Discuss.

Ep 1.01

Good premise. Some very good scenes. Some very dull scenes. Lotsa emphasis on skin and sexiness.

The premise reminds of the holodeck on ENTERPRISE. It allowed for variations in the settings that might have been more difficult to pull off even in a scifi story. Here, it's the character that changes -- being reprogrammed to do the bidding of the client.

That should be a challenge for Eliza Dushku who never seemed able to change personas. But I thought she did pretty well in the central story as the confident, intellectual negotiator who has a hidden fear.

Whedon can't seem to leave England behind. Londoner Olivia Williams appears as the head of the corporation "Dollhouse" -- accent intact.

BTW... there's a relentless FBI agent trying to track down this mystery organization. His introduction was in one of those really dull scenes.

The promotion was extremely heavy for this show. Before and during SARAH CONNORS, Summer Glau and Eliza appeared in promos encouraging viewers to stay tuned for DOLLHOUSE immediately following. It's a good combination of shows.

I’m aware that my when taking about Joss and Eliza my objectivity goes out of the window so I’m just going tell you what great and then more on to talk about what was fantastic and leave it to the more sensible and intelligent members to give a balanced review.

We start with Caroline in DeWitt’s office about sign her life away and join the Dollhouse. My question is what does Caroline think she is signing up to? There is lots of talk and a five year contact and all problem solved but know mention of what’s involved that contact could said anything after all Echo won’t remember it.

When Echo returns from her engagement with Matt and ask Boyd to take back to the party he looks guilty when she tells him he’s good people. I’m look forward to see just how and why he ended up working for the Dollhouse.

It’s always good to see Amy Acker but after there was so much talk about her make up but I didn’t notice the “scars” that much to be honest.

So Miss Penn hostage negotiator that role to a little more getting used to for me as so use to her playing the kick ass tough girls but she started to panic in the face of the man she thought was her kidnapper she seemed more at home but I’m nit picking here I’m honest I still think Eliza played it well.

One thing why would the father of the kidnapped girl hire a Doll then start tell her she is a doll? As soon as Echo is under pressure she has a flashback to seeing Sierra in the chair which can only mean trouble.

I can’t understand Adelle’s logic when she almost refuses to send Echo back out on the grounds it’s bad PR wouldn’t letting the daughter of wounded client die be much worse? We see Boyd caring side again as he clear doesn’t want her to be in pain but he wants to save the Davina not just because it’s job but because it’s the right thing to do.

I like the set up for what looks to be main story arc for season 1 as Alpha sitting in a room full dead bodies looking over video of Caroline’s life as he sends her photo to Ballard.

I love this episode it did what a first should introduced all the characters and with some great action. I’m already looking forward to next week now and off it watch it again now.

I've managed to get to this point pretty much spoiler-free for the show, apart from the basic premise. I must admit I found it strangely sterile. For a Whedon project there was a distinct lack of interesting characters, wit and cohesion. The episode just didn't seem to hang together at all well, and the characters surrounding Echo were disappointing stereotypes (the geek in charge of the personas, the ex-cop who is her handler, and the FBI agent especially).

I definitely got the impression that a lot of this is down to Whedon trying to do something more mature. No witty banter or pratfalls, everyone playing it straight and barely cracking a smile. I applaud his desire to do something different, I just hope it doesn't turn round and slap him in the face. I'll certainly keep tuning in with the hope that he succeeds.

That said, there are some interesting ideas at work which will hopefully develop quickly. I'm curious to see how Whedon handles development of Echo's character. Considering she's likely to be playing a completely different person each week it could be difficult but the hints at her remembering what happened to Sierra indicate this is going to be as much about Echo uncovering what is happening to her as it is about the mission of the week.

The final couple of scenes were at least indicative that there is much more to this than meets the eye.

You watched the series premiere—but should you move into the Dollhouse for more?

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So far so .

I shall stick with it for a bit though, cos it's Joss.

aintitcool

Just watched the first episode. It was ok, I didn't know what to expect really, obviously I will be watching a few more episodes before I decide on if I like or or not. I quite like the premise though, I was surpised to see a girl who was in Neighbours in it, in fact I had to look at the cast list on imdb as I couldn't place where I had seen her face before.

good start but not perfect

it seem joss is trying to do a grown up tv show: more serious, less pop reference/joke/.... during dark scenes (or is it because it's fox's episode )

really like the first scene between caroline (hope we gonna learn a bit more about her past and whatever she did) and adelle even there was a bit of "down faith" feeling in her reaction

good scene of echo when she get her panic attack at the kidnapper sight (wrong download or too good download )

some interesting personalities and dolls (Sierra) in the dollhouse, i suppose we gonna learn how they end up there sooner or later and if really the 5 years contract is really of 5 years as boyd seems to doubt it (make you wonder how long he and topher have been working in the office)

not sure about the usual FBI agent investigating what's going on

the last scenes were intriguing

let see episode two

I didn't realise there was actual threads for the episodes when I came here last night.

I didn't notice Amy Ackers scars either, and had it not been mentioned in here I probably wouldn't have noticed in further episodes.

However I has seen a picture of her in character and they are clearly visable.

http://www.critictoo.com/wp-content/upload...r-dollhouse.jpg

i had read about amy acker's character and about the scars but until Echo asked about them, i didn't notice anything

I only put the forum up the day the ep aired in the US; it`s proved more popular than I`d thought.

Viv, I`ve moved your ep comments into this thread.

Bloody hell. That's harsh.

Harsh but not completely wrong on the evidence thus far. The last two (full) paragraphs are pretty much spot on, imo.

I agree those comments are far too harsh and imo totally wrong! If Dollhouse was beng made by someone else other Joss they'd be saying what an original and intesting idea. Instead the people lining up to stick the boot in and are trying to get Dollhouse cancelled before it's even got started!

In matters of taste, it's often difficult to put a finger on what we find likable and the opposite. Especially, if the overall effect of the show on us is slightly off.

There are things that bother me about DOLLHOUSE -- much as FIREFLY bothered me. Trying to sort out why is a major spelunking effort. Is it the premise? The storylines? The characters? The actors? The dialog? The philosophy?

I think that's why the critics have varied so widely on this show -- except in their negativity.

Dushku is an easy target. She was never an actress with depth or versatility. But she wasn't a bad actress either. And, while I see a slight improvement in her work, others still see the actress as falling short cuz they didn't bother to look more closely. A way of sorting this out is to try to imagine if this show would work better with a different actress? My opinion: a better actress might lift the show a little -- but the problem for me is elsewhere.

One thing is clear: this show is not a Whedon milestone. And, like FIREFLY, it may go down becuz the non-Whedon-shippers (and they are the vast majority of viewers) aren't interested in investing time in something that started out so unpromisingly.