Dollhouse

(S01E09) What did we learn tonight? We learned that Adelle herself is not above taking advantage of her position at the Dollhouse. While it’s not quite as bad of the actions of Joe Hearn, it is definitely a conflict of interest and is something I doubt the Rossum Corporation would approve of.

That being said, she’s apparently into James Bond types, which sort of makes sense given her career choice.

My favorite line of the episode was from Boyd: "We’re pimps and murderers, but in a philanthropic way."

Honestly, I don’t think anybody who works there believes in what the Dollhouse is doing and most of them are amoral. Topher is there to play with toys and to be constantly reassured that he’s a genius. Adelle seems to be there for power. Boyd is loyal to Echo, but obviously not to the concept. It’s like a psychological study on why people work.

What else did we learn? We learned what it means to go to the Attic. It’s lobotomization, no matter how Topher tries to phrase it, and it’s very similar to the process for creating a Doll (which we saw happening to Sierra in the pilot). We also learn that the Dollhouse does keep a copy of the original personality of their Actives (which was hinted at last week, but shown definitively tonight). This could be for a number of reasons. First, in case there is information that is known to the original personality that may benefit the Dollhouse. Second, to honor their contract and imprint the regular person back into the body when five years are up. I’m leaning towards reason number one.

I note that while Laurence Dominic was determined to be infiltrating the Dollhouse, it hasn’t been established if he was the person imprinting the outgoing messages to Mr. Ballard. Based on what we’ve learned (and I’ve mentioned before), I think it is Doctor Saunders. However, based on the history of Joss shows and his amazing ability to lead people down the wrong alley before showing a surprise turn into the right one, that’s likely not the case.

With Langton’s sudden promotion, it’s likely that a future plot point will be Echo’s conflicting feelings for her two handlers, past and present. She’ll probably have to choose between two conflicting orders told to her by each and will choose Boyd’s. Or it could go in a completely different direction. This is why I enjoy watching Whedon shows.

If anything brings down the Dollhouse, it will be hubris. Hasn’t it occurred to someone to keep the Actives in a closed-off area where they won’t wander like children into inappropriate conversations?

It looks like someone told Sierra she was on an episode of Alias. That app that read that woman’s retina? Soon to be on iPhone, I’m sure.

I don’t recall if I mentioned this before, but kudos to Joss and company for casting a somewhat chunky (but by no means unattractive) woman as November. It would be easy to think that all the Dolls have to be, well, dolls (in the Barbie or Ken fashion). I’m glad that some of the Actives seem more real than that.

"Investigate the purpose" sounds a lot like "Follow the money."

I give this episode a thumbs-up. In two weeks, we have the first of the final three episodes.