fright

Episode 1.03

Again, another very interesting episode that raises very important issues for the overall plot.

Groupies and fan mail comes with the territory when you're famous, but when Rayna Russell's life is on the line, her manager turns to the Dollhouse - because, clearly, this isn't a job for the police. Or security. Or the FBI or whatever. Echo is programmed to be a backing singer but will sub-consciously have Rayna's protection at the forefront of her mind. Echo's 'audition' really encapsulates the moral issue of the Dollhouse as well as Rayna's position:

"I've got to find the freedom that's promised me
Freedom from our struggles and misery
Freedom is all we need
...
To heal the pain of history"

SPOILERS (I would prefer not to, but I think it's necessary here to uncover the real message of this episode)

Dollhouse: Target

Episode 1.02

This was a pretty cool episode, though more for the background stuff than the actual storyline itself, which I didn't really like that much except for the mystery/questions it adds to the overall arc.

In Target, we're introduced to Alpha. Alpha, as the phonetical name indicates, was a doll. Only he wasn't a normal doll who had every imprint wiped after the engagement - or rather, he was, only the wipes didn't work and Alpha turned into a crazy sociopath, killing lots and lots of dolls and handlers ... all except Echo. Alpha is the one who sliced up Dr Saunders' face (Amy Acker) and the reason that Boyd (Harry Lennix) is Echo's new handler - because Samuelson was unlucky enough to get in the way of Alpha's killing rampage. Or was one of Alpha's targets and he would have got sliced up anyway.

Dollhouse: Echo vs Ghost

Episode 1.00 v 1.01

Also known as original, unaired Dollhouse pilot and the second one that was actually aired. I've just watched them back-to-back and I have to first admit that although I've watched most of Dollhouse, I haven't seen either of these two.

In a nutshell for those of you who have clearly been asleep or hiding somewhere with no internet since 2008, the Dollhouse is a place that can give you your every desire. So long as you're rich enough, that is. 'Dolls' are wiped of their very essence when they first enter the house, and are imprinted with complete personalities for their 'engagements' where they become a new person. Literally. This trailer sums it up pretty well, in my opinion.