It can really suck to be a fan. In fact, why are we fans? What did the Washington Redskins ever do for me, particularly? Yes, it was great fun to watch them, back in the day. They won Superbowls. Beat Dallas. But the Redskins make a huge amount of money, as a team, and for each player. Every year some team wins the Superbowl, why can’t I just be a fan of whatever team that might be?
I guess being a fan is the price of celebrating a victory as my own, and the price includes failure. Without the possibility of losing, being a fan would mean no more than enjoying a movie, or some other form of entertainment. So, because I invested myself and was rewarded during the Joe Gibbs era, I’m paying now. But the Redskins are being destroyed by the man who makes all the money whenever fans engage. So how can we still be loyal to anything?
Every season, since 1999, watching the Redskins has been an annual deathwatch. How many games will it take to pull the plug this year? Once the season is dead, we can turn our attention to other things. The worst seasons are the ones with promise. The ones where the latest crop of overpaid free agents make a little impact early on, before the long-term failure to build solid lines or any depth takes its toll. But critiquing the Redskins is easy. The real question is, why do I hang on?
I’m also a “fan” of Dollhouse. Not like I’m a fan of House or Battlestar Galactica, which are fantastic shows that anyone would love if they were properly exposed. No, my Dollhouse fanhood is like that I have for the Redskins. Built on irrational hope and the occasional great performance. But, where the Redskins have Vinny Cerato, Dollhouse has Eliza Dushku. Sometimes they do episodes that do not feature her. Those are often very good. Still, I’ve oftened hoped the show would get bad enough that I could safely ignore it. I thought it had, after a slow start to the second season.
But after I had sworn I was done, after I completely skipped an episode, I get the word that it had finally turned good. I went to Hulu, cued it up, and watched the latest offering (Belonging). Really, really good. The show featured one of the more intriguing “Dolls,” her origin story, and a serious evolution of the character of the previously un-interesting Topher. So now I have to watch the next episode. Probably the one after that. I don’t actually think it’s going to be good, Echo is still, nominally the center of the show. But I’m a fan. So I’ll sit through the deathwatch.