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
Entry tags:
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.
no subject
::nods:: I got the impression from the comment Boyd made about "now she belongs there" that due to circumstances, it was best all around that she come back. For their cover story about Nolan to work, they had to pretend she had been programmed properly, but just left behind. Therefore, she needed to be recovered and returned to her doll state.
I also liked seeing all the other possible hints about what Boyd might be up to now- someone pointed out in my journal that by making him head of security last season, he was made totally complicit in the business, versus just being there to protect Echo. However, it seems to me that there are hints that he might be working from within the system to do whatever he can to protect the dolls (not telling about Echo, giving her the access card, covering up for Sierra), and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being another mole. I really hope we do get more Boyd stories.
minimal Echo and no Paul
Word.
no subject
True, and she indicated to Topher that she didn't want to remember that day. However, I still wish they had been more explicit about her choosing to return to the Dollhouse. Hypothetically, she could have gone on the run and tried to disappear somewhere (assuming one of the first stops was a surgeon to remove the GPS), and it could have been explained away, probably by faking her death.
Boyd was initially upset about his promotion because of being increasingly complicit. He seems to have finally decided to use his power to protect the dolls and subvert the system. When Senator Wesley (or whatever his name in this show is) got that packet of information about hte Dollhouse, the natural suspect was Paul, but it occurs to me that it could also have been Boyd.
no subject
I wish the show had been a little bit clearer about why she returned to the Dollhouse.
See, I think it did. That conversation between Topher and Boyd during the clean-up -- "She was never meant for the Dollhouse."
"She is now."
Consequences. This is why people need to disappear into the Dollhouse.
SUCH a good episode.
no subject
This is true. It makes sense why she ended up back in the Dollhouse, and my objection isn't a very strong one. Still, I would have liked to have seen her explicitly choose this course. She two awful paths before her: she could have lived with the memory of this dreadful experience (and probably deep in hiding lest the Dollhouse track her down), or she could let her mind be violated yet again, knowing that her body would be used by who knows what sort of creeps. It's not a no-brainer decision either way. Topher and to a certain degree Boyd too are enough part of the Dollhouse culture that they would view the memory wipe as the automatic solution. We do see that Priya asked not to remember that day if she ever returned to herself, but I would have been happier if we saw Priya making the initial choice so we knew she wasn't pressured into it. There are enough hints that I can believe this is what happened, but I wanted it on screen. *shrug* I may be too picky, but poor Sierra gets whumped and victimized so much that I want to see as much agency as possible from her.