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  • TV Series: Dollhouse
  • Episode: Ghost
  • Starring: Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikett, Amy Acker, Olivia Williams, Fran Kantz, Harry J. Lennix,
  • Written By: Joss Whedon
  • Directed By: Joss Whedon
  • Network: Fox
  • Series: Dollhouse

Dollhouse: Ghost

Dollhouse is Five-by-Five.

By Kurt Anthony Krug     February 12, 2009


Eliza Dushku stars in DOLLHOUSE
© FOX TV

 

            Don’t know what kind of peace-pipe Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon smoked with Fox after the mess the network made out of his much-loved yet short-lived Firefly in 2002, but some sort of agreement was reached as Whedon’s latest series Dollhouse debuts on Fox this Friday, Feb. 13, at 9 p.m.
            For the uninitiated, Dollhouse is a clandestine operation run by the enigmatic Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams, The Sixth Sense, X-Men 3: The Last Stand) where “Dolls” or “Actives” are imprinted with a different number of new personas, where they can be anything or anyone – the perfect assassin, the perfect date, the perfect omelet chef, whatever – as long as they’re not submissive and as long as the client has the beaucoup bucks to pay for these unique services. Once the mission is fulfilled, they’re mind-wiped into a docile, child-like state and live in the Dollhouse until their status is reactivated for another mission, complete with a new persona. A very good analogy comes from a Dollhouse client at the beginning. He remarks that Cinderella has to get back at the stroke of midnight before her carriage becomes a pumpkin. That fits.
            In the case of Echo (Eliza Dushku, best known as Faith from Whedon’s Buffy and Angel, and who has an executive producer credit), she is becoming self-aware, despite all the mind-wipes. She’s retaining some aspects of the various personalities that are downloaded into her brain. Thus, this is the basis for the series.
            Dushku is given the opportunity to stretch her acting range. She is a good actress, but all she’s known for is bad-ass Faith. She wants to prove that there’s more to her range than Faith (probably why there isn’t a Faith spin-off) and she does. She starts off as an adventurous, aggressive date, who is somewhat Faith-esque – which is luring viewers in with the familiar – then as the submissive Echo, then as Eleanor Penn, who is a hard-nosed, calculating, cucumber-cool hostage negotiator.
            Echo’s taken back to the Dollhouse, where you meet her handler, an ex-cop named Boyd (Harry Lennix, Barbershop 2: Back in Business), who has misgivings about the operation; amoral nerdling scientist Topher Brink (Fran Kranz, The TV Set), who programs the Dolls; Dr. Claire Saunders (another Whedon alumna Amy Acker, Angel), who looks over the physical well-being of the Dolls and has a contentious relationship with Topher; and Sierra (Dichen Lachman, Aquamarine), a fellow Doll.
            The last member of the regular cast is renegade FBI Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett, Battlestar Galactica), who is investigating the Dollhouse. Paul’s not afraid to break the rules and piss off powerful people in order to expose the Dollhouse, which he has no proof of, not to mention his superiors believe it’s an urban myth.
            Whedon brilliantly establishes the kind of character Ballard is within five minutes. The scene where he’s getting dressed down by his superior at FBI headquarters is intercut with a scene of him boxing a buff-looking tattooed man (who looks like one of the New Kids of the Block pumped up on steroids). As his boss is screaming at him, you see the boxer pounding the tar out of him. When Ballard concedes and states he’ll back off, you see him on the ground, bleeding but unbroken. He gathers his second wind and mercilessly beats the boxer into unconsciousness. From the beginning, viewers know that Ballard is a force to be reckoned with.
            Echo is programmed as the afore-mentioned Eleanor Penn (she answers only to Ms. Penn and not Elly), who works relentlessly to negotiate the return of a client’s kidnapped daughter. Her Penn persona was kidnapped by one of the girl’s kidnappers, which brings about her self-awareness. At the end of the episode, we learn more about who Echo was before she became a Doll, opening the door for the rest of the season.
            All in all, this was a decent episode. Everything is set up for the audience to understand the premise unlike Firefly, which had the second episode played first instead of the 2-hour pilot. Whedon’s strength is writing multi-episode arcs rather than standard done-in-one episodes, something this clearly is, the teaser at the end not withstanding. This is a series that needs time to grow and find its audience, an opportunity most networks don’t really give in this day and age. Let’s hope Fox will give this show the time it needs to find its feet and has learned from its mistakes over Firefly.
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COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

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gauleyboy420 2/12/2009 5:30:47 PM

This sounds cool, HOPEFULLY it will not fall prey to the deadly Friday night time slot. AND if it does well, maybe we can get some more browncoat action!!!

tholo 2/12/2009 7:47:13 PM

 Fox wants to learn from its mistakes , then it needs to bring Firefly back!

