Dollhouse is the latest effort from Cult phenom Joss Whedon. The show stars Eliza Dushku and is a heavy handed look at morality and money. Of course, anything filtered through Whedon’s brain becomes a little more complicated than that and Dollhouse is no exception to that rule.
Dollhouse is an organization that provides services for missions. A host of “dolls” live in their secret complex and can be purchased for certain amounts of time and programmed to be whomever you desire. While you automatically assume that the “dolls” are simply prostitutes, sex plays a very minimal role in this series. When it does play a role it is usually just a vehicle to get the plot to another place. The inaugural season of this series is a little too overcomplicated for its own good but it looks exceptional and is well-written- so much so, in fact, that I would bet it would seem a lot more impressive as a two hour feature film as opposed to its small screen incarnation.
For as impressive as the story line is here, Dollhouse is plagued by many things. For example, I am the first guy in line for a solid heavy handed drama but this is just too much for a fifty minute show. You feel drained after watching each one and so much attention to detail is paid that it has a very slow moving feel to it. Also, the casting is horrible. I rarely say this (let alone think it) but the actors don’t look the parts at all- its not even remotely believable. Eliza Dushku as the main “doll,” Echo,” is the perfect example. They play her as though she is the hottest woman on the planet, etc. when she looks like the girl next door. How they speak about her and act towards her throughout the series doesn’t fit her physical appearance at all. The rest of the cast fares just as poorly. Its not that they are bad actors, its simply that they don’t physically look the part each character portrays to the viewer.
I was only serviced with three of the four discs that are in this set so I haven’t seen the extras aside from the commentaries that are on each of the three discs I received. Extras include commentaries, trailers, deleted scenes, the unaired pilot episode, and a series of featurettes about the creation and design of the show. Overall this is a decent show that probably could have been as good as Heroes or Lost.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
