Ty and I just finished watching Dollhouse on Netflix.
It was just about the best thing either of us had ever watched. We were clutching each other and crying by the end.
There were a LOT of amazing things about that show, not the least of which were Enver Gjokaj(Victor/Anthony)'s incredible acting versatility, the one-liners, the Adam Jensen-style seriousness of Paul Ballard, and the wonderfully intricate, apocalyptic plot.
But my personal favorite thing about this entire show was Topher Brink (played by Fran Kranz).
Topher is a super-nerd man-child genius, in charge of the printing and technology at the Dollhouse. He is hilarious, cocky, awkward, and strangely lovable, despite appearing to have neither morals nor balls at first. But as the show goes on, his character develops a set of ethics, the nerve to disobey orders to do the right thing, and a deep sense of responsibility for inventing the science that brought the world to its end.
No, no...in the SHOW.
By halfway through the last episode of Dollhouse I was already crying from Paul dying, Echo's reaction to it, and Anthony and Priya's relationship being so fucked up. But then Adelle finds out that Topher's gadget to reset humanity's minds, thereby saving the world, includes an explosive which he must set off in person. We find out he means to sacrifice himself to right the wrong he invented.
You couldn't call it crying after that. It was more like...spewing tears and snot at a speed faster than my face could keep up with.
I was very attached to Topher. Yes, yes, I may have had a little teensy bit of a geek-crush on him. Ty made fun of me for it at first, but as he watched the show he grew attached to Topher too and by the end of it all we were both totally devastated.
I decided today to Google the actor who plays him, because the only other thing I've seen him in is one episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where he played this weird guy who liked poop.
Turns out, his first listing on IMDB is this one Frasier episode, back in fucking 1998. I found it. Look-y here, and start at 6:35:
Isn't that HILARIOUS?
I thought it was hilarious. I mean...the hair!
Anyway, I'll stop geeking out. Pretty much the only other stuff he was a big role in was Cabin in the Woods and Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing.
I DO see this in pre-production with Kranz slotted as the lead. It also seems to include like the entirety of the cast of Dollhouse. So...there's that to look forward to.
