And they burned the (Doll)house down

Dollhouse has been officially cancelled and I can’t say that this is a big surprise.  While I have felt the show substantially improved as it went on, the ratings continue to be abominably low.  Not to mention, when a network puts a show on hiatus during November sweeps, it is an obvious presage of things to come.

I am sad to see Dollhouse go.  The show had a rocky start, but then so did Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.  I will admit that I enjoyed Dollhouse less for what it was than for what it had the potential to become.  We saw some of this potential in the episode "Epitaph One".  I really believe that if Dollhouse had been given the full five season run that Joss Whedon envisioned that it could have become a truly outstanding show.

Still, my feelings about the cancellation are a lot more complex then mine were when Fox cancelled Firefly back in 2002.  At the time it seemed like Fox had deliberately sabotaged its own show.  Fox chose not to air the pilot episode, forcing Joss Whedon to rework the second episode into a new pilot.  They continuously preempted the show when it was just starting out, making it almost impossible for it to find an audience.  They even cancelled it unceremoniously after eleven episodes, with three completed episodes left unaired in the United States.

What made this treatment inconceivable to me is that unlike Dollhouse or even Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Firefly hit the ground running and caught my interest in the very first episode.

You could argue that Dollhouse had some of the same issues with Fox.  Like Firefly, it was stranded in the TV wastelands of Friday night.  Dollhouse also had an unaired, and in my opinion superior, pilot episode (although in this case Joss Whedon took the blame for pulling it). So there are some similarities.

There are also differences.  Fox gave Dollhouse a full season to find an audience.  They also put a marketing push behind Dollhouse at the start of season two, something they never did for Firefly.  They have even stated that they will air the full thirteen episodes they ordered for this season, another courtesy they never gave Firefly.

So I am sad to see Dollhouse go, but not outraged like I was when Fox cancelled Firefly.  It does make me long for a time when TV shows were given a greater opportunity to grow before the threat of cancellation loomed.  After all, by today’s standards a low-rated show like Seinfeld would have been pulled by the second season, long before it hit its stride and became a ratings juggernaut.  Nevertheless, I am not sure I can lay my ire at the feet of Fox since these changes are occurring industry wide.

I am curious to see what Joss Whedon’s next project will be.  He has stated that if Dollhouse was cancelled that he would begin work in earnest on a second Dr. Horrible series, which I am definitely looking forward to.  I am curious if he will make another attempt at creating a network TV show after the fate of Dollhouse though.  After all, Joss Whedon has great name recognition, a loyal fanbase, and has already had great success on the Internet with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.  

Maybe he needs the television networks less than they need him!

Dollhouse Recap: Belonging

Belonging is a rare episode of Dollhouse which focuses on the supporting cast, especially the character of Sierra.  It fleshes out her backstory, which which was first explored in last season’s mediocre episode Needs.

The episode starts with Topher. He looks like he is in bad shape and keeps repeating, “I was just trying to help her” over and over.

The scene abruptly switches to one year ago. Priya, who we know as Sierra, is selling paintings at the beach. Priya is talking with a nearby vendor, who notices that Priya has an admirer. This admirer is Nolan, from the episode Needs. He ultimately walks over to talk to Priya, and offers to commission a painting from her.

Flashing forward, Priya is at a party being hosted by Nolan. She is obviously uncomfortable interacting with the idle rich who are in attendance. Echo and Victor are both there as well, obviously imprinted with personalities designed to help funnel Pryia towards Nolan. In fact, all either of them can talk about is what a wonderful catch Nolan is.

Nolan is across the room talking an executive of the Rossum Corporation. Nolan obviously has some business relationship with Rossum, which is why he gets some leeway with how he uses the Dollhouse. The executive wonders why Nolan is bothering with this elaborate seduction rather than just have the Dollhouse make the perfect woman for him. Nolan scoffs at the idea because he doesn’t want “a Doll”, he wants Priya.

Despite Victor’s tendency talk about Nolan, Pryia is obviously attracted to him right from the start. Bored, Priya decides to leave the party with Victor. Nolan notices this and tries to stop her. When she won’t listen to his pleas, Nolan gets violent. Priya strikes him and tells him, “Nothing in this world could ever make me love you.”

Back in the present day, Sierra is leaving her most recent engagement with Nolan. He kisses her passionately, before taking a picture of her. After Sierra leaves, Nolan dumps the picture in drawer, filled with a pile of photos he has taken during their previous engagements.

Back at the Dollhouse, the Sierra and Echo are painting. Sierra is painting a bird, which was a motif of her art as Priya. However, Sierra is painting a big black blotch next to the bird. This concerns both Echo and Victor when they notice it.

Echo brings Topher Sierra’s picture. Echo tells Topher that Sierra always comes back sad after her visits with the “bad man”. When Topher pleads ignorance, Echo informs him that he simple isn’t looking hard enough.

Echo’s talk obviously has some effect because shortly thereafter Topher is questioning Boyd about Nolan. Boyd seems bemused that Topher is concerned about this particular client. Topher confesses that Sierra is a special interest to him because she was a paranoid schizophrenic when she came in. She was an interesting case and he was pleased because he was able to “help her” using his technology.

Boyd seems more concerned with the fact that Echo is the one who brought the painting to Topher’s attention, as he obviously sees that Echo is developing beyond her default state. When it becomes equally obvious that Topher is not going to pick up on his true concerns, Boyd tells him to check into Dr. Saunder’s files on Sierra.

Dr. Saunders did notice the dark shapes on Sierra’s paintings. Unfortunately, she seems to have brought her own prejudices to the table, as her report concludes the dark shape represents Topher Brink.

Echo stumbles upon Victor gathering up all of the black paint because Sierra “doesn’t like that color.” He wonders if it is wrong, but Echo tells him to “take them all.” Boyd notices this from the balcony and does not seem happy about it. He seems even more concerned later when he notices her reading a book.

Topher is investigating Sierra and realizes that she was not psychotic when she was initially brought in. Instead, she was on drugs that made her appear to be psychotic. He tells Boyd and Adele about the situation.

Now that she is aware of the full situation, Adele brings Nolan in and hypocritically berates him as a “raping scumbag.” She tells him he will never lay a hand on Sierra again. Nolan is unfazed by this and tells Adele that she will imprint Sierra for him permanently, if she wants to keep her job.

It appears that Nolan is right to be confident, as Adele receives a dressing down from her superior Mr. Holland. When Adele refuses to permanently imprint Sierra on moral grounds, Mr. Holland casually confronts her with her Ms. Lonelyhearts indiscretion with Victor, the hypocrisy of her high moral ground in the first place, and ultimately threatens her with an “early retirement”.

Sierra comes upon Victor attempting to wash all the black paint down the drain in the shower. When Sierra asks Victor what he is doing, he admits he is doing it because she “doesn’t like that color”. She takes the opportunity to playfully paint some of it on his face, saying he looks like an Indian chief. He reciprocates, but unexpectedly has flashbacks to being in a war. Victor collapses in the shower while Sierra tries to comfort him.

Topher is, somewhat surprisingly, very opposed to permanently imprinting Sierra. A somewhat drunken Adele tells him they have no choice. She also tells him that everyone in the Dollhouse was chosen because their morals were compromised in some way, everyone but Topher. He was chosen because he has no morals. Adele tells Topher that he has always seen people as playthings. While he has always taken good care of his toys, Topher will just have to let this one go.

Boyd is searching Echo’s sleep pod and finds where she has hidden a book. More importantly, he sees she is using a leaf as a bookmark. Not being a fool Boyd quickly realizes this means that she can remember things. Boyd’s investigation is interrupted by a phone call from Adele. She is concerned that Topher is not going to follow orders and is dispatching Boyd to make sure Topher does as he is told.

Boyd leaves immediately so he doesn’t notice that Echo has scratched notes to herself about her previous engagements.

Nolan comes to pick up his newly permanently imprinted Sierra. He takes her home, where everything seems to be going well at first. However, it is soon revealed that Topher has imprinted her with her original personality and Pryia is there to get her revenge.

Boyd confronts Echo about her reading. She initially makes up some lame excuses but Boyd bluntly asks her when learned how to lie. Boyd cautions her that she is playing a dangerous game, pushing the other actives and staff into action. While he is willing to turn a blind eye, others might notice and take action. Echo makes no excuses. She says that a storm is coming, and everyone will have to wake up if they want to live through it.

Back at Nolan’s penthouse, Pryia taunts Nolan. She talks about how she doesn’t remember anything about him, but that she somehow managed to fall in love with someone else, even in her brainwashed state. Nolan gets violent and the two struggle. In the end, Pryia stabs him to death with his own knife. Standing up, her shadowed form appears as a “black blotch” against the painting Nolan initially commissioned for her.

