Ghost (13 Feb. 2009)

A wealthy backer asks the Dollhouse for help when his daughter is kidnapped. They send Echo to negotiate the release. One of the memory imprints used to prepare Echo for the mission causes some complications.

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator), Joss Whedon,

Stars:

Eliza Dushku, Harry Lennix, Fran Kranz

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Eliza Dushku	...	Echo / Caroline Farrell
Harry Lennix	...	Boyd Langton
Fran Kranz	...	Topher Brink
Tahmoh Penikett	...	Paul Ballard
Enver Gjokaj	...	Anton Lubov
Dichen Lachman	...	Sierra
Olivia Williams	...	Adelle DeWitt
Amy Acker	...	Dr. Claire Saunders
Reed Diamond	...	Laurence Dominic
Kurt Caceres	...	Gabriel Crestejo
Brett Claywell	...	Matt Cargill
David Doty	...	Sam Zimmerman
Tim Kelleher	...	Detmer
Vincent Laresca	...	Mr. Sunshine
Haley Pullos	...	Davina Crestejo (as Haley Alexis Pullos)

Storyline

Echo is one of several "Actives" in the elite and illegal criminal organization known as the Dollhouse, which is run by the shady international entrepreneur Adelle DeWitt. Through different personality downloads, Echo plays the role of a love struck girl on a romantic weekend, and then a ruthlessly efficient kidnapping negotiator when a wealthy client hires Dollhouse to look for his missing daughter. With the help of her handler Boyd Langdon, and "programed" by tech specialist Topher Brink, Echo goes out to rescue the girl, but her memory imprints cause some complications. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Paul Ballard is struggling with his assignment to uncover information on the Dollhouse. The chase has destroyed his marriage and is wrecking his career when both his superiors and colleagues refuses to believe in it's existence. But it doesn't seem that he'll stop until he uncovers the truth.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Sci-Fi Channel [uk]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 February 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

West Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Gabriel first meets Echo, he reveals that he had expected a fatherly character as the hostage negotiator, someone like Edward James Olmos. Olmos plays Commander Adama in Battlestar Galactica which Tahmoh Penikett (Paul Ballard) also stars in.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Adelle DeWitt: Nothing is what it appears to be.
Caroline: It seems pretty clear to me.
Adelle DeWitt: Because you're only seeing part of it. I'm talking about a clean slate.
Caroline: You ever try and clean an actual slate? You always see what was on it before.
Adelle DeWitt: Are you volunteering?
Caroline: I don't have a choice, do I? How did it get this far?
Adelle DeWitt: Caroline, actions have consequences.

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Connections

References First Blood (1982)

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Soundtracks

"Just Dance"
(uncredited)
Performed by Lady Gaga

User Reviews

If this show will be canceled, it'll be the writers' fault.

Quite honestly, I wasn't too excited for this show, but it still managed to let me down.

The concept(on paper) looks good, but in execution, it's horrendous. How can you relate to a character with no personality, and be interested in a plot that's only interesting in it's setup phase? Let me explain it. Each episode will deal with a small story of Dushku's character(and obviously, sometimes, others too) taking a "role". The scenes before that(Dollhouse scenes) are fairly good. But once she gets on the mission, it's just like any other crime show.

The supporting case COULD make up for the lead's dullness, but they don't. I mean Fringe -- Olivia Dunham is pretty dull, but the rest of the cast is strong. Not here.

I gave Dollhouse a fair chance - I sat through the pilot, and didn't look elsewhere. If I was watching this on TV, I probably would've turned it off halfway. Thank god for DVR.