Dollhouse: The Dark Side of Whedon

Dollhouse premiered on Friday 13, 2009 with episode title, Ghost. The long anticipated TV series stars Eliza Dushku of Buffy fame. More importantly, to many of his fans, Dollhouse is the return of Joss Whedon (beloved creator of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly) to TV and the expansion of Whedon-verse.

Dollhouse is about a clandestine laboratory that can be hired to fulfill various assignments, from fantasy dates to rescue missions. The assignments are performed by programmable humans or "dolls" implanted with the requisite memory and personality tailored to each mission. After the assignment, the doll's memory and personality are then wiped out to begin again with a clean slate for the next one.

What made Whedon's work memorable in the past is the infusion of humor in the middle of a serious crisis. The stark contrast in attitude endears his shows to the audience. The humor does not necessarily come from a goofball character, but it could be something a purportedly serious character would do that made us smirk. Whedon characters of note here are the likes of Jayne from Firefly and Spike from Buffy.

A sci-fi drama, Dollhouse is seemingly a departure from Whedon's formula. If he sticks to the tone of the premier, then Dollhouse could be more along the lines of CSI than it is to Buffy. The show feels that dark and that serious! Now, Whedon has had some success with a darker show before in Buffy's spin-off, Angel. But even that show had bright spots in Cordelia Chase (played by Charisma Carpenter).

In Dollhouse, Whedon introduces five characters that could drive or turn the story. First is Echo, the lead "doll" and main character of the show. She is played by Eliza Dushku. We are likely to follow her assignment from week to week. Somewhere in the series, she'll have to snap out of her programming and somehow regain her real memories. Otherwise, she'll never develop a personality that fans will fall in love with because she'll have a new one every week.

Next is Boyd Langdon played by Harry Lennix and Echo's handler or bodyguard. He is constantly with her and seems to be developing sympathy towards Echo. He's either an ex-cop or an ex-military and has a strong sense of compassion for those in need. It was Langdon who convinced senior authority to continue with the rescue of the little girl after the botched negotiation.

Then there is Adelle Witt played by Olivia Williams and the head of the Dollhouse laboratory. She seems to govern with a firm hand with only the interest of the laboratory in mind. But she is willing to hear out reasons. In Ghost, after the negotiation was botched and the client was shot, she could have pulled out and taken "clean-up" measures to hide the laboratory's involvement. Instead, she approved a backup plan of armed rescue because Langdon pointed out that they still have a mission which is to get back the little girl.

And there is Paul Ballard played by Tahmoh Penikett and an FBI agent assigned to investigate the Dollhouse. We didn't get much more from him other than that he was catching flack from his bosses because he could not find proof that there's an underground "dollhouse" operation that is trafficking humans. But he is a monkey wrench that could blow the whole operation.

Finally, there is Topher Brink played by Fran Kranz and the main programmer for the Dollhouse laboratory. He researches and implements the backstory and personality for the doll in each assignment. He gleefully goes about his work, admiring each successful operation as a triumph of genius notwithstanding that the subjects are humans. For Stargate: Atlantis fans, Topher Brink, if developed well, could be the next Dr. Rodney McKay, an arrogant, yet sensitive technocrat who considers himself above the intelligence level of everyone around him. If there are any need for humor, it could come from Topher.

All in all, I'm rating Dollhouse's premier episode a 3 out of 5. The only character that grabbed me so far is Boyd Langdon. He is someone willing to go against the grain to follow his intuition. Everyone else seems to be cut and dry, including Echo. Still, I'm curious enough to watch the next few episodes especially on how Whedon will fit the current make-up, if at all, into his formula where the fans can have their next Spike or Jayne.

The author is a web producer and writes freelance on cool geeky topics such as science fiction movie reviews and Transformers movie action figures. From time to time, he also writes about career-oriented subjects such as where to find an online project management certification, a specially useful credential as Congress passes President Obama's stimulus plan.