Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles play two sibling “hunters,” Sam and Dean (That’s right! Padalecki is Sam and Ackles is Dean, which is confusing for anyone who’s a “Gilmore Girls” fan.) who are aware of a supernatural world most people don’t see and have taken it upon themselves to bring down evil. They’re actually a family of demon hunters with an unfortunate childhood introduction to demons, and they spend the first season looking for their missing hunter father.

They also drive a classy 1967 Chevy Impala all over the country (even though the whole thing is shot in Canada) usually with “Carry On Wayward Son” in the background, and they really don’t make very sturdy relationships with people, with a few exceptions. They really are loners in the way that most people in television series pretend they are but really aren’t. They really don’t have a network of support (and when they do, they tend to lose it), and they really are in some horribly cheap hotel in a different city every other day. It kinda solves the whole “Murder She Wrote” problem, which leaves you thinking that Angela Lansbury is the real murder. Murder doesn’t come to them, they go to it.

Now sometimes their traveling isn’t completely convincing. Once they’re supposed to be in Dallas, Texas, (my hometown) and they’re all wearing heavy coats and going to record stores I’ve never seen or heard of (because they’re actually in Canada) and every hotel room they stay in is the same set dressed-up to look different, but I still like that in this show, these two brothers really are pretty much detached from everything, except each other, which leads to some interesting drama and a multitude of very short-lived love stories, often with a gruesome ending.

There’s also everything you’d expect to see in a supernatural show, from vampires to shape-shifters, but it’s always presented in a way that doesn’t pull any punches. Though it’s sometimes a comedy, the monsters in the show are serious, deadly and rarely comical, like you would sometimes see in “Buffy.” There’s also a higher level of violence and eerie in this show that I haven’t seen in any other currently aired on regular TV, that leaves me marathoning it with a girlfriend (which actually doesn’t stop me from getting scared during) and then checking my backseat as I drive home alone in the dark. But there’s certainly comedy as well. They tend to enjoy breaking their show’s usual mold and doing some really whacked-out episodes that other shows might not be able to pull off. For instance, in season 6, there’s an episode where they get thrown into another reality where “Supernatural” is just a television show and they’re really Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles and another one of the regulars on the show, the angel Castiel (Misha Collins), is addicted to Twitter. It’s very funny.

Another thing to celebrate is the fact that “Buffy” cast members tend to guest star on this show quite often. In fact, the list currently includes: Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), James Marsters (Spike), Amber Benson (Tara), Julie Benz (Dara), Amy Acker (Fred from “Angel”), and Mercedes McNab (Harmony) to name a few. Mercedes actually plays a vampire once again but not in the usual fun way that you’d expect. (Actually, it’s pretty upsetting!) There is also an episode where Paris Hilton gets her head chopped off. Who doesn’t want to see that?

Though I will say in recent seasons they’ve gotten a little crazy-elaborate with their story lines (maybe because they’ve run out of ghosts and demons?), I think at least the first six seasons, which are all available on Netflix Instant, are worth a watch. The verdict is still out on season seven though, which is still unfolding.

Click here for a trailer.

Actor Kevin Williamson did a wonderful portrayal of Dr. Horrible, a.k.a Neil Patrick Harris, and even had the singing chops to boot. It’s not an easy role either. He has to play the wannabe evil but actually sweet and misunderstood “Billy Buddy” who swings from disturbingly misguided to pathetically endearing every other second.

Taylor Overstreet also did an amazing job as Penny, and her voice sounded almost identical to Felicia Day’s. And Justin Lavergne brought his own interpretation to Captain Hammer, since not everyone can be Nathan Fillion, but if I couldn’t be Nathan, I’d want to be this guy. The “These are not the hammer,” line is not easy to deliver with the right comedic timing, but he “nailed” it.

So overall, just go see it. GO SEE IT! I might have to see it twice.

