Dollhouse

US, February 10, 2010 - It was hard not to look at Dollhouse: Season 2’s existence as something of a miracle, given the ratings, and it was obvious the show was almost certainly on borrowed time and unlikely to continue past the thirteen episodes ordered. That being said, I really hoped Joss Whedon could just go all out and deliver the kind of terrific entertainment he’s known for.

Season 2 of Dollhouse is certainly better than the first year, but I can’t say it was the home run I was hoping for. The early episodes, returning to Echo’s "engagement of the week" formula, showed some of the old flaws again, including the limitations of Eliza Dushku, who when asked to play, say, a ditzy college girl ("Belle Chose"), felt like someone blatantly acting a part, when the entire concept is that Echo becomes these people. And also, there were more of the huge questions about these engagements and their less than credible circumstances that went unanswered, such as just how much money and time was being put into Echo taking on the role of a mother to a newborn baby ("Instinct"), and how her presence was explained to everyone in her fake husband’s life.

But the fifth episode of the season, "The Public Eye", began to really elevate a bigger ongoing storyline for the show, involving the evil Rossum corporation and just how manipulative they are, as we met folks like Rossum exec Matthew Harding (Keith Carradine) and learned the Washington, DC Dollhouse included the awesome (albeit underused) Ray Wise, as Lipman, and Summer Glau, as Bennett. We also met Daniel Perrin (Alexis Denisof), a Senator hell-bent on tasking Rossum down, whose storyline included a very cool, well handled twist.

However, one arena in which Dollhouse continued to struggle was when it came to creating fully formed, involving characters – an odd issue, given Whedon’s track record. It wasn’t all bad – Building off of Season 1, the Dolls Sierra and Victor remained highly sympathetic, especially as we got to know more about their true selves. Dichen Lachman was given a standout episode in "Belonging", which had some core flaws (like the show itself), but also included what was easily some of the most emotional and powerful material of the show. Enver Gjokaj in the meantime continued to prove what an amazing actor he was. The true chameleon in a show about chameleons, Gjokaj dazzled playing one incredibly different role after another, making it all the more frustrating to realize we never saw Echo do the same thing.

I never warmed to Fran Kranz as Topher, and in Season 2, he continued to often annoy me, with far too mannered and unfunny would be comedic bits. However, Kranz was actually quite adept at the more dramatic scenes he was called upon to do, including in "Belonging," which showed a different side to Topher.

And yet this was a series that was still filled with contradictions and reveals that didn’t truly add up. We’d find out the back-story to Bennett and why she hated Caroline and it raised more questions than anything. Whether or not DeWitt was truly a villain or not became a big focus as the season progressed, but there were ultimately too many back and forths with her, and it felt like Whedon was essentially letting her off the hook at a certain point.

Worst of all, the two dullest, least interesting characters included the central one, Echo, and the man increasingly portrayed as the would-be love of her life, Paul Ballard. Any attempt to show sparks between these two fell utterly flat, and it was odd to see a greater and greater focus put on the two’s potential romance in the later episodes, considering it just never felt genuine.

But even as the characters were wobbly, the storylines of the show were getting more exciting and complex, leading up to my personal favorite episode of the entire series, "The Attic," which took a cool, trippy and dark look at one of the show’s most notable mysteries, while setting up the final conflicts in the last episodes. By "Getting Closer" you could feel Whedon and co rushing to cram a lot into the final three episodes, but it continued to be fun and clever and I was genuinely intrigued to see where things would go after a couple of huge plot twists…

…which made it all the more disappointing to see the ball dropped in "The Hollow Men", which had the onus of essentially wrapping up a lot of the series one episode before the true finale, "Epitaph Two", took us back to the future from last season’s unaired episode. I think all Dollhouse viewers knew it was unlikely every plot thread would be completely dealt with, given the rushed ending, and that was understandable. The problem was, the things that were focused on ended up being handled very poorly, including the explanation behind Boyd’s true history, which never added up or felt believable. I also was incredibly let down to see Amy Acker pretty much wasted in "The Hollow Men." Her character, Claire Saunders, had been one of Dollhouse’s best, but had to be written out of most of the season due to Acker’s commitments to Happy Town. So why then discard any attempt to give Saunders more closure, even while you had Acker appearing throughout this episode?

"The Hollow Men" was a rather appropriately (if sadly) named episode for a show that certainly had its cool and thoughtful moments, but never felt like it was fully formed. The show began as one dealing with a lot of issues of moral ambiguity, as we questioned how any of these people could work at such a place as the Dollhouse, while also delving into a look at identity, as Echo became more of her own person, and wondered what it would mean if Caroline returned to her body. But so few of these themes were dealt with satisfactorily, especially the Echo/Caroline question, which ended by essentially being ignored, after a huge build up.

...a couple not worth caring about. There were certainly big events in the final two episodes, including the deaths of three major characters. Yet it carried very little weight and I felt none of the sense of loss or depth Whedon has excelled at in all his other series before this. Dollhouse was certainly not a worthless show – it kept my interest for most of its run – but it also never fully overcame certain flaws that were difficult, if not impossible, to ignore.

Joss Whedon has created some of the greatest television series and moments ever. I’m sure he can do it again. But everyone is allowed a misstep, and this was one for him.

"Shall I go now?"

Yes Echo, you shall.