Whedon's House of Pain: 'Dollhouse' Season One DVD

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JOSS WHEDON'S TELEVISION — including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the short-lived "Firefly" — may boast snappy dialogue, intricate episode structures, deep mythologies and crazed cult fans, but what makes them endlessly rewatchable is his knack for creating lively, sympathetic characters, then putting them through the emotional ringer.

Earlier this year, Whedon introduced "Dollhouse," which at first possessed exactly none of the traits usually defined as "Whedonesque." The mythology — involving a corporation that hires mindless human "dolls" to be imprinted with various personalities — seemed underimagined and callow.

Worse, the characters were limited. How can viewers identify with blank slates? As the lead doll, Eliza Dushku appears confused and wooden, with little of the sass she brought to preview Whedon series, and she is surrounded by characters who too often come across like mere props. Even on this first-season DVD set, the early episodes feel hemmed in by an unwieldy concept.

But a funny thing happened on the way to cancelation: With each episode, "Dollhouse" grows increasingly confident in its storytelling, and the characters take on dramatic nuance. Even Dushku begins using her doe-eyed blankness to good effect.

The series' mythology grows more immersive on DVD, especially with the game-changer of a final episode, "Epitaph One," which Fox declined to air but is included here as a bonus. Pulling a "Lost," "Dollhouse" jumps around in time, putting its personality replacement technology to narrative use and revealing an impressive potential for the series.

As a result, this DVD plays like a prologue for what could be a very Whedonesque second season.

Written by Express contributor Stephen M. Deusner
Photo courtesy Fox