Why is this series so underrated?

[Blaze]

So, I'm starting a re-watch of the serie, and I must say, I have no clue why it's so underrated. I absolutely love it! I'll admit that it's a bit weird and wouldn't appeal to everyone, but how come there's so few people that actually like this show?

So my question, for those people who do not like Dollhouse, what in your eyes makes it a bad show? I'm genuinely curious 😛 I know it had really bad ratings when it first aired, but I always though it was because of the Friday night death spot. But now, I'm reading more and more bad reviews of it so it made me a bit curious.

 

[Robb Stark]

I've only seen the first season, and while I enjoyed it and plan to watch S2, there are issues with it, and I can see why it was cancelled and why it is a bit underrated.

For starters, it's very, VERY hard for the average viewer to consistently buy into a series which essentially features a different main character every episode. Eliza Dushku is great, yes, but far from a household name (which means she didn't have the innate star power to bring tons of people back week after week for her alone). It got a little formulaic at times. All of that wrapped in with an extremely out there premise and it isn't that tough to decipher.

Dollhouse wasn't a bad show, not at all, but there were serious flaws with it that ultimately brought it down. People can blame marketing and placement issues all they want, but Dollhouse had issues that weren't easy to overcome.

 

[Buffyverse Fan]

For me, and I hope I'm using these terms properly, I think the first season was overly episodic, and the second was overly serialized.

Given the premise of a huge mystery surrounding the Dollhouse itself, and Echo's specific background, the reveal was too slow. It would be one thing if Ballard were the star, but when you know nothing at all about the star (Echo), and it takes months to even learn the smallest details about her, it's hard to get attached.

As for the second season, I found it extremely entertaining, but the conclusion also felt like a bit of a betrayal for people who did get attached to the characters. It's odd for a Whedon show too, because even though he writes tragedy, his protagonists rarely wind up with just ruined lives.

I won't spoil anything for people who haven't seen the last few eps, but don't expect teary, but heroic endings like Cordy or Doyle received.

 

[Taake]

For me, and I hope I'm using these terms properly, I think the first season was overly episodic, and the second was overly serialized.

Given the premise of a huge mystery surrounding the Dollhouse itself, and Echo's specific background, the reveal was too slow. It would be one thing if Ballard were the star, but when you know nothing at all about the star (Echo), and it takes months to even learn the smallest details about her, it's hard to get attached.

I think the show would have been majorly helped by Ballard being the star and following him trying to solve Echo's mystery. Don't get me wrong, I love the show but it is as mentioned hard to get attached to Echo and she is definitely not the most interesting character.

I agree about the episodic/serialized themes of the seasons. The first season is too episodic to start and the second season is a rushed product (understandably) but there are a lot of flaws that could have been tweaked and possibly saved the show which does have a brilliant core.

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I liked the show but it wasn't great, Fox were being extremely generous in giving it a season 2.

I though season 2 was much better than the first, and once it started rushing I really enjoyed it.

I dont think it was the strongest show overall though.

 

[JCoatsworth]

Okay, first off all, I really like it. I haven't watched it in a while, but I think it was a really good and complex show. I guess one of its weaknesses (for the general audience) is that, once the story starts rolling, you have to watch pretty much every single episode to understand what's happening. I like this in a show, but I guess that's one of the reasons for the low ratings it received. You couldn't just tune in and were immediately entertained.

And then it has it's really own unique style to it. The music, the lighting, the way the characters (especially dolls) behave. Like you said, it doesn't appeal to everyone.
And I guess the concept of reprogramming a human being's mind and exploiting and abusing that person is so immoral to some people that they simply don't give the show a chance. I don't like the idea either, but the show doesn't exactly portray it in a good way. Maybe they think the show wants the idea of programmable people to be cool or something. But the show does exactly the opposite. All the characters undergo immense moral conflicts.
Anyway, I like the show. But it's so strange, in a way, I guess most people just don't like it, simple as that.

