Dollhouse: Nothing Behind the Eyes

I had hoped that Dollhouse, having been granted a somewhat inexplicable second season by Fox, would turn its creative act around and give viewers a reason to seek the show out. Alas, what we’ve been given in the first two episodes this year is much of what made the show so easy to avoid in the first place.

I’m as big a fan of series creator Joss Whedon’s work as the next TV geek (I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the beginning, stuck it out as Angel felt its way through a very bumpy first couple of seasons, and saw Firefly through its unfortunately short life), but there’s something about Dollhouse that keeps me at arms’ length, no matter how much I want to like the show. Much of the problem lies directly in the main concept: a collection of Actives, led by Eliza Dushku, are imprinted with memories and personalities, then sent on “engagements” (the show’s term for missions), after which they have their minds wiped clean so they can start out fresh the next time around. Sounds like a neat idea, right? Except that it doesn’t allow for any real investment in the characters. When Dushku’s Echo is imprinted with the characteristics of a singer or a college student or, as in last night’s episode, a wife and mother, you know that at the end of the hour she won’t be living in that skin anymore.

Whedon and company are trying to make their efforts worthwhile by introducing a sliver of an ongoing plotline in which Echo—who has trace amounts of memories that have stuck with her, something that isn’t supposed to happen—and her handler Paul Ballard (Battlestar Galactica’s Tahmoh Penikett) have designs to take down the Dollhouse. Since the episodes still spend most of their time focused on the engagements, this particular story line seems destined to be dragged out to the point where its resolution is met with a shrug and a resounding "Who cares?"

Then again nobody seems to care much as it is. The show dropped to its lowest ratings ever last night, with just over two million viewers tuning in (its ill-fitting sitcom companions, the abysmal Brothers and Til Death even managed to draw slightly more viewers). While the show’s Friday night death slot doesn’t do it any favors, I think the real problem is the show itself. There’s no warmth, no real humanity on display, and with a premise that keeps connection with the characters at bay, it’s no surprise that Dollhouse is struggling the way it is. Whedon half-joked in a conference call prior to the season premiere, “I don’t make hit shows. I make shows that stick around.” Not this time, I'm afraid, Joss. Not this time.