Dollhouse: 1×01 Ghost (2009)

“They can be anyone you want…”

Dollhouse

Dollhouse, a Joss Whedon creation, is a show about an organization that implants false memories and skills into mind-wiped, DNA-altered humans. These humans, the “Dolls,” are then sent out on various missions (or “engagements”) they were specifically chosen to handle, equipped by their implanted memories and skills. Echo is one of the various Dolls that live within the Dollhouse, and the show chronicles Echo’s missions and the dawning realization that life is not what it seems to be for her. Meanwhile, an outsider is trying to prove the existence of the Dollhouse and bring down the organization, but what he might not realize is that a Doll could be the person he least expects.

I first found out about Dollhouse the day it premiered (February 13) because of all the tweets I received on Twitter and the many excited posts I read on my LiveJournal friends list. I hadn’t heard of it before then, but that’s not a surprise as I don’t watch any FOX shows, so I never see FOX commercials. Anyway, I wasn’t really interested. I don’t really have a care for most of Joss Whedon’s work, although that’s not to say I wouldn’t like it if I actually sat down and watched some of his shows¹. But since all the reviews seemed to be pretty good, I decided to give the pilot episode a try.

I was a little confused in the beginning, but that’s understandable, because I am always confused at the beginning of pilot episodes. As the episode continued though, I found myself surprisingly enjoying the show. It wasn’t that I thought I wasn’t going to like it; I just didn’t think it was my type of show prior to watching it. Plus, I’m not the biggest Eliza Dushku fan, so I was skeptical if my liking of the show would be enough to detract from the fact that I don’t like the lead actress. And it actually was²!

I do have a question, though. Is FOX trying to kill the show before it even starts by placing it in the Friday 9/8c timeslot? Because seriously, I can’t remember the last time a good show was aired on Fridays; I thought Friday nights were basically designated for reruns and movies. I would like to tune into Dollhouse every week, but realistically, that’s just not going to happen since I usually go out on Friday nights. Is there a reason FOX is airing Dollhouse on Fridays, or is FOX just being FOX about the situation?

The rest of this post is my opinion about the Dollhouse pilot episode (Ghost) and contains spoilers.

I like the way the Dollhouse (the actual Dollhouse, not the show) was laid out. It was exactly how I would imagine a Dollhouse to be, with its furnishings and eerily detached medical assistants (like the lady who was examining Echo’s knee). The beds that each Doll slept in were also perfect too, it was like each Doll was being put back into its spot in the toybox. Yeah, it was a little creepy and unsettling, but then again, the concept of the Dollhouse itself is morally questionable!

It’ll be interesting to see how smoothly the Dollhouse is able to run. I guess that aspect of the show will tie in later with the whole Paul Ballard trying to bring down Dollhouse storyline, but blips such as Adelle DeWitt inserting the personality of an abused girl who is sent on a negotiation engagement and meets face-to-face with her abuser don’t seem to bode well for the future of the Dollhouse organization… particularly if Echo and the other Dolls start piecing things together about the purpose of the existence of the Dolls and the Dollhouse. Plus, Echo’s programmed personality started to crack a little when Gabriel Crestejo was lashing out about Eleanor Penn’s history as a negotiator, so I wonder if there will be a future episode where a Doll cracks completely and the Dollhouse won’t be able to do damage control.

Overall Rating: 9/10

1. I’ve never seen a Joss Whedon show in my life – at least I don’t remember watching any, not even an episode. I vaguely remember seeing something Buffy-related on TV once, but I didn’t really get into it. [↩]
2. I’m still not an Eliza Dushku fan, though. [↩]

Tags: tv