DollhouseGhost
Original Air Date: Feb 13, 2009
Angelique – Associate Staff Writer
angelique@thetwocentscorp.com
A new and long awaited television show! I think that a lot of fans of the previous Joss Whedon programs have been anxiously awaiting Dollhouse. I know I have. I wanted to watch the first episode at least twice before writing my review. After all, it is a new show and my review should give you a decent idea of what the show is about! And of course I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss anything important.
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[photo: TVGuide.com]
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A new and long awaited television show! I think that a lot of fans of the previous Joss Whedon programs have been anxiously awaiting Dollhouse. I know I have. I wanted to watch the first episode at least twice before writing my review. After all, it is a new show and my review should give you a decent idea of what the show is about! And of course I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss anything important.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I read about Dollhouse, it made me think of Nikita. The idea behind it seems to be the same... Someone does something wrong and instead of sending them to jail, they get a chance to work ‘undercover’ and pay off their debt to society.
The episode starts with a young woman talking to an older woman about something that she did, which got her in trouble. It is at that point not clear what she did exactly, but it seems as if she tried to do something that blew up in her face. Now she has to face the consequences of her actions.
In the next scene you see the same young woman in a completely different situation, she is driving on a motorcycle, obviously racing with someone. At the finish point, she claims that he cheated and he tells her that she is a sore loser. Their fight continues for a couple of minutes, but soon they settle the argument and are dancing together. The guy gives her a necklace and when he goes to get some drinks she leaves the club. She gets into a van, one that is used for gathering intel. The man in the van brings her back to a facility where she will receive some kind of treatment. She asks if he will take her back once her treatment is done.
However, the treatment involves wiping all of her memories. Echo, as the young woman is referred to from this moment on, had the perfect weekend but she can’t remember a thing that happened. According to some of the people who work at the facility, she is living the dream. She is living a carefree life.
Yet Echo seems to be aware of some things that are going on at the facility. She is walking around and finds a woman who is going through the same treatment but who is obviously in pain. The person leading the treatment quickly whisks her out of the room and tells her that it’s the woman’s first time so her treatment is more extensive. He tells Echo that soon the woman (Sierra) will be strong and Echo will have a new friend living with her.
Meanwhile, a little girl (Davina) is taken from her home by two men. Her father, Gabriel, searches for help and gets in contact with the same woman who was talking to Echo at the beginning of the episode. Also, an FBI agent named Paul is investigating an organization called ‘The Dollhouse’. Some of his superiors are convinced that it is just a rumor, but he is sure ‘The Dollhouse’ exists.
Each time Echo goes on a mission her brain is fed with new memories and a new identity. She has no memory of what happened before that point. All she knows are the memories which are created for her particular mission, along with a set of skills which she will need. This time, Echo is sent to Gabriel to offer her help as a professional negotiator. The Dollhouse needed an expert in negotiation and profiling for the job, so that is what they created in Echo.
Echo goes to Gabriel’s home and takes control of the situation, negotiating with the men who kidnapped the little girl, and sets up a time and place for the exchange. Gabriel asks Echo who she really is. His line of questioning makes it clear that he knows who she is and what the Dollhouse does. He asks her what it is that makes her so good at this? She tells him all he wants to hear, drawing from the memories implanted in her head. He asks her if she was kidnapped as a child, which she confirms. When she can’t answer some of his questions, he asks her if she is sure that it happened and that it wasn’t made up.
Echo and Gabriel go to the docks where the exchange of the money and Davina will take place. But Echo breaks down during the transfer when she recognizes one of the kidnappers. The transfer goes wrong, Gabriel gets wounded and the kidnappers leave with the money and Davina.
Echo remembers things she shouldn’t. When a doll is ‘imprinted,’ the character is taken from a combination of real people, molded into the right shape so to fulfill the mission. This time, however, they used the persona of a girl who was kidnapped at the age of nine by the man Echo ‘recognized’ on the dock. Echo wants to have her ‘treatment’ and promises she will help find the kidnappers and Davina. Little does she know that the ‘treatment’ will wipe her memory of the entire event. Her Handler wants to stop the treatment so that Echo has a chance of saving the little girl. When her handler enters the treatment room, he fears that he is too late. But when Echo gets up, she is still her alter ego ‘Miss Penn.’
They find out where the men are holding Davina and go to retrieve her. Echo goes into the house alone (and with the memories of the woman who was kidnapped when she was small) and tells the first two kidnappers about the third. How he will kill them so he can have Davina to himself, just like he did with her when she was little (or, rather, the woman whose memories are now in Echo’s body). The kidnappers start shooting at each other as Echo gets away to find Davina locked in the fridge. The exact same place where she was held when she was kidnapped. The first two kidnappers kill the third and let Echo and Davina go. Just as they are about to leave, another doll (Sierra) bursts into the room and shoots the first two kidnappers. She tells some others to retrieve the money and to clear the house in three minutes. Echo leaves the house with Davina, who is returned to her father. Then, Echo’s mind is cleared once again.
I am glad that I watched, this is just the first episode and I already like it. Of course, only time can tell how good it proves to be and one episode can hardly tell anything about future episodes. But at this moment, I am really happy with this new show. Especially when I think of how many of my regular favorite shows are currently airing their last few episodes. This one might be a good replacement. I am very much looking forward to the next episode. So did you see it? What did you think about it? Give us your TwoCents!
I really enjoyed Dollhouse. And if a new series usually takes 4 or 5 episodes to really find it's footing, I have high hopes for this show since it started off relatively well.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love me some Tahmoh Penikett!
I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. Eliza just seems so wooden to me, but it may just take a while for her to really get into the role. Especially since she's literally playing an different character every episode. I'm going to hold off on really deciding whether or not I like it yet.
ReplyDeleteBut mmmm Tahmoh; I'll take that shirtless any day of the week!
Amen, sister!
ReplyDeleteEliza might have come across as emotionless and wooden but then again how does one act when your memory is erased each time you end a mission. She basically has no memories or an own personality. I think the way she portrayed Echo fits the role.
ReplyDeleteI agree... the blankness (is that a word?) fits.
ReplyDelete