Dollhouse - Episode 1x01: Ghost

[rufio]

SO...this definitely feels like it should've been a two parter. The plot w/the kidnapping isn't finished so it's obviously going to be an overall arc we're following here. I feel like it wasn't the greatest hour of television and that's okay because the story is just getting started, we don't know everything we need to know yet & the potential is very evident. The characters are great and Eliza is just...amazing. I hope this show does well for her.

[deathisyourgift]

Yaysies!! This was a great series premiere. The beginning sequence caught my attention, learning about Echo and the Dollhouse was kept quirky and interesting, and the "engagements" described were definitely better than I expected.

SPOILER: Click to show

I thought it was neat how they depicted the "treatments/wipes" that the dolls go through after each engagement. The flashes of memories being erased, and some from before the original programming that shouldn't have stayed behind. I also really liked the innovation shown when it came to creating these characters, as Miss Penn had asthma and glasses, and it was explained that these idiosyncrasies or faults actually make the dolls better suited for their engagements. And I really liked the twist concerning one of the memory-sets they installed in Echo to become Miss Penn, how she was actually kidnapped and then had to face the man who tortured her, and confront him through Echo though the real person had killed herself a year before. Crazy good. Finally, I thought that the cliff hanger ending with Alpha and Caroline's video yearbook was a great lead-in to hook viewers. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out, and I mean it more than I thought I would, which is a great sign for the show.

I hope that a lot of people tuned in and saw the show because I thought it was fun, edgy, exciting, and thoughtful. Thanks for another great one, Joss!! I look forward to watching many seasons of Dollhouse!!

[cheryl]

Really enjoyed this first episode. It is so amazing to be watching a Joss Whedon show again. I already like Echo and her handler.

[BuffyFanOne]

Yeah. The relationship between Echo and her handler definately reminded me of the Watcher/Slayer roles!

[FiveByFiveFVS]

Dollhouse completely blew me away. It was better than I could have ever expected. I had really high expectations for this show, and it didn't disappoint in any way. The writing was amazing. The Dush was at the top of her game. Intensity was high, and it was only episode one! I love this friggin' show.

Great to see Amy Acker in this too.

Joss Whedon is God!

[Wiccan_Slayerette]

The premier was absolutely great! I really loved the whole concept of these "dolls" who's personalities are modified to be anyone at anytime for the Dollhouse's "clients."

This is defiantly a Joss Whedon creation show! Only he can come up with such unique concepts and event an entire universe in detail to put them into in such an amazing and talented way. Joss, yr a genius!

Eliza Dushku did a wonderful job as Echo. She's one of these rare amazing actresses that can portray every role on earth. I've watched her in the hardcore role of Faith, who is tough, self-dependent, but in reality really just emotionally damaged by her past causing her to act out in violent ways and is really rather insecure inside because of it all. Then there was her part as Tru in Tru Calling. A completely different role of someone who was sweet and caring and was willing to do anything in her power to save another life. Now she is Echo in Dollhouse and I have to say, I think this will be her best role yet. As, I say, Elisa can act any role out there. Echo is a Doll imprinted with every personalty imaginable. This will give Eliza the chance to really shine and show her talent in acting several roles and, quite literally, all types of personalities.

I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire episode. I'm already looking forward for more to come! I have a feeling this is going to become another of Joss' highly-developed universe that is going to be just as compelling and enticing from the first episode to the last! And the Grr... Arg! Mutant Enemy logo at the end... Brings back so many good feelings from Buffy and Angel!!!

Next Friday... Come QUICKLY! (Awww, how I remember the days of playing this waiting game with each new episode of Buffy!)

[tms]

I was very impressed with the pilot! Almost - if not more then - a year later, and the pilot most certainly lived up to my expectations!

[Iceeh★]

Oh man! This episode was amazing, totally worth the wait! Love the theme song, love the characters, and I'm highly anticipating next Friday! ^^

One question: What was up with the naked man?

[champ10]

Wow.

The fact that Joss gave a woman who once before could not defeat her abuser, another chance to come back through Echo, to confront him is just.... amazing... and so perfectly Whedonst-feminist...

Ah! Amazing.

