OK, so the episode plot was a little generic. Beyond that, the show has potential. I believe the challenge here will be how Dusku’s acting chops can carry the role, she pretty much IS the show right now. She’ll need to convincingly play whatever role is programmed into her each week, while Joss Whedon and his co-horts work out the glitches that periodically pop up in Dushku as far as memories which haven’t been wiped, or how they affect her current mission.
I’ve seen some reviews compare it to “My Own Worst Enemy.” They may be similar in that we have a human being programmed like a machine to do a task… That’s where it ends though. MOWE made the mistake of full disclosure from day one, there was no real mystery in it, and essentially what you got handed each week was a ‘fish out of water story.’
With Dollhouse, Dushku’s “Echo” is a blank. She joined the program, had her memory wiped (or did she?) and each week she’s dropped into any number of situations with any number of memories… Each memory has its own story, its own dynamic, not to mention the mystery that is Echo herself… Heck, tack on the underlying organization, and you have oodles of plot lines that Whedon is again expertly weaving into another round of legendary story telling and entertainment.
I thoroughly enjoyed the pilot, and am looking forward to the coming episodes. The tie in and cross promotion of Terminator (Summer Glau) is just another perk. Good job Mr. Whedon, keep it up.
Lets just hope the network doesn’t fuck it up like they did with Firefly and Angel now.