Dollhouse Dilemma

Joss Whedon’s brand spanking new foray into TV, Dollhouse, makes an attempt to blend a bit of the rampant sexiness of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” with the science fiction of “Firefly”. The series centers around a morally grey company wherein contracted individuals have their personalities programmed into them for various “services rendered”, with high-priced clients looking to artificially fill voids in their lives.

One episode from the finale, however, and there are questions about the continuance of the series on  Fox. There are a variety of reasons for this, from Fox messing around with the first 5 episodes being presented, to the acting, to the timeslot, and many other things, but it seems more and more likely.

Still, as with anything that has doom and gloom, Overly Positive is here to cheer you little fanboys and fangirls up. The series itself probably still has a chance to exist in the slot that it does. While unpopular (Friday nights), it’s extremely difficult to think of something else that Fox could slot in that isn’t a rerun or a retread, and also one that naturally tends to pair well with The Sarah Connor Chronicles (read: two female leads + attractiveness = viewers). It’s also difficult to rate this based purely on live viewership as well – after all, more and more people are DVR’ing the series, electing to watch it later (as I have).

It’s also not like the show is hurting for acting power too. You’ve got Tahmoh Penikett, fresh off of Battlestar Galactica’s finale, a veteran actor in Olivia Williams, the introduction of Alan Tudyk (last seen being impaled on Serenity – ouch!) and of course, Eliza Dushku, who actually has a decent range for the character she has to play and who can provide the eyecandy to keep going at the same time.

The last three or four episodes have been strong “plot” episodes, focusing in on the main action of Penikett’s Agent Ballard and his search for the Dollhouse, the emerging awareness of Echo, and the ominous presence of Alpha, the rogue doll who is just a bit too smart and psychotic for the Dollhouse’s own good. There’s a lot of space right now for a sci-fi series, and one that grabs the kind of ethics and morality about technology that this series does. With all that being said, Fox’s competition on Friday nights is terribly weak. One can only hope that will keep Dollhouse going despite what everyone, even Joss, is saying, but then – that’s what other networks are for.