Topher receives a call and rushes to Nolan’s penthouse. He finds Pryia bloody and sobbing in a corner. Boyd arrives onsite, having intercepted Pryia’s call. Boyd quickly and efficiently begins covering up the crime and disposing of the body. This eventually brings us back to the opening sequence where a horrified Topher is using a hacksaw to dismember Nolan and dump him in a bathtub full of sulfuric acid while repeating, “I was just trying to help her.”

Boyd calls Adele and tells her that Nolan has apparently left the country, but for some reason has not taken Sierra with him. Adele seems suspiciously unsurprised by this turn of events.

Back at the Dollhouse, Pryia is obviously traumatized by her experience. She sees Victor walking below Topher’s office and realizes that he is the man she loves but has never met. In the end, she submits to being wiped but asks Topher to “delete this day, if you ever bring me back”.

Back in the sleeping pod area, Echo finds Boyd has returned her book. Instead of a leaf as a bookmark though, it has an all-access keycard with a note that says, “For the storm.” As the shot pans back, it shows Sierra and Victor are lying together in one of the pods.

The Good

This was probably the best episode of the season so far.  Some of the high points:

I loved Adele’s hypocrisy in this episode.  She really seems to drink her own Kool-Aid about the Dollhouse and is always devastated when the reality of what they do is thrown in her face.  She also seems to have a disturbing tendency to turn to drinking when this happens.

Harry Lennix reminded me why he is my favorite actor on Dollhouse. Probably my favorite scene in this episode is when Boyd questions Topher about Echo giving Topher the painting. Topher completely doesn’t realize what Boyd is concerned about, but as viewers we do.  Harry Lennix conveys a lot in that scene just using his tone and body language.

Unlike the previous three episodes I was pretty happy with Eliza’s portrayal of “default” Echo.  Hopefully this is a precursor of things to come.

Victor taking away all of the black paint was an awesome scene.  The shower scene was also well done.  His flashback to the battlefield makes me wonder if he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and, like Sierra, he was taken out of a mental institution.

The scene of Topher freaking out while Boyd has him dismembering Nolan’s corpse is also a great one.  Although Topher makes a good point that this kind of work seems disturbingly routine to Boyd.

The ending scene where Echo discovers a keycard in her book was well done.  Although I am not why she needs it since she already seems to be able to walk in and out of the facility at will.

The Bad

I thought Topher’s concern for Sierra’s well-being was a bit of a stretch.  This is the same guy who told Boyd in season one to think of the actives as pets, not children, because if your child talks, you are proud, but if your dog talks, you freak out.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for character development.  I just think this was a bit too much a bit too fast.  I might of been more willing to make the leap if he was initially interested in Sierra’s case because he realized he had made a mistake on reading her brain scan and was only drawn into it emotionally once he found out how horrific her situation was.

In Conclusion

While this wasn’t as good as Epitaph One or Briar Rose, this was a very strong episode.  I was initially going to give it a 4.5, but what the heck?

5 out of 5 dolls

Dollhouse Recap: Belle Chose

In keeping with the theme of Horror Month, Belle Chose is a thoroughly creepy episode.

The episode begins with a man, who you later find out is named Terry, dressing female mannequins in a scene of them playing croquet. Terry is having an increasingly creepy one-sided conversation with them, addressing them as family members.

It soon becomes obvious that they are not mannequins, but women who are somehow being compelled to stay perfectly still. “Aunt Sheila” finally collapses, and then slowly begins to crawl away. When Terry sees this, he becomes agitated and says “It isn’t very sportsmanlike to walk off just because you don’t like the way the game is going, is it?”

Terry reaches into a medical bag and injects her with what is later revealed to be a potent animal tranquilizer. Although obviously barely conscious, she manages to grab the discarded hypodermic and jab it into his leg in retaliation. It isn’t enough to take Terry down immediately though, and he proceeds to club her to death with a crochet mallet.

Terry says he needs a new Aunt Sheila and heads out to the crowded city streets to find one. He entirely focused on his goal and seems only peripherally aware of the drugs coursing through his system. Terry finally seems to find a woman that can be his next “Aunt Sheila” and walks towards her. Unfortunately for him, in his impaired state Terry fails to realize he is walking out into the middle of traffic and is hit by a car.

Back at the Dollhouse, Paul Ballard is looking for Echo. Since this is Dollhouse, he finds her in the showers. He is a little flustered to see her naked and quickly offers her a towel. Echo begins to walk away when Paul belatedly remembers what he is there for and asks her if she would like a treatment. She agrees she would enjoy one.

Adele and Boyd are doing another of their walk and talk meetings. Adele asks Boyd if he has had any luck in locating their “troubled and missing employee.” Boyd tries to imply that Claire (Dr. Saunders) isn’t really missing, she merely left. Victor hears them talking about Dr. Saunders and suggest that she can help the man “who is not his best” in the medical facility.

Entering the medical facility we see the man from the opening sequence on a bed with a number of electrodes attached to him. Topher is trying to figure out a way to use the Dollhouse technology to wake him up. Boyd openly wonders if they should wake this man up with his criminal record, but Adele reminds him that this is the nephew of one of Rossum’s biggest shareholders. Just as Adele leaves, Topher sees something on the brain scanner that worries him and calls Boyd over.

Meanwhile Echo is being imprinted by Ivy for her next engagement. Ivy goes over the details of the engagement with Paul, who is not thrilled to find out Echo is being programmed as Kiki, a student a community college who is programmed as the sex fantasy for a professor there.

Topher and Boyd come to Adele’s office to talk with her about the coma patient. Showing her Terry’s brain scan, he points out the “black” areas on the scan (meaning he doesn’t use those areas). These areas include the portions of the brain where empathy and compassion come from. Even Topher has ethical problems waking up a probable serial killer.

Ballard takes Echo to get dressed for her engagement, leading to some humorous interactions with the staff of the clothing department.

Back in Adele’s office, she has a meeting with Bradley Carrence. Adele asks Bradley why they should help revive Terry, especially since their examination reveals he may recover with conventional treatments. Bradley tells Adele it is a matter of time. Bradley is aware that Terry may have victims who are currently still alive, and is hopeful that living victims can have their silence bought. That is not an option if the press gets wind of a bunch of corpses.

Back at the clothing department, Paul Ballard sees Echo emerge and looks like he is entertaining some school girl fantasies of his own. His reverie is broken when Boyd walks in. He tells Ballard that he is taking over Echo’s engagement. They need Paul’s skills to profile a serial killer. Paul is actually relieved at this.

Back in the lab, Victor is imprinted with Terry’s memories. He is placed in a holding cell, where he is being observed via closed circuit camera by Adele, Topher, Paul, and Bradley. Bradley doesn’t understand why they just won’t let him speak to him, but Adele notes that Mr. Ballard was trained by the FBI. In this case, they will defer to him.

Paul begins by interrogating Bradley. Going over the missing person reports, he notes that there is no pattern he can discern. Since Bradley obviously sees one, Paul simply asks what he is missing.

The scene abruptly cuts to Echo attending class. The professor is lecturing about medieval literature, and how the sense of self was much less of a concern than in today’s society. He also returns their essays on the Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath to the students.

Nice touch. The professor obviously has a sense of humor

Echo has received an “F” so she immediately goes to talk to the professor after class. A few lines of dialogue paint her as a blithering idiot. This is apparently just what the professor was looking for, and he invites her back to his office to “discuss” her grade.

In addition to his love of medieval literature the professor obviously also has a love of cheesy pornos.

Back at the Dollhouse, Victor is still waiting for someone to talk to him. He begins complaining loudly that the cuffs are cutting off his circulation. Paul Ballard enters the room and begins interrogating him. He shows them the pictures of the women and asks him where they are.

Back in Adele’s office, Bradley protests that they are taking the wrong approach to interrogate Terry. He says that Terry needs to know you are on his side, not see you as an antagonist. Adele chooses this time to ask Topher to show Bradley how they are taking care of his (real) nephew Terry, although it is obviously just a ploy to get him out of the room.

Back in the interrogation room Paul continues to grill Terry. Things escalate to the point where Paul finally shows Victor a video of the real Terry in a hospital bed. Initially Terry doesn’t believe it is him in the bed, but then he sees his Uncle Bradley enter the hospital room.

Paul pushes Terry on the location of the women, but soon realizes there is something different about the woman Terry thinks about as Aunt Sheila. When pressed on it he basically confesses that he murdered her.

Back in the professor’s office, Echo and the professor discuss The Wife of Bath. Echo states that Alyson, the wife of Bath, is a whore, but the professor disagrees. He says she understands the “power that all women have.” Echo notes that Alyson would know how get her F turned into an A, which causes the professor to say “You’re learning.”

