tardis_stowaway (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tardis_stowaway) wrote2009-10-23 10:57 pm
tardis_stowaway) wrote2009-10-23 10:57 pm
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Dollhouse: "Belonging"
Whoa. Dollhouse tonight was definitely the best so far this season and right up there in the top few the show has done so far. It was also painful as hell. It took on the issues of moral compromise, rape, and victimization that the show generally traffics in and dealt with them head on, no holds barred. All of the characters who were in the episode gained important levels of development, and the actors put in some fine performances.
Topher spent much of last season being the most despicable character on the show and annoying to boot, though they threw in some hints toward the last few episodes that there was more to him than amoral intelligence. Then came Epitaph One, and we saw a fascinating and sad new aspect. S2 has really added depth and sympathy to Topher, most notably with the bedroom scene with Dr. Saunders/Whiskey and now this. He usually builds the imprints as an academic exercise and leaving the dirty laundry to others, but here he was forced to quite literally deal with the blood on his hands. I'm fairly convinced that when Adelle told him that he had been hired because he had no real morals her goal was the exact opposite of her words, and she was hoping to goad him into taking some sort of action other than sending Sierra to be permanent concubine to a man she loathes.
Speaking of Adelle, she packed a punch tonight. She might program people and send them out to have sex with those they would never have chosen alone, but she spat out that accusation of rape with powerful venom. I think she hated Nolan not only for what he'd done but for making her an unwitting accomplice, and for having to wonder whether any of the other dolls in her care were similarly coerced.
It was good to see a lot of Boyd as he tried to figure out what was going on with Echo and then helped Topher and Priya dispose of a body. He got to be protective of Echo, but we also saw the icy efficient side of him. His past is pretty well shrouded in mystery (how did a police officer end up in the Dollhouse? Like Paul, or by a different path?), and though this didn't give us a lot of answers it provided some of the most intriguing glimpses yet. The body disposal techniques might be something he'd seen criminals try to pull, but whoever he phoned seemed to be an unsavory person. Still, that cold calm enabled Topher and Priya to get through that and avoid any worse consequences, so even in this context he was being protective.
Victor was so sweet trying to protect Sierra by taking the black paint away. He got my favorite bit of dialog while carrying the paint away in his shirt:
ECHO: You're taking matters into your own hands.
VICTOR: (confused) But they're in my shirt.
Victor may not be self-aware like Echo, but his growing problem solving skills and ability to understand others is sort of like what Echo was going through last season. The EPIC CUTE of Victor/Sierra did a little bit to balance out the darkness and misery of the rest of the episode. They painted each other's faces while showering fully clothed! Victor tried to come with her on her treatment! Priya realized that she loved him even when she couldn't remember his name. Victor waiting in one spot for Sierra (and waiting, and waiting) was simultaneously adorable and really sad. They are even sleeping together, albeit fully clothed. (Between that and Echo's writing on her pod cover, I have to wonder: do the security cameras in that pod room not work, or have all the Dollhouse security people decided that they hate their jobs?)
Finally, the focus of the episode, Sierra/Priya herself. Dichen Lachman did some excellent acting here. We knew the basics of her backstory from last season, but this managed to be even darker than anticipated with the dimension that he drugged her into craziness for quite some time to make her admission to the Dollhouse seem legit (well, legit on Dollhouse terms). The show could have made her confrontation of Nolan into something cathartic and triumphant, but they took the harsher and perhaps more realistic route. She wanted to confront him and perhaps to hurt him, but the reality of killing a human, even a scumbag killed in self-defense, is messy and horrible and not healing at all. The attempted rape when Nolan found out that she was herself was deeply scary. I wish the show had been a little bit clearer about why she returned to the Dollhouse. Was it purely because she didn't want to remember, because of her memories of Victor, or was she just afraid of consequences if she tried to strike off alone? Between her and Topher, the scene where she is rewiped broke my heart.
A further good point of this episode: minimal Echo and no Paul. Paul has never been my favorite, and I like him a lot less this season than last. Echo is just so much less interesting than the show's other characters, although I do feel like Dushku's acting might be better this season.
