Despite writing previously that I wouldn't watch the program again, I was drawn to it like a moth to a light. True, the first few episodes weren't very good, but around the fifth episode things started to get better, and indeed there has been a continual improvement ever since (except for the current episode, the 10th, which was a return to the opening episodes).
Most television programmes could be described as moderately good ideas executed well; occasionally there is the really good idea executed well, in which case the result is excellent. Unfortunately, "Dollhouse" seems to be a good idea executed poorly.
I think that the programme can't decide what it's supposed to be. Is it a run of the mill adventure series centered on "programmed people" ("actives")? Is it a thriller about an FBI agent trying to find the Dollhouse? Is it a philosophical programme about the morality of "programming" people, taking away their identity and establishing new albeit temporary ones?
When the programme is an adventure series, then it is dull and uninteresting. When it's a thriller, it's more interesting (especially when the agent's girlfriend suddenly turned out to be an active herself, a possibility which occurred to me long before it occurred to the FBI agent, and just before it was shown to be true), but it's at its best when it's working on the philosophical level. Unfortunately the proportions of screen time seem to be about 60%, 30% and 10% (an unscientific observation, more of a guess).
Only three more episodes until the end of the series ... I wonder whether there will be any form of resolution. Apparently there is a second series, after which the show was cancelled.
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