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© (C) 2009 Fox
Eliza Dushku and Jamie Lee Kirchner in DOLLHOUSE - Season 1 - "Stage Fright"
Television:
TV Review: DOLLHOUSE - SEASON 1 - 'Stage Fright'
Another schizophrenic episode of a promising idea that just can't seem to find its focus
Grade: D+Stars: Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikett, Olivia Williams, Fran Kranz, Harry J. Lennix, Enver Gjokaj, Dichen Lachman
Writer(s): Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon
Director: David Solomon
Release Date: February 27, 2009
By CARL CORTEZ, Contributing Editor
Published 2/28/2009
The promise of last week’s episode of DOLLHOUSE is washed away with this week's entry, a rather unfocused mess called “Stage Fright.”
There hasn’t been a series in a long time that I wanted to like so much. I’ve given the show time to develop and find its footing, yet it still is proving to be a frustrating experience. And in the case of “Stage Fright,” it was one of the most unappealing and miserable hours of television since most of the “Villains” arc of HEROES.
This time out, Echo (Eliza Dushku) is hired to be programmed as a back-up singer (and unofficial bodyguard) for a snotty Beyonce-like pop star Rayna Russell (Jaime Lee Kirchner) after an obsessive fan has been threatening to kill her.
Another “doll,” Sierra (Dichen Lachman) is also brought into action as Rayna's #1 fan, which also creates more conflict with the would-be killer.
The end result (SPOILER ALERT) is the twist that Rayna actually wants to be killed by her obsessive fan and go out in a blaze of glory, because, oh, well, you know, it’s so hard to be a rich pop star with everything you ever wanted handed to you on a silver platter.
Echo goes off mission, when she realizes what a brat Rayna is, and encourages her sicko fan to kill her. This gives Rayna renewed zest for life (agggg) and the Dollhouse is conflicted as to whether what Echo did was a good thing (going off mission) or if it was a dangerous thing that could lead her down the path of the mysterious Alpha who is on the loose after killing half of the Dollhouse members.
After watching this episode, I think I’ve discovered what the big problem with the show is – who do you root for? The client in this episode wants to protect his pop star invention Rayna. But Rayna is a spoiled, unappealing, whiny brat. And when she actually wants to die, you don’t really care about her at that point. Boo-hoo. In the “Target” episode, the client wanted to use Echo as human prey and in the premiere episode, she’s used a pleasure doll.
So there’s no sympathy with the clients.
Then there’s the dolls themselves. Most of them have “willingly” gave themselves over to this program. They weren’t forced into it (at least from what we know right now), so the sympathy factor with them is also nil, since they’re willing participants. The owners of the Dollhouse have no conscience, and the only likable people in the organization is Echo’s handler Boyd (Harry Lennix) and Dr. Claire Saunders (Amy Acker) who was disfigured after a run-in with Alpha.
I even like F.B.I. agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) who is searching for the Dollhouse – and his cute little neighbor (Miracle Laurie) who has a crush on him.
These are real people (or so we think) – and people that we sort of can relate to. And whenever they’re on screen, the show seems to come to life momentarily.
But the show is still cramming in way too much mythology than it needs to. Ballard’s informant is some Russian guy who happen to be a “Doll?” Way too confusing.
And queen bitch Dollhouse head Adelle (Olivia Williams) is too cool for school. What is she really getting out of this. It's an expensive and complicated operation with way too much risk.
I would understand if the Dollhouse was being used for good and to help good people – then I could get behind it. But it’s a shady organization, run by shady people and the line between good and bad is non-existent. It’s a show about sleazy people who do horrible things and treat humans like “dolls.”
There’s even talk of sending Echo to the attic because she’s becoming too aware. Now that’s cold.
I did like the addition of the Sierra character in a more central role. Lachman is an interesting and exotic looking actress, and she was given something a little more interesting to play. She was supposed to be “back-up” for Echo in this episode though, and she ends up getting kidnapped by Rayna’s fan. Wouldn’t her kick-ass programming kick-in at that point so we wouldn’t have to be subjected to Echo saving her? At least there's something appealing about her, that made me momentarily forget the plot hole created by that one.