This conversation would have enough of an “ick” factor on its own, but it is intercut with Victor talking about how the women in his life never have enough time for him and they make him do what he does. The combination is pretty chilling.

Paul makes his way back up to Adele’s office to discuss what they have found out so far. While he is there she gets a call that Terry is coding so they rush down to the medical center. When they get there they find out that it is a false alarm but quickly realize Bradley is nowhere to be found.

To no one’s surprise Bradley used the confusion to break his nephew out of the Dollhouse. Adele calls Bradley, saying that his actions are completely unacceptable. Bradley, who is driving in his car with Victor in the passenger seat, simply explains that Adele’s methods weren’t working and that Terry is just going to have a chat with his uncle.

Of course Victor uses this opportunity to smash his uncle’s face into the steering wheel. He casually walks off after the car crashes into a car parked on the curb.

Adele is frustrated that Bradley won’t pick up anymore, but sees the silver lining. Paul’s profile of Terry indicates that he will return to his victims. Since all of their actives are tagged, they will simply follow him back to his victims.

Unfortunately, Adele finds out that Victor isn’t tagged anymore. Apparently it was removed before they began Victor’s facial reconstruction. When Doctor Saunder’s abruptly left, the fact that he needed to be retagged was lost in the shuffle. Paul realizes that while Victor might not have a GPS tag, Bradley’s car might.

Meanwhile Terry’s victims are recovering from the paralytic agent. They are terrified that Terry will return but vow to fight him when he does.

Paul arrives on the scene of the accident. Paul has a hunch that Terry’s lair is not too far from where he got hit in the original accident. He decides to make his way there.

Adele doesn’t want to take any chances. She wants Topher to perform a remote wipe of Victor. Topher believes it can’t be done. When she reminds him the Alpha did it, Topher points out he did it over the phone, and they don’t have Victor’s phone number. Adele is not taking no for an answer though, and tells Topher to “think of another way and think of it fast.”

Back in the creepy professor’s office, Echo is reading the Wife of Bath. She gets up and turns on some music, which the two of them dance to. She asks if the professor is feeling her “Bathy girl power” and suggest that they “talk about this F.”

Back in the van, Boyd looks at the monitor and realizes the “romantic” part of the engagement has begun. He receives a call from Topher to let him know that they will be taking down the biolink feeds for a bit. Boyd asks why and gets a succinct description of the story so far. They are taking down the other actives feeds because Topher is hoping to use Victor’s feed to send the remote wipe.

Topher initiates the wipe, which is obviously having some effect on Victor. At that point the servers crash and the lights go out.

Back at the professor’s office, the two are dancing cheek to cheek. Echo then stabs him in the neck. Seeing herself in the mirror Echo, who is now obviously imprinted with Terry, realizes that he is now in a woman’s body.

Adele calls Boyd and lets him know that all of the Dollhouse’s systems are down. She wants all of the actives brought in until the situation is resolved. Boyd says he will put the word out. As he is making calls he sees Echo speed past him in an SUV.

Realizing something is terribly wrong; he breaks into the professor’s office and finds him lying on the ground. Calling an ambulance, Boyd looks up to see that the mirror had the word whore written in blood.

Back at the Dollhouse they are attempting to assess this new information. If Echo now has Terry’s personality, Adele idly wonders what happen to Kiki’s personality.

We don’t have to wonder because we see Victor at a local club now imprinted as Kiki. He dances around enthusiastically and attempts his best to seduce a group of club guys. This eventually leads to a small fistfight. Luckily Paul Ballard, who was tracking Victor, has finally arrived on the scene. Victor, who as Kiki thinks Paul is her handler, runs into his arms.

Back at Terry’s lair, the women have finally broken out of their cage. When Echo arrives they are initially relieved that it is not Terry, at least until she clubs one of the women with a mallet and declares that she is him.

Terry’s personality imprint is becoming increasingly erratic and she begins to attack the other women as well. She thinks they all should take a lesson from “Aunt Sheila”, who is currently a corpse laying on the floor. Just as she is about to strike a killing blow, Echo shudders and says, “Did I fall asleep?”

Back at the Dollhouse, Topher finally gets the system up and running. He quickly brings up Echo’s GPS tag and locates her in Beverly Hills.

Back in Terry’s lair, Echo tells the captives that he is still here. She drops the mallet and tells them that they will have to kill him before he kills them. She then grabs her head and begins screaming that he is coming back.

One of the victims begins to attack Echo with the mallet, but another one of them stops her. Echo feels Terry’s persona attempting to assert dominance and tries to convince the victims that they need to kill her to stop Terry from hurting them anymore. She provides them with details about their abductions and it almost works… before Dollhouse operatives swoop in.

Paul Ballard runs to Echo and asks if she is OK. She doesn’t think so, but agrees to go with him for a treatment.

Back at the Dollhouse Echo, in her default state, wanders into the medical center where Terry is still in a coma. The scene makes it obvious that she still has a part of Terry in her, just like the rest of her imprints.

The Good

The scenes in the beginning with Terry were nicely creepy.  While they had a somewhat stereotypical serial killer vibe, the fact that he posses women like dolls was a nice touch.  It helped drive home the fact that for all of Adele DeWitt’s fancy talk, she is just as guilty of dehumanizing people.

I was humored by the scene with the handler waiting for his Active to get out of the dressing area.  We have all been there.

Victor as Kiki was also pretty funny.  I especially enjoyed Paul Ballard’s, “You got a problem?” when people were staring at Victor clinging to him.

Speaking of which, I have to admit that despite some telegraphing, I didn’t see the imprint switcheroo coming.  I am glad that they had something more interesting than “Victor kidnaps Echo” in mind

The ending was great.  I am glad to see the downside to the fact that Echo is beginning to remember her imprints.

The Bad

It seems pretty unbelievable that the college professor could afford an Active.  That being said, the engagement itself was nicely creepy, especially in the little details of the professor’s fantasy.

Despite being off the grid and being a completely self-contained environment, the Dollhouse apparently has no security whatsoever.  People can just wander in or out whenever they choose.

In Conclusion

A better than average episode with some nicely creepy bits.

4 out of 5 dolls

Dollhouse Recap: Instinct

With the new status quo in established in Vows, the episode Instinct is our first glimpse of what an “average” second season episode will look like.  While this episode is far from perfect, I have to admit that I liked it more than I thought I would based on the trailers.

The episode begins will Paul Ballard walking around Topher’s lab.  Specifically, he is checking out The Chair.  He sits down on it just when Topher walks in and asks him if he would “like a treatment?”  After a little banter, Topher begins talking about how much of genus he is (as always).  Specifically how he was able to alter Echo “on a glandular level” for her new assignment.  Topher believe this is a major breakthrough possibly leading to a cure for cancer or at least seafood allergies.  Paul seems skeptical.

Topher also reveals that the chair cannot be used to fiddle with the minds of non-Actives.  He couldn’t just fiddle with certain memories on a normal person.  They have to be wiped clean first, and that the new memories added must be part of a complete personality.

Meanwhile, the camera pans across piles of discarded clothing, which is always a good sign that Echo is about to make an appearance.  Sure enough, Echo is in a bed with her client, although both are asleep.  Echo wakes up and quietly makes her way through the house until she reaches the nursery.  Seeing her “son” Jack is awake, she decides to nurse him.

So, you can see what Topher was so worked up about.

The next morning Echo, imprinted as Emily Jordan,  is making coffee. You get your first good look at her creepy husband Nate.  Why creepy?  Well Nate has a tendency to pop up around corners unexpectedly and he can’t seem to stand spending more than a few seconds around his own son.

Later in the day, Echo is taking Jack for a stroll and talking with Sierra who is apparently imprinted to act as Echo’s friend “Kelly”.  Echo expresses her concerns about Nate’s lack of any bond with Jack and with his continuing absence around the house.  She also begins to fret that he may be having an affair.  Echo even worries that Nate might be involved in something illegal because she sees a black van parked outside all the time.

Great work at being subtle Paul.  I hope you were better at stakeouts when you were with the Bureau.

Sierra does her best to dismiss Echo’s concerns, as she is undoubtedly programmed to do.  Echo pretends to agree, but as soon as she gets home she begins rifling through her husband’s desk (seems to be a theme).

That evening when Nate gets home he finds Echo waiting for him in the dark.  She confronts him with pictures of Nate and another woman.  Echo demands to know who she is, even holding up a picture of Nate and the mystery woman at the place “we went on our honeymoon!”

Nate is visibly shaken as these are obviously photos of him and his real wife.  Still he manages to calm Echo down by telling her a near truth.  Basically, Nate admits that she was someone he knew and loved before he met Echo and that she died.  Nate convinces Echo to get some sleep and that they will talk about it in the morning.

