Dollhouse – Episode 1 – "Ghost" – your reactions
Once you’ve seen the episode, check into the Comments section and let us know your thoughts. You can comment anonymously, or use your LiveJournal/Google/whatever accounts to login, no need to register.
Or you can hop over to our Dollhouse forum topic.
32 Responses 
Dollverse (c) 2007-2009 Kevin Beaumont. Dollhouse (c) 20th Century Fox.
T minus 10 minutes! Can’t wait!
Wonderful. I always love a Joss story. I can't wait to find out what's in store!
><
Oh yeah, and I love that Fred is in it.
><
Absolutely loved it. With the upcoming storylines/identities, Eliza’s hotness, and Amy appearing, this show is kick ass
I really enjoyed the first show, thought it was great.
The first episode was darker than I had anticipated and I loved every minute of it. Utterly provocative and intriguing. I think the challenge, and I can’t think of anyone more capable of meeting it, will be to make Echo’s character something more than a cypher for the audience to feel a connection for her. But what a great role for Dushku, the opportunity to be so many women. Any actress would kill for a chance to do this show but few have the range to fulfill it. Dushku is already shining bright and I look forward to more of her brilliance.
I was disappointed with the first episode. Basically it was no Firefly. Hopefully it will get better as plot lines unfold.
I thought it was great! Not as much Joss Whedon style humor, but I’m sure there’s more to come very soon. I can’t wait for next week’s episode!!
Love it! One episode and I’m hooked.
I read a review by an advanced viewer who complained that the plot didn’t get introduced until the middle of the season: that person is idiotic. I saw an over-arcing plot line just a few minutes in!
A very provocative plotline!
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo… Sierra
Smart writing, gotta love it.
I got home a little late due to traffic on the road. When I turned on the show, Echo was in the middle of a conversation with the woman who runs the Dollhouse. Echo seemed freaked out over something, perhaps something she’d done? The line “actions have consequences” was tossed around a few times, but I never got to learn what that was supposed to mean. My question: why is Echo in the Dollhouse? Why did she join? Is this something that we know yet? At first, I thought it was an alternative to a prison sentence for something she did, like in “La Femme Nakita” but now I don’t know. I welcome any insights/answers.
Overall, I wasn’t in love with the episode, but it was okay. It was worth watching. And, since I don’t have anything else that I like to watch Fridays at 9pm, I’m sure I’ll give the series a try.
I wasn’t overly impressed, but I also wasn’t overly impressed with the first episode of Firefly and that became my favorite show of all time.
The way I see it, the appeal of Whedon’s shows haven’t come from the enjoyment of a particularly brilliant concept.
Teenage girl kills vampires
Vampire with a soul becomes do-gooder in LA
Space Cowboys that swear in Chinese
The payoff comes later.
-Jamison
AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME
I’ve always thought pilots to be difficult to really pull me into the show. It’s always been hard to gage how I feel about it. Pilots are always chock full with new names and places and setting and plots, but this one was great. Not at all overwhelming. I love Eliza’s character and her portrayal of her so far. The extreme innocence she has when she’s unprogrammed is beautiful and slightly tragic. I’m also already enjoying all the other quarky characters. They all look like they have their own amazing stories
It might be too early to say but… I think Joss did it again
Also to answer a question 2 posts above mine, you didn’t miss much of the beginning at all! “actions have consequences” was just mentioned neither went into detail about what they were referring to.
Basically it started out as Caroline (Echo before she went into the program) talking to the woman running the program. Caroline looked obviously agitated and said that she was only trying to help and then said something along the lines of “just like she said to”. The woman told her she could wipe her slate clean. Thats all we’re privvy to. Obviously Caroline has a back story that led her to that place.
So… basically every reviewer who said the pilot was hard to follow or didn’t make sense were idiots. Perfectly clear. And to the few reviewers who said the imperfections didn’t make sense? Were they listening?
Very good start, I can’t wait to see how everything will tie together, or what the main story line is going to cover. I think we all know that things are going to get very exciting, darker, and speak to the inner good/evils inside all of us.
And… Eliza is amazing. Just saying. Way underrated. Everyone who said they didn’t think she could do this should be choking on their words right about now.
Great job!
I liked it, quite a bit–I’ll definitely be watching the next six (gulp) episodes and praying for a full-season pickup to follow.
I’m a Whedon fan and I’m not loving Dollhouse, yet. I don’t buy the premise (why not just hire an expert instead of an Active posing as an expert? Helo’s argument about perfection does not wash). And there was no clever, self-aware humor. It was just a bland action show with an attempt at feminist themes.
http://autothrall.blogspot.com/2009/02/dollhouse-s01e01-ghost.html
Epic Fail (2/10)
Well It was ok, I do intend to watch the next few episodes though. I probably just built it up too much in my mind.
Although I imagine it would be difficult to accurately portay the idea of the show in one episode.
I’ll agree with Jamison that Joss shows do need the veiwer to see a few episodes before it gets really interesting.
