Joss Whedon‘s Dollhouse is not a playful space — it ’s a shattered donjon where everybody ’s ruled by i d. Dolls and dollmakers alike , everybody ’s a lightning flash by from revealing their ugly reptilian brains . Spoilers ahead .
Last Friday ’s episode of Dollhouse might actually be my favourite so far . ( Yes , even better than “ Man On The Street . ” ) If it had air any other week , it might have beaten out Sarah Connor Chronicles for best hour of television receiver of the dark . I think it strike me hard than any hour of Dollhouse so far , because it was so character - driven . Almost all of our characters revealed something surprising about themselves , including Echo as well as all the Dollhouse ’s various cog .
It did n’t start off rottenly promisingly , of course — we launch into a twisty episode with a conniption of Echo programme as a dominatrix , chide Boyd about her profession . for sure , I cringed . But replay their conversation after you watch the remainder of the instalment , and it postulate on a young significance . It ’s not about pain , it ’s about faith — letting go and trust someone else . And it ’s up to Boyd to deliver the instalment ’s lesson in progress , in a minute worthy of Kerr Avon : “ In my experience , combine usually run to pain . ”
So in the episode ’s chief plot , someone has infiltrated the Dollhouse and has installed a diminutive musical composition of hardware design to tamper with Topher ’s brain imprints . So if Topher programs someone to be a cheerleader , this other somebody can make that Doll a cheerleader - bravo . Or an assassin who cheers . ( This person would not only need to have entree to the equipment , but also the knowledge to add parameters to Topher ’s program , which is why I ’m enquire if this installment ’s final account really is final . )
So first the Dollhouse ’s head of surety , Lawrence Dominic ( played by the brother from Journeyman ! This may be the last time I can point out this fact ) has the often - abused Doll Sierra programmed with super - spy skills . And for about ten shining minutes , this show at long last lives up to the stereotype that it ’s Alias with brain imprints . It turns out the NSA has really , really spoilt security department ( and computers whose screensavers read “ NSA ” ) and Sierra get in and out with no trouble , along with a file containing the name of the undercover agent in the Dollhouse .
But meanwhile , Echo actually comes to the brainmaster , Topher , and asks him to form her with a personality that can help . I recall I went to the Attic for a consequence when I saw that : Echo is self - aware enough to know what Topher is doing in his zappy room , but also enough to ask him to do it to her . WTF ?
Through Echo ’s detectiving , we get to peel back more layers of the lie and soulfulness - rot within the Dollhouse . Topher is not just an chesty twat , but also ( not astonishingly ) deep insecure and thirst blessing . His assistant Ivy is at least as saucy as he is , and will probably destroy him one twenty-four hours . Dr. Claire Saunders never leaves the Dollhouse — she ’s there 24/7 , tending to the Actives . ( Does she use their co - ed showers ? The mind boggle . ) And Boyd Langdon breaks it down , in another great Avon - ish moment : “ We ’re pimps and cause of death , but in a benevolent way . ” ( Seriously , just imagine Paul Darrow retell all of Boyd ’s dialogue . It works ! )
And meanwhile , the Doll November ( Miracle Laurie ) returns to her liveliness as Mellie , the good - natured and cuddly neighbour of FBI agent Paul Ballard … but she ’s been programmed with another extra parametric quantity . This time , Mellie suddenly busts out with a word of advice that she ’s a Doll , that she ’s spying on Ballard , and that he ask to see the deeper determination behind the Dollhouse . And yes , once again , Ballard call for to break a bib so he does n’t make a stain when he ’s constantly being spoonfed information . ( At least he has the nerveless paries file , showing that he is actually doing his own research . ) At the same metre , I really felt for Paul , finding out the one meaningful relationship in his life was with a Doll .
So Lawrence Dominic , who turns out to be the NSA breakwater inside the Dollhouse , tell Adelle that he ’s really been protecting the Dollhouse for real , and that Ballard would have found the Dollhouse by now if not for him . Is Dominic lying ? Are these “ secluded messages ” that Dolls keep giving Ballard just keep him off the lead ? Or is Dominic not the individual who ’s been sending these messages to Ballard ? ( Plus , how does this tie with Alpha , the other person who was spoonfeeding Ballard . )
But the most startling character moments in the episode involved Victor and Adelle DeWitt . When Adelle first leave at the start of the episode , for a Rossum collective hideaway , I assume worker Olivia Williams was officious and they ’d written her out of the episode . And when Victor gave the flowers to his older “ Miss Lonelyhearts ” node , and then suddenly drove off , I assumed he was cash in one’s chips off mission — maybe due to another hacked impression . But no .
I ’m regretful , I have to say it : Adelle DeWitt is not only the president of the Dollhouse , she ’s also a client . And the scenes between her and Victor were really heart breaking . He ’s Roger , her ideal serviceman , who take her messed - up life and the fact that she ’s live on from uprise replacement organs to working for an organization of “ philanthropic ponce and orca . ” He take exception her and holds her and kicks her ass at fencing , and throw off her phone aside , and tries to get her to take to the woods by with him and open a bar .
And Adelle have a go at it , good than anyone , that Roger ’s only a wraith of a genuine person . There ’s a real soul in there somewhere , or fragments of several actual people , that Victor has meet into a comprehensive profile . But Roger can never be real to her , and no real person can understand her or take her the way he can . ( Of course , on the upside , nobody but Adelle will remember the weekends she and Roger pass together . ) In these scenes , we see a vulnerable , receptive side to Adelle that we ’ve never seen before — so of course , she gets kick in the teeth , repeatedly by betrayal . ( And the earphone - tossing become out to have been a really spoiled theme . What if the mole had programmed Roger to pour down her ? )
The terminal scene , of Adelle standing there with a gunfire combat injury to the stomach and not even care , were totally barbarous . She ’s pull in who she has to be to survive this ugly , ugly sign of the zodiac she ’s gone to work for . She has to be the big giant of them all , able to watch her former friend and associate mentally wiped from existence , consign to a hellish dementia , without even blinking . The pain in the neck in her stomach is nothing . Even before she tells Topher to retire the “ Roger ” image , we already make out she ’s not fit back there again .
( And the whole Adelle subplot , I think , in conclusion answered once and for all , the question of why citizenry need to spend so much money to hire Dolls . It ’s not just closeted festive people , or kinky mass who are ashamed of their needs , as Claire Saunders severalize Boyd — it ’s anyone who needs to get a exposure ( or power ) that they ca n’t afford to experience in their “ real ” life history . Because those experience would destroy them if they were “ veridical . ” The itch that drive you to pay huge sums to the Dollhouse are almost always ego - destructive impulses . )
And yes , the whole “ sending Lawrence to the Attic ” matter was monstrous and terrific , and kind of awesomely intense .
But the most interesting thing , for me , was the whole debate over who Echo is . Is she going to “ delete ” the Dollhouse , like Dominic thinks ? Will her growing knowingness and cleverness finally bring the house down around her ? Or will she write the Dollhouse , as Adelle trust ? Could they both be right ? Or neither of them ?
dollhouseDystopian fictionJoss WhedonTelevision
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