So, we’re back from break, and a bit more explicit stuff along the lines of ‘dollhouse as immortality’ that some people have already speculated is the ultimate aim of the place.
I liked this ep overall - Eliza as the old rich bitch determined to solve her own murder was a fun premise, some nice twists and turns. One question, though - where was the handler when all of the action was going on?
Also - just who did Topher chair into Sierra? Was that supposed to be an old friend, a composite of character traits for his perfect friend… or something based partly off his own scans??
I thought the general premise, regarding the effective immortality that the Dollhouse Corp. could offer if it were so inclined, was sound, and the ‘Clue’-like subplot could have been decent fun, but the whole thing was let down by a serious lack of interesting characters and some rather sloppy writing. I couldn’t get worked up to care about ‘Margaret’ or any of her obnoxious family, and although I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, I saw the twist (concerning who killed her) coming at least five minutes running time before the reveal.
Meanwhile, I’m to believe that Topher implants Dichen freaken’ Lachman so he can do nothing more than play laser tag with her? And after DeWitt’s rather stern reaction to Sierra’s handler messing with her in a previous ep, she looks the other way when Topher could easily do the same? Well, maybe she was feeling guilty about taking advantage of Victor, but it really didn’t wash for me.
OTOH, the storyline following Ballard and Mellie/November remains compelling. Penikett did an excellent job of expressing his character’s self-loathing purely through body language as he succumbed to his dolly’s advances.
Oh well, next week appears to promise the long-awaited appearance of Alan Tudyk, and the first meeting of the show’s two baddest male badasses, Boyd and Ballard. Can’t wait.
It was set up as if Topher has been doing this for awhile. My guess is that DeWitt knows exactly what Topher wants to get out of these encounters, and she also knows that he isn’t capable of anything violent or otherwise untoward.
I have a question on a line – when Topher and Sierra were talking, just after Topher said “we can’t play with the sleepies,” Sierra said something I couldn’t quite make out about filming something and putting it on YouTube to see how many hits it got. Did anyone catch that?
Sierra suggested they could have one group of sleepies fight with another for their entertainment. Or, they could write skits that the sleepies act out, which they would film. Since Sierra and Topher are friendly rivals, she suggests the competition is whose movie garners the most hits on YouTube.
I got the impression that DeWitt lets Topher do this every year on his birthday (from the Twinkie with candles), mainly because she sympathizes with his loneliness. They may have an understanding that no serious hanky-panky goes on.
I don’t quite understand why ‘Margaret’ had to die again. She had the money to set up a contract where her brain could have been scanned again to retain the current memories before being wiped, then in a month she could have been put back in the doll for a month, then repeat - indefinitely. It would feel as normal as going to sleep each night, and she could live forever.
I’m really digging this show so far, but there are problems, and I think Dushku is the cause of most of them. The show is beginning to explore some interesting uses and abuses of the technology and such, and I have faith that Whedon and co. will continue to do that effectively. The storylines with the ex-FBI agent are great, I would tune in every week just to see what Sierra is doing, and pretty much everyone else is good (I’m slowly warming to Topher tho I didn’t like him too much at fist either)-- I’ve thought Dushku was the weak link since the beginning and it seems to be continuing, which is unfortunate but hopefully her star presence will keep the show going (which would be an adequate enough contribution if that’s all she can pull off).
The whole thing with Ballard and November was just spooky. She manages to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear (“It’s okay if you take advantage of me, really”) and yet neither she nor the folks at the Dollhouse have any idea that he knows anything. It was really interesting to watch that play out – the “I feel dirty” “I don’t care” conflict was palpable.
Interesting info on whoever November used to be, too. Apparently she kinda went off the deep end after her baby died. There were what, about seven aliases up there?
