Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Act III

Season 1, Episode 3, Aired 7/19/08

Episode Summary

Bad Horse has insisted that only a murder will get Dr. Horrible into the Evil League of Evil, and now that Captain Hammer is dating Penny, his death seems to be the perfect choice. Will the prospective super-villain pull off his dastardly plan? And what will Penny think of him if he succeeds?moreless

9.6

EPISODE RATING: Superb

132 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
Your Rating: 9.5

"Superb"
Your Rating: 9

"Superb"
Your Rating: 8.5

"Great"
Your Rating: 8

"Great"
Your Rating: 7.5

"Good"
Your Rating: 7

"Good"
Your Rating: 6.5

"Fair"
Your Rating: 6

"Fair"
Your Rating: 5.5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 4.5

"Poor"
Your Rating: 4

"Poor"
Your Rating: 3.5

"Bad"
Your Rating: 3

"Bad"
Your Rating: 2.5

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 2

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 1.5

"Abysmal"
Your Rating: 1

"Abysmal"

Rate It

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Neil Patrick Harris

Dr. Horrible
Felicia Day

Penny
Nathan Fillion

Captain Hammer

Fan Episode Reviews (3)

See All

Captain Hammer is dating Penny and Dr. Horrible tries to kill him. Then something unexpecting happens to Penny.

10

"Perfect"

By Jon_MW_14, Jun 27, 2009 Report Abuse

This is a review for Act 3 of Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Act 3 is also brlliant. I've just noticed that Captain Hammer has a great smile. BOO Captain Hammer for calling Penny a nice quiet nerdy thing not his usally type. That's so rude of Captain Hammer to tell everyone he had sex with Penny. Penny secretly slipping out of the room while Captain Hammer is singing os funny. Everyone waving thier arms is hilarious. My favourite scene in Act 3 is Dr. Horrible shooting Captain Hammer with his Freeze Ray Gun. I also like it when Captain Hammer unfreezes and suddenly pucnhes Dr. Horrible. Captain Hammer points the death ray at Dr. Horrible and then someone shoots Captain Hammer and he runs in pain. Poor Penny getting stab and it's so sad that she dies. I'm guessing Dr. Horrible made into the Evil League of Evil. "Everyone's a Hero" is a weird song but funny. "Slipping" is a good song and possibly my favourite song in that Act. I also enjoyed "Everything You Ever". I give this episode a 10/10moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
1 0
It's the end of a new creating.

8.8

"Great"

By Ahny, Jul 19, 2008 Report Abuse

We may have expected something different from the ending, but I don't think we should have expected something different from Joss Whedon. Don't start yelling and swearing at me just yet, let me explain.

This is the man who said: "The two things that matter the most to me: emotional resonance and rocket launchers. Party of Five, a brilliant show, and often made me cry uncontrollably, suffered ultimately from a lack of rocket launchers."

This was his show and there were no networks, no corporation telling him to change anything. So he did exactly what he's always wanted to do. A show with emotional resonance and rocket launchers (well freeze ray, but you get the point).

And on the second viewing it really is so much better. As is pretty much anything from Joss Whedon.moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
0 1
The final showdown ...

9.5

"Superb"

By tjaman, Jul 19, 2008 Report Abuse

Act 3 seemed a little unfocused. Whereas Act 2 ends with Dr. Horrible full of fresh hatred for his nemesis Capt. Hammer and committed to his destruction, what happens in the showdown is that his freezeray works perfectly -- go Dr. Horrible w00t! -- he freezes Capt. Hammer and he's got him at his mercy, but he chooses that moment to rhapsodize about his magnificence, which seemed a little out of character, since the coup de grace was all but inevitable, his death ray was working, and he could've paid Hammer back for all of his past defeats and swept away with Penny, joined the Evil League of Evil and everything would've been wonderful.

As it was, he waited half a second too long, he lost his advantage over Capt. Hammer -- remembering the seething hatred in "Brand New Day," it seems unlikely he'd allow that to happen -- and just as Hammer's about to destroy him with his own weaponry, it explodes in his hand (whereas it had been working fine up to that point). Capt. Hammer is emasculated by shrapnel -- yay! -- and Dr. H escapes unscathed -- yay! -- but Penny catches an almost instantly fatal gut wound (because Joss do like him a sucking gut wound) -- boo! -- and dies believing Capt. Hammer will save her.

Now Dr. Horrible's victory is so hollow, all of the heists and capers he pursues are just empty meaninglessnesses, because there's no Penny to share them with.

Just because I didn't like the ending doesn't mean it wasn't truly high-quality stuff, however. Each installment has expanded the universe of the show so the natural progression from Dr. H's hopes and dreams to the showdown with Capt. Hammer to this climatic finale, it makes sense that there would be a wider field of characters, including media commentary and groupies -- how are these characters and their conflict experienced outside the headspace of the characters themselves.

I may disagree with how that affected the structure and how the storyline actually unfolded, but honestly, there's still lots of places for a perfectly good sequel to go. The lines are drawn, the characters are established, the world is sketched in beautifully, and once again, Whedon et al. have created a masterwork that stands alone by itself as a three-part tragic opera, or lays the groundwork for something magnificent.

Either way, well done. And again, if this is the kind of stuff Joss and Pals come up with when they're just sitting around being bored, the writers need to go on strike more often.moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
1 0

Write a Review

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

Trivia
ADD TRIVIA
- The rumor that Sarah Michelle Gellar had a cameo in the third act of Dr. Horrible was later confirmed in the DVD commentary. She is sitting in the audience next to the goupies, wearing pink-rimmed sunglasses, a pink scarf, and a black wig. This wig resembles the one that Gellar wore in the episode Restless of Joss Whedon's show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Edit
- The newspaper article under the headline Girlfriend of Captain Hammer Murdered reads: "Our Hero Captain Hammer had a girlfriend, but now she is dead. She was murdered in an unprecedented event that took place down at a new homeless shelter. The event was for the opening of the new Caring Hands Homeless Shelter and it was going to be a great big party till Dr. Horrible messed it all up." These three sentences are then repeated. Edit
- The newspaper headlines after Penny's death read: "Heroes Girlfriend Murdered; Girlfriend of Captain Hammer Murdered" "Country Mourns Whats-Her-Name" "Worst Villain Ever; Dr. Horrible" Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- In the cast and crew information of the official Dr. Horrible site, Stacy Harbert was originally listed as Groupie #2. In the credits on-screen, however, her name is listed as Stacy Shirk. Edit
- The newswoman and newsman in the beginning of Act III are Marti Noxon and David Fury who have worked as producers and writers for various of Joss Whedon's projects. They both also appeared in the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once More with Feeling, as "Parking Ticket Woman" and "Mustard Man" respectively. Edit
- Bad Horse was played by a stallion named "Dobber" and created by Ben Edlund, who is thanked for that in the credits. The character was originally pitched for Angel, another project of Joss Whedon. Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Groupie #3: (singing about the adored Captain Hammer and his new girlfriend Penny) So they say he saved her life. Groupie #1: They say she works with the homeless and doesn't eat meat. We have... Groupies: A problem with her. Groupie #2: This is his hair. (holds up a bag) Edit
- Captain Hammer: (singing) So, I thank my girlfriend, Penny (yeah, we totally had sex). She showed me there's so many different muscles I can flex. There's the deltoids of compassion, there's the abs of being kind. It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. Edit
- Captain Hammer: (singing) Everyone's a hero in their own way, in their own not-that-heroic way. (...) Everyone's a hero in their own way. You and you and mostly me and you. Edit
Allusions
- Help by adding allusions to this episode. Add allusions