Regardless of network interference, this first episode does a great job of setting everything up, and there's a lot of setup to do. The Dollhouse itself, and its various denizens need to be set up, given character traits and motivations, and the beginnings of story arcs. Adelle Dewitt, the head of this particular Dollhouse, is almost motherly at times, kind and deferential to the client, a billionaire whose daughter has been kidnapped. At other times, she is steely and downright scary, and you understand within those small character beats exactly how it is that she became the boss. Boyd Langton, who is the handler for Echo, Eliza Dushku's character (and ostensibly the main character), has moral issues with what the Dollhouse does, but his affection for and loyalty towards Echo is played beautifully. And Fran Kranz establishes Topher Brink, the house's technical wizard, beautifully. A man who thinks of people as playthings, who revels in his job and the cool toys he gets to play with. He's definitely the most "Joss" character in the first few episodes, displaying much of the familar Whedon wit and propensity for snappy, snarky dialogue.
The initial "engagement" (which is basically Dollhouse speak for "case of the week") is interesting all on its own, for its first glimpse into the way that the imprinting process works. Topher imprints Echo with a hostage negotiator, but he also has the ability to change her neural pathways so that she's nearsighted and requires glasses. For some reason, he also gives her asthma. I never understood that, and it's not made any clearer on rewatch. Unfortunately, Topher also imprints Echo with the neurology of an abuse victim, a girl who was kidnapped, and, we find out later, killed herself a year ago after never being able to come to terms with her abduction and captivity. In the course of the engagement, this personality recognizes her captor as one of the men who kidnapped the billionaire's daughter, which leads her to have a complete breakdown. It's an interesting concept, and one that should have been affecting and moving. But I just don't see Eliza Dushku as being equal to the material. She doesn't rise to it. Her performance is weak, and she's much more believable when she's playing Eleanor, the negotiator, as a tough as nails, get shit done type of girl, not the wilting weak woman. Maybe that's my issues, since my first and only exposure to Eliza up to this point was seeing her play Faith Lehane the vampire slayer on both Buffy and Angel. Faith was confident, sexy, and kickass, and Eliza played her beautifully, especially her eventual breakdown. But here, she never sells it. It never feels true.
The other bit of setup, one given mercifully short shrift here, is FBI agent Paul Ballard, who somehow knows of the existence of the Dollhouse and is determined to find it. In what is arguably the weirdest character introduction I have ever seen on any show (and I watch a LOT of tv), we meet him while he's boxing with some unknown person. Yup boxing. And that is intercut with him getting a dressing-down from his bosses for his obsession with the Dollhouse. Boxing. Getting yelled at. Boxing. Getting yelled at. BORING. His story does introduce the lovely, wonderful Enver Gjokaj, here getting scared witless by Ballard in a bathroom at a nightclub. And there's an enigmatic naked figure looking at video of Caroline (who Echo was before she became involved with the Dollhouse and had everything she loved wiped from her) and preparing to send Ballard a photo of her in an envelope emblazoned with "KEEP LOOKING". But um, boring. Not compelling. That could be my personal issues with Paul, my inherent dislike of him coloring how I view this story even so many years later, but I just don't like him, and find his story, especially in the early going, almost excruciating to watch.
Overall, "Ghost" is a perfectly serviceable pilot, introducing character, setting, plot, and concept deftly and intriguingly. There's a lot here that sets up what's to come down the road, and as I was back in 2009, I'm buckled in and ready for the ride.
