SmartRemarks

Joss Whedon’s new TV series Dollhouse got off to an uneven start, as I wrote shortly after the premiere. The show’s quixotic concept seemed promising but underdeveloped, and the Fox network had reportedly interfered with the show creatively. The first few episodes seemed like a very slow build, focusing on the kind of “engagement of the week” stories the network wanted rather than more sophisticated, long-term storytelling. Whether the show would surmount those obstacles seemed uncertain.

But Whedon promised from the start that the back half of the 13-episode season would turn toward more provocative, less predictable storytelling, along the lines he and his writing team had originally envisioned… and he wasn’t wrong. Over the last few weeks, the show has delivered in spades, stepping up to a much higher level.

The sixth episode, “Man on the Street,” was a strong harbinger of the shift in direction, fleshing out the concept and the character ensemble, and answering some nagging questions. But the really dramatic turning point was the ninth episode, “Spy in the House of Love,” which aired on April 10. 

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Tags: Dollhouse, Joss Whedon, television

In my personal opinion, naturally. YMMV. If this were in any way authoritative, it would have been carved in stone by a finger of flame.

But I have been pondering, of late, the sort of things I like to read and watch, and I find myself mulling over some commonalities. There seem to be four recurring characteristics that mark a piece of fiction for me as enjoyable, memorable, and (if it’s in serial form) worthy of further attention. None of these by itself is either necessary or sufficient to make a story effective, but the presence of at least two of them is usually enough to pique my curiosity, and the presence of three or four almost guarantees that I’ll become a fan.

What are these oh-so-crucial characteristics?…

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Tags: Aaron Sorkin, books, continuity, genre, humor, John LeCarré, Joss Whedon, Lost, Mark Twain, movies, Star Trek, television, Watchmen

Joss Whedon has a loyal and richly deserved fan following. There aren’t really a lot of “household name” television writers (Aaron Sorkin? Joe Straczynski? Maybe Gene Roddenberry, back in the day?), but he’s one. His following, built up over years of memorable work on Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, guarantees that any new project he does will attract attention. And right now (unlike any other big-name writer who springs to mind) he has a new project on the air.

What a fan following doesn’t guarantee is renatings high enough to make a show a hit, as Fox’s ignominious treatment of Firefly demonstrated. And as Fox is also the network that’s broadcasting Whedon’s new show Dollhouse—and that decided to bury it in a Friday night timeslot, among other questionable decisions—the fate of this new series is no sure thing.

To be sure, the show is built around a concept that can’t easily be summed up in a ten-second spot. The idea is that a very secretive organization exists, the “Dollhouse,” that maintains a roster of peopleensam (“dolls”) who have been wiped of their own memories and personalities. Any of these people can be rendered “Active” by being programmed with a different set of memories and abilities, customized to meet the needs or desires of the organization’s super-rich clients. For the duration of an engagement, the doll literally becomes an expert hostage negotiatior, or dream date, or whatever the case may be… anyone or anything… but in the aftermath retains no memory of the engagement, supposedly resulting in perfect confidentiality. The dolls have all voluntarily contracted to let their bodies be used like this for five years, after which they will (allegedly) be restored and released. There’s a full staff (technical, medical, etc.) managing the Dollhouse’s central facility, including “Handlers” who serve as remote bodyguards for each Active doll. Meanwhile, off on the fringes, there’s an FBI agent who has been spending more than a year investigating elusive leads about the Dollhouse, seeking to expose it and bring it down. Oh, and as it happens the programming technique isn’t quite flawless… some dolls retain fragmentary memories, and at least one has escaped the Dollhouse under violent circumstances and gone rogue.

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Tags: Dollhouse, genre, Joss Whedon, television