6. Echo (Dollhouse)
Dollhouse (2009-10) was cancelled after less than 30 episodes and two short seasons, just as it was getting to the root of the problem which had dragged it down since the pilot: Echo. Echo was by design without a personality, as a 'doll' or operative who took on a different persona for each mission and was wiped of her memories afterwards. It's a good premise which Dollhouse explores to paranoia-inducing effect, but for the first third of the series there are no character traits in Echo with which the audience can sympathise. Echo begins to develop an agenda in the second half of season one at a painfully slow pace, but even fully formed in season two she's your basic rebellious badass who pales in comparison to the rest of Dollhouse's characters. You've got Alpha, a serial killer with a psychotic obsession with Echo; Adelle DeWitt, the icy head of the LA Dollhouse who becomes more conflicted as the series goes on; and Topher, the initially irritating but eventually sympathetic tech whizz. Unfortunately, the talent involved also overshadows Eliza Dushku, who does a serviceable job given Echo's limitations but is outshone by the likes of Amy Acker, Alan Tudyk, Olivia Williams and Enver Gjokaj. Gjokaj in particular manages to meet the challenge of playing a doll, so perhaps Dushku was just not quite right for the part. In the second season, the series abandons a little of its focus on Echo as the plot steps up a gear and is hugely improved for it, but it was too little too late for Fox, who pulled the plug.