Dollhouse: "Ghost" 2/13 - Grading & Discussion

[Aragorn]

Spoiler: Ghost

Echo (Eliza Dushku) is one of the "Actives" in the elite and illegal Dollhouse. Through different personality downloads, she plays the role of a lovestruck girl on a romantic weekend, and then a ruthlessly efficient kidnapping negotiator. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) is struggling with his assignment to uncover information on the Dollhouse. The chase has destroyed his marriage and is wrecking his career, and it doesn't seem that he'll stop until he uncovers the truth.

 

[Dream]

So will Faith be appearing in this?

 

[Samurai8472]

Alot is riding on this show's success. Some have little faith it will survive.

 

[Starbreaker]

This is a snoozefest.

 

[nx1701g]

This is a snoozefest.

I have to agree so far. Nice that they mentioned EJO though.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

So will Faith be appearing in this?

And a rough looking Fred.

 

[Starbreaker]

It's convoluted and boring, but I got to see Eliza Dushku in a towel.

 

[FALCONX0N]

I'm not too impressed so far. And a little preturbed about the premise to be honest. Especially factoring in that it was, according to rumor, borne out of a conversation that Eliza Dushku had with Joss Whedon (supposedly, they're very close, in a kind of mentor-way).

It's neat enough that I'll watch it next week, and I can tell it's got style. Acting is spotty, but hey, it's a pilot, they're never perfect acting wise. Eliza is good, I say, considering her character is 'I do not have a character.' Sleepy-time Echo is just annoying, though.

I do honestly want to see what Helo there gets up to, but the premise is just...too weird for me. Well, no...I can buy the premise, and it is intreaguing, I'm just not sure I can stomach it for the entire series run as the protagonists. My gut says that we're following the bad guys...and my gut says that Whedon knows this and will pull the rug out from under us mid-season. Coming from Whedon, it just seems kind of antithesisical (is that a word?) to some of his previous work which prided itself on the feminism and female empowerment--here, the main lead is essentially, a helpless, brainwashed slave. Like I said, my gut says it'll change and the real story is about Echo bringing DOWN this organization--if Fox lets the show get that far. Which they wont. Otherwise, I fear if I'm wrong, this is going to be a case of misaimed fandom--like all those fans which honestly see Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion as an ideal girlfriend. Those fans, I fear most of all. And if that's the case, that's actually the message that Whedon's trying to get across, then I can just picture the pitch for this show in my head:

Whedon: "Alright, yes, here's my new idea: Girls. Right? Hot girls."

Producer: "You've got my interest now, Mister Whedon, but, you've done that. Buffy. 7 years, changed television forever. Remember?"

"Right. Okay. Hot girls that bend to your every whim. They're programable, see? They can be lovers, or assassins, and--"

"Wasn't that an anime?"

"So was Firefly, nobody called me on that."

"Point. Continue. *Steeples fingers.*"

"Okay. So like I said, programmable. They bend to your every whim--if you're rich enough. That's the hook! These girls have no personality--except the one that you gave her! So it's, um, existential! And it's starring my friend Eliza..."

"Alright Whedon, enough. You want to do Eliza Dushku. That's fine, that's normal. The programable stuff, um....kinda weird. Go get some help, man. You need some therapy!"

"Right, exactly! And this is Hollywood, sooooo..."

"Good point! Here's several million dollars and a prime time slot!"

But I'll give it a few more eps before I make any real judgement on Dollhouse, aside from my snarky comments...

 

[ancientone51]

Was not impressed with it.

I'm sorry, Dushku really doesn't do much in this but be obvious and telegraph her 'brilliant and important acting" in this. She doesn't get lost in the role, any of them. She seems to think it is a chance to play/be so many parts and she isn't really any of them.

 

[Aragorn]

I'm in the wrong time zone to be watching live, plus I'm not at home, but is it touched upon that if you could tell someone that looks like Eliza Dushku to do whatever you want her to do, would naughty intent ensue? Sort of like with Anne Hathaway in Ella Enchanted.

 

[Lindley]

I found it intriguing enough. Not much of a "hook" anywhere, but better than most procedurals which might tell similar stories.

 

[Lindley]

I'm in the wrong time zone to be watching live, plus I'm not at home, but is it touched upon that if you could tell someone that looks like Eliza Dushku to do whatever you want her to do, would naughty intent ensue? Sort of like with Anne Hathaway in Ella Enchanted.

One of the clients certainly approached her that way, but the professionals at the Dollhouse itself didn't seem too interested.

