Dollhouse

a kate west reflection

Oh Joss, I've been waiting for months (years!) for you to return to us, bringing more sci-fi witticisms and action-packed supernatural romance with interesting and steady character development. I think I classify as a fanatic as I've been forced to follow "Angel" and "Buffy" adventures in comic book form, something relatively new to me. But thank you. I re-watch my DVDS and then pull out "Firefly" and "Serenity" in between vampire stores. I even followed "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" online. I qualify.

So of course I was beside myself with joy to see that good old Vampire Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku) was returning to your story lines in a brand new Joss Whedon creation, "Dollhouse" as Echo (cool name!) In an "Alias" inspired scenario, young people are unwittingly recruited by a mysterious organization as spies for various nefarious purposes (changes every week). The catch is that each recruit has his or her memory wiped clean between jobs and then sent out anew on the next mission. Will Echo figure this out somehow?

Uh, I don't care.

The show doesn't grab me. The characters don't inspire followers and no one is sympathetic. Not only has the whole sleeper soldier thing has been done before, but without your normally rich contemporary dialogue, I'm not interested in seeing how it develops. Or doesn't. It breaks my heart, but your new series doesn't work and after struggling through two painful episodes, I can't bring myself to tune in again. It lacks that heart, the key to relating to your protagonist - I can't indentify with this blank slate of a woman. Maybe you were overly ambitious or got some bad advice? Whatever it is, I wish you luck with the show and hope it gets better, but I probably won't be watching.

In short: meh!

Previous review here:
http://www.katewestreviews.com/2007/01/buffy-and-angel.html