I have to admit, I was a bit weary of this show going into it. The plot description seemed contrived and superfluously preachy, and investing valuable time and brain power into a new TV series is not a decision that I take lightly these days; it's just getting more and more difficult to muster up the energy to religiously follow a whole bunch of programs varying mildly in their mediocrity. Plus, I haven't followed Joss Whedon's work since Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That said, Dollhouse turns out to be well worth the effort.
With the first season of Dollhouse, Joss Whedon eases us into a world where people are as disposable as their clients' income. Dozens of mindless "dolls", who are really just humans who have been temporarily stripped of their personality, inhabit the titular underground organization that caters to the needs of rich and powerful people. The Dollhouse can give anybody anyone they desire -- a dominatrix, a wife, a fling, a friend. The dolls are subsequently programmed with the personality that the client desires, and presto! A customized date, carefully crafted according to their own special needs. So to speak.
Eliza Dushku rather skillfully plays Echo, a particularly precocious doll with a five-year contract. Echo is different from the other dolls in that she sporadically displays the ability to retain bits and pieces of information and character traits from past missions, or rather, engagements, as the dollhouse authorities refer to them. Her real identity also begins to peek through at times, much to the concern of the Dollhouse's higher-ups. A subplot involves FBI agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) obsessed with finding the Dollhouse and freeing Echo from her contract.
The series starts off a bit slow, or rather, in a somewhat misleading manner. The first few episodes are much weaker than the rest of the season; they would have us believe that the premise of the show is to place our heroine into a variety of dangerous situations with each episode, each time with a new persona and character history, making Echo a sort of unwitting superhero with no ego, as she's never given the chance to develop one. At first, Echo seems to merely be a vessel to channel sundry characters with different hobbies and professions that the writers thought would be barely interesting enough to fill a mere hour-long story arc. But such a shtick would undoubtedly get tired after a while, and it would be kind of difficult to become invested in a protagonist that lacks a strong, individual persona. Thankfully, Whedon made the wise decision to abandon this pattern mid-season in favor of a more intricate and meaningful story line.
There's some awkward expository dialogue in the first few episodes, but it's to be expected. When a show hinges on relatively complex plot devices, it is sometimes necessary to provide the audience with extra information at first, even if you do have to do so in a rather ham-fisted manner.
Now, there are some inconsistencies -- I hesitate to call them plotholes -- involving the whole blank-slate thing. After all, if Echo's been completely wiped of her true essence, how is it that she is able to recall flashes of her past life at all, however brief and fleeting they may be? Nonetheless, this, too, is forgivable; again, it would get awfully boring watching a leading lady with, quite literally, no personality trying to carry off an entire show. And the thing is, despite is shortcomings, Dollhouse appears to be more than just another run of the mill sci-fi series boasting of faux originality and forced girl-power undercurrents. The characters are complex and thoroughly fleshed out, many of them inhabiting the grey area between good and evil instead of choosing a side and sticking to it; there's Echo's ex-cop bodyguard, Boyd Langton (Harry Lennix), who seems to be morally opposed to the services the Dollhouse provides, yet willingly works for them anyway, as well as the socially-awkward genius programmer, Topher Brink (Fran Kranz), who is exceedingly proud of his technological contributions to the organization, yet seemingly aware of the ethical problems that stem from such processes. At the same time, these people all manage to stay sympathetic and relatable, calling to mind our own naturally contradictory moral compasses and urging us to question our own values. This is a world where brainwashing and reprogramming humans is not only a possibility, but an actuality, and the consequences of maintaining such a society are dire and largely affecting.
Most importantly, Dollhouse speaks to any and all forms of exploitation. (It should be mentioned that the exploitation is not reserved just for the women here; male dolls play a rather integral role in the plot as well.) Whedon shows us all the different forms of manipulation we experience on a daily basis, be it on an interpersonal level, through the government, and via the media; the dolls just happen to be the pretty vessels for a not-so-pretty metaphor.
DVD Bonus Features
Alas, there aren't any. But this is a clear-cut case of quality over quantity.
"Dollhouse: Season One" is on sale July 28, 2009 and is rated NR. Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller. Directed by David Solomon, Joss Whedon. Written by Joss Whedon, Tracy Bellomo, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Andrew Chambliss, Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Fain, Tim Minear, Jane Espenson. Starring Amy Acker, Dichen Lachman, Eliza Dushku, Enver Gjokaj, Fran Kranz, Harry Lennix, Olivia Williams, Tahmoh Penikett.
