(S01E06) So this is the biggie. The episode that changes everything. Did it have to be on the same night as the series finale of Battlestar Galactica?It looks like the rumors aren't true. At least, not this week. Somewhat disappointing, but they could prove true before season's end.
Tonight's episode wasn't so much about Echo as it was about the Dollhouse itself and how the world perceives it. It also discussed (via documentary) the moral and philosophical implications of such a place, the sort of questions that Joss Whedon excels at exploring (good thing he wrote the episode).
Patton Oswalt was an inspired piece of guest-casting. He's pretty well-known for being nerdy (he's even written a couple of comic books) and practically acted as the voice of Whedon himself in his moral stance. The character could practically be a psychologist or a P.R. person. I believe he was there to provide an example of powerful people rationalizing immoral decisions. I do hope we see his character again.
By the way, someone with whom I watched the program noticed that "Bouncy the Rat" was likely a reference to Oswalt's character in Ratatouille. I agree.
And Mark Sheppard appears, as well (a Whedon alumnus from Firefly)! We have both Helo and Romo Lampkin from BSG appearing on two different channels tonight. I'm willing to bet we'll see that character again.
It seems that the programming of all the Dolls is starting to break down. "They're all broken," said Boyd.
Echo was a minor character in tonight's episode, with the focus being more on Ballard and Langton. I liked how tonight's episode had three separate stories (the rape of Sierra, Ballard's investigation, and the documentary on the Dollhouse itself), although two merged at the end.
It was pretty obvious from the recurring nature of her character that Mellie had a secret. I'm still not convinced that Ballard isn't Alpha, particularly given his fighting skills (he can still take on three or four guys with a bullet wound. Those boxing lessons are paying off). It makes you wonder who else in the show is an Active and how many sleeper agents are around.
Speaker of sleeper agents, who is the double agent on the inside of the Dollhouse? My guess is either Amy Acker or Topher's assistant. I also think Langton is helping that person. Notice who distracted Topher while he was preparing to program Echo? Although it could be some sort of triple cross. It's tough to tell with this series and it's very Joss to use misdirection in such a fashion.
A female ass-kicker in a Joss Whedon production? Go figure. Seriously, when Echo's character said that she knew Ballard wouldn't hurt her, I figured once again that he was Alpha (who didn't hurt her the first time around either).
Favorite scene: "Porn!" screamed Rebecca Miner (a.k.a. Echo) as she noticed the bed topped with flower petals.
This was an excellent episode that makes the backstory of Dollhouse much, much richer from the standard "situation of the week." Do I think it will save the show? Sadly, no. But I will keep watching.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-21-2009 @ 8:25AM
Caillan said...
That was a brilliant episode. I'd enjoyed the previous episodes without ever feeling the need to tell all my friends about it, but that episode was damn fine television.
It's interesting, I think Whedon probably wanted the main mythology of the show to be the Dollhouse falling apart, which is a very compelling storyline. Fox probably wanted some engagements and dictated that the first 5 episodes all had to be engagements or something along those lines, it just seems odd that all of the plot twists have got us exactly where the show would have been before it was retooled.
Whatever the case, this show seems to be improving quite nicely and I'm very happy about it.
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3-21-2009 @ 9:46AM
Brad said...
Whedon has done it again. The episode was so good that during the final scene at the house, I almost started crying. Here's hoping the brilliant masterminds at Fox realize they've got a genius series on their hands and give it a chance to develop.
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3-21-2009 @ 9:56AM
scottR said...
Remember all those people who gave up on the show in the first few episodes? The same people who complain that networks don't give shows enough time to 'find an audience' before cancelling them?
Well this is the comeback ep. Give Dollhouse another chance people!!
Or do I have to break out the list of shows that had crappy first seasons and great finishes?
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3-21-2009 @ 10:48AM
Shaun said...
I have to agree. After watching this episode, I feel completely vindicated in telling people to just give this show some time.
The only thing I hate to say is that I think one of the main reasons this episode worked so well was because the focus WASN'T on Echo. I think the Dollhouse as a whole is a stronger story than Echo and I hope that Whedon continues to play it like this.
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3-21-2009 @ 11:24AM
Dirk said...
Note to Fox ...
If this had been the first episode, as Whedon has hinted, I'd be a fan of this show. so just this once quit meddling while you're ahead.
O' and don't freakin' cancel the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
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3-21-2009 @ 11:34AM
Argent said...
i don't see how ballard could possibly be alpha. it really makes no sense.
if he was alpha and he's been under heavy up-close surveillance by de witt and pals for a while, how could they possibly not go 'well, gee. it's alpha! roll out the kill squad, folks.'
saying he's just had boodles of plastic surgery doesn't make sense either -- you don't just get into the FBI overnight. the intial episode seemed ot have indicated ballard had been with the FBI for several years now, which would predate alpha going ape on the dollhouse (which, given the scars on amy acker's face, must have been only a few months back.)
that doesn't rule out that ballard is in fact a doll, though. a very, very, very, very deep cover doll that someone planted a long time a go as a sort of snake in paradise.
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3-23-2009 @ 9:55AM
Eric H said...
