Feb 20 2009
Dollhouse — “The Target” Review
Okay, so episode 2 of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse was an improvement over the premiere. There was a little more explanation of the history of the “dolls” and Echo (Eliza Dushku), as well as Echo’s handler Boyd (Harry Lennix, still the best thing about this series). At the beginning of the episode I once again felt the same way a lot of reviewers have–because we know everything about Echo is fake, we’re not invested in the plot. She’s laughing, she’s shooting arrows at deer, she’s having rampant sex in a tent. And all we’re thinking is, “No biggie, it’ll all be over soon.”
It was only when Echo’s actual life became in danger that it got interesting, because then we could at least be invested in her as a human being. It was good vs. evil and a race through the woods, lots of adrenalin, and some mystery about how all this got set up. The fact that there may be a renegade “doll” on the loose also spiced things up.
The techie guy Topher (Fran Kranz) came off as slightly less of a jerk. Though honestly, considering the questionable morals of the whole operation, would it make sense for Topher to be a likable guy? If he really cared about the girls he wouldn’t be able to hurt them regularly and wipe away anything that makes them human.
The fact that Echo is now starting to exhibit some overlap of memories and perhaps a slow emergence of her true self may give us a person to cheer for in later episodes. I’m still not sure, though, because Elize Dushku just looks so empty all of the time, even when she’s not supposed to be. She was a little better in this episode–she seems better suited to action scenes, actually.
There’s still just something off about the whole enterprise, however. The whole thing still feels very stiff and contrived. I could see a lot of the plot “twists” coming a mile away. Everyone walks around like a robot and talks like they’re reading from a teleprompter (except for Lennix). Whedon is known for snappy dialogue, and I just don’t see it here–he may have chosen subject matter that’s out of his element.
I may give Dollhouse another try, but I’m honestly not much looking forward to it. At this point, I’m just operating out of duty to Whedon for the beauty that was Firefly. That card can only be played so long, however.
To remind yourself of better things, you can head over to the Shrine to Actors for some pretty Nathan Fillion screencaps with Morena Baccarin, Christina Hendricks, and Melinda Clarke.
Watch Dollhouse on Fox Friday nights at 9/8c.
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Eliza Dushku as Echo, Dollhouse screencap, c2009 Fox.
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