Blu-ray Review: Dollhouse - Season One

Dollhouse: Season One

Joss Whedon returns to television, and the network that screwed him over, with Dollhouse.

From the box:

From Joss Whedon, creative mastermind behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, comes the provocative Dollhouse, a sexy suspenseful thriller starring the stunningly talented Eliza Dushku.

As an "Active," the mysterious Echo (Dushku) serves as an unwitting agent of Dollhouse, an illegal underground organization that provides its elite clientele with programmable human beings. Actives receive personality imprints allowing them to temporarily become anyone or anything - the perfect burglar, lover, spy, or assassin. Now, with the FBI and her own shadowy past closing in, Echo must face a rogue Active who will stop at nothing to bring Dollhouse down - forever.

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It's not the Buffy spin-off everyone was dreaming of but Dollhouse is probably the next best thing.

I was ecstatic when I heard the news of a new Joss Whedon show. I was even more excited when I heard it would star Eliza Dushku. I thought for sure we were getting a Faith series. Alas, that was not to be (yet?) instead we get Dollhouse, a sci-fi series full of typical Joss magic: angst, excitement, and a helluva story.

The show starts off great but hits a few bumps in its early episodes. In fact, it gets almost tedious. I don't know what was happening behind the scenes but I suspect Joss had taken a step back to concentrate on another project.

At episode six, Joss gets the show back on track by exposing the lore of the show and really kicking the story into high gear. From that episode on, Dollhouse becomes the type of fantastic television we've come to expect and love from Joss Whedon.

Dollhouse becomes an exciting and addicting sci-fi thriller with a deep and mysterious storyline. By the end of the first seasons episodes you'll be clamoring for more.

The cast is great all around. Highlights for me are Fran Kanz as the tech guru Topher, Olivia Williams as the matriarch of the Dollhouse, and Amy Acker who will be amazing no matter what she does. Eliza Dushku of course is the main draw here and it's quite fun to see her in the different scenarios and personalities she is equipped with. Overall, we have a great cast with fantastic chemistry all around.

The blu-ray set includes the entire season in hi-def which looks and sounds incredible. Special features include the Original Unaired Pilot (which was dissected to make up the first episodes), Audio Commentary on Selected Episode, Deleted Scenes, and Featurettes: Making Dollhouse, Coming Home, Finding Echo, A Private Engagement, Designing the Perfect Dollhouse.

The best feature on this disc is the unaired final episode "Epitaph One" which gives us a glimpse at the future. This is a fantastic episode, my favorite of the season, and makes me eager to see how the show ends up at this dark future.

Dollhouse is of course a must own for any fans of Joss Whedon as well as those who are new to his work. If you're a sci-fi or action fan, then Dollhouse will suit you fine also. Don't let the first few episodes throw you though. They're not great but once you get in, it really gets great.

Dollhouse is available on DVD and Blu-ray now.

Season Two premieres on Fox on September 22.