Echo takes his advice, but is awakened by the sound of Nate talking to someone angrily over the phone.  She goes to investigate and arrives just in time to hear Nate telling whoever he is talking to to just “get rid of her” and “I will get rid of the baby.”

Back at the “Residence of Senator Daniel Perrin Alexandria, Virginia”, we get to see Senator Perrin looking over several papers dejectedly.  He is bemoaning the fact that since he had his press conference, all of his sources against Rossum Corporation have dried up. 

Senator Perrin seems a bit despondent about this turn, but his (very political) wife Cindy does her best to bolster his confidence.  Their talk is interrupted by the doorbell, which she goes to answer.  When she returns, she tells him than no one was there, but is holding a mysterious package that was left behind.

Also out and about is Adele DeWitt.  She is going to visit Madeline a.k.a. November.  Apparently Madeline is now rich enough that she doesn’t have to work anymore and she is seeing someone special.  That is not what Adele is there for though; she is there because Madeline hasn’t been in for her diagnostic.  After a little bit of somewhat antagonistic chatter, Madeline appears to agree.

Back to Echo, she is attempting to leave the house surreptitiously with Jack.  Nate is waiting for her though, and and manages to keep her from leaving.  First Nate suggests they have breakfast together.  When that doesn’t work he uses a succession of lies to keep her at home.  Nate also tries to take Jack with him for some “man time.”  Echo doesn’t buy any of it, claims Jack needs a feeding, and retreats back to her room.

Lacking options, Echo calls her friend Kelly and begs her to drive over and pick them up.  Echo waits anxiously, and is visibly relieved when she sees Kelly come up the driveway.  Well, at least she is until Kelly is met by a black van and she passively gets in it.

Paul Ballard walks into the house and follows the sound of the crying baby to the nursery.  He knocks on the door and asks her if she would like a treatment.  It is all for naught though as he is only hearing the baby monitor Echo left behind.  Jack and her are already out the window and driving away in Kelly’s minivan.

Back at the Dollhouse, Nate is understandably upset that Echo kidnapped his son and that he paid a lot of money for that “privilege.”  Adele attempts to calm him down, reminding him that Echo thinks she is Jack’s mother and would never harm him.  She also reminds Nate that he hired Echo in the first place because he couldn’t bond with his son after his real wife died in childbirth.  That he was hoping that this bond would help Jack feel loved through his formative months.

Yes, it is somewhat clumsy exposition, but I guess they feel it necessary to explain the plot to anyone who didn’t pick up on what was going on earlier.

Meanwhile, Echo parks the minivan so she can raid the ATM.  When she turns around though, she sees she is being followed by one of the Dollhouse’s comically conspicuous black vans.  She sees some police officers and explains that she is being followed and that her husband is trying to kill her.  The take her back to the station.

Once there Echo is giving her statement to a female detective who is obviously sympathetic to her.  Just when Echo thinks she is going to get the help she needs, she sees Nate and Paul walk in to the station.  The female detective notes that they are talking with her captain and goes out to see what is going on.

Echo gets suspicious of how long they are talking and goes out to confront them.  However, the cops are obviously now aware that Echo is not Jack’s real mother.  One of the cops manages to get Jack while Paul and an officer drag Echo away from her “son”.

Back at the lab, Madeline is getting her diagnostics done by Topher.  When she is about ready to go Paul Ballard drags a struggling Echo into the room.  She breaks loose and knocks Madeline down in her attempt to escape.  Echo doesn’t get far before security swoops in and tranquilizes her though.

Ballard is surprised to see Madeline there and takes her down to see a doctor.  The two talk for awhile and Paul is surprised to find out about her background, especially her dead daughter.  He is even more surprised to find out that Madeline is apparently content about her time as an active since she “doesn’t remember a thing.”

Back in the lab Topher wipes Echo.  Something obviously is wrong though because she knocks Topher unconscious when she wakes up.

At the “Residence of Senator Daniel Perrin Alexandria, Virginia”, we get to see Senator Perrin overwhelmed by the evidence about the Dollhouse that was left on his doorstep.  Realizing that Rossum is up to much worse things than mere medical misfeasance, he briefly wonders if he should quit the pursuit.  After talking things over with his wife though, Senator Perrin decides his goal to bring Rossum down is more important than ever.

Back at the Dollhouse, Paul Ballard, Topher Grace, and Adele DeWitt are attempting to figure out what went wrong with Echo.  Paul suggests that when Topher “changed her “on a glandular level” that he created a maternal instinct that was too powerful for a standard wipe.  While she might not remember Jack’s name or her own, she has a need to be with her child that is overwhelming. 

Paul makes his way to the Jordan household where Nate finally seems to be warming up to his son.  He gets a call from Adele telling him to leave the house, but like any good horror movie it is too late for a warning by the time he gets it.  He rushes back to Jack, only to find Echo holding him in one hand and a knife in the other.

There is a creepy lighting filled scene where Nate attempts to reason with an increasingly irrational Echo before she hurts either him or his son.  He confesses that he knows that she loves Jack and that this is all his fault.  He also tells her about his real wife Karen and how she died in childbirth.  Echo gives Jack back to Nate just as Paul and his Dollhouse cronies walk in.

Outside Paul and the (semi-) wiped Echo talk about her experience.  Echo explains that she is very sad, that she had a baby and now she doesn’t.  Paul tells Echo that he can let Topher know what is really going on with her so that she will forget.  Echo refuses this option though, saying that feeling nothing would be worse.

The Good

I enjoyed most of Eliza Dushku’s performance this time around.  I thought the scene where she confronted Nate about the photos was especially good. 

I was also glad to see Echo run to the police when she thought she was being followed.  I also liked the police.  The cliché would have had the cops dismiss Echo as crazy, instead they seemed both rational and helpful without seeming like “super-cops”.

The Bad

I felt that the “I changed her on a glandular level” excuse as to why she wasn’t wiped was a bit lame.  On the other hand, since it might have been hokum Paul Ballard was spinning to keep them realizing how badly Echo was glitching, it might not be that bad.

I wasn’t a fan of the scenes with Madeline a.k.a. November.  Her dialogue seemed completely unnatural and the scenes with Paul lacked any chemistry they had last year.

Also, after this episode, why hasn’t Adele decided enough is enough and sent Echo to the Attic?

In Conclusion

Ultimately, the first “average” episode of the second season is thoroughly average.

3 out of 5 dolls

Dollhouse Recap: Vows

As the second season opener for Dollhouse, Vows has a lot to accomplish.  It has to establish the new status quo for the season, giving the viewers an idea of what to expect.  It needs to deal with the fallout from Omega, especially the revelation that Doctor Saunders is actually an active.  Most importantly it needs to hook new and existing viewers, getting them to commit to the upcoming season.  Vows mostly succeeds at these goals, although it is not without it is flaws.

The episode begins with Echo being wiped of the thirty-nine personalities she was imprinted with by Omega.  Topher assures Ballard that there won’t be any glitches just as an image of the bride of Frankenstein appears on his monitor.  Topher assumes it is Doctor Saunders messing with him, as she has apparently been doing since she found out she is an Active.

Adele and Boyd discuss the Echo’s most recent engagement and the fact that they are working with Ballard.  Boyd is not very happy with it, but Adele shoots him down.  She notes that the engagement is part of the deal that they made with Ballard to keep him from exposing them.  Either they honor the deal or they will be forced to kill Ballard to shut him up, a prospect Adele would rather avoid.

Adele and Boyd run into Victor, who has been receiving treatment for his scars.  Adele ostensibly checks out how Victor’s scars are coming along, but she basically fondles his face, a fact that does not go unnoticed by Boyd.  Boyd takes one more opportunity to express his distaste for Echo’s current assignment, calling it “sick.”

We then cut to Echo’s assignment. She is walking down the aisle in a wedding dress.  When she reaches the altar, the priest intones, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered hear today…” before it cuts to the opening credits.

This opening sequence is basically an effort to tie up the loose ends of Omega before moving forward.  It seems a bit rushed, but I am glad they at least are talking about the unlikely turn the show took by having Paul Ballard join the Dollhouse.

After the credits, we get to see the rat's nest that is Topher’s bedroom.  He wakes up and makes the thirty second commute to his office.  Topher’s assistant Ivy is there, trying to work through the backlog of actives.  While Topher and Ivy talk about Autumn being the busy season, Sierra walks in requesting a treatment.  Topher says he needs his morning caffeine and leaves Ivy to handle it.

The situation is a bit odd since no one called ahead to say Sierra was coming and because she is still wearing the outfit from her previous engagement.  Ivy begins to question the situation when Sierra tells her she would prefer a treatment from someone other than an “oriental” like Ivy.  This causes Ivy to rush Sierra through the process.