Taking place at the Austin Convention Center this weekend, this event is nerd heaven, and I have no shame admitting that I spent the whole day there yesterday and left very satisfied. (What? Nerds are in.)

Need a pair of twilight contact lens so you can dress as a vamped version of yourself next Halloween? Check out the Exoticlenses.com booth. Need a samurai sword or steam punk attire of any type? There are multiple booths dedicated to these themes. Need a funny T-shirt that references your favorite pieces of pop culture? You have definitely come to the right place. Just want some pictures of fellow Austinites dolled-up in some amazing Cosplay? There is no better event for this.

Want to meet/take pictures with/get autographs from half the cast of Buffy? This is your chance to meet Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall), James Marsters (Spike) and Juliet Landau (Drusilla). They’re just there, out in the open, and you can walk by their booth multiple times and stare at them like zoo animals, or buy an autograph and actually talk to them. I’m too cheap to pay for anything other than a picture with James Marsters, because come on. Who doesn’t want a picture with arguably the most iconic cast member? (Though he really looks different without his white hair.)

Besides, Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) and Adam Baldwin (Firefly) are also each amazingly nice and Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) is even smaller in person than you’d expect. I’m talking munchkin-sized, which is just entertaining.

So here’s your chance to nerd it up at Austin Comic Con. Day passes are only $25 and today you can still catch a panel about everything Dr. Who at 2:45 and a pop culture trivia showdown at 3:45 p.m., involving cult hits like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Star Wars” and “Star Trek.”

Screen captures of “Dream On” ©20th Century Fox

Who knew Neil Patrick Harris could hit the high notes in “Dream On”? I didn’t and I’m a huge fan of “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog” (in which Harris does indeed demonstrate that he can sing). Basically he killed in his portrayal of Bryan Ryan from the school board (and Will’s past show choir nemesis in some scenes featuring NPH in a mullet)  in “Glee’s” most recent episode directed by none other than Joss Whedon.

Whedon has only directed a single episode of one other show (“The Office”), and that episode was likewise amazing and comically had a bat and suspected vampire in the storyline. Whedon’s experience with the musical episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the above mentioned sing-along blog must’ve prepared him for directing an episode of this unique show. This was apparent in the main musical number “The Safety Dance,” which featured clean and brilliant choreography from many dancing extras.

I suspect Whedon slipped right into this role without a hitch, just as Harris did. The episode reeked of Joss. The dark realism, the pain, the humor. Though he didn’t write it, he still left his unique mark on this episode, and any Whedon fan would’ve recognized his direction. I hope this isn’t the last “Glee” episode from Whedon.

For a detailed account of Whedon’s experience directing “Glee,” see this interview. Watch the most recent episodes of “Glee” here. You may also want to check out “Behind the Glee.”

What made the whole experience even more fun is that the Longhorn Singers, the official show choir of the University of Texas, kicked the screening off with a live performance of songs from their recent spring show, including Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” and Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek.” So it was like “Glee” for real!

But what you really care about is the show, right?

By the time the last new episodes of “Glee” aired last fall, the show had become something of a pop culture phenomenon. Then the show disappeared for four months. So in a way, this spring premiere, which airs April 13 and is aptly titled “Hell-O,” is almost more akin to a season premiere, both in the time that has elapsed between the episodes and how much the characters and their relationships have shifted since we last saw them. I’m not saying it was as egregious a jump as Veronica swapping Logan Freaking Echolls for dull Duncan in the S2 premiere of “Veronica Mars,” but I did get a little bit of whiplash. Even with such big surprises, drama and shake-ups in tow, this episode was still chock full of what I’ve come to expect from this show: biting humor (mostly courtesy of Sue Sylvester and her duo of cheerleader flunkies), unique guest spots (Hello, Broadway stars Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff!) and, of course, goosebump-inducing musical numbers (because of the episode title, the songs all contain “Hello,” or in two cases “Hell,” in the title).