[pablo]

i liked the show's premises, and the pilot's got me hooked enough to wonder about it's future storylines. i'm trying to be timidly optimistic on this one, i admit i was probably over-hyped and was expecting Buffy '09, but DH does have potential - A LOT, and maybe even more if they can fix a couple of things.

the fact that echo's past involves something so horrible she had to wipe her memory and join the dollhouse is an amazing non-character-background. cos it's got fans wondering about the actual nature of this "horrific" action, yet it doesn't give away much and it doesn't affect the way we get to know echo throughout this first episode.

i wish i would like topher, science guy, a little bit more, but he seems self-centered and way too much ambitious. it looks like the only one who really cares about echo is boyd, and i like this sort of paternal figure to look after her. he's not in for the money, he believes in a mission even her boss (DeWitt) has seemingly started to forget about.

the kidnapping was quite intriguing, and it was interesing to see how it all unraveled thanks to eleonor penn's personality, not echos'.
sierra seems a kick-ass character, i'd love to see more of her in the coming episodes.

i was checking on DH's entry on wikipedia and it says that a male Doll that was supposedly a close friend to Echo's been scrapped in favour of the Russian mobster. it's a shame because i was curious to see how that could have played out, and also it seems like no male Doll will be a regular on the show

amy acker's character. definitely dodgy. i bet she was a former Doll that's been "damaged" during a mission and kept working with the dollhouse. and i'd say she's linked to the creepy naked guy that was watching echo's video.

the fbi agent is blah, we'll probably get his actual role in the show later in the show, but as of right now he's the typical principled agent who's obsessed with a secretive illegal organization, and it may be due to me watching x-files a lot lately, but i drew a few similarities out of that.
the kickboxing thing was completely random though, i didn't really like it.

so bring on more dollhouse, i can't wait!

[nalliac]

I thought this was great, it wasn't the best episode of TV Joss has ever done, but in my opinion it was the best pilot and I do believe he can keep his trend of upward curves in quality.

I loved the female empowerment string turning up yet again, there are few things as compelling to watch, and it was handled really well.

I'm going to admitt that I like Topher quite a lot, he seems like such a lovable jerk, and I'm right behind that. I won't go through the rest of the episode, all I will say is that Eliza in a criminally short skirt is awesome and that the middle section did lag a bit.

I wanted to bring up something I noticed and I don't know if anyone else has. Topher mentioned that the girl who had been abused by the kidnapper and was part of Echo's personality had committed suicide. Does this imply that the Dollhouse gets its personalities from the brains of the recently deceased? Do they steal them right ouf of the heads?

There is a lot of ethical issues to explore if this is the case, and I believe Joss will fully explore them.

I have high hopes for this show.

[dane5by5]

Going into this retooled "pilot" episode, I was expecting the network interference to be palpable. It was. However it was still a well written and interesting introduction to this story and the premise (which was strong, in itself). You can tell what the network wanted, that Joss would not necessarily have included without their request, such as the extended motorbike race scene at the beginning (was I the only one that felt like it dragged on for minutes?) and the meeting/boxing scene with Paul and his supervisors (the shirtless fight scene felt very gratuitous, you can pretty much read the network executives thought bubbles during this scene).

Just for a sidenote, not being a huge Tahmoh Penikett fan, does anyone else find him rather unattractive and posessing a striking resemblance to Quentin Tarantino? He seems like a good actor, but I don't understand all the "he's so dreamy" swooning and adulation.

I would love to see the original pilot included on the DVD release, for a comparison to "Ghost". It would be interesting to see how Joss came at the story differently.

The line about Fatherly types like Edward James Olmos was hilarious, but it wouldn't have made sense to non-Whedon fans and in an episode like this, I think it would be a good idea to play it safe with more mainstream humour. Considering the first episode can decide the fate of the entire series.

I was surprised that only Echo featured in the opening credits, consindering the ensemble cast, I was expecting the opening credits to feature them all. The change from the original pilot with November (Miracle Laurie) and Victor (Enver Gjokaj) being rewritten was disappointing, that was one aspect of the show I was looking most forward to, the different Actives and their respective back stories and the interactions between them in the Dollhouse.

The great thing about the premise of this series is that it provides endless possibilities, in every aspect of the show and with such talent working on the series, it will no doubt develop into something amazing, as long as the network gives it a chance.

Eliza Dushku impressed me in this episode, that's not her usual character type, so it was great to see her play someone vulnerable and intelligent, business like and still strong. Many of the reviews have been mixed about her and so far, I'm yet to understand the reviews that deride her skill as an actress.

Sierra at the end was impressive, I definitely want to see more of her.

I already hate Adelle's second in command (and I usually don't hate charactes!), here's hoping for a painful death for him.

Overall, it was my favourite Whedon series opener. Like others have noted, it did not feel like a pilot in terms of quality, but on the flip side, it also did not feel like a pilot in terms of the set up. It was written like we already had knowledge of the premise and series status quo. While us fans do, I think some first time watchers will find it overwhelming and like coming into a movie half way through.

