Pop Vultures

My, but there is a lot to talk about. I suppose that happens when one takes an unplanned six-month hiatus from television blogging. Still, most of the stuff worth talking about seems to have happened in the last few weeks. A surprising number of mid-season shows have appeared, some of which are actually – shocker – watchable. This is a rather nice change of pace, considering that I found the fall shows so uniformly dull and predictable that I had absolutely nothing to say about them (it is so much easier it is to blame The Eleventh Hour than my own time management skills). This week, I’ll be taking a look at the new shows and deciding which ones are worth watching. I’ll also be donning my sci-fi geek hat to have a look at the returning Doctor Who and Red Dwarf episodes, while Samantha has a few words to say about the latest onslaught of procedural drama.

First, though, let’s get to the show I know you want to talk about. That’s right, let’s talk Dollhouse (because, if there is one thing I assume about my fellow vultures, it’s that you are all Whedon’s bitches just as much as I am. At times, it may be the basis for our entire relationship). Now, to be fair, Dollhouse premiered back in January, but I’m glad I waited to review the show, which has had an even slower start than previous Whedon shows. The man sometimes takes a while to get warmed up, and Dollhouse is no exception. (Don’t believe me? Go watch “I Robot, You Jane” from season 1 of Buffy or even “Heart of Gold” from Firefly. “Erratic” is a kind description for the first seasons of Whedon’s shows).

Now, I’m going to admit that I’ve enjoyed the show from the start, despite its flaws. Maybe this is because I enjoyed seeing a new sci-fi mythology constructed, or because I have blind faith in Whedon and trust that my dedication will pay off. Maybe it’s because I usually watched it on Saturday morning while still a little bleary from the night before. Whatever the case, I have consistently enjoyed it – with reservations. At times, Dollhouse has been a difficult show to love.

Dollhouse episodes are built around the A-plot in which one or more of the doll characters are imprinted with a personality and sent off to have some sort of adventure. These adventures have, almost without exception, sucked. There are many reasons for this degree of suckage. First of all, the majority of the dolls’ assignments are sexual fantasies for rich, privileged clients, which basically makes them high tech whores and raises all sorts of icky questions about consent. It also ensures that Echo, the lead doll (played by Eliza Dushku) is little more than Fantasy Date Barbie, dressed up in a series of scanty outfits that serve mainly to show how hot Dushku is. I mean, at one point the woman chose to wear high-heeled boots while trying to escape a situation on foot. This character is not making fashion choices based on their practicality. And, you know, I’m glad that Dushku is doing her yoga and staying healthy and all, but I’ve got a problem with the constant need to remind us of how fit she is. Remember when Whedon had awesome, kickass female leads that didn’t need close-ups of their ass to establish their character? Seriously, Buffy and Zoe would eat Echo for breakfast.

These adventures also suck because the audience has little reason to care about the temporary role the dolls take on each episode. One week Echo may be a hostage negotiator, but there’s no reason to get involved with the character when she’ll be a master thief next week. Also, since these characters are one-offs meant to interact normally with the outside world, they never get a chance to develop the classic Whedon wit, a humor often based on outsiders trying to make sense of their bizarre world. And really, a Whedon show without jokes makes the baby Jesus cry.

Few of the actors on the show are gifted enough to believably slip in and out of new characters each week (the exception to this is Enver Gjokaj, who plays Victor and whose easy transition between characters makes him, for me, the true standout of the show). They’re fine – no one is embarrassing themselves — but not good enough for this to be the selling point of the show.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that Joss & Co seem to be focusing on a better selling point: the Dollhouse itself. What started as a slow-building B-plot has steadily become the focus of the series, which is excellent news. This is where the show is actually, you know, good. The recurring characters are allowed to be morally complex (in some cases, such as DeWitt, they are so morally grey that they might actually be statues. That moved and spoke and, okay, that metaphor got away from me). They get to develop personalities and, thank Joss, a sense of humor. They are consistent across multiple episodes, which actually gives me some room to care about these characters in a way that I can’t care about the dolls. When you’re more interested in the morally bankrupt high-tech pimps than their supposed victims, you know you’re watching a Whedon show. Dushku may be the star, but I tune in each week to find out what Boyd, Adelle and Topher get up to. And to see if Tahmoh Penikett takes his shirt off. Hey, we all find our own hangover cures.

The creation of a mythology provides a richness to the series and a layer of meaning absent in the adventure-of-the-week episodes. It also gives the show room to explore some of those prickly moral questions of consent and power. This is the sort of thing I expect from Whedon – not some sci-fi Charlie’s Angels, but a study of desire and need and what, exactly, makes us human. Perhaps I truly am too blinded by the Whedon love to see otherwise, but I think the show is finally getting away from the former and settling into the groove of the latter. I’m hopeful that the show evolves significantly over the next few episodes and continues to move beyond the plaything plotlines. Joss has proven in his previous series that he’s willing to shake things up, and maybe the future of Dollhouse won’t be about the dolls at all.

Of course, the show’s ratings have been in the gutter, and there’s a very good chance that we won’t get to see a second season. After all, this is FOX, the network that consistently places all sci-fi shows on Friday nights in order to watch them fail. (Really, if doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is a sign of insanity, is FOX the first certifiable network?) Word has yet to come from on high as to whether there will be a pickup for next year, which is too bad because, despite the problems, this is a series that is really starting to prove that it deserves a second season.

What do you think? Have you been watching , and do you hope it gets a chance to stick around and play for a bit longer?