"Dollhouse" Ghost (2009)

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
Joss Whedon (written by)
(more)

TV Series:

"Dollhouse" (2009)

Original Air Date:

13 February 2009 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Memory | Morality | Mortality | FBI | Self Awareness

Cast

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)
Greg Collins	...	Older Man
Bryan Costanich	...	Friend
Jonny Lee	...	Deerskin
Christian J. Meoli	...	Thug 1 (as Christian Meoli)
Oscar Torre	...	Chui
Becky Wu	...	Assistant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frederick Keith Johnson	...	NSA Employee
Issac Wolf	...	Dollhouse Staff (uncredited)

Directed by
Joss Whedon

Writing credits
Joss Whedon		(creator)
Joss Whedon		(written by)
Tracy Bellomo		(staff writer) &
Andrew Chambliss		(staff writer) &
Maurissa Tancharoen		(staff writer) &
Jed Whedon		(staff writer)

Produced by
Chris Cheramie	....	associate producer
Elizabeth Craft	....	co-executive producer
Steven S. DeKnight	....	consulting producer
Eliza Dushku	....	producer
Sarah Fain	....	co-executive producer
Kelly A. Manners	....	producer
Tim Minear	....	consulting producer
David Solomon	....	co-executive producer
Joss Whedon	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Mychael Danna		(score)
Rob Simonsen		(score)

Cinematography by
Ross Berryman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Basinski

Casting by
Anya Colloff

Production Design by
Stuart Blatt

Art Direction by
Leonard Harman

Set Decoration by
David A. Koneff		(as David Koneff)

Costume Design by
Shawna Trpcic

Makeup Department
Mary Burton	....	department head make-up
Vito Trotta	....	department head hair
Roxane Griffin	....	hair: second unit (uncredited)
Michael Mosher	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Jeff MacVittie	....	post-production supervisor (as Jeffrey MacVittie)
Robert D. Nellans	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Domick	....	second assistant director (as Paul C. Domick)
W. Scott Wolf	....	first assistant director
Nicole Treston Abranian	....	additional second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Mike Blaze	....	property master
Donald S. Foster	....	set dresser
Chris Kurumada	....	assistant property master
Ted Wilson	....	construction coordinator
Peter Davidson	....	set designer (uncredited)
Peter Flynn	....	propmaker (uncredited)
April Dawn Laird	....	props (uncredited)
Nicole Matsudaira	....	art department coordinator (uncredited)
Chris Samp	....	set painter gang boss (uncredited)
Michael Voelker	....	on-set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
William Dotson	....	sound supervisor
Laura Macias	....	foley artist
Coleman Metts	....	production sound mixer
Geoffrey G. Rubay	....	re-recording mixer (as Geoff Rubay)
Ken Teaney	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Blazewick	....	production sound mixer: second unit (uncredited)
Steve Blazewick	....	sound utility (uncredited)
Shawn Kennelly	....	foley mixer supervisor (uncredited)
Ryan Maguire	....	m&e and foley mixer (uncredited)
Vic Radulich	....	dialogue editor (uncredited)
Martin Schloemer	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Cathie Speakman	....	supervising adr editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Chris Nelson	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Barbara Genicoff	....	visual effects producer (uncredited)
Michael D. Leone	....	visual effects supervisor (uncredited)
Tyler Nathan	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Sean Tompkins	....	visual effects coordinator (uncredited)
Zachariah Zaubi	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Dave Zeevalk	....	digital effects artist: Zoic Studios (uncredited)

