Dollhouse

This might not sound like good news, but it is — the first episode of the second season of "Dollhouse," is very relaxed. Not a whole lot happens, but this actually could be a good sign. The season premiere, "Vows," (it airs Sept. 25 9/8 C) feels like it was made to set up the entire season, and not just to grab attention. Joss Whedon isn’t really known for his bang-up pilots (he’s not J.J. Abrams in that regard), he’s more known for setting up a show’s characters, dynamics, humor and some philosophical fat to chew on.

Why relaxed is better is that instead of feeling like everything has to be very self-contained and bursting with craziness, Whedon and company seem to be taking the approach that they have time to tell their stories and to tell them right. Sure, there’s no guarantee of a third season for "Dollhouse" (and a cancellation after this season would be a lot more painful), but they’re acting like it is and that’s good. Season 1 was pretty good, and got progressively better, but I have a feeling Season 2 is going to be great now that the jitters are gone.

What was kind of missing last year, especially from the first half of Season 1, was an ensemble cast we could care about. One of Whedon’s biggest strengths — and something that’s happened in all his previous shows — is developing this entourage of well-drawn characters, who interact in interesting ways, and are outsiders because of what they’re dealing with. Buffy and company couldn’t reveal to most that they were quietly going about saving Sunnydale from eternal damnation; the Firefly crew were scavengers with two fugitives on board and Angel and his compadres were working to bring down the evil Wolfram & Hart. "Dollhouse" lacked that cohesive group of people we really cared about, partly because the dolls don’t have personalities at all. But in the first episode, it looks like they’re fixing that absence of a Scooby gang contingent.

"Vows" is definitely an ensemble effort. Echo doesn’t account for most of the screen time, in fact it’s actually Topher and Dr. Claire Saunders (they have a strange new dynamic) who get the larger storylines. (Yes, Amy Acker is in the first episode.) I still don’t think "Dollhouse" will ever be Whedon’s greatest show, but there’s still plenty of time to make the characters much more gripping. "Angel" didn’t really feel right until they’d got a good group together with Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Fred, Lorne and Gunn.

The "mission" part of "Vows" pretty much plays second fiddle to everything else. Echo gets married to wealthy financier (Jamie Bamber), who is up to some shady stuff. The rest is about how everyone else is adapting after the havoc Alpha caused. Here’s a few of the details from the episode — mostly minor spoilers, but if you don’t want to know much about the episode, don’t read ahead.

— Since finding out that she’s not really Dr. Claire Saunders, and not really Whiskey either, Amy Acker’s character is going through an identity crisis. In the first episode of Season 2, she practically gets more screen time (and development) than she got all of last season. Acker will appear in several episodes in Season 2 even though she’s cast in ABC’s "Happy Town." Fox recently announced that Miracle Laurie also will return in several episodes as Mellie/Madeline/November along with several guest stars like Summer Glau.

— Alexis Denisof makes his first appearance as U.S. Senator Daniel Perrin — although only on TV at a televised press conference where he talks about the Rossum Corporation. (They’re calling him the new Ballard.) Since he’s playing a U.S. Senator, he’s obviously ditched the English accent and is going with his regular American one. Bamber, on the other hand, who is English, gets to play English. Whedon sure does love the English.

— Topher has a new admirer — sort of.

— We find out how long Echo has left on her Dollhouse contract.

— Someone leaves a Dear John letter with the message: "I am running out of excuses."

— Victor and Sierra only make brief appearances, although Victor’s is significant in answering the to-be-scarred or not-to-be-scarred question and Sierra’s is darn funny. She basically is racist — against herself.

— Echo is not all fixed after her run-in with Alpha. She’s personality-hopping, and remembering, and Ballard uses that to his advantage.

— Here’s a nice interview with Joss Whedon on Season 2 and a video interview with Dichen Lachman and Enver Gjoka