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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dollhouse Season Premiere "Ghost", February 16, 2009
I finally got the opportunity to see Joss Whedan's new television drama Dollhouse on Fox. It aired Friday, but thanks to Fox's website, I was able to stream the full episode online.
In Dollhouse, Buffy and Angel alum Eliza Dushku plays a young woman known only as "Echo." She's one of the "Actives" or "Dolls" who inhabit a top secret facility known as the Dollhouse. The "Dolls" are people who have had their personalities wiped clean, leaving them as nothing but human shells that can be imprinted with new personalities -including memories, muscle memory and skills. The Dolls are available for loan to the highest bidder for any mission you can think of -from adult fantasies to crimes or assassinations.
Echo is just one of the Dolls who make up the Dollhouse's highly illegal operation. Even though only one other Doll has been introduced, Sierra, there seem to been dozens of Dolls wandering aimlessly around the facility, waiting for their next mission. Echo, as implied by the first episode, starts to become self-aware in her doll state and starts to regain memories of her past life. To make matters worse, Paul Bellard , an FBI agent, has dedicated his life to tracking down the mythical Dollhouse and bringing it down. As the series opens, he is getting dangerously close to finding it.
Sounds confusing, doesn't it? The concept is definitely well developed, but it's a little more complex than Joss's other shows. I had read little to nothing about the show prior to watching it, and it took about 15 minutes until I half-understand what was going on and the concept behind the Dolls. Once I did, however, I found it hard to accept that something like this could exist without the government or some kind of humanitarian group going after it.
Past that, the pilot episode, "Ghost" was very fast-paced and full of edge-of-your seat excitement. Echo is imprinted with an expert conflict resolution personality to help a man get his kidnapped daughter back. The story falls primarily into a crime drama-type formula, but with the added element of introducing new characters who struggle with the ethical issues surrounding the Dollhouse. Even though I feel like Joss didn't do the best possible job of introducing the audience to the cast members or making their objectives clear, he was able to clearly explain the overall premise of the show to the casual viewer.
The main issue I had with this episode is that I found myself constantly confused by something. I didn't understand the Dollhouse, once I felt like I got that down I tried figuring out who the characters where. I think that of the seven cast regulars, I figured out three of their purposes about 30 minutes in. I had to rely on Internet research to understand to others...or even to get names.
I was also surprised by the lack of humor here. I know that Joss can kick it serious sometimes, but so far Dollhouse lacks his trademark humor and quirks. It did have a large amount of Buffy and Angel alumni, which can make it difficult for Whedan fans to see them as a different characters.
Maybe this is Joss's attempt at being more serious? If so, then he succeeded -Dollhouse is a unique drama that shows promise as a new show, as long as the plot continues to move forward, the characters are better developed and Fox keeps the same time slot. The pilot was a hint above average to me, but it showcased a great new cast of characters in a fascinating new world. However, the series seems to be in a delicate state right now -if we don't get answers in the next few episodes, it could easily go the way of Firefly, Joss's failed TV space western.
Will I watch again next week? Yes, but I haven't quite gotten hooked yet.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great start to exciting new drama, February 15, 2009
"Ghost" is episode #1 of an exciting new series called Dollhouse, created by Joss Whedon. Joss is well-known for creating other TV series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. This summer he and family members also created the web sensation Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog.
Ghost introduces us to the main characters and concepts of Dollhouse -- a highly illegal organization that rents people as "Actives" after they've been programmed with the personalities and histories of people designed to perform certain jobs. This first episode is exciting in its own right, and -- more importantly -- it sets the stage for very interesting evolutions of the characters over the longer arc of the upcoming Season 1.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great premise and tremendous potential, February 17, 2009
I read reviews by a long string of established mainstream critics like David Bianculli and the consensus seemed to be that the first episode wasn't very good, but that DOLLHOUSE gets very good shortly after that. Well, I'm glad that everyone feels that the series gets much better as it goes along, but I have to tell you, I enjoyed this first episode a lot. It might be a sign of the very high standards against which we hold Joss Whedon that some felt that this episode was mildly disappointing.
I would like to note that none of Joss Whedon's other series featured a truly great pilot. "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest," the two-part pilot for BUFFY had many great moments, but overall was marred by a small budget, awkward pacing, and just the general awkwardness of everyone (not least Joss Whedon) learning how this whole TV thing was done (Whedon had written for TV before, but he had never been in charge of a production). "City of Angel" was not among my favorite episodes of ANGEL, though like the BUFFY pilot was not bad. "Train Job" was thoroughly inappropriate as the pilot of FIREFLY. Interestingly both "Train Job" and "Ghost" were second versions of the initial pilot. On the DVD box set the original pilot, "Serenity," was inserted in front of "Train Job," and was clearly the better of the two. Why FOX thought it inadequate is baffling today. But "Ghost" was actually pretty much as good as any of these pilots. I suppose my point is that Whedon's shows prove their worth over time, not in the initial episode. He is at his best when the plot is thickening, not when it is starting.
Anyone who has not had their head in the ground knows that DOLLHOUSE is about a secret organization that hires women and men to serve for five years as "Actives," human slates whose personalities are erased and then implanted with new ones for various missions that arise. The first few seconds of the pilot shows Caroline, played by Eliza Dushku, talking with the woman in charge of the Dollhouse. We don't know what predicament that Caroline is in, but she is in a situation in which she has no options but to sign on to be a human doll. This scene cuts immediately to another where Caroline has ceased to exist and has now become Echo.
Clearly there is a lot about Caroline/Echo that we don't know, but a number of questions/clues were introduced here. We even got to see a film clip of Echo back when she was Caroline. The networks hate too much of this sort of thing. They want neat, self-contained episodes that don't spill out much into other episodes. Dense backstory makes it hard for people to try a show out for the first time. But it makes a show an utter delight for those of us who stick with it.
The pilot not only saw the transformation of Caroline into Echo, but the introduction of the ongoing "B" plot, an FBI agent who at the behest of someone "up above" (and therefore presumably protected in some way) has been charged with investigating the existence of the Dollhouse. Agent Paul Ballard is played by BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Tahmoh Penikett and obviously is intended as Echo's long-term romantic foil.
I'm very excited about the show. The pilot lacked Joss Whedon's patented blend of humor and drama (BUFFY is considered the first Dramedy), and perhaps the subject matter of DOLLHOUSE does not lend itself as readily to humor. The central situation of the series is tragic, people who no longer exist as themselves. Nonetheless, it is easy to imagine Echo in assignments that would create comic situations. The problem here is that not knowing who she is, Echo cannot be in on the jokes.
This could be the star vehicle that Eliza Dushku has long been looking for. She was outstanding in BUFFY and ANGEL as Faith, but other projects like TRU CALLING jut didn't work out. But being asked to do so many things, Eliza gets an opportunity to be more people than any actress on TV since Jennifer Garner was Sydney Bristow in ALIAS. I look forward to seeing how she does. And she has never looked better. She looks fitter and healthier than ever. I've read that she gave up smoking and it really shows up in her voice, which tends heavily to be a "smoker's voice" anyway, but sounds freer than it has in the past. I've read that she has participated in triathlons, and she looks the part. This show is clearly going to allow her to show precisely how wide her range as an actress is. And we have her to thank for the show even existing. Just over a year ago she signed a development contract with FOX. As soon as the ink was dry on the contract she invited Joss Whedon to lunch and asked him to create a TV show for her. And that is how we got DOLLHOUSE. And I think it is going to be a very, very interesting ride.
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