Because “Glee” took me on a hell of a fun ride last fall, I will definitely give it the benefit of the doubt and continue to watch, eyes and ears glued to the screen, to see where these characters will take us in the build-up to regionals (aka, the season finale). What else do Gleeks have to look forward to in the next two months? An all-Madonna episode and a legen…wait for it…dary guest appearance by Neil Patrick Harris in an episode directed by none other than Joss Whedon!

“Glee” airs Tuesday nights on FOX at 8 p.m. (Good thing “Lost” will be over soon, huh?) If you’re new to the show, you can catch up on everything you’ve missed at www.fox.com/glee or www.hulu.com. We’ve got a couple of “Glee” mini-posters to give away if you’re interested, so send me an e-mail at shelby@chickstermag.com telling me what your favorite musical number has been and why, and you may win a poster.

Season 2, Episode 13: Epitaph 2: The Return

I’ve got to be honest: the still unaired Epitaph One, which is only present on the Season 1 DVD, wasn’t my favorite episode. It wasn’t bad and the storyline was interesting, but it seemed like Joss Whedon had watched Termination Salvation too many times and accidentally internalized it, just like how some fight scenes in Season 7 of Buffy seemed inadvertently (or possibly deliberately) influenced by Lord of the Rings, especially the finale.

Epitaph One seemed way out of place and introduced a slew of new characters I didn’t care for while the main characters of the whole series were only present in flashbacks. This is why I chose to skip Epitaph One last night during my screening of the last Dollhouse ever and tried to tune in at 8 pm to see the series closer. We were told after the previous Dollhouse that there would be a 2-hour time slot for the finale on January 22nd, and scenes implied they were going to play Epitaph One first. Yet when I tuned in at 8 pm the series closer had just ended and I had to wait and watch it online this morning. Epitaph One has remained unwisely unaired. This is confusing to anyone watching Dollhouse this season who didn’t buy Season 1 on DVD.

I understand that the time slot must’ve been pushed to the 29th and shrank because of Haiti and rightfully so, but it I would’ve liked some warning! I’m sure many people missed it (since Dollhouse is usually new at 8pm) or flat-out didn’t understand it, if they’ve never seen Epitaph One and that’s discouraging. Fox is already forcing out a great show, but they couldn’t be bothered to keep it from ending on a confusing note? That’s just like their unwise decision of not airing the incredible pilot of Firefly before diving into a show which didn’t have much overall explanation in its second episode, which was about a train heist. What?

But moving on, Epitaph 2 was much better in my opinion, than the unaired Epitaph One. After the opening scene they returned to the main cast which made it gel better and feel more like Dollhouse. But to do this they basically had to hope we’d suspend disbelief since it’s 10 years later and no one has aged. I was certainly willing to do that so it could feel like the show I’ve come to love, but it’s strange that they didn’t even attempt the tinniest bit of age make-up. Yet age make-up is rarely well-executed so maybe we’re better off.

We were also expected to believe that Victor and Sierra’s great love could possibly be broken-up over a disagreement about whether or not to use “tech” around their kid and that “Tony” had resigned to roam around with a band of misfits that looked like they’d missed the casting call for Road Warrior. At least that silliness didn’t last long.

Alpha’s role in this episode was also completely unbelievable, but I’m such an Alpha fan that I enjoyed it. But it’s odd to see so much faith in him after the past. It’s even stranger that he’s the one who basically brought Ballard and Echo together in the end, when he killed Ballard once. Speaking of which, best line goes to Ballard for once:

Ballard: “The world still needs heroes, kid.”
 
Echo: “Did you really just say that?”
 
Ballard: “What? I was being inspirational.”
 
Echo: “You are so corny.”
 
Ballard: “You’re…fat.” (She’s not.)
 
Also speaking of which, yet another beloved character died by headshot. That makes 3 in just the last 3 aired episodes and each one was completely unexpected.