Topher returns to find  rodents in his cupboards.  He realizes this is Dr. Saunders messing with him again.  Topher confronts her over the phone, but Dr. Saunders simply taunts him by reminding him that she is, after all, his creation.  If she is acting out, maybe Topher simply isn’t as good as he thinks he is.

On her end, the call is interrupted by Boyd.  He is bringing in the results of Victor’s reconstructive surgery and uses the opportunity to ask why she doesn’t get her scars treated.  She bluntly states that if she gets her scars treated they might just put her back into service as an Active.  Boyd assures her that he would never let this happen, but she defuses his arguments by noting that he never was that interested in her until he found out that she was an Active.  She wonders if his newfound interest is pity or simply a kink.

Boyd throws Dr. Saunders off balance by asking her out to dinner.  She tells him that she never leaves.  That she hates crowds, sunlight, and open spaces. She bitterly notes that she is “simply built that way”.  Boyd tells her that everyone is “poorly constructed” and has excuses that hold them back, but that in the end they are all merely excuses.

I would just like to note that Amy Acker does an amazing job in these scenes.  Doctor Saunders is clearly starting to crack up, and Amy portrays this with an incredible amount of nuance. 

Back at the wedding, Echo and her husband Martin talk like newlyweds while Ballard listens on.  The scene then shifts to Echo’s wedding night, where we get to watch her husband undress her before shifting to a surprisingly long sex scene.  Sequences of Ballard waiting around are intercut with this sequence, including the disturbing (if humorous) scene of him doing push-ups while Echo’s husband pumps away.

The next day has Echo coming to visit Ballard at his stakeout post.  It soon becomes obvious that Echo was imprinted with the personality of another FBI agent and that they are performing a sting operation against Martin, who is apparently an arms dealer. 

They are interrupted by Echo’s handler, who is bringing in Echo for a treatment.  He notes that these long-term assignments are tricky, and they need to check out “the wiring” and “the plumbing”.  Ballard says he wants her back as soon as possible, to which Echo’s handler ironically notes, “You’re the client”.

Speaking of which, a defaulted Echo is shown getting “the plumbing” checked by Doctor Saunders.  While she is getting checked out, Echo flashes back to a previous engagement where her and Whiskey were apparently checking each others plumbing out in a less clinical fashion. 

Echo suddenly calls Dr. Saunder’s “Whiskey”, which elicits shock and a bit of horror from her.  Echo notes that Whiskey was “number one”, but that she doesn’t remember the rest.  Dr. Saunders bitterly notes that Alpha cut up her face so that Echo could be number one.  Disturbingly, Doctor Saunders’ hands linger over a scalpel as she says this. 

The scene then turns to a press conference, where Senator Daniel Perrin announces that he is investigating the Rossum Corporation for “withholding medical advancements”.  Adele and Boyd are watching the press conference on TV with some concern.  The assume someone leaked information about the Dollhouse to him, and Boyd is suspicious of Ballard.  Ballard, who conveniently enters at that exact moment, brushes this off and casually accuses Boyd. 

Meanwhile, Adele attempts to recruit Ballard to be Echo’s new handler.  Ballard unconvincingly says, “I don’t work for you.”  This causes Adele to retort, “No, you work for the betterment of mankind.  Fighting crime by listening to Echo have sex.  It’s incredibly noble.”

This is a great line.  It sums up Ballard’s increasingly suspect moral certainty and his bizarre obsession with Caroline in one simple sentence.

Meanwhile, Echo returns to Martin’s house.  Martin gently chides her about being gone to long and the two head upstairs for more newlywed sex.  Elsewhere, Martin’s right-hand man has managed to snap some photos of Echo and Ballard together.  Obviously, the whole house of cards Ballard has built is about to come tumbling down.

Back at the Dollhouse, Topher wakes up to find Dr. Saunders, who is wearing nothing but a black slip, nuzzling him.  He freaks out while she tries to seduce him.  As Topher tries to figure out what game she is playing, Dr. Saunders tells him this must be why he programmed her to hate him.  The end game must be to make her fall in love with him, right? 

Topher tells her that she was designed to challenge him and fight for her beliefs, but that he didn’t program her to hate him… she chose to do that herself.  Dr. Saunders breaks down at this point, uncertain of how she can go on knowing she is just a man-made imprint.  Topher suggests that Adele may be willing to re-imprint her original personality, but this gives Dr. Saunders no comfort.  Whoever she was is not who she is now, and she doesn’t want to “die” even if she isn’t sure how to live.  Dr. Saunder tells him that she is nothing but “a series of excuses”.  Topher disagrees, telling her that she is “human”.  “Don’t flatter yourself,” is her reply.

Echo wakes up and realizes Martin is not at her side.  She immediately begins snooping around, but Martin walks in on her.  She tries to play it off, but he smashes her head against a desk.  He then confronts her with the picture of her standing next to Paul Ballard.  Echo makes a good effort to play it off.  In fact, she almost has him convinced until she glitches and calls herself by the wrong name.

A short while later, Echo and Martin are in his limo where he shows her some miniature explosives he is selling to a client who hopes to use them to build dirty bombs.  He is obviously keeping her close until the deal is done, but it is clear he intends to get rid of her as soon as he can.

Ballard calls Topher concerned about a spike in Echo’s bio-signals.  Echo’s handler had dismissed this as more sex, but Topher quickly identifies it as pain.  Topher wants to send in the cavalry, but Ballard is worried that Martin will kill her if they do that.  Instead, he decides on a “much worse plan”, namely to go in alone.

Well, at least he recognizes what type of plan it is.

Ballard walks in and demands they let Echo go.  When the confrontation gets intense, Echo begins to glitch into other personalities.  Realizing what is going on, Paul begins to get angry with her, even striking her repeatedly.  Eventually he screams at her, “the Chinese Restaurant, you remember that!” 

Ballard is hoping she will switch into the killer personality she had when she attacked him there. This has the desired effect as she immediately switches into assassin mode and begins kicking ass.  She takes down several heavily armed guards and her husband without breaking a sweat.

A short while later at the Dollhouse, Echo is back in the chair, getting her mind-wiped.  Adele notes that Ballard “got his man”, and that he caught clues that Echo’s handler missed.  Boyd goes to visit Dr. Saunders, but only finds a note saying, “I am running out... of excuses”.  She is shown driving away from the Dollhouse.  Victor is shown with his face fully healed, and him and Sierra are shown walking while holding hands.

Ballard walks over to Echo to apologize for not “being his best.”  He tells her that he is only trying to do what is right, but he no longer seems to know what that is.  He admits he should have gotten her out right away and apologizes for what he put her through, even though she doesn’t remember.

To his shock, Echo tells him she does remember.  She knows that sometimes she is someone else, and says that she still feels them inside.  She asks Ballard which one is the real her, and he tells her her name is “Caroline”.  Echo says she wants to find her, and help her fellow actives find their lost selves as well.  She asks Ballard to help her.

The episode ends with Paul Ballard becoming Echo’s handler.

The Good

Amy Acker made this episode for me.  When I saw Omega I was hopeful that hoping the revelation that Dr. Saunders was an active would lead to an interesting character arc for the character.  I just didn’t expect the payoff to be so soon.

Dr. Saunders is cracking up, and is it any wonder?  She found out not only isn’t she real, but she was created by someone she hates.  No one wants to meet their Maker only to find out he is a “sociopath in a sweater vest”.

Dr. Saunders is also smart enough to realize there is no happy ending for her, even if she hasn’t seen Epitaph One.  She knows her body belongs to someone else.  Dr. Saunders has to assume that when her contract runs its course, Adele will restore that she will cease to exist and be replaced by the original owner of the body. 

The Bad

I felt the main plot of the episode was somewhat lacking.  It felt like something to fill the time and an excuse to have Eliza strip down to her underwear from a wedding gown.  It also got downright ludicrous at the end.  Seriously, the arm dealer’s bodyguards should have put an end to Ballard’s antics long before he got Echo to glitch.

Eliza’s portrayal of Echo also seemed a bit off to me in this one.  I think my biggest problem is with her “default” Echo persona.  In first season you could instantly tell if you were dealing with a default Echo or an imprinted Echo.  The line is much fuzzier this time around.  I know should blur as she is becoming self-aware, but she simply seems a bit too aware.  Hopefully Eliza will be able to nail this as the season progresses.

In Conclusion

Not a bad season opener.  I wish it had been a little friendlier to new viewers, but it certainly delivered for the existing ones.

