(S02E04) It's somewhat ironic that upon news that Dollhouse is going on something of a hiatus and will likely not be back next year that it delivers one of the best episodes of its run. Co-written by Joss' brother Jed (and it wouldn't surprise me if he wrote the music to the episode as well) and Maurissa Tancharoen (both of Doctor Horrible fame), we got the backstory of Sierra and received a major view of how dark the underbelly of the Dollhouse really is.In another surprise, they redid the graphics for the opening credits and they're better. Does anybody else make up lyrics while listening to the theme or is it just me? If so, what are your lyrics? Mine begins with "This is the Dollhouse. We're in the Dollhouse. This is the Dollhouse song."
As an added bonus, the episode was directed by Commander Riker. Neat!
We now know who the man was that Sierra visited and hit last season when she was given her original personality. Today, she finishes the job.
Nolan was using a lot of Dollhouse resources just to seduce Priya. He better be a huge asset to Rossum, because otherwise he's misogynistic and just plain nuts. Like so many of you, I cheered when he was stabbed to death by Priya. Given Boyd's ability to quickly hide the body of a wealthy man, I can guess the circumstances that led to him becoming an employee in the first place.
We're now seeing the beginnings of the story leading to Epitaph One. Topher is actually growing a conscience. It's the start of him becoming a gibbering idiot from guilt. Echo is gaining a personality and likely learning how to fight the imprints. And Sierra and Victor, the Artist and the Soldier, share a love that goes beyond imprinting.
Those comments from Adelle's boss make me very interested in her backstory. It's unlikely to happen, but I hope we get to see some of it before the series is canned. The characters are finally becoming multi-dimensional and interesting. Assuming the quality level remains the same, the truth is that the series took too long to get this good. The Friday night slot probably didn't help. No matter what the DVR numbers say, without November sweeps this series is toast.
We know from last season that Victor was a soldier in his previous life (thus the flashback). At first, I thought they were setting him up to kill Nolan.
We didn't see even a glimpse of Ballard this episode, unless I blinked and missed it. Given that Madeleine/November returns next episode, he'll likely be putting in an appearance given the nature of their relationship.
More importantly, there is the introduction of Summer Glau and hopefully Ray Wise will appear somewhere down the line. Good things are happening to this series. In the (likely) event of its cancellation, I'm sure Joss will have something planned to have it go out on a high note.
[Watch clips and episodes of Dollhouse at SlashControl.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-24-2009 @ 2:15AM
Darsh said...
It was the best episode I've seen in a while. The episodes that focus on characters other than Echo are much more interesting to me.
I loved seeing more into Sierra and Topher's characters. I hope there is more of this to come.
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10-24-2009 @ 3:23AM
Hanadear said...
OMG I seriously cried..... TWICE! NO JOKE! Powerful stuff. Thanks Dollhouse!
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10-24-2009 @ 4:57AM
Greg said...
This was a great episode. So much character finally explored in this episode. Dichen Lachman performance(s?) were amazing this episode.
Boyd's character has really got my interest now, the fact that he knew exactly who to call to have a body disappear makes me wonder what he was into before getting into the Dollhouse. I know they said last season he was a cop but there has to be more. Plus the fact that he knows Echo is evolving and is helping her makes me really hope that this series will survive.
Fran Kranz performance was also great, we finally got see a really different side to Topher and see how he ends up the way he does in Epitaph One.
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10-24-2009 @ 11:18AM
Creep said...
Ditto. This was the best episode yet. It seems that so many episodes were wasted on the formulaic stuff, when this is the direction this show should have been going all along. I hope they keep it up. I will be a long time viewer if things progress this way.
10-24-2009 @ 3:02PM
collin said...
@Creep - Agreed. This was the best episode of the series. If the rest of the episodes are anything close to this one, I hope that SOME network picks this series up. I'd gladly follow this show anywhere.
One moment that threw me was when I heard Keith Carradine speaking, and I thought "Is that Agent Landy? Am I watching Dexter?"
Great episode.
10-24-2009 @ 5:18PM
KC said...
The pacing of this episode was uncommon with some of those before it was great, the lack of Ballard really helped as well.
And the promo for the next two eps looked great even with Glau's involvement.
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10-24-2009 @ 8:33AM
Ryan said...
While I expected a Sierra-centric episode and thus a great performance by Dichen Lachman, I was not prepared for the exploration of Topher's character as well and was quite blown away by Fran Kranz.