 

[Samurai8472]

I have a feeling this show will do well on DVD.......after it's cancelled

 

[nx1701g]

I'm going to give it another shot, but I'm not anticipating much success for it.

 

[FALCONX0N]

I'm in the wrong time zone to be watching live, plus I'm not at home, but is it touched upon that if you could tell someone that looks like Eliza Dushku to do whatever you want her to do, would naughty intent ensue? Sort of like with Anne Hathaway in Ella Enchanted.

Not really a spoiler, but if you're talking about what I THINK you're talking about--wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, say no more--then that's a question that is answered right in the pre-credit sequence.

In short, following the credits, a little voice in the center of my mind jumped on a table and shouted:

"JOSS WHEDON HAS FINALLY MADE A SHOW ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE LIVES OF BRAINWASHED CYBER-PROSTITUTES!"

...that voice was quickly silenced.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Here's what I posted at Whedonesque:

I came into it now expecting to see BTVS/"Angel"/"Firefly", but somethign new and good from Whedon. What I saw barely had any Whedon on it at all. From the crummy motorcycle race with annoying song playing during, to just the plain "feel", it's like FOX has put their fingerprints on this.

I can live without the humor he does in other series, 'cause not every show needs it (though I miss it), but this just didn't come across strong enough on it's own emotions, and the droning, do-nothing scoring in the back ground sure didn't help.

An older review stating it was't like Dushku becoming someone else, but rather Dusku dressed as somebody else, is fairly accurate. It was like Dushku in glasses.

By the end I was bored, even felt like just turning the TV off and doing something else. Whedon has stated the show "found" it's stride in later episodes; I hope so, because I won't give this show a full 13 episodes to impress me.


Dushku: average performance, could have been a LOT better.

Olivia Williams: okay, but her character just feels empty, like it's missing something, and she's too cliched for my Whedon tastes.

Fran Kranz: completely boring. Just a walking shell who puts some lines and looks in occassionally, but I wouldn't even blink if he vanished a few episodes later.

Harry Lennix: now this character I like; just looking at hgim you get the feeling there is more to him and that he can actually act.

Rob Simonsen & Mychael Danna's score: background servicing. A composer change is strongely needed for the series.


If a 10 Star system was used, I'd have to rate the episode as a *****. If it wasn't for my love of Whedon, and the aforementioned later foot-finding of the series, I wouldn't keep tuning in.


Oh, and every show he's done had a memorable music theme, this one ... totally forgettable. A new theme is needed as well.

I just get the feeling watching this, that past Whedon comments about loving his characters and getting into their heads, just was barely here at all; it's like he just didn't care about the vast majority of the main characters.

 

[Caligula]

I had high hopes going in, but tonight's episode was really average. And surprisingly humorless for a Joss Whedon series. I'll tune in next week, of course, but as for tonight.... Meh.

 

[species5618]

This is a snoozefest.

This sums it up right here. Apart from Dushku and Amy Acker's presence, it didn't 'feel' like a Joss Whedon show to me in the least, if that makes any sense.

I'll give it a few more episodes, but I'm not exactly fired up about this series.

Average.

Also, did the production designer steal the cast off sets from Wolfram and Hart's season 5 offices for the Dollhouse facility? Other than being slightly more organic looking, it looks fairly similar.

 

[Agent Richard07]

It's convoluted and boring, but I got to see Eliza Dushku in a towel.

And a white dress that showed off her sexiness as she danced the night away. Oh man! Those legs and that long flowing hair... I think this is as good as I've ever seen her.

Beyond that, I found the concept pretty intriguing. A young woman who looks to have had some ambition in life finds herself "hooking" for this "Dollhouse". How did she end up there? And what's up with this Dollhouse organization itself with its shady madam (it's nice to see Olivia Williams again) and its sometimes good/often questionable activities? Throw in Helo the FBI guy as the "antagonist" who's on to them, and you have a good thing going here.

It looks like the consensus here is that this is a bad show. I don't share that view, but I won't argue with it either. I'll keep watching as long as I'm interested and mildly entertained.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I pretty much have to echo (sorry, pun) the thoughts here so far. It's missing that spark that made me a fan of Whedon's previous shows. There's really nobody to care about yet. Buffy, Angel, Mal, etc. these characters hooked you right from the start and made you care about what happened to them. I really don't feel that way so far. In fact, I can't even remember any character other than Echo's name. Not so in the other shows. I has Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles down pat in one episode. There's nothing to excite, and I honestly can't see this premise holding an entire series. I'll still tune in next week in hopes that Whedon will give me some reason to stay, but right now I wouldn't shed any tears if it got cancelled very early.