the show mirrors its viewers.

"Is Joss too subtle for you? Not only are Echo's imprints all basically like each other -- they are all basically like Caroline."

I find this amusingly similar to Obama supporters who insist that he is always on the side of the angels despite taking actions (FISA immunity, supporting the state secrets doctrine) that ordinary mortals might consider to demonstrate the opposite. It's all just ju jitsu or 12-dimensional chess. Well, I beg to differ--Obama sometimes just takes bad positions and Eliza Dushku is just a very limited actress. Not exactly a bad one (she was teriffic as Faith on BTVS and Angel), but not really capable of creating a character that differs from her limited range. She proved this time and again on Dollhouse (a particularly egregious example was her portrayal of a wealthy, middle aged woman consistently described as cold and aloof without any change in personality, speech patterns, or body language from, well, Faith). I know that the show arose from a production deal between FOX and Dushku, so casting was never an issue. But business realities aside, Dushku is about the last actress you'd want to cast in this role.

Although we agree on Dushku's lack of range, I disagree with most of your other observations on Dollhouse. It is far inferior to Whedon's three other series. Whedon's forte, even more than his undisputed mastery of long form story telling, is his genius at creating fascinating characters that we cannot get out of our heads: endowed with human flaws, sharply delineated, spouting endlessly witty and quoteable dialogue. Dollhouse failed to give us a single character to really care about (even a good villain). There are a number of reasons for this--FOX interference (admitted by Whedon and easy to spot in the mostly horrid early episodes), poor casting choices (Dushku and the uncharismatically stolid Penikett, likely chosen for the BSG buzz) and basic concept (hard to identify with multiple characters who shed personalities like caterpillars each week). But primarily, and surprisingly for Whedon, it was the writing that let the show down. Where was the witty dialogue (apart, arguably, from the exceedingly annoying Topher)? Even fine actors like Reed Diamond and Amy Acker were generally given little to work with (though Alan Tudyk was given some scenery chewing material in the final two episodes). It is unlikely that Dollhouse will return and unlike the the other Whedonverse shows (even given relatively weak final seasons for Buffy and Angel), I won't miss it.

Re Chirugby: "Dushku [is] just not that good"

Echo doesn't remind me of Faith, but sure, whatever. My point was that (for whatever reason) Joss wrote the role to require Echo's imprints to all be similar personalities, as was revealed clearly in the season finale. If you'd like to argue that he did it to fit the actress, fine, but that wasn't my point.

Re Anderson & Marlowe13: My goodness how much you think you know about me! For the record, I watch Dollhouse with my wife, we oppose Obama on FISA & state secrets, and we watch Dollhouse because we like it. If you don't, don't watch it. Your snark (like all snark) says more about you than anyone else.

I wanted to like this show. Gave it 5 episodes until I couldn't take it anymore.

The show is the opposite of a clever or quality show.

And Dushku is a joke of an actress with all the doe eyed pouty lipped tart playboy bunny expressions.

Just an awful, awful show all around.

Because like most regular, ordinary people, we enjoy watching young women and men being mentally and emotionally manipulated and subsequently abused by people with enough money to purchase their own private, living, breathing fantasies.

I had no idea there was a series like this on, providing a metaphor for our culture’s normalized model of parenting and education.

well, your reaction to my snark says more about you than my snark ever could. And your reaction to that reaction would say even more. As would my reaction to the reaction to that reaction.

"all the doe eyed pouty lipped tart playboy bunny expressions."

Yes, but she does that so very well.

I haven't noticed any acting in the series whatsoever.

Comic books don't need actors.

Four months ago, Heather 1.0 represented that the first episodes of Dollhouse were,

"...Weird, witty, smart, suspenseful, intense? This is what we spent the fall TV season hungering for."

Now a new implant, Heather 1.1. remembers,

"' Dollhouse'" started out the season as the usual repetitive Fox suspense thriller, obviously hewing closely to the network's expectations that the show cater to the shortest attention spans..."

Topher, recalibrate. Heather's memories are blurring at the margins.

Disconnected, dehumanized, denatured...people rightly recoil from the "Real Dolls" concept, but when it's synthetic minds instead of bodies...suddenly, we have edgy "entertainment".

"Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome?" - Barry Convex

And why would anybody watch someone get their mind erased, and then fuck?

Salon has a reviewer who reviews movies. I think she writes beautifully, I frequently disagree with her. Then they have Heather, who I agree with fairly often, but I don't think she should ever be allowed to write about anything except herself. Oh, wait. That's what she always does. Every review seems to be smug and contemptuous of the subject. Even when she likes something, Ms Havrilesky can't help but find some way to be superior.

I hope Fox shows more intellegence this time and gives Dollhouse another season to grow. Maybe next year Salon can find a reviewer who can look a lttle beneath surface at the humor and questions the show raises. Of course, the Dollhouse is morally repugnent. That's not the subtle question being explored by the show.

"Because like most regular, ordinary people, we enjoy watching young women and men being mentally and emotionally manipulated and subsequently abused by people with enough money to purchase their own private, living, breathing fantasies."

You're referring to Microsoft employees, right?

Dollhouse is philosophically and intellectually complex, which may be one reason it isn't getting the props it deserves in a television landscape saturated with idiotic reality shows, bland sitcoms, and unbelievably boring talent competitions.

If you are repelled by the premise of the show, that's good. Art is supposed to challenge us, to make us ask difficult questions and be more reflective about troubling situations. Our own history is riddled with instances where people of color and women have been forced to act as "dolls" -- treated as property and prevented from exercising their civil rights. Dollhouse focuses our attention immediately on important issues related to freedom, imprisonment, agency, technology, and much more.

Also, I would argue that Eliza Dushku is playing a nuanced character extremely well. Her characters ARE distinguishable from each other. Compare the safe-cracking character to the blind woman, for example. (And Dichen Lachman does not "shift completely," by any stretch of the imagination. There was one episode where her accent changed so many times from Australian to English to American that it was confusing to determine whether she was supposed to be playing one personality or more.)

I hope Fox will give season two a green light.

ps: BluesChanteuse, week six was the "turning point" episode...if you still want to like the show, you might give it a try!