Dollhouse Ep 1 (No Spoilers)

First ep of Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse. It’s up on Hulu for US viewers, but with some internet jiggery pokery overseasers can also watch it.
I liked it. It felt like chapter one of something longer. Lots of stuff set up.
Most curiously, there was no lead character. The central/star character, Eliza Dushku’s Echo, is deliberately identity-less; she’s kind of haunting, and easy to watch, and clearly going to be at the centre of the series, but she is in no way a lead. It gives the show a weird, uncertain vibe.
It’s clearly intended as a procedural setup – each ep they’ll do a variation on the same theme. I expect this to last for about five episodes before Whedon and crew switch it up and start seriously upending the premise to go someplace else. Remember, Angel was a procedural show too, and by episode nine one of the three core cast was dead and the established pattern had been ditched for good…
There’s more than enough to keep me watching. Cool.

9 thoughts on “Dollhouse Ep 1 (No Spoilers)”

  2. I heard that the first episode was actually episode 2, and Fox (like with Firefly) decided not to air the pilot first. Some people commented that this made the episode a little weird as an opener.

  3. Getting it from a friend on Friday. You might have to show me how to do this internet jiggery pokery thing in case I need it for future episodes.

  5. I haven’t watched it yet, but several people I know in the US (all female, all Joss Whedon fans) have been very disparaging of the first episode saying that the acting leaves much to be desired, the dialogue lacks Whedon’s usual snap, that the central premise smacks of misogyny, and that the cobbling together of old sf tropes seems less distinctive and more, well, generic than other Whedon shows. There’s even been some speculation that he’s deliberately created a crap show to get out of his contract with Fox.
    But as I say I haven’t watched it yet so this is just reportage of other people’s opinion – they just happen to be opinions of people I respect.

  6. I also haven’t watched it, and I’ve also heard the bad reviews by some Whedonites…
    …which causes me to roll my eyes, because it’s exactly that kind of dismisal of a show after one episode that causes things to be cancelled in their first season. Things like, oh, I don’t know… Serenity?

  7. Joey: i’ve seen a lot of similar comment. Like Scott, it makes my eyes roll. The dialogue complaints mostly turn on the absence of the arch-cute comedy dialogue he did in Buffy. Angel and Firefly – the very same dialogue style lots of other people have expressed being over. Let him try a different trick for once, sheesh!
    The central premise smacks of misogyny? Of course it does, that’s part of the point, as the opening sequence makes extremely clear.
    Etc etc. It may not be a perfect show, it may not go anywhere interesting, Whedon sometimes mishandles gender/sex politics, etc etc. Nevertheless there’s clearly something interesting and thoughtful at work here and I’m looking forward to seeing it develop. Hopefully the procedural aspects of the show don’t bug me too much along the way.

  9. I watched it. Mostly felt like I’d seen it all before, but there were hints around the edges that something interesting might creep in. I’ll see how episode 2 plays for me.

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