All in all, a damn fine if uncomfortable episode.
God damn it, Fox, why are you taking this show off the air for over a month, especially now?!?!?! I'm still grateful that we got a second season at all, but I wish they would just show the episodes in the proper sequence and without disruption, even if they're for sure not renewing again.
Topher spent much of last season being the most despicable character on the show and annoying to boot, though they threw in some hints toward the last few episodes that there was more to him than amoral intelligence. Then came Epitaph One, and we saw a fascinating and sad new aspect. S2 has really added depth and sympathy to Topher, most notably with the bedroom scene with Dr. Saunders/Whiskey and now this. He usually builds the imprints as an academic exercise and leaving the dirty laundry to others, but here he was forced to quite literally deal with the blood on his hands. I'm fairly convinced that when Adelle told him that he had been hired because he had no real morals her goal was the exact opposite of her words, and she was hoping to goad him into taking some sort of action other than sending Sierra to be permanent concubine to a man she loathes.
Speaking of Adelle, she packed a punch tonight. She might program people and send them out to have sex with those they would never have chosen alone, but she spat out that accusation of rape with powerful venom. I think she hated Nolan not only for what he'd done but for making her an unwitting accomplice, and for having to wonder whether any of the other dolls in her care were similarly coerced.
It was good to see a lot of Boyd as he tried to figure out what was going on with Echo and then helped Topher and Priya dispose of a body. He got to be protective of Echo, but we also saw the icy efficient side of him. His past is pretty well shrouded in mystery (how did a police officer end up in the Dollhouse? Like Paul, or by a different path?), and though this didn't give us a lot of answers it provided some of the most intriguing glimpses yet. The body disposal techniques might be something he'd seen criminals try to pull, but whoever he phoned seemed to be an unsavory person. Still, that cold calm enabled Topher and Priya to get through that and avoid any worse consequences, so even in this context he was being protective.
Victor was so sweet trying to protect Sierra by taking the black paint away. He got my favorite bit of dialog while carrying the paint away in his shirt:
ECHO: You're taking matters into your own hands.
VICTOR: (confused) But they're in my shirt.
Victor may not be self-aware like Echo, but his growing problem solving skills and ability to understand others is sort of like what Echo was going through last season. The EPIC CUTE of Victor/Sierra did a little bit to balance out the darkness and misery of the rest of the episode. They painted each other's faces while showering fully clothed! Victor tried to come with her on her treatment! Priya realized that she loved him even when she couldn't remember his name. Victor waiting in one spot for Sierra (and waiting, and waiting) was simultaneously adorable and really sad. They are even sleeping together, albeit fully clothed. (Between that and Echo's writing on her pod cover, I have to wonder: do the security cameras in that pod room not work, or have all the Dollhouse security people decided that they hate their jobs?)
Finally, the focus of the episode, Sierra/Priya herself. Dichen Lachman did some excellent acting here. We knew the basics of her backstory from last season, but this managed to be even darker than anticipated with the dimension that he drugged her into craziness for quite some time to make her admission to the Dollhouse seem legit (well, legit on Dollhouse terms). The show could have made her confrontation of Nolan into something cathartic and triumphant, but they took the harsher and perhaps more realistic route. She wanted to confront him and perhaps to hurt him, but the reality of killing a human, even a scumbag killed in self-defense, is messy and horrible and not healing at all. The attempted rape when Nolan found out that she was herself was deeply scary. I wish the show had been a little bit clearer about why she returned to the Dollhouse. Was it purely because she didn't want to remember, because of her memories of Victor, or was she just afraid of consequences if she tried to strike off alone? Between her and Topher, the scene where she is rewiped broke my heart.
A further good point of this episode: minimal Echo and no Paul. Paul has never been my favorite, and I like him a lot less this season than last. Echo is just so much less interesting than the show's other characters, although I do feel like Dushku's acting might be better this season.
All in all, a damn fine if uncomfortable episode.
God damn it, Fox, why are you taking this show off the air for over a month, especially now?!?!?! I'm still grateful that we got a second season at all, but I wish they would just show the episodes in the proper sequence and without disruption, even if they're for sure not renewing again.