You took the comment right out of my mouth. Ballard may be an active from another Dollhouse, but not Alpha. Also I am not so sure that that secret message wasn't a red herring.
3-21-2009 @ 11:30AM
Bertrand Russell said...
One thing I didn't get...why did Sierra say that Victor "liked to pretend they were married" if it wasn't him? If they explained that, then I missed it. The quality difference between this episode and the previous ones is amazing. WTF were they doing? Great episode. Can't wait for next week.
Totally unrelated but I watched the pilot of Kings last night. It looks like it could be a great show.
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3-21-2009 @ 2:32PM
Claire said...
I think it's along the idea that children play married. He meant it the way children mean it. (they didn't explain later to my knowledge.)
3-21-2009 @ 11:34AM
TornAsunder said...
Great episode!
I could even hear the difference in the dialogue. There were so many more clever lines (a lot that I laughed out loud to), making this episode a lot funnier and more touching at the same time.
Bertrand - I think she was maybe acknowledging the budding relationship between the two of them? But it still doesn't really make sense that she was screaming whenever Victor came over.
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3-21-2009 @ 12:07PM
ac said...
Ok I will admit that was good. Back on the DVR Dollhouse goes! Im still skeptical about how long the show will last though.
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3-21-2009 @ 12:24PM
Argus said...
This was a good episode. Not an amazing episode, if you relate it to something like the top episodes of Angel or BSG (or Chuck, different genre though ) it doesn't compare, but it was definitely better than 90% of the crap out there.
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3-21-2009 @ 12:25PM
Fred said...
Perfect? No. Disappointing? Not in the slightest. It was a great episode.
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3-21-2009 @ 1:20PM
David Holtzinger said...
By far the best episode yet. If Joss can keep things at this level then he should get a second season.
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3-21-2009 @ 8:39PM
Wayne Dunham said...
I wish I could agree with you. Virtually every episode of Firefly was of a very high quality and look what the network morons did to that. Oh yeah they killed one of the best shows in the last 15 years! MORONS! "Yes Firefly is great, but do you realize how many seasons of some moronic reality show we can do for one Firefly episodes budget? KILL IT, and give us more Dancing with the C list pseudo-stars!"
3-21-2009 @ 1:40PM
tyna_x said...
>< ♥
i loved this episode so muchh.
it annoys me that fox didn't let joss have full control over everything from the start.
because if they did, i'm sure we've have this reaction right off, in stead of six episodes in.
i've liked every episode so far, but this was definitely my favourite :3(l)
joss is bossssssss.
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3-21-2009 @ 2:45PM
Claire said...
I knew there was a rumor Mellie was an active. The actress was hired to play November after all. But I really thought DeWitt would have her killed (active or not) to stop Paul. It was cool to see her activated. I like Millie and Paul. It will be devastating when he discovers she's not "real." You have to admit that DeWitt is very intelligent if not somewhat ruthless. I like the idea of someone being on the inside. It's too obvious to by the doctor or the assistant. Be funny if it was Dominick.
I liked the reason for Miner's "engagement." He just wanted to see his wife's reaction to the new house. You can almost see the sense in that. I really like that....not quite as nefarious/exploitative as some of the others. We need more of those.
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3-21-2009 @ 5:35PM
Greg said...
I've liked almost every episode except for last weeks, wasn't that crazy about but this episode was amazing, hands down the best so far.
That fight scene with Ballard and Echo was amazing.
Mellie being a doll didn't surprise me, I thought she was from the first time we saw her, what surprised me was how brutal her alter is, that was amazing how she killed that perv.
The scene with Ballard and Patton Oswalt in the kitchen was really good, I almost did cry when he was describing what happened to his wife.
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3-21-2009 @ 6:17PM
Midnight13 said...
This really is starting to remind me of "Alias". At least its first season. First the idea that there are active dolls all over the U.S. or world who don't even know they are dolls, and that there are numerous DollHouses, was very similar to how SD-6 was just one complex in a web of secret terrorist organizations fronting as goverment organizations. What is the DollHouses' main goal? Guess we don't know that yet.
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3-21-2009 @ 10:10PM
Eludium-Q36 said...
C'mon Midnight, you drew the parallels to Alias and then couldn't even guess at the purpose of the twenty Dollhouses ?! Though no one but Joss prolly knows the actual answer, you can easily surmise that with programmable, active/sleeper human-bots the Dollhouse can impact major events on a global basis, from financial calamities to political/govt regime change. It's just a question of the particular implementation of this capability.
But see, this is a double-edged sword. It makes for great twists in storylines and great cliff-hangers at end of season, but it's also gratuitous and writer-convenient when you realize almost any character at any time can turn out to be an active/sleeper agent. It's like knowing a magician is using sleight-of-hand but not knowing exactly how he's going to utilize it in tricking you -- but you know you've been tricked.
The bottom line is that I don't go to magic shows because I know it's all deception, there is no magic. Same with Dollhouse, I won't watch because though I don't know the exact storyline I know how its tricks are going to be used to manipulate world events. But that's just me, you guys go ahead and enjoy, since Friday's episode was alot better than the others. I like shows like LOST, for instance, because I can't even imagine where it's going to end up.