Joss Whedon is a very smart writer, so smart that he may have blown past some audiences with the pilot of his latest show Dollhouse. The premise is interesting and attention-grabbing, and the way the plot unfolds isn't the problem at all... I shouldn't even sound like I'm being on the defensive here, or offensive for that matter. No pilot episode really hits it out of the park and gives a clear indication of how great (or bad) the show will turn out (just look at The Seinfeld Chronicles for proof of that). But in the case of Dollhouse, it's hard to tell exactly where the chips will fall. It's exciting and strange, and also hard to tap into. It's like The Matrix with an extra touch of genre-itis and then Eliza Dushku thrown in for good measure.
Actually, Dushku gets probably one of her best parts, if not something that appears substantial, since her run on Whedon's Buffy as Faith. Here she plays Echo, a being who gets memory chips implanted- and then wiped clean- in order to go as one of the "Dolls" as part of the Dollhouse, a covert operation designed to infiltrate "clientele" or other and have the doll go into a situation (or rather a "client" as they are usually escorts) and extract some kind of information or something in the act - they have surveillance all the time, of course, and the memory chips go a ways to making things preprogrammed as far as a 'character' and its memory or health ailments; why not give one near-sightedness and asthma?
In the pilot episode we see Echo on a mission, as a little girl has been kidnapped and she's given the memory and persona of a negotiator "Ms. Penn" to get the girl back - but then, of course, not all will go to plan, especially as another agent is on her trail. All of this is shown with a good amount of technical skill, and with one or two exceptions (i.e. the actor playing the Mexican father of the girl is pretty bad) the acting is pretty solid. But in dealing with this material I'm still not sure where Whedon is going with getting us to connect with these characters, especially Echo. The potential is there for some great kick-ass plots, perhaps with both the self-contained and plot-continuous variety of Buffy or Firefly.
With Echo though her whole shtick is that she doesn't really have much of an actual identity, so any real attachment or growth will be temporary based on the episode. Dushku does her best, but it's also hard to tell from just one episode where the character will be taken. I'll stayed tuned in, and maybe it will deepen and become an intelligent twist on genre conventions and things inspired by, say, the Matrix. While it's not a hit-out-of-the-park like the pilot of Firefly, it's definitely no disaster either. It's slick Friday night escapism.
Actually, Dushku gets probably one of her best parts, if not something that appears substantial, since her run on Whedon's Buffy as Faith. Here she plays Echo, a being who gets memory chips implanted- and then wiped clean- in order to go as one of the "Dolls" as part of the Dollhouse, a covert operation designed to infiltrate "clientele" or other and have the doll go into a situation (or rather a "client" as they are usually escorts) and extract some kind of information or something in the act - they have surveillance all the time, of course, and the memory chips go a ways to making things preprogrammed as far as a 'character' and its memory or health ailments; why not give one near-sightedness and asthma?
In the pilot episode we see Echo on a mission, as a little girl has been kidnapped and she's given the memory and persona of a negotiator "Ms. Penn" to get the girl back - but then, of course, not all will go to plan, especially as another agent is on her trail. All of this is shown with a good amount of technical skill, and with one or two exceptions (i.e. the actor playing the Mexican father of the girl is pretty bad) the acting is pretty solid. But in dealing with this material I'm still not sure where Whedon is going with getting us to connect with these characters, especially Echo. The potential is there for some great kick-ass plots, perhaps with both the self-contained and plot-continuous variety of Buffy or Firefly.
With Echo though her whole shtick is that she doesn't really have much of an actual identity, so any real attachment or growth will be temporary based on the episode. Dushku does her best, but it's also hard to tell from just one episode where the character will be taken. I'll stayed tuned in, and maybe it will deepen and become an intelligent twist on genre conventions and things inspired by, say, the Matrix. While it's not a hit-out-of-the-park like the pilot of Firefly, it's definitely no disaster either. It's slick Friday night escapism.