I’m also glad that the young girl imprinted with Caroline in Epitaph One was given less screen-time in this episode. For the most part I think child actors should be avoided. Unless you find a prodigy like Haley Joel Osment from the Sixth Sense, you should write-out any major role that involves a child if it isn’t necessary for the plot. There didn’t really seem to be a need for another Caroline walking around, and if for some reason there was, she could’ve easily been played by an adult.

But at least the little girl didn’t out-act Eliza. I was slightly worried about that; I have this theory that Eliza lies down so much in the show so she doesn’t have to act as much. But Eliza actually did so well in one scene that she made me cry, so perhaps she’s on her way to a higher level.
 
For the ending, I’m not sure how I feel about Echo laying down in the pods in the last scene. She was a prisoner in the Dollhouse for so long that it seemed unlikely she would find peace there. And the exit music was the wrong tone. Angels falling on me? They couldn’t get something better? Does Sarah McLachlan only do pet commercials now?

Overall despite all my objections, I thought this was a good episode and certainly a nice way to tie up a series that ended far too soon. I just hope Joss Whedon has a new show next fall. Without one what will I write about in Whedon Watch, or, more importantly, do for fun?

Watch this episode here.

Season 2, Episode 12: The Hollow Men

Only one episode left now in the Dollhouse series and the one aired last night, like all the episodes this season, had tremendous momentum. For starters, another main and beloved character died from a headshot, which makes two of those for just the last two episodes. And another character—this time a main one—got blown-up! That makes two of those for the season. I know Joss has a strange obsession with killing his characters to dispel favoritism and keep his audience on their toes, but it never ceases to surprise me. I guess that’s the whole point.

When it comes to tying up loose ends, it was nice closure to finally see Ballard give Mellie the love she’s always wanted from him. It was also satisfying to realize Caroline/Echo’s relevance to the big picture, even if it did involve a very cringe-worthy spinal tap.

And Victor (Enver Gjokaj) once again did a fantastic job of portraying the Topher character because of an imprint left behind by Topher himself. I still can’t believe that Enver can modify his voice so well that he sounds just like Topher (Fran Kranz). He even has the mannerisms down! Bringing back that trick was I nice touch. I also can’t believe that Topher/Victor said he preferred his own physique to Victor’s and made fun of his outfit because he wasn’t wearing a sweater-vest. What is believable was his admission that he installed a hidden camera because he thought Ivy had been stealing…his turkey-jerky.

Best line, once again, came from Topher:  “I did all of this. I’m the one who brings about the thought-pocalypse.”

DeWitt: “Thought-pocalypse?”

Topher, excitedly: “Is brain-pocalypse better? I figure, if I’m responsible for the end of the world, I get to name it.”

The thought-pocalypse has occurred. The Dollhouse’s tech has been weaponized. People can be wiped and imprinted with a device Topher invented out of curiosity but never intended for mass production. Next week we go 10 years into the future to see more of the world they showed us in the unaired episode from the first season. The final 2 hours of Dollhouse will be from 7–9pm (CT) January 29, 2010 and I suspect the first hour will be the previously unaired Epitaph One, because I saw some familiar characters in the teaser and the final one is supposed to be called Epitaph Two: The Return. We’ve finally gotten back to Epitaph, and now we get to go one step beyond it.

But I can’t help thinking, what about Alpha? Will he be a dangling end? Or will he be there at the end too?

For more options, like to view the episode reviewed above or to watch the 15-second “Dollhouse Simplified” recap, see this link.