 

 

JBBUC 2/13/2009 9:50:47 AM

Firefly was a pile. I'm glad it was cancelled.

BTW, does someone at Fox have a fetish for waffy, pale, 89 pound brunettes? Summer Glau and Eliza Dushku could be the same freaking person. I'm all for SciFi and suspention of disbelief and all, but geez, what is it going to take for one of these shows to cast a female who looks like a full grown woman? A pip-squeak like Dushku (Buffy, Angel, True, ect) gets job after job while a 5'11 bombshell like Stacy Keibler sits at home.

Ridiculous.

NotAFan 2/13/2009 9:58:30 PM

Yes Firefly was awful! I've now decided that Dollhouse will not last longer than 6 episodes!

lostfan 2/14/2009 12:41:41 AM

 I just finished watching the first episode and I was a little disappointed. I still believe that this is can be a very good show and I have much faith in Joss Whedon. Whedon shows usually take some time before they get totally awesome. Im looking forward to what they do in the next episode. For those of you who missed it on TV, check it out online here..

http://watchdollhouse.com

There’s been some mixed opinions about this show so watch it and see what you think.

mbeckham1 2/14/2009 8:26:09 AM

I liked the FBI guy played by Pinickett.  And Dushku  did well with the uber professional negotiator hiding a past trauma, thougfh the kidnapper being the same one who kidnapped her was a coincidencew that strained credibility, it was sytill nice to see er Penn character work through the pain. 

i also kliked the the Brit chick incharge, suitably creepy and might even believe in what she's doing.  Which could be even creepier.  Amy Ackrer's role was quite interesting.  She seemsto be in the darker end of the grey area, and I hope she stays long enough tfor us to find what her story is. 

mbeckham1 2/14/2009 8:29:05 AM

BTW Brit xchick looked like a full grown woman to me, so did Gina Tores fromm Firefly, and Lena Headey from Srah Connor Chronicles. 

mbeckham1 2/14/2009 8:32:02 AM

I hinkonce the arc gets going, which will likely involve enickett's character and Echo getting her memory back we'll stat seeing thing reeally get good.  I'd like to see the Dollhouse become the enemy and Penickett and Echo work together to try to takle them down with her former hanndler as their inside man.

JBBUC 2/14/2009 9:03:31 AM

Olivia Williams isn't the main character, is she mbeck? Besides, to that point, there isn't much difference between Williams and Heady either, other than about 5 years and a british accent. Put all of them in a line up with the Gilmore Girls, the chicks from Privlaged, 90210 or any other CW show (besides Smallville) and tell me how diverse they are all. These women all look exactly like the types from these sappy girl-dramas and they shouldn't. All I can say is, thank God for Erica Durance. If you want to know what I mean by "looks like a full grown woman", there you go. I'm not looking for a 4'10, 85 lb pixie, but I'm not looking for a soccer mom straight out of the suburbs either. If she's supposed to be some super advanced superhuman;  'genetically reved up'; highly trained super-babe, SHE SHOULD LOOK LIKE ONE.

IMO.

But whatever.

As for the show, it was just ok for me. Eliza did a good job with the three distinct personalities she showed. Party girl, blank slate, negotiator. Not bad. For me, the problem is going to come when she starts tossing around 200 lb militarily trained mercs and huge, jacked up bouncers/body guards types. You just know that crap is coming, and it's going to suck.

gauleyboy420 2/15/2009 1:30:05 PM

FOR THE RECORD Firefly IS AWESOME!!!

You may not have liked it, but it definitely wasn't "a pile" or "awful" both of those comments proved you didn't watch it, and or don't like westerns.

Dollhouse was ok, I get the feeling this was an introductory episode, and more involed engaging eps. and story arcs will start next week.

 

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