4 out of 5 dolls

Random Reviews: Dollhouse: Epitaph One

Epitaph One is a bit different from your average Dollhouse episode.  Written by Joss Whedon’s brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, they had several restrictions to keep in mind when creating the script:

• Since no one was sure if Dollhouse would be picked up for a second season, they wanted to make sure that it could serve as an enjoyable conclusion to the series without closing off any doors if they were renewed.
• It needed to be shot on a tight budget, partially so that Fox could see that the show could be produced for less and still look good.
• It had to be light on the main cast, especially Eliza Dushku, since it was being filmed at the same time as the episode Omega.

This is a tall order, but one that the writers and actors achieved admirably.  I will be touching on how they accomplished many of these points during my in-depth review below.

Please note that like my review of Echo, this will be a very in-depth review and will contain many spoilers as a result.  So please do not proceed if you want to be surprised by the many plot twists in the episode.

The show opens on the streets of Los Angeles  in the year 2019.  The last ten years have not been kind to the city, because things are looking a wee-bit on the post-apocalyptic side.  A young woman named Mags is making her way through the chaos and talking over a walkie-talkie with a man named Griff.  He wants to know if there are any “Wielders” around, but she tells them there are only “Butchers” and “Dumb Shows” about.  

She meets up with the rest of her group, which consists of two men who go by Griff and Zone, another young woman named Lyn, a child named Iris, and her father Mr. Miller, who has had his personality wiped (a.k.a. a Dumb Show).  They are looking for a way to get back underground, although Zone argues they should head for the desert where there is no tech and thus no chance to get imprinted.  Lyn quickly counters that China could send another blanket signal.

Using the path reconnoitered by Mag, the group makes their way through the sewers.  During this time Zone discusses killing Iris’ father, since they only roll with “Actuals” and normally put Dumb Shows out of their misery.  It soon becomes apparent that Iris has only been with them for a short time, and Mag and Griff argue that they should give Iris some time to get used to the concept before killing or ditching her father.

The finds a small tunnel leading down into an large abandoned complex.  Of course, the viewers recognize it as the Dollhouse.

I have to admit I liked this opening.  In a very short period of time they give a real feeling for what has happen to the world and how desperate things have gotten.  I will admit that the names bugged me a bit though.  It is only 2019, so if these are their real names I would expect them to be closer to names we would see today.  If they aren’t their real names, well that makes little sense considering the importance the Actuals place on identity.

While investigating the Dollhouse, the group comes upon the chair that was used to imprint the Actives.  They quickly realize what it is for, but that it is different from the imprinting technology they are used to.  After some argument they decide to load some memories, but not full personas, into Mr. Miller to see if they can determine what this place is.

They begin slowly by downloading a single memory into Mr. Miller.  This memory is of Adelle explaining what the Dollhouse is to a prospective client.  Zone is incredulous that the technology for imprinting was originally used to create “more believable hookers.”

I have to admit, I was glad that Zone pointed out how ludicrous using imprinting to create “more believable hookers” is.  After all, his was one of my big complaints about the first season.  While this doesn’t truly address the issue, I was glad that it was at least brought up.

Feeling that they are on the right track, the group begins to download more memories into Mr. Miller.  This time they download Topher Grace’s first day.  He is unimpressed with the current imprinting process which requires hardwires and takes several hours.  Using micro-pulse technology Topher believes he can imprint an Active in less than ten minutes.

This new way of imprinting that Topher develops will become a plot point later on.

Meanwhile, Lyn is taking Iris to find a bathroom.  Along the way she stumbles into the communal shower the Actives used to use, complete with hot running water.  Apparently Lyn has never seen any horror movies, because she tells Iris to use the bathroom around the corner while she takes a quick shower.  Not surprisingly, she is bashed over the head with a flashlight while she is showering.

This scene bugged me a bit, just because it is such a horror cliché.  I understand that Lyn hadn’t had a shower in years, but her actions here seemed seriously stupid.  Rather than being character driven, it really seemed like she showered just because the plot dictated it.

Back to the memory transfers, this time we get a memory of Echo being imprinted with a recent Russian immigrant as part of her assignment to infiltrate the Russian mob.  Paul Ballard is her handler, so this scene is the first “flashback” that is actually a flashforward from season one.

When Paul and Echo enter the elevator, it is revealed that Echo can somehow resist being fully imprinted.  While she has all the memories of the “Russian girl with the big American dream”, she also apparently has Caroline’s personality as well.  Blocking the imprints is taking its toll on her though, as she is suffering from increasingly bad headaches.

This scene feels like a preview of the upcoming second season.  Joss Whedon has said that the show has a five year arc that will progress from season to season.  Having Caroline learn how to avoid having her personality overwritten seems like a natural step after the events of Omega.  I was also glad to see that Paul Ballard is still working cross-purposes with the Dollhouse.  I felt he caved way to easily in Omega and I am glad to see that he still has designs on taking them down.

At this point the group in 2019 hears Iris scream.  They discover Lyn’s body and decide to hole up in the room with the imprint chair.  Zone thinks this is crazy, but Mag insists that room holds answers.  They also decide it is time to “Birthmark” Iris.

Back to the memories, Boyd is going on the run.  Doctor Saunders is helping him pack and obviously seems broken up that he is leaving.  However, he won’t tell her where he is going because he doesn’t want to put her in danger, like he did with Echo.  Before he leaves, Boyd tells her that he will come back for her one day.

Just for the record, it seems obvious from this scene that Boyd Langton and Doctor Saunders are in some form of romantic relationship.  In the DVD commentary, Jed Whedon says they tried to leave it vague, but if they did no one told the actors!  I can’t complain though, since I felt there was some real chemistry between the two.

Back in 2019, Zone is tattooing Iris Miller’s name on her lower back.  This practice is known as Birthmarking.  It is a practice among Actuals to verify their original identity in case one of them is imprinted.

I thought that the practice of Birthmarking is a nice touch, especially later when you discover how it started.  It is obviously a far from perfect method to identify the Actuals from those who have been imprinted, but it seems to be less about that and more a way for them to claim back their identity in a world where the very concept of self has become fluid.

Griff and Mags discuss the possibility of holing up in the Dollhouse permanently, if they can find whatever killed Lyn.  At this point Whiskey, the former Doctor Saunders, walks into the main area covered in Lyn’s blood.

The group surrounds Whiskey with their weapons.  Zone is pretty determined to blow her away for killing Lyn.  Whiskey claims only to have found their friend “sleeping.”  Still, it looks like they are going to plug her when she asks if they are seeking “Safe Haven.”  This stops them in their tracks, as the word obviously has special meaning for them.  She promises them that she can show them the way, so they reluctantly let her live.

I thought this was a very dramatic scene, especially when coupled with Boyd promising to come back for her in the earlier flashback.  Her knowledge of Safe Haven is is especially chilling when combined with her blank Whiskey persona.  In many ways she comes of as some form of oracle or mad prophet.  Very effective.

Whiskey leads them right back to the imprinting chair, which almost causes Zone to shoot her on the spot.  However, Mag believes that Whiskey is telling them that they are on the right track, that the memories they are imprinting on Mr. Miller will lead them to Safe Haven.

Back to the memories, Adelle comes down to see Victor eating lobster while an unusually subdued Topher stands off to the side.  She quickly realizes that Mr. Ambrose, the head of the Rossum corporation, is imprinted in Victor’s body.

He informs her that they will now be providing permanent anatomy upgrades to select clients for a lump nine-figure sum.  Adelle is horrified at this concept and, ironically, concerned about its legality.  Mr. Ambrose reminds her that they have never been concerned with the law, but tells her that this will all be legal within the year anyway.  After all, anyone with any real power is either a client or will be replaced.

Back in 2019, Iris is watching Griff use the chair on her father.  She asks him a few questions about how it works, and whether at can put “people in other people”.  When he answers yes, she shoots him dead and places the gun in her father’s hand.  She then calmly walks to the corner and begins to scream.

Zone and Mag run in to find Griff apparently dead at Mr Miller’s hand.  Zone takes Mr. Miller off to shoot him someplace away from Iris.  Whiskey calmly tells Mag that she will help them find Safe Haven and sits down in the imprinting chair.

The memory Whiskey receives has Dominic confronting Adelle.  He has her at gunpoint, but she reminds him that she “sent” for him, a.k.a. had him released from the Attic.  The two talk about what has happen for a bit.  While things obviously haven’t degenerated as far as they have in 2019, the imprint technology has gone public and is being abused.  Dominic asks Adelle what it is like to have destroyed the world, but Adelle still has hope to save it, since Caroline has developed a block against the technology.

