Dollhouse

Ballroom 20 at Comic-Con filled to capacity, as fans eagerly listened to fandom’s demi-God, Joss Whedon, and Eliza Dushku share a few secrets about their latest collaboration, FOX’s mid-season sci-fi drama, Dollhouse.

Following the series’ teaser trailer, which made the rounds on the interwebs several weeks ago, Whedon and Dushku took the stage, eager to discuss Dushku’s character of Echo and her roll as an "Active" in the Dollhouse. Joining them was Helo himself, Battlestar Galactica’s Tahmoh Penikett, to share some insight into the latest addition to the Whedon ’verse.

"The show will explore, in ridiculously complicated detail, how the Actives [live] every personality in the world accept their own," Whedon explained.

Penikett, who just two weeks ago was shooting the BSG series finale, plays FBI Agent Paul Smith as a man "who wants to know where Echo came from, what the Dollhouse is." The actor continued by saying that he expects a "big, challenging arc ahead for his character", involving his professional curiosity toward the Dollhouse and his personal interest in Echo.

And how will that arc play out in the new "second pilot" Whedon will shoot for the series? The panelists were tight lipped about specifics, aside from what Whedon already shared with fans online. However, Whedon did tell the audience that we can expect "more iconic introductions to these characters, to Echo", without us knowing exactly how Echo ended up at the Dollhouse, but "why the Dollhouse wanted her there to begin with."

Here’s what else Buffy’s master let slip:

* Nine episodes are in various stages of writing and only the pilot has been shot. Whedon said they planned to develop 13 episodes, but decided to hold up and actually start "writing some first" (these first nine) to get a better handle on where things can go.

* Some of the ideas we can expect to see will revolve around "the ridiculously unstable relationships between all these people...life in the Dollhouse, workers, lab techs, salesmen, personality sale issues", etc.

* Each episode will explore, in one way or another, the Actives’ "search for a soul", preferably the one that is wholly theirs, Whedon said.

* A fan asked if we will see a musical episode in Echo’s future, to which Whedon answered with a wink: "I have never thought about Eliza singing on Dollhouse, true or false?" Dushku seemed very keen on the idea, as did Whedon, as long as "we ease into it", implying that they would work the music angle organically into the story, in concert with the personality Echo is wearing that week.

* Another fan asked if there would be webisodes? Whedon says: "Yes, gonna rock some webisodes. Some will be one-shots, some have [story] arcs in them, but definitely doing it to make dozens and dozens of dollars."