Nobody was more pleasantly surprised than I was when Dollhouse
was unexpectedly renewed for a second season by the Fox Channel. The exotic
(and often erotic) series, created by Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Firefly
scribe Joss Weldon, was a dark blend of science fiction and drama that may have
been a little too out of left field for most viewers who were used to gobbling
up more mundane TV offerings. Starring Eliza Dushku, Dollhouse offered a
provocative look at a group of people whose memories and very personalities were
wiped, making them the perfect "dolls" for wealthy clients to play with, once a
new personality--fitted for whatever fantasy they wanted--was downloaded into
their minds.
This made for some great acting moments for Dushku as Echo, as well as Enver Gjokaj and Dichen Lachman as Victor and Sierra, respectively (Gjokaj is simply marvelous--especially in hysterically funny scenes when he’s called on to impersonate the hyperactive Topher Brink (Fran Kranz), which he does perfectly). But the entire cast, not just the actors who played the dolls, is superb. And the second season wisely digs deeper into the overall mythology, as we see that Rossum, the company behind the Dollhouse, is interested in far more than just pimping out programmable sex toys to the bored rich; they’re after much bigger game, and are willing to push the imprint technology to its limits in order to get it.
The weakest episode of this season is the very first one, as Paul Ballard
(Tahmoh Penikett) selfishly risks the life of his beloved Echo in an attempt to
take down an arms dealer (Jamie Bamber, who played Apollo on Battlestar Galactica
and also co-starred with Penikett on that series) whom he tangled with as an FBI
agent. Given the complex, shades of gray stories and deep characterizations that
we’ve seen up to this point, this throwback to lame cop shows from the 1970s is
a major letdown. But once we get past this silly first episode, Whedon and his
talented writers start aiming everything towards Epitaph One, the unrelentingly
grim last episode of the first season that depicted a dismally dire future ten
years from now.
This dark future is still a major factor. There’s no time travel involved here;
there’s no magical way our characters can dodge this bullet. What we saw in
Epitaph One will happen. And as the writers start laying the groundwork for the
apocalypse to come, the second season soon takes on a more ominous tone. Perhaps
these dire events are what doomed Dollhouse to a bleak future of its own:
cancellation by the Fox Network. But, in some ways, this might be the best thing
that could have happened to the series. No longer hampered by appealing to the
masses, in the last third of the season the writers were freed up to finish the
story as they saw fit: in the ashes of the post-apocalyptic landscape to come,
but with just a bit of hope this time.
The two seasons of Dollhouse are highly recommended even now--well after the
show’s cancellation--because they offer a completely contained story that’s set
within a fascinating scenario where all of the expected rules are knocked down
in favor of some truly original storytelling. All of the episodes in the second
season are great (with the obvious exception of the first), but out of this crop,
the episode Belonging is a real standout. Knowing
their fate well ahead of time also enabled the show’s runners to place some
poignant special features on the DVD set in the form of a documentary that looks
back at the series, as well as a warm and funny dinner reunion with Whedon and
some of his stars, where they discuss the highlights of working on the show.
Dollhouse may be gone, but it was an intelligent, eloquent series whose voice
still deserves to be heard. Thankfully, on DVD/Blu-Ray/Downloading, it still can.
--SF
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