# Dollhouse 3/20 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231 "2009-03-21T01:49:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/81 "2009-03-24T12:54:29Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > OR – the mole is an active with a dormant feature, like Millie. The proper code phrase activates their ability to become a skilled psyche-designer, implant the message in Echo, then go back to their previous personality. Which means it could be anyone. Even Topher himself. Or! The mole is Boyd (unlikely) or… the security guy whose name escapes me played by Reed Diamond. Mole forces Topher at gunpoint to: 1. Give him a primer on how to start and stop the machine, 2. Set up an imprint for Echo, and 3. Set up a memory wipe that will erase the memory of all of this from Topher once he’s done it. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/82 "2009-03-24T13:15:01Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Or! > > The mole is Boyd (unlikely) or… the security guy whose name escapes me played by Reed Diamond. Mole forces Topher at gunpoint to: > > 1. Give him a primer on how to start and stop the machine, > 2. Set up an imprint for Echo, and > 3. Set up a memory wipe that will erase the memory of all of this from Topher once he’s done it. This is WHY this episode was such an improvement. Now we have all sort of “What if?” scenarios to chew on. Before it was relatively straightforward. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/83 "2009-03-24T23:03:47Z")
I don’t buy the security guy. He really wants Echo dead. He would not use her to give his message to the FBI guy. He doesn’t trust her, and would expect her to screw it up, go “off profile” even though the profile was a clandestine one. Probably kill the FBI guy he wanted to help him. Nope. Topher doesn’t seem right for it. He is too hung up on his technology and his toys. He gets to play with the coolest thing ever, and gets to use people who “volunteered”, so no skin off his back. Wait, here’s something. Why do I get the impression that Topher created the equipment used? Didn’t they say something to that effect? But then how could the Dollhouse’s have been around in the '80s? Topher would have been a child. Hmmm. [QUOTE=Kaio] I believe the entire first season is in the can already. There’s only 13 episodes, right? If he’s already written and shot it, I doubt he’ll change it because people “caught on” – too expensive to rework everything and reshoot at this point. [/QUOTE] I’m not assuming that Whedon has revealed all his secrets in the first 13 episodes. Assuming that he keeps the identity of the mole unknown, he could change it with the proper justification. I do, however, think he has a specific person in mind himself, and is not pulling a “24” or “Lost” where the writers don’t know the answer when they ask the question. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/84 "2009-03-24T23:32:24Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > This is WHY this episode was such an improvement. Now we have all sort of “What if?” scenarios to chew on. Before it was relatively straightforward. In addition to this, I think I big reason this episode seemed like such an improvement is that we’re _finally_ getting some of that Joss Whedon snappy dialogue that us hardcore fans love so much. The going from the drama to the funny and back, on a dime, in one scene. Also, we’re seeing some interestingly ambiguous characters. I agree Topher is shaping up to be a great character in that respect; also, the software mogul guy–you genuinely felt sympathy for him, and yet he was also no doubt about it a slimy little creep. And, to get back to the point about the humor, the “man on the street” interviews were a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/85 "2009-03-25T05:55:49Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I do, however, think he has a specific person in mind himself, and is not pulling a “24” or “Lost” where the writers don’t know the answer when they ask the question. Dude, that is so three years old. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/86 "2009-03-27T14:33:56Z")
Great episode. But didn’t Echo say something like that the message was triggered when a specific series of personalities was put together in this particular method? Or something like that. So it could have been in the system for a while, just waiting for Topher to compile a specific profile that matched it’s criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/87 "2009-03-27T19:50:22Z")
I thought it was something to the effect that a specific set of circumstances was achieved within the mission. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/88 "2009-03-27T20:33:05Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I think the mole is the original or ‘real’ personality of Echo herself: given what we’ve seen so far, who’s to say that the ‘Caroline’ who volunteered herself to the Dollhouse was not a fake identity planted by Alpha? Given that the last scene of pretty much every episode has been a clear indication that there is a meta-personality in Echo that is somehow protected from mind-wiping, that’s where I’ll put my money. This is the first thing that came to my mind as well. I’m also going to hang out in the “Caroline is the mole” camp for a while. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231/89 "2009-04-09T23:00:54Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I was wondering about that, too. How did they make a profile of the dead wife? He wanted the Doll to have a specific personality, to be his wife finding out he was finally financially sound. How do they create her personality from scratch? Have an extensive interview with him, then go searching for elements in their database? I was thinking about it this afternoon, and I can’t remember if they guy’s wife died “instantly” in the accident, or if perhaps she lingered for a few days (maybe in a coma) and a scan could have been taken. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-3-20/490231.md?page=4)