Season 2, Episode 11: Getting Closer

Man I hope for a comeback, because what Joss delivered tonight was such an unfathomable combination of unexpected, heart-breaking, and entertaining that I am going to be even more sad (didn’t know that was possible) that there are supposedly only 2 episodes left in this remarkable series which is starting to remind me of Firefly in more ways than one—yes including Summer Glau and the undeserved cancellation. Speaking of which, who else has noticed Fox campaigning (or more like pleading) to viewers to write letters to Time Warner Cable to keep their shows from being dropped? Well why don’t you stop canceling really good shows like Arrested Development, Family Guy twice, Futurama, Dollhouse, and…the list seems to go on into infinity but soon won’t apparently. Maybe I would if you’d stop being so short-sided that you look at the revenue generated from a show and clobber it before it’s finished generating a good following while leaving mostly crap behind, Fox. Maybe I would write Time Warner Cable if instead of trying to sabotage your own shows, you’d actually give them descent time slots. Until then good riddance to you.

And I’m sure someone else will pick-up the shows I like from your station anyway while simultaneously realizing their value which you’ve been flat-out incapable of up until this point.
 
But enough about that. The episode was fantastic. The return of the cute nerdy romance between Bennett and Topher (including the nerdy-love theme music) was very satisfying….best line from Topher: “You know I always had a crush on you, even when I thought you were a dude….This is better”; the twist ending that I at least partially expected (but couldn’t help but notice that she shot her on the SIDE of the head. Repairable?) and then the other twist ending which I’m still scratching my head over but am very excited about; finding out what feature they took away from Ballard so they’d have enough “brain-map” room to repair his brain when they turned him into a doll version of himself to save his life; finding out more about the real Caroline. Sigh. Fox you suck.

For more options, like to view the episode reviewed above or to watch the 15-second “Dollhouse Simplified” recap, see this link.

Season 2, Episode 9: Stop Loss

There were several things about this episode that I found brillant. For instance, we finally got to see the exit process for a doll who didn’t need to escape. Victor’s time at the dollhouse was up, so he woke up, was shocked that it had been 5 years, filled out some paperwork, shook Boyd’s hand and found himself (after checking out his dollhouse provided suite) compelled to sleep in his elongated tile shower instead of his bed (nice touch Joss). So obviously there was some impression left-over of his time at the Dollhouse on a subconscious level, but he didn’t remember anything, not even Sierra at first, whom he was supposed to have dinner with that evening whom continued to wait for him.

Aside from the good points, I found the whole “soldier, one-mind” storyline a little cheesy and I’m not sure any of that was necessary. But the parts where Victor could physically see the soldiers’ planned strategy ahead of time was interesting and slightly eerie in its choppy cinematography.

Season 2, Episode 10: The Attic

Joss jokingly claimed once, on a Buffy special feature, that he “invented” the twist ending. In this episode he convinced me that was true. I predict most writers’ twist endings, but not Joss’s most of the time, which is why most un-Joss shows bore me. But Joss doesn’t disappoint, especially in this episode. I could’ve done without Joss’s creative version of nightmare-sushi though. Ick.

That aside I found the attic a very interesting place, and I like the Terry-Gilliam-esque sleeping contraptions the dolls were stored in and the dream-like sequences all shared by minds trapped together. I also love that Joss managed to tie the attic to Epitaph One! How interesting that the unaired 13th episode was merely a possible outcome of the Doll’s technology taking over the world, or perhaps it wasn’t? Hopefully Joss will address that as the rest of the season unfolds. The Dollhouse returns to its regular 8pm (central time) slot on January 8th.

For more options, like to view the episodes reviewed above or to watch the 15-second “Dollhouse Simplified” recap, see this link.

 Season 2, Episode 5: The Public Eye

 “A former active once made a passing reference to us in his blog,” said DeWitt in this new installment of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. “That was his last entry.”

As this contains slight spoilers, let’s hope I fare better. In the first episode aired of this two-episode time slot on Dec. 4, they revealed that one of the people in the senator-wife partnership introduced in the previous episodes was a doll. Very tricky. I don’t think I would’ve seen that coming if I hadn’t unknowingly tuned in during the last half of an episode that was actually episode 2 in a two-episode time slot! (Just FYI, Dollhouse starts at 7pm central time this Friday [Dec. 11] as well and will be two hours.)

