Dollhouse Premiere

Despite my enthusiasm for the show, for a bunch of reasons (including that nasty cold I mentioned below and a couple of very busy days), I actually only got around to watching the premiere of Dollhouse tonight. If you've heard any early buzz/reviews, you probably know that they've been mixed at best. And I've gotta say, if this show didn't feature the name Joss Whedon and some of his best cronies, I'd be a lot less eager to tune in for episode two. (The buzz on episode two, by the way, is that it is much stronger.)

With that said, here are some of my initial thoughts and reactions, some good, some bad, and some neither:

1) I will love Eliza Dushku forever for her amazing portrayal of Faith on Buffy and Angel. However, she isn't that great of an actress beyond that role (and I say this having watched all of Tru Calling, and trying to deny that she wasn't very good in it, either). The scenes where Eliza (as Echo) is "blank" (that is, not in a role she has been programmed to play) are especially painful to watch. Let's hope she improves or they start focusing more on the other Actives.

2) Topher is annoying. Is he supposed to be funny? This show's Xander? I don't see it. Plus, it's hard to like the guy who wipes the memories of these women (a process that looks painful).

3) Some of the standard-pilot-exposition/introduction-to-the-show's-mythology was especially clunky. Again, this sort of exposition dumping is kind of inevitable in a pilot episode, but I think Joss is capable of more. One egregious example: When asked if the procedure Echo just underwent was successful, Topher answers, "Why don't you ask Echo? Oh, right. You can't. Because she doesn't remember!" (or something like that). We get it--the procedure was a memory dump, but again, messy execution.

4) How awesome to see Amy Acker! Why is she only a guest star? Why can't she be a series regular?

5) Despite the criticisms above, there was plenty of vintage Joss to be found in this episode. I thought the exchange between Boyd and Echo when she (or was it Eleanor Penn?) remembers her own kidnapping was especially moving. The whole "you can't fight a ghost" theme is well...haunting.

6) I also loved when "Eleanor" is talking to Gabriel, the client, and relates her memory of being kidnapped. (And again--how can it be her memory if "Eleanor" doesn't really exist?) Gabriel, full of concern for his own child, mentions "the terrible memories these men put in your head" and asks "Why would they do that?" A great line with layers of meaning and ambiguity.

7) About halfway through, I really began to appreciate how different this show is from Buffy, Angel, or Firefly just in terms of setting. After all, Dollhouse takes place in a fairly realistic world (albeit one with advanced and improbable technology). No monsters, vampires, or futuristic space travel. That's strange for a Whedon show--and might take awhile to get used to. Not a complaint--just an observation.

7) How great was it to see the "Grr! Argh!" logo on TV again?

So that's all for now except for one final observation: early in the episode, Echo discusses the phrase "blank slate." "You ever try to clean an actual slate?" she asks. "You always see what was on it before." I wonder if Whedon fans see Dollhouse this way. It's a whole new show from our beloved Joss, but we can't help but mention it to what came before and are disappointed when lightening doesn't immediately appear to strike again.

P.S. Maybe all of this doesn't matter if, as indicated here, Joss is done with TV.