Stunts
Brent Fletcher	....	stunts
Mike Gunther	....	stunt coordinator
Regis Harrington	....	stunt double
Kanin Howell	....	stunt driver
Robert Alonzo	....	stunts (uncredited)
Simone Bargetze	....	stunt double: horse stunts (uncredited)
Jennifer Caputo	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Stacey Carino	....	stunt double: Amy Acker (uncredited)
David Kilde	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Henry Kingi Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Larry Lam	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Will Leong	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Becky Ohmes	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Courtney Schwartz	....	driving double: Eliza Dushku (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Kenneth Bender	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Vernon Evans	....	video playback
Dan Kerns	....	gaffer
Michael Mull	....	grip
Seth Orozco	....	film loader
Jimmie R. Owens	....	grip
Tony Politis	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Martin Reder	....	electrician
Robert Reid	....	key grip (as Bobby Reid)
Andrea Bassani	....	first assistant camera: second unit (uncredited)
Dan Brodhead	....	grip (uncredited)
Thomas Enright	....	lighting technician (uncredited)
Coby Garfield	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera, second unit (uncredited)
Greg Gayne	....	still photographer (uncredited)
R. Dana Harlow	....	best boy grip (uncredited)
Glen Holland	....	lighting console programmer (uncredited)
Koji Kojima	....	second assistant camera "a" camera: main unit (uncredited)
Ben Krout	....	key rigging grip (uncredited)
Jerry L. Mandley	....	electrician (uncredited)
Gerry O'Malley	....	Steadicam operator (uncredited)
Ray Ortega	....	rigging gaffer (uncredited)
Cory Peavler	....	rigging grip (uncredited)
Robert Stenger	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
Adam L. Taylor	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Daniel L. Turrett	....	camera operator: "a" camera second unit (uncredited)
Nick Zeigler	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Amy McIntyre Britt	....	casting by
Garrett McGuire	....	casting associate (uncredited)
Karen Wood	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Antonina Lerch	....	costume cutter/fitter (as Antonina Grib)
Tina Ficaro	....	costume supervisor (uncredited)
Cleo Mannell	....	key costumer (uncredited)
Melissa Montague	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Robert Hudson	....	assistant editor
Jim Darby	....	on-line editor (uncredited)
Larry Field	....	final colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Eric Bazilian	....	composer: theme music
Jonatha Brooke	....	composer: theme song
Jonatha Brooke	....	performer: theme song
Richard A. Harrison	....	music editor
Andrea von Foerster	....	music supervisor
Jen Monnar	....	music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Leroy Reed	....	transportation coordinator
Gina August	....	driver (uncredited)
Henry Bautista	....	transportation captain (uncredited)

Other crew
Nirvana Adams	....	script supervisor
Sean Buck	....	computer/video playback operator
Christopher Campbell	....	location manager (as Chris Campbell)
Tony Dodds	....	assistant to executive producer
Natalie Farrell	....	assistant to executive producer
John J. Gray	....	assistant to executive producer
Stefanie Leder	....	script coordinator
Tony Lindo	....	production accountant
Lynnet Price	....	production coordinator
Richard Cody	....	key craft service (uncredited)
Chris Cortez	....	medic (uncredited)
Amy D'Alessandro	....	titles (uncredited)
Jenny DeArmitt	....	assistant: writer (uncredited)
Mireya Jorge	....	second assistant accountant (uncredited)
Kim Meredith	....	medical consultant (uncredited)
Matt Modica	....	additional set production assistant (uncredited)
Benji Smith	....	assistant: writer (uncredited)
Danielle Snowdon	....	script supervisor: second unit (uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Elizabeth Craft		2008
Sarah Fain		2008
Joss Whedon		creator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tina Ficaro	....	wardrobe supervisor (2008)

Production Companies

• Mutant Enemy
• 20th Century Fox Television

Distributors

• Fox Network (2009) (USA) (TV)
• RTL Klub Televízió (2010) (Hungary) (TV)
• Sci-Fi Channel, The (2009) (UK) (TV)

Special Effects

• Zoic Studios (visual effects) (as Zoic)

Other Companies

• Wilshire Editorial  sound post production services
• Todd-AO Studios  sound post production services (as Todd AO)
• Level 3 Post  video post production services

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | Hungary:16

Filming Locations:

West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

Mutant Enemy

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" (2004) which Tahmoh Penikett (Paul Ballard) also stars in.

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.

Movie Connections:

References First Blood (1982)

Soundtrack:

Just Dance

Good - I see some problems that may be fixed

There is a channel in Australia called Channel 11, it mostly airs crap. Every Monday night this will be on. I saw it because I turned into a big Joss Whedon Fan since it was pulled off the air. The show sets up an interesting enough premise.

But here is what is wrong with the show that hopefully will be broken in later episodes. Whedon has Dushku playing one different role per episode, this means that in the span of forty minutes the episode writer must create character development whilst writing the storyline, if that doesn't happen (which - is a big ask for a writer) then we have no reason for us to root for Echo's new counterpart. Hopefully Whedon fixed this later on and made Echo remember fragments of these persona's.

The subplot is very good. I actually think this would be more interesting to mainly follow than the actual plot. A cop trying to uncover the conspiracy that Dollhouse doesn't exist and on his last warning before being off the case.

For those who want to know the plot (assuming you know the premise - if you don't then you're lost): A rich man's daughter gets kidnapped and asks the Dollhouse to imprint an Active with the experience and memories to get the daughter back. They have Echo aka Elizabeth Penn whose back story is that she believes she was kidnapped at the age of nine. They transact the ransom with the kidnappers, only to find that one of them is who Echo believes kidnapped her (to explain in more detail - because I was lost until it was explained, What Actives are imprinted is a collection of memories from other people in order to do what they are intended to do) then she tries to get the daughter back before the daughter suffers the fate she believes she did (and what an un-shown person did).

This is a show I will watch (Although I prefer Terminator as a show). This is definitely Whedon's weakest attempt at a show though, I hope to give you more reviews in the future.