The long-awaited Summer Glau also finally appeared in her excellent role as a doll brainwasher who mirrors Topher (Fran Kranz) in her character of Bennett, except with even less humanity, which is novel considering that Topher referred to dolls in this episode as not being “real people” like him.

Glau conveys this character with a level of weirdness that even surpasses Dr. Saunders’ (Amy Acker) character—which is pretty weird—and with craziness reminiscent of her performance as the brilliant but unbalanced River in the movie Serenity, the topper on the Firefly series.

Madeline (better known as the doll November/Mellie from Season 1) also makes an appearance in this episode, with the goal to bring down the dollhouse by talking to the press about her time there. But it makes you wonder why the dollhouse allowed her to be aware of her connection to them. Couldn’t they have just wiped that from her memory as well? They took everything else, but I do admit that it does make for an interesting turn.

Season 2, Episode 6: The Left Hand

Victor (Enver Gjokaj) portraying Topher’s character was one of the most convincing performances on this show that there has been, aside from Victor humorously portraying the horny school girl Kiki in an earlier episode. He’s even modified his voice and mannerisms to match Topher’s exactly. That topped off with the sweater vest was a close to perfect reflection.

The nerdy love and admiration taking place between the Bennett and Topher characters was also priceless, and even though her intentions turned out to be malicious, I still hope that they continue that storyline.

The twist ending in this episode puzzled me. The Dollhouse isn’t taken down, and it’s the character plotting for the entire season to uncover them that lies unblinkingly that “There is no Dollhouse.”  Not sure what Joss is doing but I’m certain it’s brilliant and will unfold and amaze.

Season 2, Episode 7: Meet Jane Doe

I’m not really sure what training to get a woman out of jail has to do with learning to break out of the Dollhouse so I suspect that this is just a filler episode, though it obviously has its highlights like Topher continuing to obsess over his crush on the seemingly evil Bennett. 

Also, who really threatens to call the police over trying to use food stamps? Sure, they may not accept them but you’d think that they would just politely decline and apologize about their policy. Plus having a woman clapped in prison for 3 months because someone else handed her stolen bread seems a little over the top, as did all the prison scenes.

Plus if Echo is the best than why has she totally messed-up every mission she’s ever had? Sure it would be less interesting if they always went exactly to plan but they should go to plan sometimes. Though she always pulls it off in the end, they always go terribly wrong.  Wouldn’t that make her the worst instead of the best? And she basically failed this training session. Wouldn’t that mean she needs more training?

Season 2, Episode 8: A Love Supreme

This was a much better episode than the previous (and a great episode period) especially since Alpha returns, in a lounge-singer-like suit that he still somehow managers to pull off. And someone gets blown up, though I was a little sad about who (and a little grossed out). But Alpha’s “Who doesn’t love a pun?” line after having the guy repeat to the onlookers how he would describe his time with Echo, was a blast. 

They don’t bother to show us how Alpha got into the Dollhouse this time, which is actually alright with me since the interest about him breaking in last time revolved around the fact that you had no idea he was Alpha. This time they skip that detail, and get to the really interesting stuff like him trying to take out Ballard, for daring not to sleep with Echo, apparently. Best exchange between Alpha and Ballard:

“For months you shared the same room. You never slept with her. You could have but you didn’t. If that’s not love…are you gay?”

“No.”

“Then it’s love.”

Who knows? Alpha’s crazy. And kinda awesome. So I won’t give anymore spoilers.

Unfortunately it does sound as if this will be the last season of the Dollhouse, and I think that’s very regrettable, but hope that Fox will have a twist ending of its own after the inevitably brilliant closer of this series airs.

For more options, like to view the episodes reviewed above or to watch the 15-second “Dollhouse Simplified” recap, see this link.

