Feature: B-
I am not a Browncoat or a Whedonite, but I’ve enjoyed nearly every television show put out by Joss Whedon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible, all deserve their own respect. Dollhouse, though was a struggle. I honestly gave up on the show midway when it originally aired, bored by it, and said, “Eliza Dushku wearing next to nothing is just not enough to keep me watching this show.” Believe me, that’s saying something. This is how my Friday nights went this past spring. Paired with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Friday nights, from which I would be jumping on my couch cushions afterwards, buzzing, and then I felt like I was swimming in a lap pool of thick pudding, twenty minutes into Dollhouse and seemingly going nowhere. So, imagine how I felt when T:TSCC was cancelled and Dollhouse was renewed for a second season? I was furious, but recently I finished the entire season on blu-ray and have come to the conclusion, I acted prematurely.

Dushku reunites with Whedon to star as Caroline, a woman who needs to burn her past and is willing to sign over five years of her life away and be part of the Dollhouse. Now dead, Caroline is given the codename: Echo. Her brain is stripped down to its essentials and its simplest of functions. She is for all intents and purposes, a blank slate, lacking any personality or emotion. The spa-like Dollhouse is disguised as an underground fantasy-escort prostitution ring, male and female “dolls” would be made to order by a willing client, who would specify certain traits or scenarios to play out. Oh, but the “dolls” are more capable of that. They can be ordered to do undercover jobs, infiltrate, spy, and anything else that can be programmed into their mind.

It’s a crazy amalgam of Frankenstein, the Matrix and Dushku’s previous television show, Tru Calling as the sultry brunette gets to play out a barrage of personalities and kick ass in prime-time television. The formula was very clear at the start and we are introduced to all of the other principle dolls: Sierra (Dichen Lachman), Victor (Enver Gjokaj), and Mellie (Miracle Laurie). Each “Active” doll has a handler who sees each doll through their mission. Echo’s is Boyd Langton (Harry Lennix). The scientist who administers the downloads is Topher Brink (Frank Kranz). Dr. Saunders is the resident on staff (Amy Acker) who was attacked by Alpha, a rogue doll and left her permanently scarred. Overseeing the operation is Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) and her chief of security, Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond). The Dollhouse is known only by its rich clients and the final component of the show is an FBI Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) who is insistent to prove to his superiors of the Dollhouse existence.

The problem that I had with the early part of the season is that when the dolls don’t have a persona downloaded into them, the show is pretty vapid as the actors just walk around like zombies in a spa. I understand that’s how they’re supposed to be, but to watch half a show of that made for a laboring experience. It was as if there was a bit of arrogance by Whedon and crew thinking that their loyal following and Dushku fanboys could carry the show long enough for a payoff long down the road. The buzz was just about dead by the first month of the show and then… well, the show made a dramatic turn at the halfway point.

After all of the dolls are introduced and laid out, Echo begins to act up and remembers things. She evolves as a doll and leads a breakout. While the jail break wasn’t successful, that episode was a turning point for the season. The peripheral characters emerged and Echo became a secondary role. Dr. Saunders is revealed to be a former doll named Whiskey, Topher is an entertaining yet creepy character, DeWitt faces moral dilemmas, and a spy infiltrates the Dollhouse. Suddenly the show was going somewhere. It was coherent, the writing got better and the cast really buckled down and made for compelling science fiction. Each episode upped the ante laid down by the prior, reaching a climax when Alpha makes his return.

But wait, there’s more! Whedon shot another episode titled, “Epitaph” show on digital for half the costs and set in the post apocalyptic future 10 years later. Viewers get a glimpse of how the technology has evolved and peer into civilization’s doom and no one is left from the show, or are they? Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible) guest stars as Mag, and leader of a band of “actuals” who are humans who have kept their bodies free of technology. This episode was made for DVD/Blu-ray because international contracts call for 13 episodes and the first season ended with only 12. So, Whedon pitched the idea to Fox to make this final episode at half the costs and in turn gave them the strongest episode of the entire season. It’s so worth the wait to see after completing the original twelve episodes that even though I wanted to forget this series when I first saw it, I am now craving the second season and hoping that the show will evolve into what’s peeked at in Epitaph sooner rather than later. So while it’s an extra, I have to say that this episode really saved this show for me because it shows where they want to ultimately go and trust me, when I say it’s a good place.