 

[Lyri]

In my opinion, it's not a show that I think could have run for a long period of time. Maybe Joss had plans for the characters had they not been aware that S2 was all they were getting and things would have stayed secret for longer, but as things went, once all the secrets about Rossum and Caroline were out...that was pretty much it.

I definitely liked S2 better than S1, probably because Echo/Caroline was being developed more and we weren't constantly wondering when we were going to find out just what her secret was. If S1 was more like S2 I think it might have lasted longer, because the show was more focused rather than just plot-driven with a few tiny little twists and moments dropped in every few episodes. The feel of S2 would have been better in S1 as I think it would have drawn more people in and more people would have been hooked from the start, rather than them trying to do the slow build which didn't really go anywhere until the last few eps of that season.

I DO like the show, but I don't like the fact that so much time and attention was focused on Echo/Caroline when, in my opinion, she was far from the most interesting character - and she wasn't the best actor, either. I wish they'd thought to develop Topher some, find out where he came from and what exactly it was that Adele saw in him or saw in his past that made her choose him because he had no morals. I want to know who Alpha was in his past and why he was in the Dollhouse in the first place and what exactly was so different in his mind that he ended up the way he did when Echo was the complete opposite. I want to know what happened to Adele that made her so hard. I want to know where Whiskey came from and why she was in the Dollhouse. I want to know why Adele and Rossum agreed to put Priya(?) in the house when she never agreed to it or asked for it.

There were so many things that were flung aside for Echo and her crusade.

 

[Ianigsy]

As somebody who struggled to the end of the first season a couple of years back, I'd say it's just a lot of hard work. The first time I tried watching it while I was doing my ironing and I realised after one or two episodes that it demands more concentration than everybody can give it.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Dollhouse, overall, was flawed: Eliza wasn't a strong enough actor to lead the show and play Echo's many assignments, and it lacked continuity. People lost interest because the plot was to convulated. The concept was brilliant - just badly executed. Much more could be saud, but that's the jist of it.

That said, I thought it improved considerably in the second season, and like many I was disappointed to see it cancelled.

 

[Buffyverse Fan]

I can't say I see why the consensus is Eliza wasn't a strong enough actress. Yes, Enver was much more of a chameleon, but Victor was written with far more varied assignments.

Honestly, if the script was entirely the same, I couldn't see any TV or film actress doing a better job. It was just that none of Echo's characters were drastically different from herself. You look at Matt Bomer's "Neal" in White Collar, and 99% of his undercover work is written with the same character traits, but no one accuses him of being a weak actor for that.

That said, even Enver's Victor would have made a poor lead actor if his character had no personality. It was hubris on Joss' part. No one can get engrossed into a series where the whole premise is the star has no personality of her own.

I'm sure some of you are familiar with the failed "Halo" film, based on the XBox game. The studios concluded that given the lead character is nothing more than a shell around the player, they would not be able to create a compelling star based on his character. When Microsoft eventually produced a webseries, the stars are all new creations not found in the original "Halo," with the game's lead as a supporting role.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

I started watching sporadically a few months ago and decided to just blitz it - watched two episodes last night and the final three tonight.

I agree entirely with Lyri, the show was not a starring vehicle for Eliza Dushku because as written, it was not about an individual character, it was about a concept that a service could be provided through operatives for wealthy clients and the operative's mind would be wiped and reprogrammed depending on the task at hand. The second part of the concept is that this all started to unravel with Caroline / Echo, who started retaining the different personalities. A show about a concept could be written as a starring vehicle for a specific actor, but Dollhouse wasn't. I think Eliza did an excellent acting job and I don't see where her efforts could be bettered, but the show was not about her.

I doubt the average viewer would have the patience to watch the slow unfolding of the dollhouse situation, so that would account for low ratings. It also tended to be rather scattered in its writing. The first season was standard standalone "Movie of the Week" format but the second season had some cohesion to it, sort of like the difference between the early Buffy seasons and the later ones. I also think it may have gone beyond the intelligence, comfort zone and acceptance level of American audiences - as Laurence Fishburne once said about "The Matrix", the most surprising thing about it is that it got made at all.

