Eliza Dushku (Faith of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is Echo, a member of a group of people known as “Actives” or “Dolls”. These Dolls are persons whose personalities and general existence in the real (read: outside) world had been wiped clean. Think tabula rasa — clean slate. It is done (the tabula rasa thing) so Echo and the rest of the gang can be imprinted with any number of new personalities — including memory, muscle memory, skills, language, etc for difference assignments.  I think I’ve seen this somewhere, maybe in The Matrix, where you can get your ninja skills by having the technician program it on your brain.

Anyhoo, after the Dolls are programmed, they are sent out for particular jobs — crimes, fantasies, police work, etc. On engagements, the Actives are monitored by Handlers (sort of like Watchers from BTVS).  When they are not in an assignment, the Dolls are mind-wiped into the tabula rasa state and they live in a hidden facility named, (what else) “The Dollhouse”.

The story follows Echo, who begins, in her mind-wiped state, to become self-aware.

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Dollhouse is created by BTVS and Angel creator Joss Whedon under Mutant Enemy Productions.