Dollhouse

So… I’ve seen the first episode of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Yes, the much anticipated, much discussed, much stressed over — by Whedon fans nervous about network tampering — series arrived on my desk yesterday.

As you may have read by now, Dollhouse tells the tale of Echo (Eliza Dushku), a young woman working (though some would use more damning words) for a mysterious company as an "Active." Her memories have essentially been wiped clean, leaving her in a simplistic, childlike state... until she gets an assignment, at which point she has a completely new identity and skill set imprinted upon her, as she temporarily becomes whomever the client wants or needs her to be for a given situation.

The show doesn’t feel like anything Joss Whedon has done before, in ways both positive and negative. On one hand, it’s great that the man who brought us such amazing television as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly (all among my very favorite TV shows) is creating another new world and a series that isn’t directly evoking his earlier work or feeling like a simple copy of something he’s done before. And there’s no doubt he’s come up with an idea that is noteworthy and raises lots of intriguing questions.

On the other hand, some small moments aside, the first episode – and note, this is the new first episode, replacing the earlier one which has been discarded – is surprisingly lacking when it comes to the trademark wit Whedon is known for. Even the most outwardly geeky character, Topher (Fran Kranz), has only some mildly amusing lines rather than anything all that funny or memorable, and he’s the type of clever audience proxy and/or sarcasm supplier Whedon usually excels at.

There is definitely a strong concept at work here – In a nutshell, you have a show that feels like Alias meets The Matrix, which is a pretty cool combination. The idea that Echo and her fellow "actives" can have any identity and skill imprinted upon them means the show has tremendous opportunities as far as exploring very different scenarios and even delving into multiple genres, depending on what Echo is sent to do each week. Without getting specific, the two scenarios in the first episode do a good job showing how very different these situations can be, as one is basically about romance and excitement, while the other is truly about life or death.

Simply by virtue of the way he is investigating the rumors of "the Dollhouse" – the nickname given to the place where the actives live and are programmed – Tahmoh Penikett’s FBI agent Paul Ballard feels a bit disconnected from the main story in the first episode, but that will no doubt change as time goes on. The always dependable Olivia Williams and Harry Lennix meanwhile quickly resonate as two of Echo’s bosses, who have very different sensibilities regarding Echo and the other actives – and the morality of what they are doing.

There have been questions regarding Dushku, and if the actress – so often cast as the tough girl – is the right person to pull off a role that will presumably need to show a tremendous amount of range. The first episode leaves the answer to that question unclear. Certainly, Dushku seems a bit more at home in one of the personas (hint: it’s the more lighthearted one) we see her playing than the other, but she also doesn’t embarrass herself in the least in the other. Whedon is clearly going to ask a lot of her in the episodes to come, and as a longtime fan of Dushku (Faith ruled!), I’m definitely pulling for her.

The first episode lacked a certain energy Whedon’s work usually has, and I felt myself thinking "this is interesting", without actually getting caught up in the story on a visceral level. It should be noted that Whedon has said that FOX has asked for the show to be more action-oriented, but that’s not exactly the case in the pilot, which has thriller elements, but not much in the way of kicking ass – at least not from Echo as yet. That’s not to say this (or any) show needs gun play and martial arts to be exciting, but there was a certain overly mellow tone to the entire episode that was surprising – one only need look at an episode like Buffy’s "The Body" to see how much Whedon can do with dialogue and emotion alone.

FOX infamously demanded a new pilot for Firefly — though Whedon is quick to point out that shooting a new first episode for Dollhouse was his suggestion this time — and the result, "The Train Job" was one of the weaker episodes of that wonderful series and far from the best example of all Firefly could be. Still, it did have that pivotal moment where Malcolm Reynolds kicked a tough talking prisoner into an engine that made you sit up and go, "Oh yes, this is a Joss Whedon show alright!" Unfortunately, the Dollhouse pilot has no such moment, either in dialogue or action. It’s certainly laying the foundation for something that can be quite compelling, but in and of itself, the first episode doesn’t exactly grab hold in the manner I hoped for.

However, the circumstances under which this episode was made, as part of a decision to re-tool the series, have to be taken into account and I’m definitely curious where the series will go in future episodes. Whedon has proven his talent time and again his involvement is reason enough to make Dollhouse a show worth keeping on your radar… and your DVR settings.

Dollhouse premieres Friday, February 13th on FOX.