From the beginning, “Dollhouse” was a rickety premise for a series, but it strikes me as being purposely rickety — as if creator Joss Whedon wants to challenge himself — with each episode attempting to prop up the foundation.
The series came about when Whedon dreamed up a vehicle for star Eliza Dushku while they were having dinner. Although she was great as Faith on “Buffy,” Dushku has the typical TV actor’s desire to play a variety of characters rather than developing one character.
In “Dollhouse,” Dushku is Echo, a doll (an adult body with the mind of an innocent child) programmed with a new personality each week. The production values of this show can’t be denied (the overhead shot of the five doll beds forming a star pattern feels iconic already), nor can the cast (from the beginning, I liked Echo’s handler, played by the rich-voiced Harry Lennix).
The show has failed in one regard: Getting me to care about Echo. She is after all a blank slate, and we haven’t learned anything about her original personality as college student Caroline and how she ended up as a doll. I’m also surprised at how unmemorable Echo’s programmed characters have been on a week-to-week basis, especially since the chance to show her range was the selling point for Dushku.
But “Dollhouse” has succeeded in another way, because I do care about FBI agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) who is investigating the disappearance of Caroline and the secrets of the Dollhouse. Despite being obsessed with the Caroline case, Ballard shacks up with his neighbor Mellie (Miracle Laurie), and only after he falls in love with her does he learn that she is a programmed doll code-named November (but, of course, in her Mellie guise, she doesn’t know that).
This sci-fi mind-bender would be right at home in a Philip K. Dick novel: Is the joy of loving someone lost when you find out they were programmed to love you? Does the fact that she doesn’t know she’s programmed make a difference?
And here are two questions for you, dear reader: Has this Whedon/Dushku experiment been a success or a failure? Do you hope it comes back for a second season, or have you outgrown these dolls?
(“Dollhouse” airs at 8 p.m. Central Fridays on Fox, and it can also be seen on www.hulu.com/dollhouse.)