I Wish I Were An Alien – I Am Glad They Cancelled DOLLHOUSE

Who among us isn’t a fan of Joss Whedon? He’s created some of the most popular genre television programs outside of Star Trek and Doctor Who. He deserves a spot at the near top of the geek hierarchy. While I will be the first to admit I still have not seen Buffy The Vampire Slayer or Angel [Ed. note – Whaaa?], I came on the Whedon bandwagon with Firefly long after it had been off the air. Sure it’s kind of sad that series only got such a short run, but when have you seen a show where there are 14 perfectly tuned episodes? I dare you to try to pick one out that isn’t your favorite. I recently made another run through and found myself saying after each episode, “I think that one is my favorite.” When the rumor mill purported he’d be getting another chance on Fox  (a network, I am still convinced, whose sole purpose in life is to kill Joss’ career) with a show called DollHouse.

The premise where people can rent out empty human beings called Dolls to be filled with just about any type of memory they want seemed pretty interesting. Slowly, but steadily, it proved to not disappoint. There was a good deal of action, the story line had enough plot twists to keep me interested, and it was just believable enough to not make you want to call it crap. I looked forward to a few good years where my Friday nights would follow the exploits of Boyd, Echo and Topher wondering if the F.B.I. would ever catch up with them. When the first season ended I was left wanting more. Fortunately it looked like I was going to get my wish with a second season. Except the suits at Fox decided to cancel this program, too. At least, they fed us enough of a bone to finish out the series. Initially it saddened me to see this Whedon goodness come to an end. After a lot of consideration I am glad it got cancelled when it did.

More often than not when a show gets cancelled at a cliff hanger you don’t get any sense of closure. Things just end and that’s it. I don’t know if it was their intention, but things did get wrapped up pretty nicely at the end of the second season. Could there have been more? Sure, but I was satisfied with how things were left. Heck, it could have been a completely different series after that point. Either way I got just enough closure that I was more than fine with the show ending.

Another reason I am glad the show got cancelled is because the show isn’t as enjoyable the second time around. I found the first and second season on sale recently and with excitement tried to watch it again. I barely made it through the first season. It isn’t that the series got bad, but it lost a lot of the luster once I knew what was going on. It is sort of like trying to read a murder mystery when you already know who the killer is. Sure you may get some measure of entertainment out of it, but there is no surprise the second time around so it ultimately comes out flat. This wasn’t a problem with Firefly as it is pure entertainment wrapped in a space western. For Dollhouse its main focus is nothing but he plot twists. For the most part there were no surprises to keep me roped in.

Dollhouse was a solid show that probably ended too soon. I am fine with how things ended and don’t feel the need to keep going. I watched it and was entertained, but now it is time for me to move on. Nothing is keeping me here anymore so I will pull up my stakes and move on to greener pastures. Perhaps move back for more Firefly. I never get tired of that one! If not, a new season of Doctor Who is coming up so that should leave me well entertained for a time.

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