Dollhouse
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Dollhouse
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| Episodes: | 27 |
| Year: | 2009 |
| Country: | United States |
| Seasons: | 2 |
| Seasons Breakdown: | (1) 13+1 (2) 13 |
| Category: | Mad Scientists |
| Colour: | Yes |
| Format: | Series |
| Company: | Boston Diva Productions and 20th Century Fox |
| Creator: | Joss Whedon |
| Run Time (mins): | 45 |
| Language: | English |
| Type of Show: | Live Action |
| Status: | Ended |
| Broadcaster: | |
Summary
The narrative centres on Echo, an “Active” within the Dollhouse, an underground facility operated by a powerful organisation that rents out human beings to wealthy clients for purposes ranging from intimate encounters to high‑risk criminal operations. Actives have their memories completely wiped through advanced neurological technology, allowing new personalities, skills, and histories to be imprinted for each assignment. In their default state, they exist in a childlike, compliant blankness until programmed for their next engagement.
Echo, along with fellow Actives Victor and Sierra, each named using the NATO phonetic alphabet, has ostensibly volunteered for a five‑year contract. During this period, their original identities are stored on secure drives, and they are promised substantial financial compensation and solutions to personal crises. In practice, however, many “volunteers” appear to have been coerced or forcibly recruited.
Echo is unusual: fragments of memory persist after each wipe, and she gradually develops a continuous sense of self that is distinct not only from her imprinted personas but also from her original identity, Caroline Farrell. Her growing self‑awareness allows the series to explore themes of autonomy, identity, and the nature of personhood.
As Echo evolves beyond the limitations of her programmed personalities and default tabula rasa state, she risks being sent to the Attic, a nightmarish repository for “broken” dolls. She becomes the fixation of Alpha, a brilliant but deranged former Active whose mind collapsed after being imprinted with dozens of personalities. Echo also draws the attention of FBI Agent Paul Ballard, whose pursuit of the Dollhouse ruins his career but ultimately leads him to join the organisation as Echo’s handler. Though Ballard views the Dollhouse as morally abhorrent, equating its operations with murder and sex trafficking, he becomes increasingly entangled in its work.
Cast
Echo ELIZA DUSHKU, Boyd Langton HARRY LENNIX, Topher Brink FRAN KRANZ, Paul Ballard TAHMOH PENIKETT, Victor ENVER GJOKAJ, Sierra DICHEN LACHMAN, Adelle DeWitt OLIVIA WILLIAMS, Mellie MIRACLE LAURIE, Dr. Claire Saunders AMY ACKER, Laurence Dominic REED DIAMOND.
Tags: Mad Scientists, United States, 2009, English
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