The theme music had to be the lamest of any show, but the final eight notes gave it an oriental feel that complemented the feeling that the dollhouse was similar to a geisha house in its open-plan wood and translucent panel form and its function of service for wealthy clients. For an example of good theme music, see True Blood or Angel.

 

[NY State of Mind]

The beginning is kind of boring and seems to drag so I think it loses lots of peoples interest before it starts to get good

 

[Xin Rong]

I loved it, I'd say it probably did less well as it geared away from being episodic, as most people don't want to watch a tv show that requires thinking, hence the popularity of reality tv and sitcoms

 

[Whitefang]

I agree that most people don't enjoy a tv show that you can't just dip in and out of if you want. You had to watch it from start to finish. Miss one episode out and you didn't know where you were, especially in later episodes.

The premise of the show itself was also dark. And the posters Eliza was in to advertise the show (naked, and in some pics showing a little too much) can't have done it too many favours for the majority. It was a litle bit 'teenage boy toy fantasy' for the majority of the first season, too. I liked it but, they could have done more with it than they did.

 

[Hale Caesar]

I think Eliza Dushku's character shouldn't have been the main character, in season 1 she is completely unrelatable. The strongest part of the show in my opinion was always Paul Ballard and Tahmoh Penikett's performance

 

[thetopher]

I actually quite liked the series, although it had a slow start and was a bit of a slow-burner. The character of Echo was kind of hard to relate to at first, but I think if the show had gotten a proper run, it would've been nice to see her blossom and transform. As it feels a little rushed in Season 2.
I'm a huge Eliza fan, so I don't think she was the weakest part of the show. I actually thought that it was Ballard. I've never seen such a cliched Joss character- he was just a straight up 'Obsessed FBI guy driven to the edge', (I did like the actor btw) I kept on waiting for more depth, but there really wasn't any. Although the love story between him and Echo/Caroline was well realised.
All the other characters were nice murky shades-of-grey though, so maybe the viewer needed someone 'pure' to root for.

 

[Still a Scoobie]

I think it's under-rated because you have to concentrate on it. Most TV these days is made to allow you to switch your brain off. If you watch Dollhouse all in one go as I did the first time I saw it and really give it all your attention it's brilliant, I'd imagine if you don't give it attention or go a long time between episodes it might be difficult to get to grips with. I guess that's why some people don't like it, because who's going to watch the whole thing before they make their mind up?

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Season 2 is VASTLY better than the first season, and I was sad it was cancelled.

 

[chasesummers]

Dollhouse in a nutshell is about mind control, the concept and story may feel "weird" but what is weird? It's something we're not used to hear about/experience. In fact Dollhouse can be very accurate to what happens in reality, mind control is real, used a lot in media.

Although they put action scenes, love scenes and drama for the major viewers, Dollhouse isn't really meant to be liked by everybody. In my case, I managed to find Dollhouse and watch it because I was interested in what the writers knew about the subject (since I studied it back then). It was interesting to see along with some entertainment.

I believe Dollhouse is very well made, it's meant to be found and watched not to be seen on TV.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

I really like Dollhouse. I'm a big Eliza fan but her acting is not best, it's no Faith. The character of Echo is always the same, sexy and kicking ass, theres no real depth until season 2. They really were using Eliza's sexuality to bring in viewers but that's not really what we come to a Joss show for.
I read that there was conflict between Joss and Fox, in that Fox wanted a more episodic show and Joss didn't. Season 2 was better, but it was cancelled a few episodes in so it was too late went the ratings were better. That's why it feels rushed.
I do love Enver's performance, he was great, totally embodied the characters he had to copy. There are a lot of things and questions that are never answered. Amy Acker also does a great job as Dr. Saunders but I would have liked more backstory on Whiskey as well as Alpha.
I think it's a good show, but I can see why people wouldn't like it. The pilot is very weak and it takes a while for the story arc to get moving. Plus the concept is not everyones cup of tea.