Roger (Victor) did seem like an ideal fellow many women, it might have been a base personailty of understanding, listening, cheerfulness, true love and funny. The tampering may have needed to include such things as driving a stick shift and mad fencing skillz, as I can’t imagine the Geriatric Princess fencing against Roger.
My personal fanwank for Roger’s escape is the Geratirc Princess is an elderly relative of deWitt’s who has memory problems. Roger did not (technically) promise to stay out of trouble.
Somehow, Echo the Spyhunter and the tied-up Dominic ended up at the beach house with DeWitt, the sleeping Roger (Victor) and the fencing floor where the final confrontation happened. If there was a throwaway line about how Echo got there I missed it.
Doing this from memory, so I hope I’ve got this right. DeWitt learns from Topher that Echo actually asked to be imprinted. She expressed surprise and Topher asks if Dewitt wants here wiped a second time as a precaution. Dewitt says no, and makes a comment about how she (Echo) actually may have saved the Dollhouse. Dewitt then goes to get her wound sewed up (without anesthetic, natch) by Dr. Saunders. DeWitt asks how she could have missed Dominic’s duplicity. Saunders says that persons who were that close can miss things. Dewitt replies “we weren’t close; we were working closely together; that’s different”. Saunders says it’s OK to feel a sense of loss, and Dewitt says, more or less, “I’ve lost nothing I can’t live without”, while at the same moment she is seen to be looking at Victor, who is back walking around the House as his normal wiped self.
Whoops, forgot the very last bit. Boyd gets promoted to head of Security. He says he’d rather stay with Echo but Dewitt nixes that. The last scene has Topher imprinting Echo with dependence on her new handler, while Boyd looks on dejectedly.
Hmm, that’s some economical screenwriting there. Quite a lot of story covered in about five minutes running time, yet without any of it feeling rushed.
Actually, what I noticed in the last scenes was that even though Echo was being “imprinted” with the new handler, when she did that “I trust you with my life” line, she was making direct eye contact with Boyd. That was a very well done scene.
Do you think there’s a reason that DeWitt refused anesthetic, aside from being bad-ass and amazing? swoon
My roommate suggested that perhaps she was pregnant, thusly no longer requiring “Roger’s” services, holding her tummy at odd intervals and refusing anesthetic.
I was idly wondering about how the Dollhouse handled birth control last night, but I didn’t connect it to DeWitt. I think I was wondering about Katie’sMom/November/Mellie’s ability to give meaningful consent (as discussed upthread), and what would happen if a Doll became pregnant or impregnated another. What would be the legal standing when “Victor” is released from his contract and discovers he’s liable for child support to 27 children, all conceived without his knowledge or consent?
I don’t recall DeWitt holding her tummy, except when she was so upset about Dominic and crying with Roger (Victor).
And while normally any Female TV Character who unambiguously has sex does usually show up preggers, that’s not normal for Whedon’s tv series. I’d be surprised if it happened. But it could be interesting.
I’m not sure how they’d handle Victor, but I kind of assumed “going to see Dr. Saunders” after an engagement involved taking morning after pills for the ladies.
Not sure how that’d work with long-term engagements (like Mellie), unless they’re sure to bring her in every few mos for a work up and possible abortion, if needed.
I think a steady diet of morning after pills might be bad for you. Easier to keep them on some form of the usual oral birth control pills.
I think I’m going to have to fanwank that the Dollhouse reversibly sterilizes all the Dolls for the duration of their contracts.
What I was thinking is that Victor was imprinted to fall for a woman named Catherine and when he first gets to the Old Lady’s house she tells him that Catherine is waiting for him at Dewitt’s house. Then he and Dewitt work out the terms so that he knows what to do the next time he visits and doesn’t have to be told or programed with anything new. Now that I think about it I realize that this would require Victor to remember his past encounters with Dewitt. Echo usually doesn’t remember her past encounters with regular clients, but November remembers all her previous encounters with Ballard, so it can be done.
A well drafted contract would clear this problem up. Plus, since the Dollhouse is illegal, I don’t think anyone will be so quick to sue.
Without a contract, I would hate to be the presiding judge on those cases.
As far back as BtVS season 1, episode 1, Joess had wanted to kill off a character that was in the title credits. Budget problems apparently prevented him from shooting a unique set of credits for Xander’s friend Jesse, who seems very much like a regular up until the time he’s killed.
And in season 6, Amber Benson’s name appears in the title credits in the very episode in which her character is killed.
So those people that are seeking some inference on the basis of presence or absence of a name in the credits… forget it.
I thought DeWitt refused anaesthetic because she doesn’t want to be in a compromised state & let any secrets slip out. Not that that should stop topical use of a cocainoid.
It’s also possible DeWitt was punishing herself, either for failing to see Dominic’s betrayal, or for her (imagined) weakness in wanting Roger. Or for allowing her protocol-evading chair-chip to be discovered (assuming it was hers).
But Mellie isn’t real – she’s a man-made composite personality, and now Ballard knows it. Mellie will cease to exist whenever the Dollhouse is done with her. Can what is essentially a fictional character consent to the use of a real person’s body? I don’t know the answer to that question, but you can bet Ballard is going to be thinking about that now.
Personally, the ick factor would be too much for me, even if I could sit down and logically reason out that Mellie’s saying yes was legitimate consent. Deep down I’d never be really sure that it was okay.