But yeah it was the type of episode where you're suddenly crying and you don't realize it until that particular scene ends. That's what I call great TV.
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10-24-2009 @ 9:09AM
Page 48 said...
Best episode of the series (haven't seen "Epitaph One" yet). Ballard's absence was a bonus, IMO and humanizing Topher is a huge step in the right direction as well. Up until now, Topher has been comic relief but he was brilliant in this eppie.
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10-24-2009 @ 12:26PM
LushRobot said...
Does anyone know the name of the song used when Pryia is being taken away from the mental institute and being imprinted for the first time?
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10-24-2009 @ 1:57PM
The1337 said...
'Belonging' is the best episode of the series -- and Echo wasn't really involved. Dichen Lachman, Fran Kranz, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, and especially Jonathan Frakes did an amazing job for this truly amazing episode. After another great episode, I'm disappointed Dollhouse will be canceled. I don't think there's any debate about it, so I'll watch the next episodes which look to be really good, and then mourn the loss of another great show. Full review of the episode.
http://th3tvobsessed.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-dollhouse-season-2-episode-4.html
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10-24-2009 @ 3:51PM
SenorWeird said...
My fiancee and I love "Dollhouse," but she has one major gripe about the opening credits, as can be deduced by her lyrics to the theme song:
"porn porn porn PORN porn porn porn porn porn porn. Porn porn porn Porn POORN Porn."
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10-24-2009 @ 6:48PM
GL said...
She watches way different porn than I do.
Good episode. Adelle has quickly become my favorite character.
10-24-2009 @ 5:41PM
maestro610 said...
I agree that this is the best episode of the series so far but I take issue with the idea that this show took too long to get good. A network television season is traditionally 20-24 hours long. Dollhouse would be on hour 16 (or 17 depending on when epitaph one should truly air in continuity). Taking most of a season to find its best episode natural.
This isn't cable where they can push the storytelling along faster either. They have to prepare for a network length season so if they did this sierra episode as episode 6 of season one think of all the storytelling we would have missed out on.
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10-24-2009 @ 9:07PM
Pau; said...
I agree with maestro610 that it didn't really take this long to get here given that this is only the 16th episode of the series.
Also, it's also a little mean to imply that Echo & Ballard makes this a better episode. Without all of the work they have done, this episode wouldn't have worked. We wouldn't care all that much about Priya's story if we didn't buy into the whole world and have an established baseline of their normalcy. If everything is out of the ordinary, then nothing is out of the ordinary. Again, it does take about 5 episodes to set up the world and what it's about. Another 5 to break the status quo. Then another 5 to bring it back together. And now we are back to breaking it apart towards the "storm."
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10-25-2009 @ 11:56AM
Karen said...
"It seems that so many episodes were wasted on the formulaic stuff, when this is the direction this show should have been going all along."
Yes, yes, yes! Whedon's a certified genius, but he's about as well-suited to the "stand-alone episode after stand-alone episode" format as Pavarotti is suited to hip-hop. I'm so glad this show FINALLY started playing to his strengths by exploring the Dollhouse as a whole over-arching concept instead of just the place Echo goes to change clothes and nap in her box.
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10-25-2009 @ 6:08PM
Scott K. said...
Up until the episode for this, while I watched every episode and enjoyed them for the most part, I really don't think I would have minded if the show wasn't renewed. Then the last episode and now this one and I am really looking forward to this show again. Great episode.
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10-25-2009 @ 7:10PM
Midnight13 said...
So basically many of the people who gave up on this show after five episodes are starting to like it. Well isn't that wonderful considering it probobly too late to save it now. All of Whedon's shows take time to get good. This was true for "Buffy" and "Angel". Now the show is living up to your dumb expectations and most likely its too late.
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10-25-2009 @ 11:46PM
pinsleric said...
Is it just me, or are the opening credits exactly the same? I don't know why you said they were different.
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10-25-2009 @ 11:55PM
IGPNicki said...
What's with all the talk about it getting canned? At least the network's stated that they will show the series in its entirety. That's definitely something! And yes, it was a fantastic episode. I really did enjoy seeing the hints of what's to come... Topher working on the remote wipe technology etc. Dichen Lachman really did a great job, and actually so did Eliza Dushku. It was a really nice, subtle performance.
http://www.igp-scifi.com/dollhouse-episode-guide-2.html
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10-26-2009 @ 2:32PM
DanGarion said...
So no mention of the writing on the glass door of Echo's sleeping area...? WTF.
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