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Dollhouse
The story follows Echo, a "doll" or "Active" for the Dollhouse, an organization which hires out reprogrammable human beings to wealthy clients who use them for a range of purposes, such as sexual encounters and high-risk illegal activities. Echo, like her fellow dolls Victor and Sierra, exists in a child-like blank state, until a programmer uploads her with the skills and memories to make her a completely new and unique person. Actives such as Echo are ostensibly volunteers who surrender their bodies to the organisation for five year stints, during which their original personalities will be saved, in exchange for vast amounts of money and a solution to any other extenuating circumstances in their lives. Echo, however, is unique in remembering small amounts even after personality "wipes", and gradually develops an increasingly cognizant self-awareness and personality. This emerging personality is even distinct in some ways from that of her original identity, college graduate Caroline Farrell. This concept allows the series to examine the notions of identity and personhood. As Echo continues to evolve, and learn to work beyond the limits of her current personality imprint or default programming, she runs the risk of going to "the Attic", a place for broken dolls. She is an object of fascination for the escaped doll Alpha (a genius and serial killer who sees Echo as a potential mate) and FBI Agent Paul Ballard, whose obsession with the urban legend that is the Dollhouse costs him his career, before he comes to work for the organization as Echo's bodyguard or "handler". Ballard sees the Dollhouse's activities as immoral and illegal, but becomes increasingly complicit in the business which he equates with murder and sex traffic. Within the house, opinions are divided; director Adelle DeWitt sees her role as honorable, programmer Topher Brink's view is entirely scientific and amoral, and handler-turned-head of security Boyd Langton, like Ballard, is more concerned with the ethical and theological implications of the Dollhouse's technology. Dollhouse premiered on February 13, 2009 on the Fox network. The show is currently in its second season. The final episode of the first season, "Epitaph One," was not aired in the United States for contractual reasons, but was released on DVD after a premiere at the 2009 Comic-Con in San Diego. However, it was aired in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2009 and in Australia it aired on September 1, 2009 as part of the series' regular run. The Region 1 DVD was released on July 28, 2009, and the Region 2 DVD was released on September 7, 2009. The series stars Eliza Dushku, who worked with Whedon on the cult television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain are the showrunners, while Tim Minear and Steven DeKnight serve as consulting producers. In addition to Joss Whedon, the writing staff includes Tim Minear, Jed Whedon (Joss's brother), Maurissa Tancharoen (Jed's wife), Andrew Chambliss, Tracy Bellomo, Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain. Whedon will direct a number of his own episodes, as he has done in past shows. Tim Minear and Buffy producer David Solomon are also set to direct. A viral marketing campaign promoting Dollhouse was started on May 26, 2008. On February 10, 2009, Dushku told reporters in a conference call that Whedon has a 5-year plan for the show, and has decided how his characters will evolve through that point. During the first season of Dollhouse, each episode was about six minutes longer than standard one-hour dramas on Fox television, and the show aired with half as many commercial advertising slots that season. This was a network experiment to limit viewers who tune out of their programming during long commercial breaks. The experiment was discontinued after the first season.
-- T.J. Powers |