Video: B+
Dollhouse on blu-ray brings home a 1080p AVC-encoded MPEG-4 transfer framed in 1.78:1. Primary colors are clean and burst on the screen. Textures and skintones reproduce accurately especially that great cherry wood tone that’s present throughout the Dollhouse. Overall it’s pretty good but once in a while details get a big muddy, which may be due in part to the varying camera setups and stage design. Blacks, shadows and contrast ratio are all consistently solid throughout season one, and the only stray cat is “Epitaph” because it was shot on digital. You can see the graininess and dip in picture quality but that actually adds to the ambiance of the post-apocalyptic era they were trying to create.

Audio: B
There is only one audio option and that’s English 5.1 DTS-HD. It’s a fine track that has the goods on panning effects and motion sound. I felt I had to turn up the volume though to get the dialogue at a resounding level, about ten clicks higher than what I normally listen at. Bass is real punchy during explosions and high action sequences. The balance overall could have been tweaked better, but it’s a satisfying audio experience in general. Subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Extras: B-
Audio Commentaries – There are three total and each one is different to the next. They scored big though by putting subtitles specifically for the commentaries which I think is a long overdue. Seriously, how are deaf people supposed to understand audio commentaries? Anyway it’s was a great touch.

Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku on Episode 1, “Ghost” make it very clear they’re not focused to do an in-depth commentary noting that it’s early in the morning and they’re hungry. Whedon is very comfortable with his fan base so once in awhile it’s okay to break away from the norm, but this isn’t a track you’ll likely revisit.

Whedon on Episode 6, “Man on the Street” buckles down on this track and talks about what part of the show is about, this difference of opinion, and “What to believe, how we’ve come to believe and how we’re forced to believe and how everyone’s perspective is valid. There’s a fantasy of control or of perception. When we have a fantasy, we don’t think about the little things that somebody else is going through that make them not jive with our fantasy, we just have the fantasy.”

Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen on Episode 13 “Epitaph” are the main writers of the show and have been with Joss for some time. They start off the commentary announcing that their recent marriage nuptials and sets the tone for a very care free and fun track. They offer some insight into writing this important episode and then get a bit personal on the track. It’s funny folks, but be forewarned of some gushy and intimate details. Ultimately, the crew needed to make a cheap cool finale that would “Blow people’s minds.” Goal accomplished. I was turned off though at the censoring that was done in this commentary. There’s just no need for that.

The rest of extras are in Dolby Digital Stereo and are shown in HD, AVC-encoded and are found on disc three.

Making Dollhouse HD (20:48) Whedon guides you through the assembly of the cast, writers room, and growth of the mythology in the series. Whedon’s a bit of droll in the featurettes, as if again, he had just woken up but this is a comprehensive overview. It feels a little EPK-like, but worth seeing.

Coming Home HD (7:11) is one of those lovey-dovey featurettes that briefly scans Whedon’s co-workers who have worked with him on all of his prior television shows. They hug, they trust, and drink and kiss each other’s butts so you know just how bad your job sucks and their family environment rocks.

Finding Echo HD (5:07) interviews Dushku about how she wanted to be a bigger part of a show than just being the star, and how a small investment of buying lunch got her a TV show and some production experience. Whedon in return got her the variety of work she wanted as displayed by the dozen or so plus characters she gets to play and found a collaborator within her.

Designing the Perfect Dollhouse HD (6:00) More animated, Whedon moves around the set touring viewers on his Eastern Spa influenced set and that the massage area was an excuse to have naked people running around the set.

In Private Engagement HD (5:47) Everyone on the set is asked if they would like the Dollhouse world to be real.

Un-aired Pilot “Echo” HD (45:47) this is the original and technical “13th episode” that was shot but it eventually was chopped up and used throughout the season, leaving them with no 13th episode and thus the reason for “Epitaph.”

Deleted Scenes HD (29:46) there’s a barrage of scenes left on the cutting floor.

I am doll eyes, doll face… doll skin… Overall Shock Value: B-
Joss Whedon’s latest show takes its grand old time to find its solid ground to stand on. The first half of the show is really dreadful, to be honest, and even seeing Eliza Dushku shake her thang isn’t enough to keep me yawning though the early episodes. BUT, as the story settles in–and perhaps facing cancellation–the show got a jolt of new life at the halfway point and ended on a respectable plateau. But if there’s a reason to bring this blu-ray box set home it’s the un-aired episode, “Epitaph” which saves the show so much that I’m very hopeful of the second season. Technically, it’s a solid win for Fox, although not perfect, but a definite upgrade over the DVD, so if you’re going to bring home a Dollhouse, make it’s the blu-ray and give the show a fair and thorough shot before you judge it, unlike me.