Written by: Brett Williams, Special to CC2K

For those of you who haven't seen the latest episode yet, we offer this spoiler-free look at The Target

After this week's episode, I can confidently proclaim that I was right.  If every episode from here in is as good as The Target, we might have another serious Whedon success on our hands.

This episode was written and directed by longtime Joss collaborator Steven S. DeKnight.  DeKnight had the unenviable task of extracting the positive from the pilot episode, shaving the negative, and giving us a product in just the second episode that we as fans could really get behind.  He succeeded admirably.  The Target gives us a more detailed glimpse into the world of the Dollhouse, introduces us to the dynamic that Detective Paul Ballard has with his co-workers (not a good one), blows up the screen with some seriously thrilling heroics, and injects the whole package with a strain of humor and tenderness that we've come to expect from a Joss Whedon show.  One almost gets the impression while watching this episode that the pilot, if it had gone without being interfered with, would have been something more akin to this.

This episode was stellar from start to finish.  I hesitate to give it a 5.0 out of 5.0, simply because we don't know yet everything that the show is capable of.  But I'm confident in saying this episode is a 4.5 and in comparison to the pilot it was downright phenomenal.  Honestly, you could start Dollhouse with episode two, The Target, and be doing just fine.  So like I told you last week folks, this show is going to keep getting better so just strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride.  And remember, that Mutant Enemy logo at the end of a show stands for quality.

Grrr, Arrgh.

And don't forget, if you don't have a Nielsen box but you want to help boost the show's ratings, watch it online at fox.com or hulu.com.  Networks track every time their shows are viewed on official sites such as hulu, so every time you watch Dollhouse online you're doing the show a favor.

See ya next week!

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