Joss Whedon returns to sci-fi with intriguing new show

Starting over one's life with a clean slate is literally taken on as a concept of FOX's new series "Dollhouse." Starring Eliza Dushku from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and produced by Joss Whedon, the premise of the show centers on an undercover organization whose "dolls" or "actives" are zapped of their personalities, given names that go by the NATO phonetic alphabet, and live in a spa-like facility. Each active is then given a new personality according to the client's request. The pilot episode, titled "Ghost," started with a woman named Caroline (Dushku) agonizing over whether she should sign a five-year contract to work as an active for the Dollhouse. Manager Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) promises Caroline a clean slate for the sticky situation she's in after her term is over. Caroline is given a new name, Echo, and falls into high demand as an active. For her assignment in this episode, Echo is programmed by the Dollhouse scientist, Topher Brink (Fran Kranz), to be a ransom negotiator for a film producer, whose daughter was kidnapped. The negotiation seems to be going well until the personality flaw of the abused young woman, which Echo was programmed with, realizes that the kidnappers were not going to return the child to her father. Echo's handler, Boyd Langton (Harry Lennix), sees this as a problem and addresses this to Adelle, but without much success. Meanwhile, FBI agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoah Penikett) is trying to prove to his bosses that the Dollhouse is not an urban legend as he is searching for Caroline. The child is eventually saved and it seems to be a happy ending, but there were a few problems with the pilot episode. The first problem has nothing to do with Whedon, show creator, but rests on FOX concerning the time the show aired, which was on a Friday night. In regards to ratings, Friday nights are basically considered the graveyard, because the numbers are not as high as other days of the week. Since this show has been heavily promoted, one would have thought to at least air it after "Bones," because "Hell's Kitchen" could have been easily aired during the summer season. Another problem with the pilot episode was that it was lacking in Whedon's trademark action-packed scenes. Despite these problems there are some promising signs that "Dollhouse" can work. Dushku gets to show her acting range from a childlike trance, when not on assignment, to whatever personality the character Echo has to be for the client. Kranz as the programmer of the dolls, Topher Brink, contributes a nerdy, comedic touch to the show when it seems to drag on. Additionally, Whedon successfully handles the ethical conflict over the services of the Dollhouse with the characters Adelle, Topher, Agent Ballard, and Boyd. Adelle and Topher believe that they are providing a service to their clients, while Agent Ballard equates the organization's treatment of the dolls to human trafficking. Meanwhile, Boyd, as Echo's handler, worries about her well-being and has doubts over whether the organization is doing anything for the common good. In addition, the sub-plot of Echo's memories as Caroline showing up, when she is being deactivated from the personality of her last assignment, will probably lead to finding out why she works there in the first place. Since Echo's assignments are different each episode, hopefully, more action-packed scenes will be displayed along with the genius storytelling that Whedon is revered for.