The basic premise of the show is that there exists an organization where those of substantial financial means can go to rent a mindwiped person, or doll, to become an Active, anyone/anything said client needs that person to be for as long as they need them to be. We're talking hostage negotiators, backup dancers/bodyguards, commando soldiers, lovers, Russian mobsters, anything. When they are not on an engagement, the dolls exist in a child-like state of ignorance and bliss.
So this is the world in which the show is set. To break up the status quo there seem to be three sources of antagonism that come into play:
-An FBI agent, Paul Ballard (played by Battlestar's Tamoh Penikett, a.k.a. Helo). is on to the Dollhouse and is persistently pursuing an investigation into said organization despite the disapproval and disbelief of his colleagues, as well as a fairly frustrating lack of evidence.
-One of the dolls, Echo (played by our favorite bad-girl slayer Eliza Dushku), is starting to exhibit glitches. During each "engagement" an Active should only have the knowledge and personality imprinted on them for that specific job, and in between they should have no knowledge of any of what happened to them outside of the Dollhouse. Yet Echo's memories seem to be bleeding over into both arenas, and in the field she has started showing a disturbing tendency to think outside of the box. Needless to say this is causing some amount of difficulties with her engagements (therefore making the show interesting).
-Another doll, Alpha (played by we don't know yet but rumors sure do abound), has gone rogue, and violent to boot. Sometime just before we the viewers entered the world of the Dollhouse, Alpha apparently went crazy, imprinted himself with a whole bunch of skills (like lethal naked ninja knife-cutting for example) and killed a whole bunch of dolls and their handlers (the people assigned to each Active in the field to make sure that they complete their mission and come home safely). While Alpha did kill Echo's handler in a spectacularly squishy way, he did not kill Echo. She was in fact, the only survivor when he went and massacred everyone in the showers at the time of his spree. Then the guy had the temerity to escape. So the bosses are pretty pissed about that and are trying to figure out a way to recover their renegade doll.
Alright, so there's your basic description of what's going on with the show so far. Question is, is it actually any good? Anyway, three episodes in, I, at least, am finally ready to weigh in on my opinion of the show.
I like it. A lot.
Here's why.
This is a show for people who like a mystery and who are willing to pay attention to what's going on not just in the forefront of each episode but in the background as well. The feel of this show, believe it or not, reminds me quite a bit of Fringe. The shows themselves are nothing alike, but the same basic appeal is there.
We get to see a person who literally ran from her past into oblivion on purpose start to wake up all on her own. From episode one we know that Echo's real name is Caroline and that she got into some kind of trouble because all she wanted to do was make a difference. Whatever that trouble is, somehow her only option became to join the Dollhouse for five years. Five years of actions without consequence, of not having to think about all of the wrong choices she's made, of getting to see the world and do all sorts of things she'd never have the opportunity to try (even if she ostensibly won't remember doing any of those things afterwards). At the end of that five years, well, there's a hint that she can start over with a clean slate and decide for herself where to go next. Personally I'm not to sure the crazy lady in charge is the kind of person to let people go at the end of their contract (I mean, how would they know, right?) but that's not really the point.
The point is that Caroline has given up being a person and has become Echo the doll. And like all of the other dolls, she is supposed to exist in blissful peace and ignorance when she's not an Active. But, Echo is different, she's special. Maybe it's the strong personality of Caroline that is refusing to completely cease to exist, or maybe there's a problem with the technology and we only get to see Echo's awakening. But either way, she is waking up. Here is where the paying attention starts to pay off for the audience. Things that happen to her when she is out on an engagement are completely wiped from her mind afterwards, each and every time. Yet we have seen on numerous occasions that Echo is retaining memories from these engagements, even if she herself isn't too sure of what they are or what they mean.
