User Reviews

Eliza Dushku is not only beautiful, she is also cool. Notice the TV projects she chooses as a lead - "Tru Calling" and "Dollhouse", both multi-genre hybrids. Sure, they may not get huge ratings and they may get cancelled before their time, but they do develop their own cult following later on, and most importantly, they are challenging. The pilot of "Dollhouse" is nothing if not challenging: Dushku has to play about 5 different characters (happy-go-lucky Caroline, desperate Caroline, childlike Echo, efficient negotiator, panicked formerly abused girl), and she pulls it off. The rest of the cast seems to be great as well, with Harry Lennix especially solid as a conscientious employer of the Dollhouse. "Ghost" has its work cut out for it: it has to set up a very complicated premise and explain some of its rules, tell a main story (the kidnapping and the negotiation), and start an on-going subplot (Paul Ballard's investigation). As a result, it feels a bit cluttered and disorienting at first. But there is a lot to look at, listen to and think about even in just this one episode (starting with the title itself: does it refer to that one elusive perverted kidnapper, or to the girl who committed suicide and now gets her revenge?). It's strange, absorbing, and has quite a few surprises in store (bet you didn't think the father would get shot, did you?). I'm looking forward to more now. *** out of 4.

A very promising start to Joss's new show. As with any pilot, there is a lot of setting up to take place. So we are given two tasters of Echo (Eliza Dushku) on Dollhouse assignments. The one with the birthday guy is somewhat poignant, as Echo feels she has met someone she would really like to get to know better, not realising that her memories of her time with him are about to be wiped. Then there's the more substantial story line of the kidnapped girl. This one also introduces the fact that memory transplants also contain the flaws of their originators (in this case, short sightedness and asthma). There will obviously continue to be episodic story lines each week. But we are also given tantalising glimpses of several ongoing story arcs. There's the FBI guy (Helo from Battlestar Gallactica) who believes (contrary to his colleagues) in the existence of the Dollhouse and obviously intends to investigate. There's also the hint that Echo's memory is not being completely wiped after each assignment. And there is the question of what did she do in the first place that prompted her entry to the Dollhouse. And there's the enigmatic scene at the end with the guy surrounded by dead bodies watching a video of Echo in her former existence. So there's plenty to whet the appetite from this pilot episode. Although I have so far only seen this episode, I understand from friends who have seen more that the first few episodes are more "story of the week" while the ongoing story lines kick in to a greater extent in about week 5 or 6. But I have certainly found enough to intrigue from the pilot to keep me watching and trusting in Joss's writing skills.

This, the official series opener, begins with a young woman being made an offer. She has clearly done something wrong and is told that in exchange for five years of her life all that will be forgotten about. The next time we see her she is racing a guy on a motorbike before partying with him; it would appear that he is the one for her. She then returns to a facility and after undergoing a treatment all that is forgotten.

She is now known as 'Echo' and works for part of a shadowy agency known as 'Dollhouse'. She is an 'Active' an agent who is programmed with a new personality for each assignment; an assignment that that will be completely forgotten afterwards.

In this episode a young girl is kidnapped by men demanding a substantial ransom. Echo is programmed to be a hostage negotiator Eleanor Penn; a composite of several people with knowledge of the field… including somebody who was kidnapped as a child. Everything appears to be going to plan until 'memories' of this kidnapping come back and Echo realises the kidnapper had previously kidnapped the person who helped provide her memories and instantly knows he has no intention of returning the girl.

While this is going on an FBI Agent Paul Ballard is investigating Dollhouse so it is clear that it is operating outside the law.

Having never watched this series before I had no idea what to expect; the premise seemed intriguing though and I'd enjoyed other series from creator Joss Whedon. I was quickly hooked even though early on not everything as obvious… initially I wondered if the bike race scene might be a flashback to whatever got our protagonist in trouble. There is a dark tone; it is clear that Echo and her fellow actives can be hired by anybody with the money whether they want a loving girlfriend for a few days or a hostage negotiator. Eliza Dushku is a really solid lead making each of the characters she appears as feel real whether it is Echo, the 'sexy girlfriend' or Eleanor Penn. Not too much is said about the Dollhouse organisation although it is clear that it operates outside the law and puts its own secrecy above all other considerations; including the safety of a child who if they don't save her will be abused and almost certainly murdered. Overall this was an impressive opener than left me looking forward to the next episode.

The good; More involving plot, more drama and excitement and more realistic depiction of the reality of the Dollhouse.

The bad; The bike ride is stupid, such a Hollywood cliché that they turn out to be racing. Boyd is the worst sniper ever, demonstrating why you should always use a semi-auto rifle. Her client is also way too handsome as Joss and ED comment but if she'd turned up with an ordinary looking guy would we not know something was up? Plenty of pandering to the studio frankly. How does Sierra fire 3 rounds from her pump action shotgun without working the action?

Best line; Addy "Nothing is what it appears to be" (how true that will turn out to be!) also like Tophers "Everybody who's running to something is also running away"

Packing heat; Sierra with a shotgun and pistol (although she has a carbine in the chopper?), Boyd with a pistol and sniper rifle.

Kinky dinky; ED dancing is always a treat. especially in her 'decent by half an inch' dress. She also does a twirl around the stripper pole move when she gets into the van (check out her film The New Guy for more in that vein). We also get to glimpse her having bondage sex with her client. On the other hand her sexy librarian look is also quite something. Joss says he has a thing about libraries/librarians, wonder if Tony Head knows?

How'd they get away with that? All the stuff with the kidnapped girl and what happened to Echo's personality as a kid is horrific. Sierra's first treatment is hard to watch.

