Joss Whedon fans are devoted, sometimes overly so. Everything he does seems to be met with blind praise from some of his biggest fans. Dollhouse was a show that split many television fans because of the way it dealt with certain issues, because the dialogue wasn't as snappy as it was on Buffy, because people didn't buy Eliza Dushku as a versatile actress that could play a different character every week, or just because it is hard to care for a central character that doesn't really have a personality, that cannot grow, that changes constantly.
Me? I love Dollhouse. While 'Ghost' isn't the strongest pilot episode I have ever seen (that would either go to Alias, Damages, or Desperate Housewives), it is solid enough to keep me engaged in the show as a whole. In the very first scene of the show, we see Caroline being nudged into becoming an active. She has no choice, but Adele is manipulating her, trying to make it seem like she would be better off in the Dollhouse. Later in the episode, Topher explains that all people are running from something, or toward something. This opens up a few interesting questions - how did Caroline reach this point? What is she running from? How would becoming an active solve this problem? In that first scene, Adele states that 'Nothing is as it appears to be', which is an interesting statement that could apply to basically any aspect of the show (but the dollhouse and the characters in particular).
The characters are introduced well. Caroline has gotten herself into a bit of a miss, presumably because one of her attempts to make a difference have landed her in some deep trouble that she can't escape from without the aid of Adele. In the ending video we see that she is intelligent, funny, ambitious, and with her whole life ahead of her. In the video she states that she wants to do everything, which is spliced with the image of Echo going to sleep in the Dollhouse - where she will do everything, but not neccessarily things that Caroline would be comfortable with. I felt that Dushku handled the entire episode well - Eleanor Penn, Caroline, Echo, and motorcycle girl were all finely acted (if not amazing).
We don't spend as much time with the rest of the cast, but there is no one I have a problem with. Echo's handler Boyd seems like a well adjusted, good person that ended up in the wrong place. Adele is efficient, intelligent, and very British. Paul didn't really register with me, but his investigation into the dollhouse gets more interesting as the season goes along (and the boxing/performance review type situation said a lot about the character in a short time). Dr. Saunders intruiged me the most in a very short amount of screentime (on first watch, Clare was my favourite character - Amy Acker rocked the hell out of her material, and I'm looking forward to her increased presence on the show during the rest of the season).
The engagement of the week was strange, and a little too neat. Topher explained that an active would need flaws, like a real person, basically because creating something perfect wouldn't work (the imprint can't be perfect, it would be overcompensating, and since the imprints are made up of actual people, it maybe just can't be done). In this case, Echo was able to solve the case because Eleanor Penn weakness, the thing she is running from, was brought to the surface because the imprint had experienced abuse (at the hands of the same person, no less). That felt a little too much like tying something in a bow, but it managed to show why the imprints need to have faults in a semi-believable way. Dushku performed well as Eleanor Penn, and most of the episode's (admittedly rare) humour came from various people commenting on how Penn was like a librarian or school teacher (which is another thing the show has been criticised for - for exploiting women, but it's an interesting topic, and it isn't like there aren't male actives - Victor, for example).
'Ghost' is an entertaining hour of television that introduces the idea of Dollhouse well enough, and raises a few interesting questions about the storyline along the way (Alpha, Caroline, the Dollhouse, the actives, etc.), but isn't quite as strong as it should be (mostly since it is a Joss Whedon show, and his pilots, including Welcome to the Hellmouth, really entertained me). Well directed and it set up the show well, but pilots can be tricky to get right. It leads to better episodes, but it was neccesary.
Note; this review was written around a month ago, when I made my way through the entire series of Dollhouse. I won't be writing anymore reviews of the series. I fell in love with the show though (Clare and Adele in particular).
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