Mag loads another memory into Whiskey.  This time it is Victor and Sierra, although they are both apparently back to their original personalities.  They also both apparently have learned Caroline’s blocking techniques, as Sierra is complaining about the headaches.  They talk about how dangerous it is above ground, and Victor notes that he doesn’t want her to end up like November.  It is implied that Sierra started the Birthmark trend among Actuals.  In an attempt to cheer her up, Victor shows her that they have backed up all of their personalities in the Dollhouse.

Back in 2019, Mag and Zone search for the location of the personality backups from Whiskey’s last memory.  Zone also gives Iris a gun, since there are only three of them now and they have to watch each other’s backs. 

Mag finds the personality backups.  They bring them back up to the imprint chair where they intend to load them into Whiskey one by one until they find Caroline.  Before they can though, Iris points her gun at the two of them.  She reveals that she is not an Actual, but rather a woman who was imprinted in the body of a little girl. 

She sees the imprint chair as her way out of her current predicament.  She intends to take Mag’s body as her own, and plans to imprint Whiskey with Caroline to get her out.  She decides she doesn’t need Zone though, so she shoots him.

At least she tries to.  Unfortunately for her, Zone gave her an empty gun.  Before she can react Zone grabs Iris and dumps her in the imprint chair.  Mags activates the chair, wiping away Iris’ personality. 

Mag wonders how Zone knew that Iris was the killer.  Zone reveals that after he killed Mr. Miller he saw his Birthmark… and his name wasn’t Miller.

I have to admit I found it both cool and chilling to see the chair used as a weapon.  I also enjoyed that the Birthmark tipped Zone off that there was something fishy going on.

A final flashback shows Adelle watching the former Actives praying.  Doctor Saunders then asks her to look in on Topher.  Recent events have evidently driven him mad.  He begins rambling how ultrasonic emitters can program someone over the phone.  That one robo-caller can create an army in an instant, creating a war with two sides: those who answered the phone and those who didn’t.  He breaks down completely when he realizes his advances in micro-pulse technology paved the way for everything that happen.

I liked this scene a lot because it shows the ultimate progression of Topher’s character.  In the first season, Topher is a deliciously amoral character.  He doesn’t care how the imprint technology is used as long as he gets to play around with it.  The flashbacks (flashforwards?) in this episode show a different side of him when Mr. Ambrose begins using the technology to sell immortality to the highest bidder.  Topher is very subdued in that scene, as he is beginning to realize the Pandora’s box he has opened.  It all comes to a head here, where he realizes he is responsible for destroying the world and simply cannot take it.

Back in the memory, someone breaking through the bricked up entrance to the Dollhouse.  As the sledge hammer breaks through the wall, the intruders are revealed to be Caroline and Paul Ballard.  Caroline has returned to rescue her fellow former Actives.  She reveals that they have a place that is safe from the imprinting, but the technology that protects them there is not portable.  She implies that Alpha is responsible for the tech, although whether Alpha is now an ally or still an enemy is not certain.

Caroline tells Doctor Saunders that she needs her personality to be backed up on a hard drive.  Only she knows where they are going, but someday others will need that knowledge.  At this point Caroline wakes up in Iris’ body.  Caroline is ecstatic to see Dr. Saunders until she realizes that she is in her Whiskey persona.  Caroline seems saddened, but not surprised by this revelation.

This is a powerful scene because it is implied that Whiskey deliberately did this to herself, that she chose to live this life in order to send others to Safe Haven.  In the flashback, Caroline was trying to figure out how she would lead others to her personality, the key to their escape.  She also tells Mag that Whiskey knew that if she stayed that she would “lose her mind.”  This really sets up Whiskey as a noble, but tragic character.  It also doesn’t bode well for Boyd Lagton’s survival.

About this time Butchers break into the Dollhouse.  Mag, Zone, and Caroline flee, but Whiskey insists on remaining behind.  As the Butchers swarm the complex Whiskey activates some form of gas defense, then calmly watches as the Butchers succumb to it. 

This scene is especially poignant because of its ambiguity.  It is uncertain if the gas is fatal and Whiskey is simply resigned to her fate, or if she will simply wake up, clean up the mess, and start the whole cycle of waiting over again.

Meanwhile, Caroline, Mag, and Zone make it up the elevator shaft to an abandoned office building.  When Mag reflects on everything that has been lost because of the imprint technology, she bitterly asks “if it was worth it.”  Caroline replies that they were simply “Children playing with matches… and they burned the house down.”

The remaining three come upon a remembrance wall which contains pictures of most of the main cast.  Caroline picks out her picture and says “I hope you find me alive.”  They then climb a rope ladder out of the office building to an unknown fate.

This episode really impresses me.  I am now almost sad now that Dollhouse has been renewed for a second season. The cynic in me doubts that the show will get a full five year run to finish Joss Whedon’s planned story arc, and it seems unlikely that they can craft a better farewell to the series than this. 

Nevertheless, the optimist in me remain hopeful.  After all, if the writing staff and the actors can bring this level of quality to the second season, you never know what can happen.

Random Reviews: Dollhouse: Echo

Thanks to the recently released Dollhouse: Season One boxed set, I finally had opportunity to watch both the original unaired pilot Echo and the unaired thirteenth episode Epitaph One.  These episodes were fascinating viewing which provided some insight into both where Dollhouse has been and where it is going.

Considering the unusual nature of these episodes I figured I would give them both in-depth reviews.  I will be reviewing Echo below and Epitaph One in an upcoming post.  This review will be spoiler heavy, so consider yourself warned.

Supposedly this episode of Dollhouse was shelved after test audiences found it “too confusing and dark.”  I just don’t see it.  In fact, I find it far superior to Ghost, the pilot which actually aired on Fox.

This episode begins Adele explaining what an active is to a prospective client.  It then cuts to a bar where a dealer/pimp named Eddie is attempting to convince a young woman to “share” herself with a couple “friends” of his.  His attempt is interrupted by Echo, who has been programmed to with the personality of a former girl in Eddie’s stable.  After she chases Eddie off, Echo attempts to convince the young girl to clean up and stop selling herself.

The episode immediately cuts to a wedding where Echo has been programmed to be the perfect date for Richard, the ex of the bride.  Echo is obviously there to make the bride jealous, and she succeeds spectacularly.

There are a couple of more assignments shown, including one which Boyd is seen monitoring Echo.  This first cut is the strongest one though, as it addresses prostitution issue that bugged me so much in the early episodes of Dollhouse head on.  It also highlights the hypocrisy of Adele and the other members of the Dollhouse staff. 

The impressive thing is that it does this all before the opening credits roll.

After the credits it cuts to Agent Ballard walking through a penthouse pool party.  He locates Victor, who is currently in his Russian mobster persona.  Victor tries to convince Ballard that the whole Dollhouse thing is a myth, but as is typical for Ballard he cannot be convinced.

Back at the Dollhouse, we see Sierra being patched up by Doctor Saunders after an engagement gone wrong.  Afterwards, Sierra sits down for breakfast with Echo and Victor.  Topher notices this and calls Boyd over to observe the three together.  Namely, he is concerned that the three of them have ate their meals together three times in the last week.

This is one of the many scenes from the pilot which was used in a later episode, but I liked it here much better here.  For one thing, the scene is greatly expanded from the version eventually aired, and goes a long way towards explaining things that bugged during the first half of season one.

One thing that comes out of Topher and Boyd’s conversation is that Doctor Saunders is responsible for some of the Active’s more altruistic and pro bono, assignments.  This is important for me as it goes a long way towards explaining later episodes which feature inexplicable assignments like imprinting Echo to be a midwife. 

The scene also does a great job at establishing Topher’s , Boyd’s , and Doctor Saunders’ personalities in a very short span of time, even though Saunders isn’t present!  Doctor Saunders’ concern for the well-being of the Actives comes through clearly.  Topher gets a great speech which sums up his views the ephemeral nature of morality and what we perceive as free-will.  Boyd comes across as a former idealist who has been beaten down over time into a pragmatist.  The scene is amazingly good and it should be a crime that the full version of it didn’t make it into an episode.

Back at the FBI, Agent Ballard gets an envelope containing a photo of Caroline (Echo) with her name written on the back.  After some begging, he gets another agent to run her through the FBI database.  This triggers a flag which alerts the Dollhouse that someone is looking for one of their Actives.  Adele realizes that Agent Ballard hasn’t been thrown off the scent, and Adele and Dominic discuss what to do about it.  Eventually, they decide they need to neutralize him as a threat permanently.

Victor’s Russian mobster personality is revived to lead Agent Ballard into a trap.  He is sent to an abandoned hotel where Echo is waiting for him.  She is imprinted as a woman named Shauna Vickers who is looking for her missing sister.  She manages to elicit Agent Ballard’s sympathy and he brings her back to his apartment.