Season 1 cover, © 2009 Twentieth Century Fox

So Fox amazed us all by deciding to pick-up Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse in the first place, let alone renewing it for a second season after rumors that it would get dropped. But in true Fox style (they’re the ones who originally canceled Family Guy, if you don’t remember) they’ve benched the show during November sweeps, and Summer Glau (Firefly series, Serenity), who was promised a guest spot two weeks after the episode about Sierra’s entrance to the Dollhouse, was put off until December 4th (8pm). The fate of Dollhouse is unclear after the purchased 13 episodes air. It’s rumored there may not be any more.

Fox is also the network that canceled Firefly after one season, a show that has become so popular through its DVD sales and rabid fans that it was even made into a fairly popular movie two years after the show was canceled. That doesn’t happen. But that’s just how poorly Fox selects its shows. The fans of Firefly are even more dedicated than Buffy fans, which is scary. (If you’ve never given into the Buffy fad, I am truly sad for you and recommend Netflixing the whole thing right now. But I will warn you that it’s highly addictive so make sure you have some extra time. Sure, during season one you may think “Yeah, right” as it was extremely low-budget during that time, but I challenge you to watch any two episodes of season two and then stop. Yeah, you’ll watch the whole thing, especially as James Marsters gets more and more screen time which isn’t a coincidence. The Spike character has become more iconic than Buffy herself. I won’t be surprised if you also notice that season seven isn’t stellar though. During that time Joss was also working on Firefly and Angel simultaneously, and it shows.)

But I digress. Dollhouse is about an underground organization consisting of people who have signed a five-year contract (for reasons mostly unknown) to be implanted with different personalities and put into situations on command of the highest bidder. This can lead to situations varying from prostitution to museum heists. At the end of each “engagement” their memory is “wiped,” and after their contract is up they have been promised a pleasant awakening with no memory of their time there. It’s basically a fancy version of jail that resembles a health spa. Personality-less versions of the actives, darkly nicknamed Dolls, get to spend all day swimming, painting, pruning bonsai trees, performing yoga and receiving massages. And yes, there are co-ed showers. Sounds like an absolute fantasy to me as oppose to working 40-hour weeks (except for the icky prostitution part).

The main character, or Doll, Echo is played by Eliza Dushku who is most famous for her role as Faith on Buffy. I must admit that Faith is one of my least favorite Buffy characters of all time, and Dushku, though occasionally charming, is regarded by me to be a pretty weak actress. Though I do have to admit that just being on this show has improved her, her ability to serve as a leading lady has not yet been proven—at least not to me—though there have been some performances from this series that have made me wonder if she is at least on her way.

That being said, I still really like the show as it is often well written (There have been a few holes but Whedon has made an effort this season to fill them, like for instance, that they can afford to implant people’s brains with personalities but they can’t afford plastic surgery for Dr. Saunders’s face which was mutilated by Alpha? I’m glad they finally addressed that.) and the other actors and characters make it worthwhile. For instance, the actor who plays Alpha (also a Whedon favorite, but I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t gotten that far in season one), Dichen Lachman who plays Sierra, Olivia Williams (Rushmore) who plays the cold yet warm DeWitt, Enver Gjokaj who plays Victor, Harry Lennix who plays Boyd, Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica) as Agent Ballard and Amy Acker who plays Dr. Saunders (who’s most famous for her hot super-nerd role of Fred on Angel but also played an excellent villain in Alias) are all incredible. Sierra should’ve been the leading lady, in my opinion, because her acting is effortless and convincing in every situation thus far, and I suspect that may have been the plan at one point, but she is an unknown and obviously the show needed a star to sell it to executives. Fran Kranz who plays Topher is also doing a phenomenal job of portraying a comical, morally bankrupt “sociopath in a sweater vest.”

This is certainly a show to check out while it lasts, and I do hope that it does indeed last another season and suspect it will. They said it wouldn’t make it past 13 episodes last season and look how far it’s already gotten… For more information see the Dollhouse Wiki.