"Did I fall asleep?"By now, you've read my advance review of three of the first four episodes of Joss Whedon's new drama Dollhouse on FOX, as well as my interviews with series creator Joss Whedon and Dollhouse's Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), who plays the Dollhouse's operative Echo, who seems to be growing slowly more self-aware.
But, now that the series premiere of Dollhouse ("Ghost") has aired, I'm curious to see what you thought of the episode and the series' potential.
Were you entranced by Dollhouse's overarching concepts of identity and self-awareness? What did you think of the series' cast of characters? Did you think that this episode was a good introduction to the world of Dollhouse... or did its story of Echo negotiating the return of a kidnapped girl leave you feeling empty? (Did you accept why the millionaire would hire a mind-wiped doll rather than actual hostage negotiator?) And most importantly: will you tune in again next week to continue watching? Talk back here.
Next week on Dollhouse ("The Target"), Echo is imprinted with the personality of a female thrill-seeker as the companion to a millionaire outdoorsman but quickly finds herself being hunted; Paul Ballard discovers a clue to Echo's real identity; Boyd remembers his introduction to the Dollhouse. (To read my advance review of the first few episodes of Dollhouse, click here.)
Comments
It was half-way decent. Not the best first ep but not the worst. The motorcycle stuff at the beginning was ridiculously over the top and inane. Dushku is not the best actress out there. She seemed sort of retarded when she was just Echo. And the scene with her and Adelle (sp?) was way too expositional. Yawn.
@Jace How did it compare to the original pilot episode itself?
http://watchdollhouse.com
There’s been some mixed opinions about this show so watch it and see what you think.
As easy as Eliza is on the eyes her acting chops to handle the assumed vast array of personalities afforded must be questioned.
It was less than spectacular. Way less. Echo's assignments were a bore. The idea that her imprinted personality could actually have personal experience with the kidnapper/molester and knew that the girl was folded up in the fridge didn't strike me as unbelievable at all. Sheeeeesh! Even for science fiction, that's a stretch.
None of the old "Firefly" charm evident here. Just a boring young hottie on boring missions. It will take exponential improvement to get renewed beyond the original 13 episodes.
"I mean Joss is really a novelist and you have to give him chapters to tell the story..."
Joss works best once he finds his feet with a story. Go watch the first episodes of Buffy, or Angel. They're incredibly clunky and stilted. But how kick ass did those shows turn out to be? Even Firefly, to a lesser extent, wasn't stunning in it's first episode.
The difference with a Joss show compared to a lot of other shows out there, is I truly believe he'll develop all the little areas of potential and explore the interesting questions that we can see in the pilot.
I get so sick of shows that show glimpses of real potential, and then never have the balls/ambition/skill/vision to go there. Joss goes there.
So in summary, quit your nay saying people!
The whole negotiator plot was weak. The guy who wipes the minds and implants the personalities is way creepy like he get some sick pleasure out of it.
Overall I thought it was a boring episode for a primere of an anticipated show.
Also, it was totally missing the funny. That's what makes Joss so great - finding levity in dramatic situations. This show could use some of that.
I was always of a mind that Firefly was stunning from the start. Joss has always said that Firefly was the easiest to write. But I agree with you about Buffy and Angel. It obviously took Joss a while to find his groove for them.
I have faith in Joss. He hasn't let me down yet. I'm sure Dollhouse will reach the same level of awesomeness as all his other works. The only thing that worries me is his lack of involvement this time around. From what I hear, he was way more involved in the goings-on for his other shows than he is with Dollhouse.
Anyway, I will continue to watch and hope it gets better. There are still the right elements, they just have to be put in order.
Like Jace mentioned, why didn't this guy just hire his own negotiator? Also, why did the father seem to know everything about the operation, what an active is, etc? That just seemed stupid (and another contrived way to tell the audience what's going on, ie. don't mess with the active, she'll get confused...), especially since they are supposedly under investigation, but they are letting out all of their secrets to whoever hires them? Wouldn't they want to kill people who find out about them? And the whole morally ambiguous bit of "we do good work" but we kidnap women and wipe their minds... hmmm.
I did like the FBI guy. Who was the weird dude watching TV naked? Did I imagine that?
That aside, I agree with the general mindset, I was way less than impressed.
It's on the TiVo, so we'll probably watch a few more. Frankly I think it's a rotten sin that My Own Worst Enemy (which executed a similar concept)was canceled and this is getting so much attention...
Sam