There’s another problem with the show – each Doll has a handler. And the handler usually comes in to save the day. So in this cast, two people are sent out on assignments, screw up and the two handlers come in to try to fix everything. That’s four people for a job that should only need one, maybe two tops. I’m all for stimulating the economy with more jobs, but really, it’s an expensive, risky and strange service the Dollhouse is offering – especially when Echo’s handler can’t keep track after she’s gone off mission.
One largely missed opportunity in this episode, that seemed to hinted at, but didn’t go anywhere – is the notion that what if pop star Rayna is a “doll” herself. Now that, my friends, would have been a super cool twist.
I also have to give kudos to the songs in the show. Whenever a TV series tries to replicate popular music, it fails miserably, but any number of the songs featured here could be Top 40 hits. The songs link thematically to the show through the lyrics and was one of the few clever aspects of an otherwise unlikable episode.
Three episodes in and I’m already having doubts about DOLLHOUSE. If the story doesn’t start to gel soon, I’m afraid Fox won’t give it a chance to grow because if a die-hard Whedon fan like myself is having a problem getting into the series, then what is the rest of American thinking when they turn it on Friday nights?
CLICK HERE FOR iF'S EXCLUSIVE FRAN KRANZ INTERVIEW
CLICK HERE FOR iF'S INTERVIEW WITH ELIZA DUSKU
CLICK HERE FOR iF'S INTERVIEW WITH HARRY LENNIX
Reader Comments
Randy mcdonald from Reseda, California sez....
The show is original, thought provoking, and the episodes meaty enough to entertain a second viewing. The music, wardrobe, and settings are fantastic and Eliza is a great actress as evidenced by her moving performance as a blind woman. At first I thought the show was going to be a lot of eye candy and fantasy, but the idea of programming people is just a step away from what we are now starting do do with the new robots that look and act like humans. This is something we all should be able to relate to if you let your mind wonder 50 years into the future. I think it was best said in "Man on the Street."
3/25/2009 11:36:11 PM
Leslie Nicole from france sez....
I actually think StageFright wasn't too bad. At this episode, I still held out hope that Dollhouse was still on it's way to eventually hitting it's groove, but now this last episode (man on the street) finally made me admit that just maybe this show is indeed an unfocused mess. It's too bad as I like certain characters and some things are intriguing, but it's just not quite meshing and too often I find myself thinking: "that doesn't make any sense that this would be happening - and not in and intriguing, mystery way but in a dumb plot way."
3/24/2009 1:36:32 PM
Russell from Houston sez....
"And in the case of “Stage Fright,” it was one of the most unappealing and miserable hours of television since most of the “Villains” arc of HEROES." I couldn't agree with you more Carl - and I agree with everything you said here. I really wanted to like this show but I'm done. Whedon needs to stick with Vampires.
3/9/2009 12:31:14 AM
steve from new jersey sez....
while the ending was a little predictable, victor being a doll and thus a set-up for the fbi agent was a twist that I did not see coming. this was not the strongest episode of the three so far but I can wait for some improvement.
3/2/2009 8:15:09 AM
Tony from Indiana sez....
Wow. You definitely need to stop reviewing Dollhouse episodes, or maybe even stop reviewing TV shows at all. I mean, honestly, you make so many stupid statements here, it makes me wonder if you're really still in high school.
First off, 'who do you root for?' I think it's pretty clear that we're rooting for the Actives and Boyd. Also, if you rewatch the first scene of the pilot episodes, you can see that Echo was pretty much pushed into becoming an Active. True, she had a choice, but Adelle made it seem like there wasn't one; like her only option was to join the Dollhouse. More so, while Topher is talking about how the actives are 'living the dream', Boyd reminds him 'who's dream?' We don't know if the Dollhouse is letting the Actives out after 5 years like they are supposed; they could be trapped for all we know. So unless you have no heart, it's obvious that we're suppose to be rooting for the Actives.
Secondly, the Russian being an Active is too confusing for you? It's about as confusing as a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich. If you think this is bad, I would love to hear what you think about Lost and Alias.
