© (C) 2009 Fox Eliza Dushku in DOLLHOUSE - Season 1 - 'Gray Hour'

Television:

TV Review: DOLLHOUSE - SEASON 1 - 'Gray Hour'

Okay, so the show seems to be getting better, but it still has its intermittent moments of awkwardness and strangely Dichen Lachman is turning out to be the most interesting Doll

Grade: B-
Stars: Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikett, Olivia Williams, Fran Kranz, Harry J. Lennix, Enver Gjokaj, Dichen Lachman
Writer(s): Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Fain
Director: Rod Hardy
Release Date: March 6, 2009

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By CARL CORTEZ, Contributing Editor
Published 3/7/2009

It’s been a slow burn to get DOLLHOUSE’s storytelling up to a satisfactory level, and this week’s episode seems to be establishing more pieces to its ever growing mythological puzzle.

Nonetheless, there still is an inherent problem with the series as a whole – the character of Echo as played by Eliza Dushku. In this episode, we get to see both Dushku and Dichen Lachman (who plays Sierra) get the portray the same imprinted persona. It’s no surprise who does a better job, with Lachman running circles around Dushku’s attempt at playing a tough safe cracker/thief named Taffy.

I’m still hoping for the series to gel as a cohesive whole (hopefully long before Fox decides to pull the plug), but it’s really frustrating at what a difficult time DOLLHOUSE is having finding its voice – particularly with someone like Whedon at the helm whose voice is always so clear.

Anyway, this episode begins with Echo delivering a baby in the Alps (I presume). It has nothing to do with the rest of the story, but, okay, we get it -- she can be whatever an “engagement” asks her to be.

Soon, she’s hired to be Taffy, a thief that breaks into a secret hotel safe that houses rare (and stolen) art. With her three other cohorts, it’s not long before one of them pulls a double-cross and leaves them there to rot in the safe to be found by the cops.

Add to that, Echo’s memory gets erased remotely turning her into a cucumber – something Topher (Fran Kranz) claims is an impossibility. Naturally, the job gets even more botched.

Not surprising, Echo’s handler Boyd (Harry Lennix) ends up saving the day by episode’s end – AGAIN.

So here’s another inherent problem with the show. Boyd always seems to be the one who has to save Echo in some form during an episode. And there seems to always be a point where Echo ends up off his radar. If these “dolls” are such important assets to the Dollhouse, then why don’t they ...

a) Have a better tracking system for them. Isn’t that the handler’s job? Don’t they have a GPS or something. Why do they always go off grid and they don't know where they are?

b) Shouldn’t the handler be hearing EVERYTHING that’s going on during an engagement to assess danger? This organization is so f’d up that in four weeks, the dolls have been in serious danger EVERY SINGLE WEEK. If every assignment they send their dolls out for is going to be so dangerous, wouldn’t they want to keep “super” tabs on them to ensure they don’t lose their property? I know this is necessary to sustain tension and intrigue with the show, but come on. Next week looks like the same thing.

c) I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Isn’t this just a little too much work, when it’s clear, it would be better to hire someone like Boyd to go into situations, PRETEND to be someone and just kick ass, take names and get the job done? Implanting someone with someone else memories, just seems like a lot of work for nothing. Especially when you’re hiring Echo to deliver a baby. Really? Aren’t there more qualified people out there to do that job. Do you really need to shell out, what’s probably six figures to hire a fake person to do it for you. Makes no sense.

Now back to the plots of this week's episode "Gray Hour."

After F.B.I. agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) was beat up by thugs in his pursuit of the Dollhouse last episode, he’s recovering quite nicely and when confronted by his mole Victor (Enver Gjokaj), Ballard knows he was set up and wants to make sure Victor is a marked man for screwing him around.

Still, I do have a theory. It seems pretty obvious to me that Ballard is probably the mysterious “doll” Alpha who killed most of the people in the Dollhouse before escaping. It would make sense why the Dollhouse is keeping tabs on him as well. He disappears mid-way through the show – during the time which Echo is erased. It’s understood from Topher on up that Alpha is the only one who could have erased Echo remotely. That said, Alpha could have programmed himself to be an F.B.I. agent in order to have the skills to locate the Dollhouse once again. And, this is the big “and,” he carries around a picture of Echo with him, hoping to find her. And in the two “engagements” where things have had the Alpha imprint on them, it’s all been centered around Echo (oh, and the fact that Alpha didn’t kill Echo during the initial Dollhouse slaughter).

So that’s my theory for now. Frankly, the Alpha plotline is far more interesting and engaging than the main “A” stories on the show, so hopefully that will become front and center sooner than later -- and it would be one heck of a twist to discover that Ballard is Alpha.

In the meantime, here’s how the show should clean its Dollhouse to make the show work better and keep it more engaging.

Kill off Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) – the matriarch of the Dollhouse. The character sucks. Sorry folks, but she’s annoying and it’s clear she deserves to die.

Give security chief Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond) a bigger role. Hell, have him take over the Dollhouse. He seems to have his head screwed on better than anyone else there.

Bring in Dr. Claire Saunders (Amy Acker) full-time. Hell, get rid of Topher, and give her his abilities with an implant. I want more Acker and not because she was an ANGEL alum – but because she’s one of the few characters that actually feels like she has some depth on the show.

Give Boyd more to do. Have him turn on the Dollhouse and realize he needs to save Echo from these crazies.

Have Echo start to realize who she is, and give Sierra a bulk of the engagements.

Reveal who Alpha is, and get on with progressing the mythology portion of the series, and get away from the “engagement of the week” storylines.

Sure, these things are way too drastic, but some things are going to be necessary to keep the show on the air, especially if it manages to squeeze out a second season.

I certaininly didn’t hate this episode as much as last week. I’m starting to get into the show’s strange mythology more and more – but Joss Whedon’s worlds work better when the mythology is front and center. And the more that’s brought to the fore every episode, the more I’m pulled in. Fox may not understand that’s what makes Whedon’s work stand out among the pack (perhaps that's why they’ve monkeyed around so much with the series), but his devoted fans understand that and hopefully will be rewarded for their patience with his most complicated and frustrating show to date.

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

Russell from Houston sez....
Love reading these recaps! Its almost as fun as reading how bad Heroes is. I too think Alpha is Ballard - typical of the bad writing that is Dollhouse. There is absolutley no hope for this show because the premise and acting are so bad not to mention the plot holes big enough to fill the Grande Canyon! May stick around just to see this train wreck crash and burn. Whedon needs to stick to writing Vampires.
3/9/2009 9:05:57 PM

Ebrey from sez....
Ballard isn't Alpha, because unless he's sending himself the videos of Echo/Caroline. It's more likely that he's just Ballard, and Alpha is the one sending him the videos. Also, I had the opposite impression from seeing Dushku and Dichen Lachman play the same character: Dushku isn't great at playing a variety of roles, but at least she's charming. Lachman is a big turn off and I hope Alpha kills her character in the next few episodes.
3/9/2009 12:48:25 AM

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