Okay, I’m gonna keep this as spoiler free as we can. I’m gonna try really, really hard.
Season one of Dollhouse has been something of a mixed bag, both hit and miss at different spots. At this point, we still don’t know if it’ll be renewed for a second season. After a few stumbles early on, though, the show seemed to find its stride and continued to improve through the finale.
On the whole, the acting has been very strong. Fran Kranz has been amazing as the sarcastic, egotistical Topher (think Xander from Buffy with about a thousand point jump in IQ). Miracle Laurie, Dichen Lachman, and Enver Gjokaj are impressive as dolls, which means they’ve often had to play multiple characters per episode (sometimes characters that were developed by another actor first). Olivia Williams, Amy Acker, Reed Diamond, and Harry Lennix are great as the staff of the Dollhouse. One actor who appears near the end and is almost all spoiler gives a masterful performance.
The only frustration for me has been Eliza Dushku. In the midst of very strong acting, it feels like she’s just putting on a face. “Upset.” “Sexy.” “Happy.” Even her “doll” face stands out, because you can see the muscle tension as she tries to look blank. Still, because this is an ensemble show, the strengths of the actors around her make up for Dushku’s weakness.
The writing for the series has strengthened over time. While the first few episodes stand mostly alone, as the season progresses the continuity between shows increases and the strength of the overall story begins to shine. The finale even made a few subtle references to early episodes, attaching them to the series through-line. My only major complaint would be with the show’s premise – as with most epic conspiracy stories, the scope of the Dollhouse’s operations contradicts the fact that virtually no one knows they exist. Once you accept this premise, though, there’s nothing to stop you from enjoying the show.
If you haven’t watched it yet, I’d suggest checking out Dollhouse. Episodes are on Hulu if you want to watch now, or you can wait for the DVDs (which will have an unaired episode).
If you watched season one of Dollhouse, what did you think? Let us know in the comments.