Joss Whedon! Joss! Whedon! Creator of such fantastic and unique television over the years! Buffy! Firefly! Dr. Horrible! Joss Whedon, God of the geeks! Some people would probably pay good money for one of his turds! Speaking of...
OK, using that as my segway into reviewing the first season of Dollhouse is probably a bit unfair, because the show, even at its worst, was not that bad. The problem was it just wasn't good, and it certainly wasn't Joss. The premise is this – Attractive young things employed by the underground 'Dollhouse' organisation as 'Actives' have their memories and skill sets rewired so they can be the perfect whatever... spy, lover, mentor. Apparently, they are much better at these jobs than the conventional people you would approach because they are programmed to 'believe' in whatever operation they involve themselves in. The flipside of this is the process leaves them in a childlike blank slate the rest of the time, with no identity. And this downside also provided one of the first season's major flaws; How are you meant to empathise for either the undefined Actives with no character traits or for the morally corrupt superiors who control them?
It's not like Buffy or Angel got off to terrific starts, but then again expectations weren't as high for Whedon back then, and Firefly showed just how capable he is of assembling a fantastic cast with great chemistry and making you, the viewer, want to be part of their family. Although Dollhouse improved over the season, it started off with very little of the trademark Whedon wit and warmth, and the coldness of it all deterred a lot of viewers, as did the unengaging plots of standalone episodes. If it had carried on that way, I may have stopped watching. But then things started to click; It wasn't as remarkable an improvement as the second season of Buffy was, but suddenly the writers seemed to find a sense of purpose, as they slowly moved away from standalone stories to expand the ever-more-interesting mythology of the show, and give the Actives a little bit more self-control. Despite a rather naff final episode (the action climax is crawling across a beam?!), the show is bizarrely being brought back for a second season, and has the unusual claim of being the least-viewed network show ever to be renewed. The reason is, as said before, Joss Whedon. His fanbase may be relatively small, but it's loyal. They'll lap up the DVDs and merchandise, and less hardcore fans such as myself will continue to watch in the hope the show improves. Although there have certainly been shows more worthy of renewal, I'm glad FOX had the good business sense to look beyond viewing figures, and other networks should take note. They may have done Firefly a world of wrong five years ago, but they've been good to Joss this time around. If only this show was as good as Firefly!
Why will I keep watching? Well, some of the cast are beginning to grow on me. Although Eliza Dushku's leading role is unfortunately quite weak, supporting Actives such as Dichen Lachman's (from Neighbours!) Sierra and the sublime Enver Gjokaj's Victor are much more enjoyable. Topher (think an immoral Xander) walks that fine line between hilarious and irritating, but he's showing some shades of intrigue now. Tahmoh Penikett, though, lacks any kind of charisma that a leading man should have... He was acceptable as serious Helo in the acceptably-dreary Battlestar Galactica, but does a great disservice here to Whedon's dialogue... I cringe every time his dour FBI agent character butchers an otherwise witty one-liner.
I have some concerns for the second season of the show. It's operating on a smaller budget, and they're working with much less screentime for the seemingly important part of Dr. Saunders, played magnificently by alliteratively awesome Angel alum Amy Acker. Still, it sounds like the writers are finding their groove and the excellent unaired future-based episode Epitaph One also gave hope as to some of the directions the show will be heading in. I'm still watching, but only because it's Joss Whedon! Joss! Whedon! And that's exactly what FOX are banking on.
0 comments:
Post a Comment