TV Review: Dollhouse
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
“Nothing is what it appears to be.”
If you’re a Whedonite, you’ve been anticipating Friday the 13th, 2009 for some time now. And now it has finally come: Dollhouse and Joss Whedon’s return to television.
Let me preface by saying I have done everything I could to remain spoiler-free for the premiere. I refused to read reviews, stopped visiting Whedonesque.com, and did my best to skim over Tweets from those who got an advanced look at the episode. I wanted to go in with a clean slate. And as Echo says in the first few minutes of the episode, “You ever actually try to clean a slate? You always see what was on it before.”
That being said, I am not going to compare Dollhouse’s first episode, “Ghost” to any of Joss’ other works. It’s too early to do that, and I honestly don’t think it is fair. Echo is not Faith, The Dollhouse is not Wolfram & Hart, and Topher is definitely no Wash, regardless to their outward traits.
“Ghost” gives the viewer a lot of information in one hour of television (which is helped immensely by Fox’s “More Tv. Less Commercials.” push – Thank you Fox!). On the surface we see The Dollhouse, an illegal private organization that imprints personalities on their “actives” to suit their wealthy client’s needs. The actives are volunteers who have signed on to get a new start at life. They have a 5 year contract, which after they fulfill, they are supposedly free to go, we can assume, wiped clean of all memories of the Dollhouse. Which on the surface, is a relatively simple premise that could give the show a decent season or two of television. But of course, this is Joss Whedon: nothing is ever simple.
In the beginning we see Caroline (Eliza Dushku), who hardly seems a volunteer. Rather, she seems coerced into signing her 5 year contract. She is transformed into Echo, an almost innocent and child-like soul. When she happens to witness a new active, Sierra (Dichen Lachman), being wiped clean of her former “self,” she almost confusingly looks to Topher (Fran Kranz), the chief mind-wiping tech of the Dollhouse, and says, “She hurts.” The way Topher responds to her is almost as he would a child.
We learn through Agent Paul Ballard (Tamoh Penikett), who has been assigned to the mysterious Dollhouse case for 14 months, that the clientele of the organization include princes and senators, and that the Dollhouse has ties to a Russian human trafficking ring. His supervisors try to get him under control on a case they think is a “fairytale.” But we also learn that he doesn’t back down very easily.
There is also a rogue active, Alpha, who is threatening to bring down the Dollhouse and its incredibly questionable activities which include not only imprinting people with personalities from real people right for the mission, but the physical limitations that can inevitably come with “real people” (near-sightedness, asthma, etc.).
So there is definitely a great set up for much intrigue and drama amidst the weekly assignments Echo will be sent on.
My biggest concern going into the show was Eliza Dushku. I was never a huge fan of Faith, and the other movies I’ve seen her in, her characters have never seemed to have much depth. So I wondered, can she really pull off being that many different people?
After the first episode: I am hopeful. Dushku transitions from desperate Caroline, to a fun-loving party girl, to the kidnap expert with a troubled past Eleanor Penn, and to innocent Echo very believably. The most haunting scene of the episode is as Miss Penn carries the kidnapped child, Devina, away from her hostages telling her over and over, “You’re free.” The scene changes and fades to Echo peacefully walking away from the mind-wiping chair, once again innocent and free from the burdens she had just faced.
I have heard overall mixed reviews of the show so far and of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. My biggest hope is that viewers will stay tuned to see where the show will lead, because one thing is for certain: Joss will never leave things on the surface. He’ll dig deep into the emotions of the characters and of the themes of the show and leave the viewers with more questions than answers – as good television should do. So long as we start getting answers before too long, this show has the potential for greatness. And that is what I always look for in the shows that I watch: not only what the episode itself said, but what the potential for the upcoming episodes could offer. Like Battlestar Galactica, the fun in watching is the speculation. This show could very well fill that looming gap.
Because in the Dollhouse, as its owner says in the very first line of the series, “Nothing is what it appears to be.”
