Since news broke this weekend that FOX is renewing Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse for the fall, we thought what better way to celebrate than predicting where the dolls and actives might be going next season? Even better, we asked some Dollhouse experts from Topless Robot, Television Without Pity and Watching Dollhouse to help us out. Hit the jump to find out what they had to say.

Alyse Wax – FEARnet
I don’t think that Alpha will be the “big bad” next season.  He will certainly be a factor, and probably pop up now and again, but he won’t be a major focus.  I also don’t think the new relationship between Ballard and the Dollhouse will be as symbiotic as either party thinks.  DeWitt will always be suspicious of Ballard – perhaps even using his employment to keep tabs on him, and keep him out of the way.  Ballard is going to be torn between wanting to bring down the Dollhouse, and realizing that, as much as he hates to admit it, the Dollhouse serves a purpose.  I must admit, I’m not sure where Echo’s character is going to go.  I don’t think that she is going to go psycho like Alpha, but having 38 personalities is bound to cause some… problems.

Rob Bricken - Topless Robot
I have to admit, I'm utterly unsure where a second season of Dollhouse will go from here, but I'm fine with that. Joss Whedon's greatest strength is his ability to build on what's gone before, and after a stellar last half of the season, I'm genuinely excited to see what he has in store for the dolls and house sitters next — especially if the rumors about a post-apocalypse-set 13th episode are true. If the second season doesn't start there — which would admittedly be pretty awesome — then its time to figure out who's behind the world's Dollhouses and what their real agenda is. It'll be markedly different from the first season, but the way Whedon works, I have no doubt it'll also be better.

Rocco – Watching Dollhouse
I believe that the series should focus on its strengths - the ensemble. The first season, particularly the early episodes, relied too heavily on Eliza Dushku. It was difficult to care about Echo's journey due to the lack of range and support. If they are lucky enough to get a 2nd season I think they should focus on the array of cast members and characters, thus giving viewers more opportunity to identify with, and maybe even root for a particular character that they like.

For me, one of the best aspects to Dollhouse is its premise. The concept of memory and identity in a world were technology can either reinforce or strip a person of both. I would like to see this tackled more in future seasons, perhaps widening the scope so that the show had a grander appeal and greater relevance to today's society. In my opinion, the first season felt too 'small'. It lacked consequence or importance and there wasn't much of a hook if you didn't already know what the show was about.

The ending of the first season almost feels that the creators have pressed the 'reset button'. If they do get another chance I think they should map out the progression of the show in a more serialized format - allowing the audience to evolve with the characters.

As for theories, I'm willing to guess that the show will do an "I Am Legend" kind of reveal, but with a twist - everyone that has ever been in the show is an ‘active’, apart from one character that will be revealed in the final episode of the series. That's if the show ever goes that far.   

Zach Oat – Television Without Pity
It seems like they revealed that the Rothman Corporation is behind the Dollhouse and invented the technology. They’re trying to build up to why it exists and there’s a reason for it existing. On the surface it seems like it had to do with the Rothman Corporation. It seems like the Rothman Corporation is trying to use the Dollhouse and all of its 20 locations around the world as a way to get leverage over people in power, the wealthy and powerful. Not everyone is going to be able to do something for them but if there comes a time when the Rothman Corporation needs somebody to make a phone call or vote a certain way that they’ll have leverage. Whether that’s the way they are going, who knows? It could all just be some sort of a government thing, some sort of government program that the FBI and NSA don’t know about. Maybe its something developed by the government to develop programmable soldiers or spies of any kind. I’m sure what Joss Whedon came up with is much more creative than anything that I could in my wildest dreams.

I’d like to see if maybe we can check back in with somebody like November. I want to see how she is back in a normal life having been a doll and being removed from that life. What if some of her programming started kicking in when she’s just trying to live her normal life? She’s been programmed to be a killer and dozens of other things. I’d love to see her continue to be on the show. Maybe the way we get the two of them to reconnect is that he tracks her down to see how she’s doing.

Maybe we’ll see people who come out of the Dollhouse, are able to be activated when they need to be. Maybe Dollhouse is underhandedly leaving secret programming inside the people they’ve let go so they still have an agent if they need it in an emergency or part of some grander plan to have sleeper agents in various parts of the world.

A lot of the jobs they are sending these people on are sort of dark if they’re not straight military or spy missions. I’d be curious to see something less seedy. You think about when would a person or a company need someone to be outfitted with a specific set of skills and would be willing to pay money for that. It would be interesting to see maybe someone get used as a spokesperson for a product or spokes model. It could be a pretty funny episode but could also be an example of how this technology could be used for more practical—not more practical, but less morally gray areas.

I’m certainly still worried that Alpha is still out there and that he’s going to be a returning character. He’s going to need to return one day but I’m sure that when they do, it’ll be done tastefully. You think of recurring bad guys in past Whedon series and you have Spike who would come back every season, cause a problem and then go away again. Hopefully they could come up with something that organic for Alpha to make it work. Who knows? Spike eventually became a member of the “Scooby gang” and what would it be like if Alpha was brought back in if they ever managed to solve this problem. If they actually start to realize that maybe they can try to fix him or felt a responsibility to fix him. Obviously he was bad to begin with. I could see them maybe making it a priority to do that, maybe having a doll bring Alpha down and turn him if not into a functioning doll again, at least a functioning member of society.

Allright Dollhouse fans, that's where we think things might be heading, But where do you think Whedon is going to take the Dollhouse universe? Let us know!