Dollhouse

Yes, two of your Buffy the Vampire Slayer faves, angry Slayer Faith and weak-minded Watcher Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, are reuniting on Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. And not only are Eliza Dushku and Alexis Denisof sharing scenes, they’re sharing a bed!

Now, truth be told, Echo and Denisof’s character Daniel Perrin, don’t actually have any sex, but Eliza is wearing a lace bra and panties during the scene, so there’s that.

But if not nooky, what really brings these two fan faves together? Here’s what we can tell you after snagging a sneak peek of the next two outrageously good episodes of Dollhouse...

OK, it’s not as sexy as sex, but Dushku and Denisof reunite for scenes centered around industrial espionage, counterintelligence and just a smidgen of existentialism.

Basically, you know how Joss Whedon is a self-proclaimed Battlestar Galactica superfan? Well, that shows up pretty clearly in Denisof’s first ep, which reminds us of nothing so much as the moment from the reimagined BSG miniseries when we were all, "Oh damn, Boomer is a Cylon!"

"The Public Eye," airing Oct. 30 on Fox, is chock-full of sleeper agents, shocking reveals and reversals (wait, who’s the handler?), moral relativism ("I think her bad guys are badder than my bad guys"), doppelgängers (look, everybody, it’s the girl version of Topher!) and a hell of a premiere appearance by Summer Glau.

And where does Summer fit in? Well, let’s just say that Summer’s character, named Bennett, falls somewhere between River Tam and Cameron on the "crazy genius with a flat affect" continuum and that she has a surprising connection to a major character on the show.

What else makes "The Public Eye" such a tightly scripted and powerful installment of Dollhouse? We’ve got to give a lot of credit to the returning (and excellent) Miracle Laurie as Mellie/November/Madeline. She’s back, and she’s about to break Paul’s (Tahmoh Penikett) heart all over again.

(BTW, does anybody else think Miracle Laurie would be perfectly cast as Opie Winston’s long-absent sister on Sons of Anarchy? Those two share a certain vibe that’s both vulnerable and strong, not to mention a passing physical resemblance.) DOLLHOUSE, Dichen Lachman, Enver Gjokaj Adam Taylor/FOX

But before we drift too far off topic, we must also discuss this Friday’s episode, because "Belonging" is the most touching, heartbreaking episode that Dollhouse has produced to date.

Enver Gjokaj, Fran Kranz, Harry Lennix, Olivia Williams and especially Dichen Lachman all find opportunities to showcase their prodigious acting skills when it’s revealed that Priya/Sierra is actually a missing and exploited woman. To get a hint at what’s involved, we should tell you that Sierra’s protectress, Adele, says to the bad man who did the dastardly deed: "You’re a raping scumbag one tick shy of a murderer." But don’t take our word for it—Olivia Williams’ delivery is not to be missed!

Sierra’s backstory is nightmarish, and Dichen is downright brilliant in expressing nearly every emotion in the spectrum from dark to light: abject terror, killing rage, Puck’s-fairy-dust-induced false love and mind-altering true love.

Meanwhile, Enver Gjokaj breaks your heart as Sierra’s devoted admirer, Harry Lennix demonstrates major cold-hearted badassery and Fran Kranz and Olivia Williams struggle with the huge ethical implications of their jobs. If you watch this ep, you can count on seeing some truly enchanting work from all those actors.

Long story short, if you aren’t deeply touched by "Belonging," which airs Oct. 23 at 9 p.m. on Fox, well, you are yourself a brainwashed, soulless zombie.

P.S. After these two blockbuster episodes, there are even more goodies to come. Multiple sources confirm that episode eight centers on the return of Alan Tudyk’s mad, bad and dangerous-to-know Alpha, while episode nine centers on Victor’s military service. Very much yay on both counts!

How do you feel about Dollhouse these days? Because we are starting to get very, very attached...