Lastly, what in the hell are you doing trying to create cannon for the show? It makes perfect sense that each Active would have a Handler. The Actives are worth millions of dollars, so if anything happens to one of them, they are screwed. And this job needed to Actives because there were really 2 missions. 1. Protect the Pop Star. And 2. Get the person who was trying to kill her. Echo was suppose to do number one; and Sierra was suppose to do number 2. The twist, however, was that Echo went beyond what she was suppose to do.
Basically, I really think you need to rewatch this episode and the rest of the episodes in the series, because you really have no idea what is going on. And that's not Joss' fault, that's all you and your high school attending self.
3/1/2009 9:04:04 PM
Alden from Canada sez....
"One largely missed opportunity in this episode, that seemed to hinted at, but didn’t go anywhere – is the notion that what if pop star Rayna is a “doll” herself. Now that, my friends, would have been a super cool twist."
That was the whole point of the episode; that Rayna was, by and large, a 'real' version of a doll. She started out as an artist, and slowly found herself squeezed into this diva box she couldn't get out of. Society shaped her into whatever they wanted, and this was what happened when her personality started kicking back in. She is, in a way, a perfect metaphor for Echo herself. As a creative person, what happened to Rayna is one of my worst fears (being trapped in a life where your art is merely a side element to your greater 'persona'), and I really connected with her struggle to find herself here. The episode was pretty uneven, but I did like that element. Making Rayna a doll would have been a ridiculous 'twist', really - what would that add to the story?
3/1/2009 7:48:59 AM
Jon from Australia sez....
Personally I think that the 2nd episode was the weakest of the bunch. This episode was really good (I loved finding out the Russian guy is a doll which the dollhouse organisation is using to confuse Paul and his investigation)... Joss whedon shows always take a while to get going.. firefly took a few episodes before I cared about the characters, and the first season of buffy was like mini-X Files for teenagers. Give the show a chance to find it's legs.
3/1/2009 3:39:20 AM
Joan from Malden sez....
ok so the agency is illegal but alot of people apparently know about it cause Rayna says something about Caroline(Echo) how she may be used to growing out of a lab. they also happen to have customers who know about it wat will happen if they end up telling someone or the FBI. another annoying but intersting thing is the Ballard's source just happens to be a doll who's memory they erase but replace with the same persona.
2/28/2009 9:14:10 PM
HHL from Australia sez....
Willing participants? What planet are you from?! The very first episode we saw Echo being coerced into joining.
2/28/2009 8:39:58 PM
Roe from sez....
Umm....dude you're retarded..
There was a hint in the show when Boyd asked the other handler what happened to his previous active. He said she did her job, implying that Sierra was set up as bait.
2/28/2009 6:43:11 PM
someone from Burnaby, BC, Canada sez....
Some people just don't react well to originality... A lot of critics complain about the fact that Echo isn't a character into which we can be attached. I think the story of Dollhouse would have been a great disappointment if Echo began to "wake up" right from the beginning.
Come on! we all know that Echo has a past, and a personality of her own, and that it is going to eventually emerge! Why is she such an exceptional doll? What is her relation to Alpha? Paul's being played from the beginning? The intrigue is GREAT! If you are confused by the fact that the situation is so morally grey, I believe that's the intention! Do I have to explain it all to you, or are you going to watch again to see if you understand better?
If you're still not satisfied, go back to the "turn-your-brain-off" 24.
2/28/2009 6:31:53 PM
raftrap from sez....
I actually kinda liked the first two episodes, and expected to hate this one after I saw the preview, but surprisingly this episode sold me the show, it wasn't much about the client, but the relationship between Echo and Sierra, the relationship between Boyd and Dr Saunders, and the relationship between Paul and the neighbor, I also enjoyed that the show made clear that yes the russian guy is a doll, which means that if the show keeps going on there will be BSG final five situation when you won't be able to distinguish who's been brainwashed, and about Olivia Williams, she's great, and she's been amazing, can't wait to see a centric episode for her.
2/28/2009 5:04:48 PM
dblaine from Las Vegas, Nevada sez....
When a critic likes a show THEN you know the show sucks.
2/28/2009 1:06:02 PM
Laura from sez....
What I'm thinking is that the Dollhouse is a sleazy organization that I'm not supposed to root for (and that no one is asking me to).
2/28/2009 12:09:43 PM