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. because of the negative buzz before airing i was prepared to be dissapointed. i was pleasantly suprised by the pilot though. the one thing that i missed was the witty dialogue whedon is famous for. but i really liked it. this could be great given a chance
Nice review. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I knew Eliza could do things like this. From Faith to Tru, to a punk gymnast/cheerleader (yes I am a guy who loves bring it on). I have high hopes for this especially after that first episode.
Enjoyed the review. As I enjoyed “Dollhouse”. I did go into it expecting not to like it. All the negativity surrounding it, and the whole idea of the show was kind of weak. But it really surprised me. I dont know if it was because Joss Whedon wrote it or what but the story really sucked me in. It was interesting… I wanted more. Eliza’ acting was great..made me feel for her. Amy Acker was kind of creepy though, as her character was suppose to be I guess. I myself will keep watching. I watched it again the next morning! I think it did pretty good in the numbers. I hope it will be around for a bit. Most of all it was real good to see my old friend again…that little monster saying “Grrrr Arggg” at the end of the show!
LOL I know – I had a little party for the premiere. When the GRRR ARRRG monster came through, everyone cheered!
I really enjoyed the first episode. On the surface Dollhouse is basically a procedural, but this is Joss. There was so much set up for things to come and what we may think is coming will probably be turned upside down by episode 5 or 6. I can’t wait to see where this goes and I hope people keep watching.
For a first episode it was pretty good. The characters will develop over time. The reviewer is right not to compare it to other Joss Whedon projects. It was great to see Amy Acker again. Her character seems to be somewhat mysterious. I am looking forward to the next episode.
I really enjoyed the pilot. It introduced us to several characters and set up the overall premise of the show very well. I am very interested to see where things go from here.
Great review! Thanks for sharing!
Brad
http://www.TheDollhousePodcast.com
(Repost of my recent comment on an old thread)
Watched DollHouse last night – better than I expected. I can see a long story arc developing and the potential for massive character growth. But I could alos see it stalling out. We’ll give it another shot next week. But it certainly wasn’t like Buffy or Firefly where you fell in love by the first episode.
Heard interviews with Joss on NPRs Fresh Air and All Things Considered. Mostly about the anti-feminist controversy the show has created. The ATC interview was a complete attack job on Joss by the female interviewer.
Personally, I didn’t fall in love with Firefly at first. It was more of a slow burn, growing on me with each episode. Buffy was pretty good out of the gate, but Angel had the best pilot episode of the bunch, IMHO.
I just watched it. I didn’t love it. I Loved Buffy & Angel. I really liked Firefly & Serenity. I liked Dollhouse, but not a lot.
Its sitting on my computer……. Im more in a hurry to watch it now that iv read this. Thanks for a fantastic review
(Repost of my recent comment on an old thread)
“Yeah.. the episode was kind of bleh…
It wasn’t engaging at all. Hopefully it will get a lot better in the next few episodes. I’ll probably watch at least a few more episodes to see if it does get any better.
Maybe Joss Whedon has lost his magic touch. :(”
Although now that I think back, I wasn’t a fan of any of the premiere episodes of any of Whedon’s shows (except Dr. Horrible) .
I liked it! And there isnt many first eps i do like. Though i wonder how you can develop or love a character whoes memory is wiped/changed every ep or so.
Also i dont know why but miss penn reminded me of sarah michelle gellar.
I don’t think her memory is wiped every time. I think she’s returned to the blank personality, where she remembers previous things about her life in the dollhouse.
Otherwise, they’d have to indroduce her to the doctors and to the other residents every time.
Hmm yeah thats what i actually meant. But if most of the episode she is an alternate personality it will take awhile for you to see her blank personality grow. Though i doubt the episodes are going to be all like same formular of ep1 with no twists.
I really like the show so far , It dont feel like Buffy or Firefly But it Good .
on Best Week ever Joss joked about having a Firefly / Buffy crossover in the first season so althought that will never happen inless we learn Faith is Echo LOL
But atless he know what His Fan like .
and maybe there will never be a Buffy movie becouse of that B-Word Sarah But maybe there be a Faith movie someday soon
IMO this episode suffered greatly because they were trying to establish who the characters are, rather than trying to a story. Maybe it will get better once they’ve settled down.