Mythology: Dollhouse
By Martin Felipe
December 28, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Some would argue that Joss Whedon dropped the ball in the first place with the first five or so episodes being of a somewhat lesser quality than his legendary Buffy, Angel and Firefly. I don't dispute the claim that those early episodes weren't great, the pop singer episode, in particular, is quite the slog to sit through, but with a few exceptions (24 and Alias come to mind), most shows best days aren't good in the early going. It takes a while for the show runners to find the voice of the production, especially for a mythology show wherein the world needs time to develop and become fully realized.
Look back at the early Seinfelds, X-Files or Simpsons to get an idea of the evolutionary nature of television. It's not that those first episodes of any given, high-quality show suck, it's just that they only offer hints at the pleasures that the show will deliver as it grows to maturity. Many long-running classics enjoy creative peaks in their third and fourth seasons when the direction of the series is at its most confident, and before the writers start spinning their wheels.
What makes the early Dollhouse griping that much more frustrating is that Whedon is quite guilty of the early episode malaise himself. I'm a huge fan of Buffy and Angel, but both of those masterpieces started out on shaky footing. They're almost enshrined as classics of televised literature now, but take a look back at their first seasons. There are several installments that I have to force my way through to get to the good stuff during my periodic re-watches. The Xander/giant praying mantis episode, for example, is not much better than the awful pop star Dollhouse. Or remember the Doyle days of Angel? I do, just not many of the individual episodes. They're generic and forgettable. Yet those first seasons are vital to establishing the elaborate mythological universes for which Whedon enjoys so much acclaim. When you think about it, the sixth episode of Dollhouse is where most claim Whedon turns it around and starts delivering on the show's promise, a lot sooner than Buffy and Angel start getting good.
The other issue is the age-old complaint of network interference. We live in a golden age of serialized television, so it's a bit surprising that networks really don't like them. They prefer the CSI/House mold of stand alone, formulaic comfort food programming. Viewers can jump in and out of the run without feeling like they've missed anything. For that matter, each episode returns the characters and situations back to square one, everything back to normal. Whedon and his ilk prefer their shows to evolve. We discover new layers to the characters, the relationships restructure over time, and the situations become more complicated. They are multi-hour novels for television.
As the creative and financial forces vie for dominance, the direction of the show is often in the hands of the viewers. When Lost became the phenom it became, ABC was far more willing to let Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof take the narrative in new and daring directions. On the other hand, once ABC realized Alias wasn't the ratings powerhouse it had hoped, they enforced a more episodic approach on the show's fourth season, resulting in what most fans consider to be its creative nadir.
At first, FOX wanted to give Dollhouse a more episodic approach, which doesn't really play to Whedon's strengths. As we few faithful know, the real Whedon creativity started poking its way through in the sixth episode, and the show is much better for it. In fact, now that the show is a lame duck, it seems that Whedon's stopped trying to please FOX at all. This last run of double episodes in December has been so brilliant and daring, I'd put them up against the best of Buffy, Angel and Firefly.
Problem is, by the time the show started getting good, it was too late. It never had what would be considered good numbers, but had the word-of-mouth in the early going been better, it might have built a small, dedicated, demographically desirable audience, allowing it a solid life span. Well, it was not to be. Against all odds, Dollhouse got a second season, and the result is a grand total of 26 episodes, more of them good than bad. The potential is there for much more story, the world and themes of the show are so rich, but chances are, we'll have to settle for the 26.
As with most low-rated shows with hardcore followings, a save the show campaign is underway, hoping to persuade FOX to order a third season after all, or maybe allow it a new life on a different network like FX. Doesn't look hopeful. There are no rumblings I know of for any possibility of a future for Dollhouse, not even in comic book form, as Joss's other properties have enjoyed. It's a shame. Rumor is, Joss is disgruntled enough by the whole experience, so much so that he's not interested in returning to television. This may be the comic book world's gain, but for we champions of TV as an art form, it's a devastating blow. He's one of the artists giving TV a good name, and we need to nurture such talent if we hope to continue to find brilliance amongst the reality show muck.