Meh. The resolution of this episode made very little sense. What convinced Ballard that he shouldn’t be shutting down the entire dollhouse, not just demanding the freedom of one Doll? And why would Echo voluntarily go back to be wiped, now that she knows what’s involved?
Because she signed a contract.
Yah, but as she said: “I’ve got thirty-eight brains, and not one of them thinks you can sign a contract to be a slave.” It that’s the reason, it’s inconsistent with the character.
It’s probably because they asked her to go for her treatment. It was never said she went in voluntarily was it?
I loved the conflict between Alpha’s multiple personalities. “We’re not bluffing. I’m bluffing. But the rest of us, we mean business.” And then the fact that one of his multiple personalities has a multiple personality.
Nice episode.
(bolding mine)
Sure we did - It was Whikey Saunders - SHe had internal reasons (she was broke, she really didn’t want to be a Dr) plus, Topher apparently programmed her with significant computer skills (She hacked his system) and a ‘hatred’ for Topher.
I wanted to know what was on the Computer that Topher wanted her to see - my guess, She is his Sister.
Yeesh! I hope not. That would be seriously fraked up.
Wait, if Whiskey never opened her own file to see who she had been, what made her think that she was “made” to hate Topher? I took that line to mean that she had a deep hatred of him that she BLAMED on him. It would be a sign of remorse on Topher’s part if he had actually programmed that in to her, but if she never read her own file, how would she know?
I liked the episode, and would really like the show to come back. There are a lot of really interesting issues about identity, mind-body dulaity, the Soul™, etc. that I’d like to see Joss explore in much more depth.
One thing though. If Topher is so damn smart, why no off-site backups? I mean, keeping your originals and the only backups on the same shelf? Really?
I guess she looked at what imprints were used in making her. This doesn’t require her to know what she was like before that.
I liked the little reference to fireflies 
I thought of the same thing. Why weren’t the originals AND the backups in some hidden vault somewhere? I imagine it has something to do with needing to move the story along in a certain direction.
I got that too. I thought the “souls in jars” sounded like Angel, as well.
Hmm. Maybe so. I have to think about that.
Speaking of the fireflies comment, I enjoyed the inclusion of all the mannequins in Alpha’s lair. It was both an interesting character detail and a kind of sly self reference. Alpha plays with (human size) dolls.
Maybe she was originally the friend Topher gets to pull out once a year, on his birthday, to play laser tag with.
Totally agreed. That was especially egregious to those of us who work in computer-related professions. I currently am a one-man development house for a company in London. Each week I make a backup of everything I have developed or even tinkered with and I store it at my friend’s house. In the unlikely case that my house burns down, the people in London will still have their intellectual property. (Mind you, I would prefer something even more secure, but I do trust this friend.) This is so ingrained in me that it was the very first thing I thought when the backups were destroyed. But I guess we make allowances to the story-teller.
She realized her personality (who she thought of as herself) was created artificially. So she started to analyze why she was given certain personality traits. She had a deep seated hatred for Topher, and she wondered - if he was the one that did my programming, why would he include a hatred for himself?
Of course it could’ve simply been a natural result of the various personality traits she had rather than a deliberate choice.
I find her attitude interesting (and logical) - she knew she was entirely artificial, and yet that was who she was - to her, she’s a real person, a real personality. She didn’t want to find out about her real/original personality because it doesn’t matter. She is Dr. Saunders.
Probably he did it just because she’s hot and he’d be working alongside her every day. Topher’s also rather shy of girls. Like he’s been told the one asian girl (not Sierra) likes him, but he entirely ignored it.
Was anyone else really by Echo having trouble getting to Caroline’s hard drive on the little beam. She had all of the imprints she’s ever had in her head-what about the skills of the bank robber, maybe the back-up dancer?
It just seemed like a lazy writing convention.
Other than that, I loved it.
She should have realized it from the get-go, considering that the original Dr. Saunders was a man. Clearly actives are aware when their bodies don’t match their selves, as evidenced by Caroline’s reaction when Alpha imprinted her in the clerk’s body.
Ah, excellent point. Thanks!