If this series lasts past the first few years, I think this could rival "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as Joss Whedon's most popular work. I think as a premise/concept it is much more accessible, more mainstream in a way. Which is not always a bad thing!

While I don't think it will equal the brilliance of BtVS/AtS for me, it's already surpassed Firefly/Serenity!

"Let's hope those venereal diseases make you all sterile, you snobby ass pack of hos."

Someone make a banner!

[Joe]

It was a great episode. I loved the negotiator's backstory. Eliza was brilliant. I think the naked man at the end was a stalker that stalked Echo before she joined Dollhouse. I can't wait till next week.

How many views did it get last night?

[Whedon Fan]

Ahhh I have not wathced it yet. I am just about to go and watch it now, so I thought I'd leave a quick message. I hope it was worth the wait (of course it will be though)....heres where it all begins, a new whedon show for us to tear apart and love. Yeaaaaah!

[BennyTheKey]

I liked it a lot. The characters, the plot and setting. I can see it getting a 2nd season hopefully?!. I did kind of get an Alias feel from it, maybe that was just me.

Eliza done great and I cant wait to see the kind of people she gets to play. The weird naked dude at the end was total random though. Can't wait till next Saturday!. (Thats when I get to watch it online xD)

[Greer]

It took me a little bit to get into the episode, but by halfway through, I was hooked. I thought the "Handler"/Watcher bit was great. This may be a funny little tidbit, but something was said about a mission, and all I could think about was "The Mission is what matters" part from Btvs. It was hard for me not to see Faith at the beginning,but it was great later. I also thought the beginning conversation was very interesting, with Echo talking about "her" and how this woman told her to do the right thing in the world, etc. Nice little Buffyish tie-in, I thought. I'm presuming it was her professor, as it was spoken in the yearbook video at the end. Eliza was great though. It was so nice to be able to see "Grr...Argh!" at the end, made me so happy!


And just to make another little Buffy observation of sorts...the creepy scientist guy who wipes the memories...did anyone else think he reminded them of Warren? (My mother agreed with me on this...all she could say was "He's one of the nerds!", and she's only seen a couple episodes of S6). He was just so...creepy on many levels.

[Whedon Fan]

In all honesty it was not Joss' best. I wasn't expecting it to be though. I thought the opening was fantastic got me hooked in. Though I was sitting waiting for the credits which didn't come up for ages, at least 10 - 13 mins in. Once we were inside the Dollhouse it was very nice. Over all the pilot was brilliant, not his best because IMO that belongs to Angel or Firefly but still solid. Once we get into the show a bit more I'm guessing it will delve more into the mythology of the Dollhouse and that is what I think is the main aspect of the show, that and Echo's past.

I don't agree that only Joss could have made this episode and this is clearly a Joss show because for me It didn't stand out that much. But like I said once we get more into the characters and the story I have no doubt that the show will pick up, we can't have it all in the first episode.

Things I'm looking forward to:

1) A rogue Active

2) Echo and Paul meeting/fighting

3) Sierra out and in action with thsat shot gun again

4) A full attack on the Dollhouse, probably won't happen for a while though

5) The theme tune, quite catchy

Things I wasn't keen on:

1) We know that they end their engagments and then go back to get wiped, but why is the enterance in a car park? Anybody could get in. Thats what it looked like to me anyway.

2) I wasn't keen on the someone got kidnapped plot, not a fan. It's been done too many time on hundreds of shows. Luckily it did have bit of a twilst with Mrs Penn's flashes and past.

3) Jeez Topher get a lock on the door f no body is supposed to see the actives getting imprinted.

Apart from that it was a very nice set up for a show with tons of potential. Looking forward to next weeks, does anybody know if the trailer for episode 2 is on youtube? *goes to check*

[Emmie]

Feb 14, 2009 7:33:25 GMT -5 dane5by5 said:

Just for a sidenote, not being a huge Tahmoh Penikett fan, does anyone else find him rather unattractive and posessing a striking resemblance to Quentin Tarantino? He seems like a good actor, but I don't understand all the "he's so dreamy" swooning and adulation.

Dane, never have I been more sure that you're not a woman. Tahmoh is so completely different than Quentin Tarantino. Tahmoh has this incredible charm and self-confidence while Tarantino is palpably twitchy and weird. Plus Tahmoh is crazy built while Tarantino has a much smaller frame. Tahmoh has charm, Tarantino has craziness. And Tahmoh is very yummy.

[kimtaro]

TBH, I wasn't looking forward to Dollhouse and it really didn't exceed my expectations. I give it mid-season, tops.

[BuffyFanOne]

the ratings were not all that hot.
lets hope it picks up as the season goes on!

anyone know if it atleast beat out terminator?