Dollhouse

What happened this week?

Well, mainly we met Alpha. Oh goodness, I’m hoping you aren’t reading this a second before the final credits roll. But still, that was the thing that made this episode: Ballard working with an unknown man to get into the Dollhouse. And what happened when they did.

Super social worker

Echo’s engagement of the week was to spend time with an emotionally damaged child. She was imprinted with the brain the child would have, if she got help and grew up to live a healthy life. So it’s future-kid being fake-time-travelled back to a point where she could stop herself from becoming a different person.

Interesting – and philanthropic, though why anyone would pay to have that done is odd. And the idea that Topher would come up with it just to be philanthropic is a joke. Still, it gave reason for the story of Sleeping Beauty to be read in short bursts throughout. And that was the point of it, I think.

Climbing the ivory tower (but downwards)

Sorry, that sounds like a metaphor for something quite filthy. I was just trying to tie the Dollhouse break-in into some kind of fairy story language.

As Agent Ballard, following clues from the computer of the one remaining FBI agent who can help him (including one very old Guardian article from about two redesigns ago – but you’re welcome all the same, Agent Ballard), ended up at the door of a designer of closed-system buildings – buildings that can feed themselves, clean themselves and virtually disappear. Like, you know, a Dollhouse.

The door was opened by Alan Tudyk from Firefly. And lo: that was good. Because he’s brilliant. He was paranoid and slightly crazy, and admitted that yes, he built something that could sustain itself unsupported and undiscovered, but he didn’t know where it was, because he never left the flat.

Ballard took him out of the flat to the Dollhouse, in which there were various shenanigans. Ballard got busy saving his Caroline, and we lost sight of his timid engineer friend, until he popped out of a door, slashed at Victor’s face and was greeted with the word "Alpha!" by Dr Saunders.

Alpha

Yes, finally the mysterious Alpha has arrived. We know he slashes, we know he longs for Echo – we still don’t know why – and we know everyone at the Dollhouse fears him. We just didn’t realise they may possibly fear him because he’s Alan Tudyk and can act the socks off some of them.

The interesting thing was, though, he had clearly manipulated the whole thing to regain access to Ballard’s knowledge with the knowledge he gained from the real designer to get him in. Even so, it’s the idea that the imprints are as deeply embedded as they would be in any doll. He reacted when no one was looking, becoming fully each of the personalities he inhabited: the nervy scientist with all the knowledge; the insane psychopath who was the real Prince to Echo’s sleeping beauty.

It was a beautiful twist. Of course, you thought Ballard was the handsome prince in this scenario – or the kind of prince who walks like a cowboy.

Other things

• Victor, who, it should be noted, walked in front of my car this weekend (we didn’t hit him, obviously. But he didn’t hang around long enough to give programme-by-programme notes, or even just for me to tell him he was great either. Too shy), did a … no, I’ll just start again, that was too exciting a news point.

• Victor did a great job of embodying Mr Dominic, when put in the chair. He was very aware of being in someone’s body though, and knowing where his body must be – and there was a sense of gaining ground very quickly on how long it must have been since he was attacked. When they take an imprint is it not fixed at a certain point in time? I suppose not, if it’s all personality and not just memory, that would fit fine. Gosh, the science of this is complicated. I’m not built for science. You know what’s not complicated? Stabbing vampires. I miss that.

• Mellie looked broken over Agent Ballard (who I’m going to have to stop calling Agent at some point since he’s clearly not going to work for the FBI ever again). Her assignment to make him love her is over: failed. She must now move on to taking leftover lasagne for some rich playboy. Good old November. Forever the Dollhouse’s most confusing recruit.

• The Dollhouse is 10 storeys underground, fact fans.

• There’s another person in the world who’s scared of stairs with no risers. Yes, they are a programmable homicidal maniac, but still, it’s reassuring to others who might have that fear. Ahem.

• Alpha’s use of the giant lumberjack to indicate the Scooby-Dollhouse team should look to Tucson. I hope this will be an Alpha theme. When they find him and Echo/Caroline, I trust they will be hiding out in this giant basket for example. That would be brilliant. Cheers, Joss. Can’t wait for next week now!

• Who did Alpha imprint Echo with, and how does he know how to do that?

• Why Echo, anyway? Has he not met Sierra? She’s lovely. Or November, even: she makes Italian food, Alpha. Perhaps he left by the time they got that far through the alphabet. I wonder if he knows Hotel?D