Dollhouse- The Mythical Episode 13

Over the weekend I heard that Fox was going to cancel Joss Whedon's sci-fi drama series, Dollhouse. Reports of Dollhouse's demise were apparently exaggerated. The fate of the series for next year is still unknown. The only thing fans know for sure is that Fox has decided not to air what Producer, Tim Minear, termed the "mythical" 13th, and final episode of the season (You can read his explanation here).

As a huge Joss Whedon fan, I'd normally be up in arms about this sort of thing. But I don't know if I want Dollhouse to air next year, or not- because I haven't been watching it.

In Angel goes out with the old, which I posted in January of this year, I talked about how much I love Whedon's work, and how sitting down to watch episodes of BTvS as they aired was a special event in my life, a fun and rewarding treat that I looked forward to all week long. In Dollhouse: Thoughts after the First Three Episodes posted in early March, I came to terms with the fact that, although I didn't feel the same way about Dollhouse that I do about BTvS, the series still had potential.

Then, somewhere in the middle of March, episodes of Dollhouse began to pile up, unwatched, on my DVR. Two Fridays ago I forgot to record an episode.

I'll say that again, just to let it sink in: I am so little attached to the series, that I forgot to record the show.

I have a lot of respect for Joss Whedon, and I sincerely hope that there is something in one of the episodes waiting on the hard drive of my DVR that not just grabs me, but holds me so tight that I become addicted to the characters and the world. In the first month or so of airing, Dollhouse did plenty of grabbing, but very little holding. I was usually more excited by the preview for the next episode, than I was about the show that had just aired. Perhaps Dollhouse just didn't get going fast enough. Maybe it dithered with introductions too long, and didn't get right to the heart of making friends.

But my fear is that Dollhouse lacks a fully developed speculative fiction world with consistent rules where it's fun to play, fun to create and imagine. I also worry that without the smart sense of humor that has always been a Whedon hallmark, Dollhouse is simply a well-crafted drama, lacking that special Whedonesque sparkle.