As for why they don’t offer immortality – aside from the severe inconvenience of having a new body/identity every month (you’d have to continually transfer assets, and come up with a plausible explanation as to why you are – and that kind of money moving is going to attract unwanted attention, no matter how plausible the excuse – plus every time you started making friends, you’d have to start over), they covered that with the conversation between Boyd and DeWitt. It’s been made clear that DeWitt believes in whatever the Dollhouse mission is, she’s not blind to the moral problems with effective immortality, and I think she still considers herself an overall moral person (of the type who believes the ends justify the means, at any rate), so I don’t think she’d be a willing participant in something like that. At least, not for just anyone with deep enough pockets.
I thought November’s seven aliases were either plants for some reason (but then, the FBI computer had a worm to delete them when accessed, so why make plants?) or identities from N’s previous assignments (though usually the handlers are supposed to save the actives from trouble with the law, right?).
I didn’t think of them being pre-November aliases.
Big difference, though–Sierra’s handler was messing with her while she was in her non-active state. I’m sure it also makes a big difference that he was her handler, since they have to have such a trusting relationship that persists despite the implant.
My only problem with this episode was with the premise itself–so this rich lady thinks somebody is trying to kill her, and her response is to get herself uploaded so that after she’s killed she can be implanted into a doll and find out who the killer was? Seems like for that degree of cost and trouble she could have figured it out in time to stop it from happening.
Topher’s arc made me a little sad. I thought that Sierra made a cute nerd-girl friend, but the fact that he has no friends outside his work and must create a friend on his birthday? Just sad.
DeWitt is the most intriguing character for me. Cold, but obviously caring. Villain? Hero masquerading? I guess we’ll find out eventually. (Actually, I doubt we will, I have read that Fox dropped the last episode.)
The murder aspect was a little hokey, but I’ve come to accept that the story each week is really just filler while the true main story is unfolding for us.
I agree - and that shows that, despite its problems, this show works. I mean, Topher is a monster, by any reasonable standard. His job is to torture, brainwash, and effectively murder people. And yet, we empathize with the sick bastard.
I think of Topher as amoral rather than immoral. It’s not that he knows he’s hurting people and doesn’t care. It’s that he doesn’t think of it as hurting people. He’s redeemable, maybe-someday, he’s just misguided.
And yeah, it was heartbreaking. The only friend he has is someone he made up. Makes you wonder about the rest of the year when he doesn’t even have that.
I loved watching them, though. Topher is such a geek and he was having so much fun!
So, assuming that doesn’t mean it’s canceled, what are they planning to do with the last episode? It’s already in the can, it’s not like they’d have to pay for it again. And I doubt the script was structured as a season opener.
Eh - maybe, but I doubt it. How can he not know he’s hurting people? He flipped the switch on a desperate, struggling man who had to be bound and gagged to get him in the chair. Once this man was in the chair, Topher turned him into a mindless zombie. That’s pretty bad.
Well, it’s sort of ends-justify-the-means logic. It wasn’t about hurting Dominick, it was about protecting the Dollhouse.
His conscience seems to be a bit juvenile, and he doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy who spends a lot of time contemplating moral questions. He’s sort of like a toddler in that sense. It’s “oooh, shiny!” without a lot of further consideration of consequences or deeper meaning. So he’s easily led, he’s very attached to his shiny, but if he were someday confronted with a very black-and-white moral question, I’m not convinced he wouldn’t feel any guilt over hurting someone. (Which isn’t to say he’d have the strength of character to choose not to hurt them. Again, toddler-like, and easily led.)
Also, for the moment, he can always tell himself that he’s not the one hurting anyone – he’s just the programmer. What other people might do with it isn’t his fault.
Infinitii, I just watched this episode again, with your comments in the back of my mind. I was never struck by Dushku’s limits as an actor. In fact, there were a couple of times when I was impressed by her use of body language. But I was struck with her voice. She has a VERY distinctive voice, and I think that may be why her acting seems flat. Her voice is enough of a distinguishing feature that it makes her delivery of dialog seem too similar to her other characters.