disappointment in the dollhouse

I must admit--about a year ago when I heard that THE GENIUS (Joss Whedon) was returning to tv with a new show starrting Eliza Dushku (BtVS' "Faith")--I was beyond excited. Finally "good" tv would be back--and maybe Joss would be back on the map. I remember watching the premiere in a hotel room in Chicago (I was at the AWP conference) and I remember thinking "ok this seems intriguging. i'll give it a shot." So I did.

I watched the first 4-5 episodes--but I had trouble watching consistently. I almost had to "force" myself to get caught up (bad sign). But I figured I would keep going. Eventually, I finished the entire season (thank goodness for hulu). But I was disappointed. Why? Here are a few reasons:

> Joss was hardly a presence on the show. He didn't seem to be writing or directing a lot. He left others in charge--and people like Jane Espenson et al are wonderful writers, don't get me wrong, but somehow some of the trademark "Joss-ness" was lost.

> Lack of wit/humor. That trademark banter that was present with Buffy, Angel, and Firefly was hardly present. Much dialogue was delivered dramatically and plainly. Not to say that it was "bad" dialogue, but it lacked those one-liners and insightful monologues that the other shows were famous for.

>Lack of "Team": On Buffy there was the "the scooby gang." On Angel, there was the "AI Team" on Firefly, there was the crew. On Dollhouse...that sense of team and community was lost. I remember reading this in article on DH, and agreeing with it. You couldnt root for a group of characters to triumph--maybe one or two.

> dark and gritty: it's "popular" these days in literature, tv, movies to be "dark and gritty." Everyone should have an existential crisis. The atmosphere is dark. People wear black. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn't. Dollhouse seemed to have too much--especially the last couple of episodes of season 1--I was really shocked by some of the violent and even sexual content (and I'm a student of literature--i've read a lot of stuff). I didn't like the scenes with Whisky, for example. Now season 6 of Buffy had some of the same kind of content, but it didn't seem nearly as "creepy."

This is not to say the show never had it's good moments or that it was a "bad" show. I was just disappointed. And I hate feeling that way when it comes to Joss' work. Maybe the show needed more time to "find it's groove." I don't know. But I do hope that I see more from Whedon soon, and that I am just as excited, but not disappointed.

--Prophecy Girl