Dollhouse

There is such a thing as delayed gratification. I know this mainly because I’ve been watching Dollhouse. And gratification was a few weeks in coming. But then, I found that I’d turned from being interested and undecided to a slathering fangirl, overnight.

It wasn’t unexpected by any means: slathering fangirl is not an unknown character to me. I like being enthusiastic about stuff, it is what I do; the surprising thing was the fact that it came on when everyone said it would.

Everyone was saying from the beginning, not least because it came straight from Joss Whedon’s mouth, that Fox, the show’s network in the US, had decreed that the first five episodes should be able to stand alone. This was presumably so someone coming into it cold could work out what was going on, and not feel like they shouldn’t bother watching just because they’d missed an episode, or hadn’t seen the first one.

So, everyone was saying, hang on till episode six, which is where the back story gets filled in, the story widens out, unexpected things happen in unexpected places - and the Whedonness would begin in earnest.

So we watched, and hung on. I won’t deny I was a bit worried about Dollhouse to begin with. It seems a strange and amoral approach to a difficult concept: you have these people, these empty vessels who can be filled with any personality, skillset, knowledge, etc. They’re used for anything people (who can afford to rent a beautiful blank-canvas of a body) want them for. Sometimes it might be good things, like hostage negotiation or undercover work ... But most of the time it seems to be – well, prostitution for the superrich or hyperkinky, basically.

And that’s a difficult premise to accept for a series, if that was what it was about, but then (she treads carefully to avoid any trace of anything that could be a spoiler ever) if perhaps it was about that premise and how difficult it was to accept, then ... maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult.

It should start on Sci Fi soon, and we may just review every episode here. But for now, I’m just saying: people said don’t give up through the first five episodes, and ... um ... OK, I’m repeating that. If you’re going to give it a chance, give it at least six or seven hours’ worth of chance.

And, yes, I have no idea why a network would decide that was the best way to hit an eager and loyal market with a brand new TV show. I just know that, despite some shaky moments and annoying characters (which I can’t mention for fear of spoilers, so please bear with me), I’m waiting eagerly for the next episode, and I have my name carved into the Whedon/Dollhouse slathering-fangirl wall. And I am not ashamed.

I realise if you’re in the UK and you’ve already seen this, you may have done so by nefarious means, but nevertheless, do you agree? Disagree? Is there anything else you can add, without spoilers?