My favorite moment so far comes from last night's episode. There is a new doll, Sierra, who Echo has started to befriend in between engagements. The Powers That Be have become a bit worried about Echo, so they have started to send Sierra out on engagements in tandem with Echo, as backup of sorts. At the end of last night's engagement Sierra's handler sees her with Echo (in their Active personas) and makes a stink about it. Later, back in doll-state, Echo sees Sierra approaching her to say hello, but noticing Sierra's handler nearby, she gives a quick shake of her head to indicate it's not a good time. She shouldn't remember her altercation with the other handler, but she does know that whoever this man is, he doesn't approve of a friendship between the two dolls and so they must keep it secret. That's quite an interesting conclusion for someone with a doll's perceived mental abilities to reach.
It is also made clear to the audience from the start that TPTB aren't the only ones who have noticed that Echo is "special." Alpha apparently spared her for a reason, and from the glimpses we get of him and comments that are made, it seems he has some sort of obsession, or at least a special interest, in her. This has even led him to break into Caroline's home and send a picture of her to Agent Ballard with the cryptic note "keep looking." It seems the guy wants to bring down the Dollhouse as much as Ballard does (can't really blame him), but he also seems to want to test Echo. He thinks she just might be worth saving.
The story with Ballard also is a nice addition to the show. He's not just some one-dimensional guy with a badge trying to take down the organization. We're getting some decent character development on him. I enjoy the neighbor with a crush on him. It's sweet, and this is a show that needs a little bit of sweetness every now and again. I am also curious to see how Ballard was pointed in the direction of his main source of information on the Dollhouse, a Russian mobster named Lubov. Lubov clearly doesn't actually know anything about the Dollhouse, but Ballard is convinced he does. A nice little reveal last night, however, showed us that Lubov is actually Victor, another doll. Ooh, another mystery. Clearly Victor is repeatedly getting sent out into the world as Lubov, and we know that TPTB are aware of Ballard's investigation. I'm going to assume that this is their attempt to distract Ballard from any real evidence he might stumble upon. I am quite interested to see how this plays out. Is Lubov the only Active personality that Victor is being programmed with these days? I really would love to see Ballard run into Victor out on some other engagement.
Also, an added bonus is that since Dollhouse comes on right before Battlestar, fans of both shows are getting a nice double-dose of Tamoh each Friday (at least for the next few weeks). Heh, if you watched both shows yesterday, the guy clearly did not have a good night. Is anyone else digging this?
But back to Dollhouse. There are of course many other characters interacting with our main few, but we haven't learned too much about them so far. I am really starting to like Echo's handler Boyd. He seems to be a good match for her, even if he's not so much the best match for the Dollhouse itself. I don't really have an opinion yet about the doctor played by Amy Acker, but I am prepared to love her because she's played by Amy Acker. Topher, the programmer, well, he's actually kind of annoying. Normally I love the geeky tech guys but something about this guy just isn't right. I don't know if it's that the actor/writers haven't found the right stride for him yet or if there's more going on to the character that simply remains to be revealed.
I've seen a pretty wide range of reactions to the show online, calling it all things from brilliant to unwatchable. From what I can tell though, the general consensus seems to be, "it's okay so far, but I'm going to keep watching to see if it gets better." There are all sorts of arguments as to why people should and shouldn't adopt this approach. It seems to me that each successive episode so far has gotten better and delved deeper into the story, so the watch and wait approach might be the way to go on this one, at least throughout the first season. It's not like it's got a full season, and if it doesn't get a season two, well, no real time wasted.
Either way, after last night I have realized that I really am enjoying this show and am very much willing to keep watching. I want to see what happens, it's as simple as that. It isn't perfect, but even Buffy and Angel had those moments that were more "wha--?" than "hmm...." if you know what I mean. I see a lot of potential here. If Fox can live up to it's promise to give the show a chance (and not pull a Firefly on us), then we might get a few good seasons worth of television at least.
What it boils down to is this. I trust Joss Whedon. He knows where he wants to go, even if he's still trying to find the best way to get there. The man's not perfect, but he's proven himself enough that most of us were willing to give the show a chance. Now that it's come down to decision time--is the show worth continuing to watch?--I vote yes.
How about you?
Have a good one folks,
C
