Dollhouse

I watched the premiere episode of DOLLHOUSE this morning on www.fox.com.  The series had been delayed a number of times and I'm sure people were anxious to see what Joss Whedon had come up with.  

Before I watched the episode, I read that ratings for the show were not very good.  Friday has killed a lot of series -- and so we'll have to see how Dollhouse does in the coming weeks.  

The first episode you got a little introduction to Echo, a girl who is programmed to do different tasks and then her memory is wiped and she waits for the next task.  It seems as if all the operatives are very good looking girls.  There is a backstory that you got a little of.  A police officer (I think he was police or FBI or something) was trying to find all the girls that had disappeared and had the key word - dollhouse but little else.  He was dedicated to finding the kidnapped girls, but his supervisors were not behind him.  They wanted him to give it up.

The main story focused on the kidnapping of a small girl -- the daughter of a Mexican businessman.  The kidnappers were asking for $10 million dollars and Echo is sent in as the mediator.  The memories she had been given were that of a skilled negotiator who was near-sighted with asthma.  As the show goes on, she challenges the kidnappers and sets up a meeting to get the little girl back.  As it turns out, the memories implanted into Echo were of a young lady who had been abducted at 9 and she runs into her kidnapper while trying to retrieve the little girl.  She does retrieve the girl -- so there is a happy ending -- sort of.  Echo goes back into the chamber and her memories are whipped clean.  She and others then go to their sleep chambers and wait for their next assignment.  

There are a lot of different things going on here.  There is the Echo story.  There is the FBI/special agent story looking for the missing young women.  There is the entire dollhouse organization and so you are left wondering what will come up next.  I liked Echo's handler -- a former policeman who really wanted to save the little girl and protect Echo.    So we'll see what happens next week.  

Did anyone else watch the episode?  What did you think?

Take care.

Sandy

FRINGE

I don't know how many of you watch FRINGE, but I absolutely love it. Yes, I know, it is somewhat strange, but that is perhaps what I like most about it. It does have some run-of-the-mill components to it, but there are some other elements of it that you don't see anywhere. I love Walter Bishop -- the mad scientist (he spent 17 years in a mental hospital - so he is really certifiable), but he is absolutely amazing. John Noble, who portrays Walter, is a fantastic actor and seems to enjoy the role enormously. Joshua Jackson is Peter Bishop, the son of Walter, and a very complex character. He has not known his father for many years -- but is needed in this instance so that Walter can get out of the institution. Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) works for a special unit of the FBI. They take on all the "weird" casts -- things from frozen people on a bus to people that turn into huge creatures like porcuppines.

While there is a different focus of the story each week, there is a layering of the backstory that continues and I think that is what keeps my interest. The characters grow before your eyes -- the relationship between Peter and Walter become less hostile; Peter gets closer to Olivia - and Olivia discovers more about her lover/ex-partner who they originally thought was guilt of treason against the US.

Each week you learn a little more and the relationships get a little deeper. Even the secondary actors, Lance Riddick (Phillip Broyles), Kirk Acevedo (Charlie Francis) and Jasika Nicole (Astrid Farnsworth) grow in interest and importance each week.

JJ Abrams knows how to write series TV, as we have seen in Lost and Alias. FRINGE is not as complex as LOST, but it has held my interest since it was first introduced. The other benefit is that you can see current episodes on Fox.com -- so you can catch up verye quickly on episodes you have missed. I wish you could do the same thing with THE MENTALIST or ELEVENTH HOUR. All you get there are clips.

Sandy