A Case For “Dollhouse”
As part of our continuing service to you, The Correct, we continually find things for you to be in favour of. In our crazy, fast paced, webmanic society, it’s easy to miss something. Our “A Case For” series presents something (a TV show, film, Book, Band etc) that might deserve a look.
Our Cases are often presented by our regular readers, and we encourage that sort of behavior. If you have something you’d like to make a case for, write it up and send it to us at admin@thecorrectness.com . See the end of the article for more info.
This week, we bring you A Case for “Dollhouse” brought to you by Admin_Rock.
Dollhouse ran only two seasons on Fox, the network where Sci-Fi series are teased to the audience then cancelled with extreme malice. It simply didn’t get the ratings, which is odd, considering it aired Friday nights at 9 pm and was constantly pulled from the schedule.
Unlike a lot of our “A Case For” shows, I truly suspect many of our readers and fanboys in general haven’t actually seen it. Thus, a short introduction is in order.
Dollhouse is set in an underground facility beneath Los Angeles. It is one of a number of such facilities, which exist to provide humans for rental to the wealthy. These rental engagements range from straight up prostitution to spy type stuff. The operatives or “dolls” (as they are called, hence the title) are individuals who have their memories stored on hard drive, and then are wiped and loaded with new personalities and skills sets suited to the engagement at hand. This is a voluntary arrangement, with the doll being restored after a contracted period of time, with no knowledge of their time in the house afterward. Each Doll has a handler, someone hired to watch the doll, ensure that nothing happens to them that isn’t part of the contract.
One of the dolls, a woman known as “Echo” (Eliza Dushka), develops a glitch. She’s able to retain some memories between wipes, and begins to develop a permanent personality in addition to what is loaded or wiped. Dollhouse focuses on her efforts to regain her memories.
It seems in this day and age, we have to instruct people about how to view, and I know I hate it when people tell me to watch X number of episodes, hang in there, it gets better. In Dollhouse’s case, we have about a half dozen introductory “X of the week” episodes, but then the story arc kicks off, and never looks back. It seems like Joss made a few bland episodes to keep the suits happy, then got down to doing what he wanted. Because it really does take off with a bang after that.
1. The Concept
There’s never been a show quite like Dollhouse. It’s a little bit Mission Impossible in that there are new missions and challenges every week, but it becomes so much more than that. Where other shows would be happy to simply play with the concept of new memories and different situations week to week, this is Joss Whedon, master of character and plot.
So Dollhouse takes its central concept (“What if you could treat someone’s mind like a hard drive”), and starts poking and prodding at it, carrying it out to extremes. it tackles the concept of the self, of what makes you who are. We get to watch this world changing tech at work, and see what happens when our characters realize it can’t be put back in the bottle.
I think that’s my favorite thing about Dollhouse, that it doesn’t settle for just having a cool idea, it theorizes the consequences of that idea.
2. It’s a Joss Whedon show.
It’s no secret that I’m a Whedon fanboy. I love his dialogue, his characters, and his storytelling. He rarely mis-steps, and I’ve yet to see anything he’s done (had control over the outcome of ) that I haven’t liked. Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dr Horrible, all of them are worth your time and attention. Hell, I’ll even go see the Avengers movie because he’s directing.
3. Epitaphs
The final episode of each season sends the viewer into the future, and shows us the outcome of the actions of our characters. They’re not happy and shiny. Without spoiling much, Epitaph One and Epitaph Two give us two visits in to a future where the genie is totally out of the bottle, and how it affects the players. Not to mention that they feature completely new characters, through whom we see the outcome of things as they come in to contact with familiar things. It’s a pretty bold gambit. Oh, Fox decided not to air Epitaph One, cuz well, they’re dumb.
4. Topher
Topher Brink is a smartest man alive, in his own opinion. He’s responsible for the upload technology that makes the Dolls possible. He’s a genius on the brink of madness, who basically lives in his office, and cares for nothing except that which he cares about. He’s constantly having to stop an explain things to those around him, not without a healthy dose of condescension. In the second season (Possible Spoiler, but not really,) in order to solve a particularly difficult problem, he loads one of the Actives with his own brain scan, allowing him to spitball with himself. This is a landmark moment, with two actors playing the same character. Fran Kranz (whom I hadn’t seen before) is wonderful in the role, making the unlikeable Topher very likeable. Apparently he’s in “Cabin in the Woods”, Joss’s foray in to the world of horror due out this year.
5. Great Casting
If you’re any kind of a Sci-Fi fan, Dollhouse has some of your favorites. Alan Tudyk has a great role , which I will say no more about, except that he’s fairly brilliant. Angel’s Amy Acker has a regular role, Summer Glau shows up in the second season and Alexis Denisoff does as well. Tahmoh Penikett (BSG’s “Helo”) plays an agent trying to prove the identity of the Dollhouses. Other BSG alums Michael Hogan and Jamie Bamber each have a guest star spot.
Tbinn’s favorite Patton Oswalt has a great episode, and of course my close friend Felicia Day appears in each of the Season Finales.
Olivia Williams is great as Adelle DeWitt, the manager of Dollhouse L.A. her battles are fought mostly at the corporate level, and she does a wonderful job of walking the line between businesswoman and concerned “parent”.
And of course we have Eliza Dushku, who plays Echo. She’s called on to play a thousand different characters, and pulls it off well. I was always partial to her as Faith, the uninhibited ne’r-do-well Slayer on Buffy, and she brings a lot of that attitude to Dollhouse. She took a lot of grief from the web for her role here, but I think she does a great job.
and now, of course, the pictures of cast members that you’re waiting for.
Echo – Eliza Dushku
Mellie – Miracle Laurie
Sierra – Dichen Lachman
Adelle DeWitt – Olivia Williams
Bennett Halverson – Summer Glau
Dr. Saunders – Amy Acker
Mag – Felicia Day
And that, folks, is A Case for Dollhouse.
You can pick up the DVDs through Amazon (We have an affiliate program, so if you use this link, we get a little taste.)
If you have a show or film or book or band you’d like to make a case for, we’d love to hear from you. Read the rules below, and drop us a line.
The rules:
1) Give us 5 good reasons we should care, or watch, or listen etc. Make them compelling. Remember, you’re trying to sell this to us, and our readers.
2) Spelling and grammar count. Admin_Rock doesn’t like having to correct your … oh who are we kidding, he loves that stuff. But still, get it right, k?
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