Welcome To The Dollhouse

I am a fan of Joss Whedon. Ever since Buffy I've had a place in my heart for the very, very talented writer/director/producer. It's in his strong female characters, his quirky writing and his wonderful way of making Monsters of the Week that are so much more than that. In defeating the MotW, Joss's characters generally fight something in themselves that needs fighting. 

I've followed Joss's every move and needless to say I was thrilled with the news of Dollhouse. I was even more thrilled with the news that Eliza Dushku (or better known as Faith) would play an important part in it. I've quiet recently watched Tru Calling and became an even bigger fan of Eliza. Alright, granted, she has a rather limited acting range but that has never stopped me from enjoying anything she plays in.

Anxiously awaiting the first episode of Dollhouse, I took the time to read up on the premise. The idea is (at first glance) rather simple. Someone somewhere has discovered the technology to erase a person's own personality (creating Dolls) and replace it with (mixed) personalties that used to belong to other people or which serve a specific purpose. This is a package deal, unfortunately, which means the newly created Actives also get the not-so-fortunate character traits of the person they have been imprinted with. This technology boils down to one thing: people for hire. For anything. 

When the first episode eventually aired I liked it but I wasn't hooked. Honestly, I would watch anything by Joss and Eliza could read me the phonebook and I wouldn't get bored but still. There are only so many bad one-liners and forced story lines one can ignore and only for so long. Episode two came and went and then came episode 3 and I was officially hooked. And I'm ashamed to say it wasn't Eliza that roped me in. Or Joss because hell, nothing in the writing even indicates Joss was in the same room as the writers at the time the episodes were written. No, two people pulled me in. 

First off Adele DeWitt (Olivia Williams). She's the boss with a lovely English accent and killer instincts. Keeping a tight reign on her empire you get the feeling she is well aware of the moral complications of the operation she runs but truly believes there is a greater good to it. 

And then there is Sierra (Dichen Lachman), new addition to the Dollhouse and played by an actress whom I hope to hear a lot more of. In the few episodes that anyone but Eliza Dushku's Echo got some screen time Lachman has already shown me she has a wide acting range.

Now episode six has aired, the episode on which all involved have reported Dollhouse should be getting better, and damn. I am officially hooked on Dollhouse. I finally saw some Joss, some great acting from all involved and some interesting, organic story lines. And not to mention some awesome fighting.  

I was kind of worried Dollhouse wasn't going to last longer than one season. Now I have hope it will. Alright, okay, it's still touch and go but with Joss at the wheel again, Dollhouse could finally live up to everyone's expectations.

Here's to Dollhouse and hope. May it be enough to give long life to this amazing series.