Dollhouse

Joss Whedon is one of television’s most talented visionaries, but his latest series - the highly anticipated midseason drama "Dollhouse" - is a major disappointment.

It looks as if Fox was onto something when it wanted the pilot reworked and maybe onto something bigger when it shifted the series to Friday nights, hardly the spot for a heavyweight these days. On the plus side, being out of the limelight might allow the troubled "Dollhouse" to grow. After Friday’s lackluster pilot, it certainly has room to do so.

But judging from two additional episodes - one a step forward, the other a step back to the underwhelming quality of the pilot - it could be that Whedon has invested too much hope in his muse, Eliza Dushku, the star of "Dollhouse." It could also be that the premise is too flawed for anyone to elevate.

Here’s Fox’s description of the series: " ’Dollhouse’ focuses on Echo (Dushku), a member of a highly illegal and underground group of individuals (’Actives’) who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas. Hired by the wealthy, powerful and connected, the Actives don’t just perform their hired roles, they wholly become - with mind, personality and physiology - whomever the client wants or needs them to be. ... After each engagement, Echo returns to the mysterious Dollhouse where her thoughts, feelings, experiences and knowledge are erased. Or are they?"

OK, then. Ambitious, yes. Implausibly hokey, yes. But Whedon was able to make "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" into a slice of genius, plus he turned Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog into an Internet sensation during the Writers Guild of America strike. You have to give the man room to work.

But "Dollhouse" doesn’t work, on numerous levels - starting with Dushku. She’s not a sufficiently compelling actress to pull off the various personas she’s given. What’s worse, "Dollhouse" wants the "dolls" to be childlike and unencumbered by thought when they’re not on assignment. This doe-eyed, vacant state does not suit Dushku. She mainly walks around bemusedly, looking wan. Issues of identity

The bigger picture - which "Dollhouse" doesn’t really illustrate in the three episodes sent to critics - is that issues of identity are in play: how the Actives came to volunteer for the Dollhouse experiment in the first place and what they - specifically Echo - might be recalling from memories they’re not supposed to have access to. Whedon may be after something bigger, but none of it seems especially compelling.

What the series does achieve, ever so slowly, is a much-needed bigger mystery than what’s up with Echo. We learn, for example, that one of the Actives did something he shouldn’t have; it seems the programming code, or "art," as its young creator, Topher (Fran Kranz), calls it, has some bugs. That’s also why Echo is holding on to memories. Faulty code can be interesting (at least Fox better hope it becomes more so). And there could very well be a heretofore unknown rival to the Dollhouse - always good for drama.

The super-secret Dollhouse is fronted by Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams), who reports to unseen handlers. Stoic Boyd Langton (Harry Lennix) is assigned to be Echo’s handler and protector. He’s likable right off the bat, and his rising curiosity about the ultimate goal of the Dollhouse adds a small layer of interest. So, too, does FBI Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett), whose relentless pursuit to prove the existence and real story behind the Dollhouse makes him the FBI’s running joke - but he adds much-needed gravitas to life outside the Dollhouse. Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond) plays the head of security at the Dollhouse. "The dolls in their infantile state disgust him," according to Fox - and that’s a sentiment that many viewers are likely to share, which brings us to the fundamental flaw of the series. Who cares?

Why care about the Actives at all? When they’re on assignment, it’s not as if they’re real people. They’re programmed robots, essentially, doing a job, playing a role. Once they’re "wiped," and they fall into that aforementioned infantile state where they loll around doing yoga and babbling, they’re pretty and vacant but not exactly enthralling. Echo’s backstory barely unfolds after three episodes, and that’s asking for more patience than the average viewer may have. There’s barely a trace of Whedon’s wonderful sense of humor, and when it does come, from the boy scientist character Topher, it makes you think of him as less scientist and more boy, hardly the believable architect of this life-altering technology.

And then there’s Dushku the muse - the actress who inspired the series Whedon built around her. Obviously he sees something in her. But will viewers? That’s a lot of faith.

Here’s hoping "Dollhouse" improves significantly or else Fox is going to wipe it clean for next season.