Customer Reviews
Fox know nothing - By: Gary Bradburn, 09 Mar 2010 
Love this programme. I don't think Fox know what they're doing, as their sole purpose in life seems to be cancelling Joss Whedon's Television series. Anyone who loves Joss's stuff will surely love this too. Can't recommend it highly enough.
Dark but Entertaining - By: Sonia, 09 Mar 2010 
Three episodes in & I was thinking that maybe there was a good reason why Fox cancelled dollhouse. I just found these first episodes to be too dark. The scenarios in these episodes are just completely messed up. In the first episode Echo is imprinted with the personality of a woman who was kidnapped & raped as a child. She's sent to retrieve a girl who has been kidnapped only to find herself face to face with the man who kidnapped her alll those years ago. In the second episode she is hired out to a man who tries to hunt & kill her for sport. In the third episode she's hired to protect a singer who is plotting with her stalker to be murdered. By this episode I was seriously considering not watching the rest of the series because it just seemed relentless, every episode seemed to bring something more & more disturbing & I understand that some people find that entertaining but I don't.
I wouldn't say that the episodes became lighter after that, this is a pretty heavy show alll the way through but they became more entertaining. I started to see humour in the show where there hadn't appeared to be any before. As the series progresses the focus is more on the overalll plot of Paul trying to find Caroline & various things going on in the dollhouse & not so much on Echo's assignments (although they are still important) & this made it more interesting for me. There weren't many stand alone episodes & I actuallly thought that was a strength of this series because although usuallly I think it's good to throw in a few irrelevant but entertaining episodes I don't think that would reallly work in Dollhouse. The plot in Dollhouse can be quite complicated, at times I found myself getting confused & I think that because the plot is so complicated the focus needs to stay on the plot. I think I would have been more confused if every episode hadn't been relevant & would have found it a lot more difficult to follow. The plot is reallly absorbing. I found myself getting reallly into it & dying to know what happens next & I would have been annoyed if the next episode hadn't produced answers. Although as with any good mystery as one question is answered another is presented.
There are some reallly great twists in Dollhouse. There were some things that happened that I was just completely shocked about, I didn't see them coming even though looking back alll of the signs were there. Just when you think you've got it figured out something else is thrown at you that's even more surprising than the last thing. This show will keep you guessing until the very end of the season at which point Whedon takes it to a whole new level (in a good way).
The acting in Dollhouse is amazing. Dushku & the actors who play the dolls alll prove that they are amazingly versatile & talented actors. I was reallly impressed with Dushku. As I've said I'm a big fan of hers anyway but in this she can literallly be playing several characters in each episode & is flawless in each performance. I remember watching her in the first episode when Echo was in her doll state & just being amazed at how well she portrayed her. As a doll Echo is very innocent & childlike, she's basicallly like an empty person & Dushku reallly plays this convincingly. As the season progresses Echo changes & you can see the very subtle differences in each episode. In any one episode Dushku can go from Echo to a sassy assassin or the girl next door or an ambitious backing singer & each character is very distinct & believable. The other dolls are also very good & I was impressed with alll of them. I can't think of a single person who didn't play their role convincingly.
I think the idea behind this show is great. There's something very dark & sinister about the whole concept. I loved the way that Dollhouse could be taking place in any modern city around the world, that it could be happening on your doorstep & while it's completely unbelievable there's a part of you thinking, what if they could do that? How far can science go?
Overalll I reallly enjoyed season one of Dollhouse. It was a reallly engaging, well written, wonderfully acted & entertaining show & I can't wait for season 2.
Just Superb - By: Jenni, 09 Mar 2010 We were a bit ambivalent about purchasing Dollhouse as had read a few reviews saying it was slow to get going.
However we found it a superb treat from Joss Whedon. Perhaps not as much humour as Firefly but still very enjoyable. The characters draw you in & develop nicely. The first episode is a bit "what on earth!, but once the boundaries are established & you know what you are dealing with, it alll makes sense. As always with Joss it does require you to accept the Universe he has created & not try to make it alll hang together logicallly e.g the supposedly top secret Dollhouse seems to have every man & his dog as a client. Also the moral issues are as always very murky.
However if you are looking for engaging heroes & villains, like to use you brain & not watch passively & don't mind the violence then this is a facinating series for Joss fans. We are looking forward to buying the second series & mourning the fact that it is such a short series.
Disappointing - By: brian, 08 Mar 2010 
I tried this one because I reallly liked creator Joss Whedon's great sci-fi Western series, Firefly. There's a lot of extremely positive buzz about this guy. And as you can see a lot of fellow Amazon customers liked Dollhouse.
The concept had strong potential. But the execution didn't transcend normal TV. Since I'm looking for A list stuff, not just mindnumbing ways to burn time, this was disappointing.
Starting with the women. Since the central concept is stunning women fulfilling the ultimate fantasies of extremely rich men, I would just expect more exciting looking women. Hollywood is overflowing with them. Firefly had them. The Women of Dollhouse are just too underwhelming.
The nerd was annoying. I've seen many amusing or even dramaticallly effective nerds in movies & films. The nerd on this show was just irritating.
Again, conceptuallly some potentiallly strong material, but there was something about the production of this show which didn't rise above the typical dross.
Save your money. Try Sleeper Cell, Firefly, the first 3 seasons of Spooks, the Shield, the Wire or Damages if you're looking for top drawer viewing material.
Not everything they say was true - By: C. Sinclair, 04 Mar 2010 
Although I was looking forward to buying this DVD, it claimed that it had on it a never aired before pilot. This was not true as it was shown about third or fourth episode on Sci Fi uk.
Other than that you get what you pay for.
