Dollhouse

TV Review: DOLLHOUSE - SEASON 1 - ’True Believer’

While the concept of a blind Eliza Dushku infiltrating a religious cult sounds ridiculous on paper, the execution and writing is quite good - even if we-re stuck with a ’Man Reaction’ ’B’ story

Grade: B

Stars: Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikett, Olivia Williams, Fran Kranz, Harry J. Lennix, Enver Gjokaj, Dichen Lachman

Writer(s): Tim Minear

Director: Allan Kroeker

Release Date: March 13, 2009

When I first saw the previews for “True Believer,” I was a little concerned. Having your main character programmed to be blind to infiltrate a religious cult just sounded a little too far-fetched – especially after Echo was pursued by a survivalist nut, dealt with a fanatical serial killer and robbed stolen art in the last three weeks alone.

But writer Tim Minear managed to deliver the goods, creating a pretty solid stand alone episode of DOLLHOUSE that was only marred by a pretty useless “B” story of one of the dolls Lubov (Enver Gjokaj) having a “man-reaction” (aka an “erection”) to Sierra (Dichen Lachman) while in the doll-state.

This apparently is a no-no in the doll world, and someone felt it must have been important enough to devote a third of the episode to this pretty ridiculous subplot. If it were just a throwaway notion, it probably would have been mildly amusing – but an entire subplot, come on.

That diversion aside, “True Believer” sets up a bizarre religious cult headed by a former criminal. The ATF (the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) wants to take down this leader because of his criminal past and the only way to gain access is enlisting (unbeknownst to them) a doll. Guess who? Yes, Echo (Eliza Dushku) is called into action to infiltrate as a blind girl. In a cool bit of sci-fi, the Dollhouse organization make her legally blind and by doing this, transform her eyes into a camera so they can see what’s going on in this cult.

Some nice little tension here and there – and the blind bits aren’t overplayed by Dushku.

Of course, Echo’s handler Boyd (Harry Lennix) is once again called in to save the day and save Echo from harm, but I guess that’s going to be the show’s requisite formula.

Meanwhile, FBI agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) is also getting closer to Echo, when he sees her on the TV during the cult stand-off. We’ll see if that comes to a head any time soon.

Despite the “Man Reaction” “B” story, it did feature more of Dr. Claire (Amy Acker) who lightens up the show whenever she gets screen time. I’m also really digging the head of Dollhouse security Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond). On the surface, I sense they’re trying to make him an antagonist and sort-of bad guy – because he wants to see Echo destroyed before she becomes another Alpha. He even goes as far as trying to leave Echo for dead at the religious compound (cool twist). But the weird part is, Dominic is the voice of reason in a very complicated and occasionally convoluted series. He’s almost the voice of the frustrated audience watching the show – why let Echo kill more people when she’s already on the fritz? He’s right dammit! Echo is a problem. And since she volunteered for this program (or at least as far as we know), then it’s her own damn fault for having a strong-will and short-circuiting her programming.

The other unfortunate part of DOLLHOUSE is its shortsighted concept. For the show to continue past this season, it needs to jettison the major conceit of the show (sending Echo on assignments) and transform into something else altogether. Because once (and let’s preface that with an “if” as well) Echo realizes who she is, all bets are off and the show will need to find a new approach to its storytelling.

“True Believer” certainly held my interest, and didn’t seem as preposterous as some of the previous episodes, but it still has a long way to go. Dushku has said in interviews that the show really kicks into gear starting next week.

Let’s hope she’s right – and wasn’t programmed to say that.