This is the formula-punk show. This is the show that says, “See here’s that formula show you all know and are bored with, we’re stepping it up a notch.” Like the steampunk, cyberpunk and original punk this show uses those old cliches and tropes and makes them fresh, builds upon the shoulders of giants. So yeah, I disagree with philoj.
This show is betting on us being smart tv consumers, it isn’t pandering to lowest common denominator. It’s smart, but it also has the fast pace, sexy, and fun aspects that every great show dreams of having. Whedon flopped Four of a Kind with this show concept. I’d bet he knows how to win the pot with this hand. As long as Fox doesn’t flip the table on him because they don’t have the balls to be patient.
I’d really love to see Dushku in an engagement like a pastry chef and then be stumbling through the whole episode because her handler’s been hurt. She’s stuck as this character who can’t do anything but cook pastry while the whole world is blowing up around her and all the “I Know Kung-Fu” memories are locked up in the computer back at the Dollhouse. It’d be really tense and I’d love to see if Dushku can really step up to the plate for a difficult role like that. If she could pull of a hard episode like that then she’d deserve an award.
This show has great potential and I like how Whedon has toned down some of his silly humor, but kept his wit. He could get away with the wry jokes and whatnot in Firefly and Buffy, they were renegades and kids. He cannot get away with that here, even if we like that type of humor, it just isn’t appropriate. There are still jokes but there is less Ben Stiller and more Stephen Fry. Which for the tone and themes of this show is very good.
The only thing that bugs me is that I have to wait for each episode each week. I haven’t watched a show like that in years. If it keeps up at this level I think I can wait.
It shows great promise. Negatives: A little too much exposition; white guy in flannel shirt is too smarmy; some of the props looked a bit fake. Positives: very tight writing; Eliza is a vision and a fine actress; Tahmoh Penikett is a god; sets look awesome.
I know that Joss won’t disappoint, and I am very eager to see the next episode!
Does anyone know when we’ll know how it performed?
Anonymous, should have viewing figures in a few hours.
Personally, I loved it. And no, it’s not Firefly, I knew that going in, it’s a more serious show than that. I agree with someone who noted that there was a lot of wit and a lot less humor, but that’s a balance I’m happy with, frankly, in a more serious show. I mean, this show, in some ways, makes human trafficking look cool. That’s AWFUL. That’s some serious stuff. So I’m fine with there being less humor.
And to the person who said there was too much exposition… It’s a pilot. Get over it. They all have too much exposition.
But I have to admit, I was impressed by Dushku. Having only seen her play Faith and Tru, I really didn’t see her doing innocent in the slightest. But there you are.
Thanks Kevin.
GirlAnachronism, thank you very much for answering my question about what happened at the start of the show. I’m glad I didn’t miss anything!
i’m excited to see Joss back on the air. I just wish there was a little more humor it adds punch to the seriousness of the show.
Well, I can at least say that the pilot episode of Dollhouse, Joss Whedon’s new show, didn’t disappoint me. After months of reading variations of the same interview and looking at two different reviews of the pilot before it aired, I figured what I would see was what happens when Joss Whedon does what he has to do to “bring in viewers.” It’s obvious that the first episode was created to beat potential non-Whedonites over the head with all the Mysteries! And Wonders! To Be Revealed! If You Please Please Tune In Next Week! Rather than a slow, intelligent, sexy rolling out of characters and issues, I felt like episode one was primarily written to get us all on board with the mystery of the main character’s Mysterious Past, with almost no significant attention given to the more interesting mysteries clearly embedded in the show’s concept, e.g., the question of what we are beyond the sum of our memories and the potentially deeply satisfying critique of a consumer and self-help culture that encourages us to buy and think our way free of our horribly scarring or otherwise unsatisfying pasts. I do not feel seduced by the world or the characters of Dollhouse because they are all trying much too hard to tell me that they have interesting things to say, which, as we all know, is never sexy. Plus, the show was completely devoid of any redeeming humor. And Eliza Dushku is…well, very pretty, but I’m not alone in wondering if she was really the best choice for the lead.
I worry about Dollhouse only because historically Whedon has been at his best when developing interesting questions within the context of evolving relationships with fundamentally sympathetic characters, and it is at its worst when all the characters march relentlessly towards some supposedly great climax in the season finale (think Buffy season 7 or pretty much all of Angel).
But of course I will keep watching. I didn’t really get Firefly when it aired (much of this had to do with the fact that Fox made Whedon et al air the episodes out of order in an ill-advised effort to hook viewers) and when episode 1 of Dr. Horrible aired the internet was full of moaning and groaning about how it wasn’t “dark” enough, and then of course things were good and grim by the third episode. So let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Chill people. Whedon works his magic over time. Have you all forgotten the very first episode of Buffy?
Can you think of a situation where telling people to “chill” had the desired effect? Me either.
Topher is totally Warren (Buffy). And Dewitt is totally Gwendolyn Post (Buffy).
Anyways, definitly loved it. A little dark, but I love anything Joss so I’ll be tuning in.
Love this show. I am crossing my fingers they don’t cancel this show. I’m kind of tired of liking a show and it dissapears. They have no patience. Good things come to those who wait- patiently.