This weeks fantasy; Sierra is a SWAT team commander, Echo is a bike-riding party girl and hostage negotiator.

Total number personalities; 2 for Echo making a total of; 6 1 for Sierra making; 2 1 for Victor

Total dolls;3 Echo, Sierra and Victor

Addy is a bit British; It's the tea again

Bondage; Echo ties up her client during sex

Kills; Sierra kills 2 of the kidnappers

Dolls injured; Echo slapped around by the kidnapper

Capt subtext: Dr Saunders offers Echo a massage. One wonders how she danced so wonderfully after dropping a motorbike on her leg?

Happy hookers: This time Echo explicitly does have sex with her paying client

Know the face? Recurring Joss Whedon stars 3 ;Amy Acker, Eliza Dushku and Ballards sparring partner was the 'walking action figure' Spike had to fight in season 6 of Buffy to get his soul back. Also look out for Tim Kellehen who was also in Dark Skies, another conspiracy-fest series where he played a similar character (his Dark Skies co-star Conor Farrell also turns up in Buffy as the soldier who takes over The Initiative)

Fanfic: Plenty of bondage sex in fanfic

Reminds me off; Adele is very Lilah with a touch of Joyce Summers whilst Dominic is very Marcus. The relationship between Active and Handler very reminiscent of Watcher and Slayer. Ballards FBI contact is called Loomis which may be a Halloween reference.The boat sequence was so Miami Vice I had to check that Boyd was wearing socks. The kidnapped girl stuff is reminiscent of the Angel ep 'Damage'.

Questions and observations; Caroline remarks 'Like she always said', is this Mrs Dundee whom she refers to in her video? Obviously it's not ED doing all the bike work but can she ride at all? You wonder what the Faith on a motorcycle spin off would have been like especially with ghost-Spike as sidekick? The first time I ever actually heard Lady Gaga was watching this ep. Caroline says 'Hello mom' in her video, is her family still out there? The kidnap victim's dad refers to 'That reality crap', Joss putting the boot in? ED refers to her first movie with period cars which was presumably 'This Boys Life'. Joss is a fan of BSG AND Millers Crossing, he sure has taste! Obviously the budget is pretty tight to judge by their comments. What does Echo mean when she babbles 'Is it bigger than your thumb?'

If you're expecting to see another Buffy the Vampire Slayer, entertaining plots, great humorous dialog, and a hot chick kicking people's ass, don't watch the first episode.

When a client's daughter is kidnapped, the Dollhouse cranks out Echo with the personality of a negotiator. Her job is to facilitate the transaction, giving the money in exchange for the girl. That's it. She doesn't try to betray them and kill them all, she doesn't try to reduce the price-tag, she doesn't try to be sneaky to get the girl. I was expecting the kidnapping to be a sham, where the owners of the dollhouse fake the kidnapping to get the money and also test out their merchandise (read: Echo). I guess that's something that only happens in La Femme Nikita though.

So there's very little violence, the dialog is forced and borderline cheesy, and the plot is so simple it's boring. I have high hopes for this series, but if the other 6 are this dull it's going to be canceled. The time-slot isn't doing anything to help out. I suggest skipping this episode and maybe watching an episode of Dark Angel instead.

Dollhouse really stumbles out of the gate, and considering all the hype and promotion, that's a surprise.

We have Echo (Eliza Dushku) who is mysteriously forced to join this group, by Olivia Williams, who we presume is covering her expenses in exchange for becoming one of a small group of operatives, women who can take on any role, any personality that have been programmed into them by a programming chair attached to a computer/recorder that can wipe the mind or insert memories.

In this episode, we learn a bit about how the machine that does this mind control works, we learn that a cop is on the trail of the people running Dollhouse and we learn that borrowing someone else's memories to do a job may have unexpected side effects. You would think they would have planned for that.

At any rate, the episode fails on most levels, in that the story wasn't believable even within its own context and it wasn't even terribly sexy, which was the main selling point of the program (at least according to the promos Fox ran for it for weeks).

Plenty of questions, but not many answers, and no real characters you would care about to wait and see if any of this gets resolved. If this show wants to survive, they better gear up, fast.

The basic premise of this show is both good and bad. It's good because we have, potentially, a large group of characters who can become anybody, and deal with anything. It's bad because the existence of a place like Dollhouse, with brainwashed human beings being hired out to the rich for what is basically illegal purposes, is mindbogglingly immoral. It's so ethically offensive that the whole premise remains so unbelievable that it's laughable. Maybe if it had been set in a different culture, or on an alien planet, it would have felt intriguing. And the people in charge should have been bona-fide psychos. Instead we get some relatively good guys who saves the kidnapped girl even after their operation has gone south. Well, it's nothing if not inconsistent.

Which brings me to the next point: the subject matter. Little girls getting kidnapped and (almost) raped? And young women being brainwashed into being whatever their masters want, even assassins? Not only is it fundamentally silly (you'd think they'd at least use guys for assassination jobs), but THERE'S JUST NOTHING FOR THE VIEWER TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT HERE!! Am I supposed to appreciate sexy girls who're being manipulated into doing extreme and unconscionable stuff without their knowledge? Well, I can't! This basic concept could be used for anything, and Whedon chooses to use it for uncomfortable, edgy thriller material instead of more light-hearted entertainment? Sorry, it doesn't work. I don't want to watch this kind of material, and I don't think it deserves to succeed.

It's a shame about Dushku, who's doing a good job, but I have to say I really, really don't like the idea this show is based on. Not in this kind of execution. It could work in an alien setting, or with a much more light-hearted tone. But this, this is too creepy and too misanthropic. There's no way I can believe that the people in charge at the Dollhouse could possibly live with themselves.

3 out of 10.