Dollhouse review

Like many people I was anxious to see the premier of Dollhouse. I wasn't enticed by the sci-fi story line, or the picture in the ads Eliza Dushku wearing only a projection of city lights, no I had been waiting for months to see this for one reason and one reason only Joss Wheadon.

When it comes to TV in Joss Wheadon I trust. I was a huge fan of Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, hell I even liked Angel. The shows that he creates are usually great for a few reasons they brilliantly combine comedy with more serious circumstances, he creates lovable characters, serious twists and turns in the plot, and he creates worlds and situations that are very unique.

Well I have to say in terms of the Dollhouse premier, two out of four is kind of ... eh.

Maybe I should back, up if this show was written by someone else I would not be measuring it to such a high standard.

I think the show has a solid premise. There is a place called The Dollhouse where high paying clients can order up exactly what they need for any given situation. The twist is that these "dolls" or "actives" aren't robots, they are real live people that can be programed and erased as desired. At first it sounds kind of fun, you can make a little visit to a big glowing chair and walk out a kung-fu master very Matrix. It's not all fun and games when you realize that the "actives" have had their personalities removed, and it seems that our main character Echo may have been forced into this line of work. A good piece of sci-fi always bring up a few philosophical questions; even if a person agrees to have their personality removed does this violate human rights, alternatively is it possible to ever fully erase someones personality. Echo's behavior while unprogramed closely resembles that of a child, a blank slate but with inclinations and a desire to explore on her own.

You see this is where I hit my main issues thus far. I know it was only the first episode but thus far I have only managed to connect with one character. Boyd, the man who is Echo's handler is the only person thus far with a soul. He shows great care for Echo, he has some sense of morality, and there is a real kind and heroic quality to him. The rest of the workers of the Dollhouse are quite unsympathetic because .... I don't know they are seriously violating human rights? Even the computer geek who has the job of creating and erasing personalities seems to be kind of cruel for the simple reason that he has agreed to take on this job.

I know I know it's only the first episode. I'm sure our leading lady will start developing a personality of her own in a bit, and that we will begin to see other sides of what is going on. But I feel that Joss Wheadon's greatest strength as a writer is giving us characters that we can connect to and so far we can't connect to a bunch of people who run a very shady business, or a bunch of people who have literally had their personalities taken away.

Still as a new Sci-fi show it was pretty good. The plot was a wee bit confusing however for Sci-fi I was willing to overlook it.

I still maintain the highest hopes that this will be a good show, after all it was a good pilot. However I think this may be a small departure from Joss Wheadons normal work, so far it seems as if we are looking at a show with a more serious tone. I didn't laugh once during the pilot, and I completely expected to do so.

If nothing else I will be tuning in next Friday, the show is definitely worth a second watch.