Back at the Dollhouse, Topher and Doctor Saunders have an interesting scene where they talk about the altruistic pro bono assignments she has been putting some of the Actives on recently.  She notes that after these assignments that the Actives are coming back better, both cognitively and physically.  She believes this is because there is a physical need in human beings to do something other than fulfill the needs of the rich.

This scene is another one which goes a long way towards explaining the altruistic assignments.  They are obviously Doctor Saunders’ pet project, and she can justify them to the Dollhouse higher ups with her data that they are improving the Actives. 

This scene also makes plain how antagonistic her relationship with Topher is.  In the episode Omega, after Doctor Saunders discovered she was an active, her first question to Topher was, “Why did you make me hate you so much?”  This scene shows her hatred of him more clearly than anything that actually aired during the season.

Back at Agent Ballard’s apartment, he becomes suspicious of “Shauna’s” story and pulls a gun on her. He asks her if she is Caroline and tells her he is going to take her down to lockup and get some prints.  She manages to disarm him and shoots him twice at point blank range.

Boyd hears the shots and comes up to investigate.  Boyd is surprised that Echo was capable of assassination under her current Shauna persona, but finds out from Topher that she was actually programmed as an assassin and merely was pretending to be Shauna as part of her assignment.  The two flee the apartment before the police arrive, but not before Echo sees the picture of herself as Caroline lying on the floor.

When they get to where their pickup should be, Boyd gets a call that the word from the hospital is that it looks like Agent Ballard is going to make it.  Echo is not willing to leave the job unfinished and goes to the hospital to finish the job.

Adele gets a call from her superiors telling her to call Echo off.  The only question now is whether or not Echo can be stopped in time.

At the hospital, Echo runs across the young girl she saved from the pimp earlier in the episode.  Echo obviously recognizes her on some level.  This causes her to hesitate long enough for Boyd to catch up with her and tell her the job is off.

Back at the Dollhouse, Adele expresses her concern that Echo failed in her initial assassination attempt.  Since Echo had the proper skills, she feels it is quite possible that Echo purposely failed to kill him.  She feels this is a sign that something is up with Echo, and asks that Boyd and Topher watch Echo closely. 

Meanwhile, Echo prepares for bed.  As she lies down in her pod, she says the name “Caroline” softly to herself.

In my opinion, this is a much better ending than the aired pilot.  Having Echo shoot Agent Ballard at point blank range was shocking and effective.  It also showed how far the Dollhouse was willing to go to protect its secrets and that Adele was not the ultimate authority at the Dollhouse.  Echo is already showing signs of self-awareness and rebellion, which makes her much more relatable than she is in Ghost.

I also thought seeing so many of the scenes that showed up in later episodes in their original context was fascinating.  Not surprisingly, most of them worked better in the context of the episode they were originally shot for than in the episodes they appeared in later.  In fact, I wonder if attempting to reuse some of this footage in later episodes helped contribute to the wooden feel so many people complained about in the series.

Honestly, I just can’t understand what possessed Joss Whendon to shelve this episode.  I really feel that if this pilot had been aired, that the show would have been better received both by Joss Whedon fans and the general public.

Ah well, rather than focus on the mistakes of the past, I think it is time to focus on the future of the show.  For a taste of what that might be like, tune in tomorrow for a review of the Epitaph One!

Dollhouse: Season Review

Since Dollhouse has been renewed for next season, I have decided to do a review of the first season as a whole.  I will admit, I have found Dollhouse to be a difficult show to review.  I found most of the first half of the season to be merely mediocre.  If Joss Whedon hadn’t built up such good will with me on shows like Buffy: TVS , Firefly , and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog , I probably wouldn’t have stuck around past the first few episodes.  I am glad I did though, since the quality of the show improved dramatically over the second half of the season. 

Still, I would qualify the second half as "good but not great”.  What is frustrating is that I really think that there is a great show inside struggling to get out.  You see flashes of brilliance shine through every so often.  The dialogue, which often seems strangely wooden, will occasionally show the wit and humor I have come to expect out of Joss. 

It still seems to me that the basic premise is has flaws.  Namely, that it seems that there are much more logical uses for programmable humans then those presented on the show.  The rich should be able to get sex a lot cheaper than the Dollhouse charges for it.  Even a high-end dominatrix can’t cost as much as having Topher make Echo into one for you.  Don’t even get me started on the concept of hiring an illicit organization to program a person to be an expert midwife rather than simply hiring an expert midwife!

Lets ignore this for the moment though and talk about what I thought about the individual episodes:

Ghost: The pilot episode.  Sadly, I felt that this was a rather lackluster outing.  While I thought Eliza Dushku did pretty well at portraying Echo’s numerous personalities, I didn’t care about any of them.  The high point of this episode was Harry Lennix’s portrayal of Boyd Lagton.  He managed to convey an awful lot of complexity into this character without a whole lot of screen time.

The Target: Echo is pimped out to a outdoorsman looking for some sex in the woods.  Turns out he is looking to re-enact The Most Dangerous Game .  Sort of advances the Alpha subplot since he turns out to be behind everything.  Boyd Lagton continues to be the most interesting character on the show.

Stage Fright: The implausible premise of hiring the Dollhouse to build you a backup singer to act as a “sort of” bodyguard for a pop singer makes me nominate this as the worst of the season.  This feels more like an episode of Quantum Leap than of Dollhouse.

Gray Hour:  Alpha wipes Echo in the middle of a bank job.  I begin to worry that Alpha is going to be behind everything.

True Believer: Another Quantum Leap episode.  This time she is a blind cultist.  I called that Echo would suddenly regain her sight and be hailed as a miracle as soon as the “eye camera”  introduced.

Man on the Street: I consider this to be the turning point where the episodes start to improve.  The show finally begins to tackle the rape issue head on.  Agent Ballard begins to become interesting.  I do wonder what ever happened to the exposé of the Dollhouse though.

Echoes: This episode is more important for the exposition it provides than the plot.  We finally learn about Caroline Farrell and why she signed up with the Dollhouse.  It also introduces the Rossum Corporation, which is revealed to be the parent organization of the Dollhouse.

Needs: This episode was a letdown for me.  I thought the basic premise of certain actives waking up with their original personalities was a fun one.  Unfortunately, they hit the reset button at the end, revealing that it was all planned by the Dollhouse in order to let them “resolve” the issues they were having.  WTF?

Spy in the House of Love: This was a fun episode.  It uses the inventive storytelling technique of following each active through their day from the time they are imprinted.  As a result, the full story, including  who is the spy, is revealed in layers.

Haunted: A dead woman who has been backing up her personality is placed in Echo’s body.  She decides to use this extra time to solve her own murder.  A decent episode, mostly because Eliza Dushku manages to pull off being an older woman in a younger woman’s body.

Briar Rose: A very good episode.  I enjoyed the parallels between Sleeping Beauty and Echo, especially as it foreshadowed how hollow Paul Ballard’s efforts to save Caroline would be.  While I felt it was fairly obvious early in the episode that “Stephen Kepler” was Alpha, Alan Tudyk was fun enough in the role that I didn’t care.  The final shot of Alpha and Echo strolling out of the Dollhouse, in a manner reminiscent of Spike & Dru at their best, had me waiting impatiently for the season finale.

Omega: Perhaps it was inevitable that this would be a bit of a let down after the high expectations of the previous episode.  While Alan Tudyk did an excellent job with Alpha, I felt that Eliza’s portrayal of Omega was relatively bland for someone who was supposed to have dozens of personalities.  I also felt that Paul Ballard agreeing to join the Dollhouse as a consultant was completely out of character, even in exchange for freeing November.  Nevertheless, it wasn’t a bad way to end the season, and I am hoping the revelation that Dr. Saunders was an active will lead to an interesting character arc for her next season.

Looking over my episode reviews, you probably wonder if I actually liked the show.  I’m not sure if I did either.  One thing I am sure of though, is that the show has a lot of potential.  Looking back, I was not a huge fan of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer either.  While I would watch the occasional episode when I could, it didn’t become “must see TV” for me until season two.  Now that Dollhouse has been renewed, lets hope it can pull off the same trick!

S&M Barbie indeed.

Just finished watching the Dollhouse episode A Spy in the House of Love.  I have to admit, it was one of the best episodes of the series so far.  Choosing to follow each of the actives through their day after they were imprinted was an excellent narrative device.  It felt natural, yet it allowed them to build suspense naturally.

All of the major characters had character development.  Is it wrong that I am enjoying (former) Agent Paul Ballard more and more as his sanity continues its downward spiral?  I also enjoyed the character development done with Adelle DeWitt this episode.

And just for the record, the scene below is not the reason for the thumbs up.

 

I know I have complained about the sexual engagements, but damn is she hot.

 

So to summarize: Great characterizations + Interesting plot developments = Great episode!