An organization that provides people whose personalities can be “wiped” and replaced with whatever a paying client needs/wants. When I first heard the premise of Dollhouse, I thought that it would play itself out pretty quickly and get boring and predictable – that it would be some sci-fi version of a soft porn Fantasy.
Boy was I ever wrong. I’m never sure where they’re going next with this show. There’s action, mystery, espionage, and, yes, even some sex. I know I should have had faith in show creator Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly).
It’s taken it’s time to begin to let you know the characters; revealing bits at a time, keeping you wondering. Eliza Dushku stars as one of the dolls, or “actives” as their handlers refer to them. As Echo, she doesn’t even know who she is. When she is not a blank slate, she can be anything from a hostage negotiator to a dominatrix.
But it seems we viewers know more about Echo/Caroline than we do about the people running the Dollhouse. I am very happy to see Amy Acker (Angel) back on TV. I’m concerned for her survival on the show as she is billed as a guest week-to-week and is not in the opening credits.
I recommend this show for Whedon fans, action junkies, sci-fiers, and anyone looking for something a little different. It’s no Battlestar Galactica, but like Battlestar, I have no idea what’s going to happen next. The episodes so far have all run about 50 minutes, 7 minutes longer than your typical hour show. The commercial breaks are shorter. I don’t know how Mr. Whedon worked this deal out.
Dollhouse airs Fridays on FOX at 9pm/8pm Central. Past episodes can be found on Hulu.com.
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