Dollhouse: Echo vs Ghost

Episode 1.00 v 1.01

Also known as original, unaired Dollhouse pilot and the second one that was actually aired. I've just watched them back-to-back and I have to first admit that although I've watched most of Dollhouse, I haven't seen either of these two.

In a nutshell for those of you who have clearly been asleep or hiding somewhere with no internet since 2008, the Dollhouse is a place that can give you your every desire. So long as you're rich enough, that is. 'Dolls' are wiped of their very essence when they first enter the house, and are imprinted with complete personalities for their 'engagements' where they become a new person. Literally. This trailer sums it up pretty well, in my opinion.


So what do I think? Mixed feelings, really. Being Whedon-biased as I am, I guess I'm sub-consciously inclined to like Echo better than Ghost seeing as how Fox denied us of the awesomeness of it. One thing I do really love about Echo is that it includes Adelle's narrative that is featured in the trailer above. For a first episode, I think it sets the scene the well and brings in the whole morality issue that surrounds the whole organisation. Plus, I Oliva Williams' Britishness is just awesome.

There were parts that I love from both episodes and to be honest, they're both blurring a little bit already. Having seen the majority of both series already, it does spoil it a little when the storyline hints at what I know is coming, but I also like the feeling I get when I recognise something that will be brought up later on.

I do really like the banter going on between Topher and Boyd - I'm not really sure if I picked up on it before. I really want an office like Topher's so that I can climb between the different levels - that would be amazing. I would never get any work done, but I would have an awesome office, so that it would be fine.

And just to leave you with a few lines that I love that I think really capture Joss Whedon:

"They're a little bit bison" - Topher
"People are mostly crap" - Victor
"I imprinted her to be a sociopath, not an idiot" - Topher, Echo

Again, a little blurry already from which of the two episodes the first two quotes come from, so I'm going to leave it blank instead of getting it wrong and being faced with the wrath of die-hard Whedoners ...

More Dollhouse coverage soon - this is clearly what holidays are for.