Season 2, Episode 1 Recap, Review, and Analysis

Wow. What can I say about the season opener of Dollhouse? It certainly did not disappoint, and it nicely set up several threads for continued exploration throughout the rest of the season. The episode was heavy on character development, especially those of Topher and Whiskey, and we got to see how Ballard was integrated into the Dollhouse. We also glimpsed this season’s probable new adversary: a WASPy Senator looking to use Rossum Corp as the sacrificial lamb in his healthcare-centric campaign.

RECAP:

The episode begins with Echo in "the chair," having a treatment. Her handler tells her to get ready for her "big day." This turns out to be a Wedding Day, and Echo is the bride. Ballard is there while Echo is getting imprinted, asking Topher for reassurance that everything will be all right. Topher assures him that all 39 personalities have been successfully wiped. Curiously, a scene from what appears to be "The Bride of Frankenstein" flashes on the computer screen during the imprinting process. Topher mutters the shot is the work of Dr. Saunders. Evidentially, she's been messing with Topher ever since she found out that she too is an active. (Later, she fills Topher's snack cabinets with lab rats, and evidentially, Topher is rodent-phobic.) Saunders is coming out of her shell, now that she knows she isn’t the REAL Saunders, she’s tormenting her hated creator.

We see Victor, and he is in the process if having the remnants of Alpha's attack erased by plastic surgery. DeWitt affectionately feels Victor’s face to gauge the success of the procedures, and she smiles at the results. Boyd is there too. We find out that Ballard is not Echo's handler--he is the "client" for Echo's next assignment. Apparently, this is part of the "deal" he made with DeWitt when he was caught trying to expose the Dollhouse. He gets to have Echo imprinted to order, to help him to solve those crimes he was unable to while with FBI, the crimes that made him a laughing stock amongst both his peers and the criminals. Boyd expresses his misgivings about said deal to DeWitt. She reminds him that the alternative involves doing "something rather extreme" to Ballard, or risk Ballard exposing Dollhouse. She says she has plans for Ballard. She knows he has ulterior motives, but Ballard is obsessed with Echo. She intends to use this. DeWitt feels their "deal" is the best way to handle the Ballard situation.

Flash to a scene of Echo in a wedding dress, walking down the aisle. Roll credits.

Break to Topher and Ivy, discussing how they're "backed up like LAX at Christmas". Sierra comes in seeking a treatment. Ivy takes care of Sierra while Topher gets a snack. His snack cabinet has been filled with lab rats. Ivy comes to the rescue and rounds them up. Topher calls Saunders to confront her about the "prank". She taunts him. Boyd enters Saunders office to chat. He asks her why she doesn't pursue the same surgery Victor is having. Saunders informs Boyd she likes her scars. They keep DeWitt from remembering what an asset Whiskey was, and prefers being Saunders. Saunders reminds Boyd that he barely looked at her before they both knew she was a doll. Boyd asks Saunders to dinner. Saunders replies that she's afraid to leave the Dollhouse, afraid of people, afraid to go outside… and she was programmed that way for a reason. Boyd replies that everyone has issues, and sooner or later, those issues all just become excuses.

Back to Echo's wedding. She’s Roma Klar. The bride and groom are ecstatic. They enjoy their first dance as a couple, and then they enjoy their wedding night even more. Ballard listens in from afar. Echo must be wearing a wire. (Anyone know what song was playing during the Wedding night montage? I thought the snippet was quite haunting and beautiful.)

The next morning, Echo meets with Ballard. We find out she has been imprinted to think she is Ballard's partner of 3 years, and is working with him to take down an International arms dealer. But they don't seem to be making much progress. She’s now inside, but they really don’t have anything more than they did before. It’s clear that Echo has been programmed to be a cold professional who can convincingly play the role of woman in love. Echo's new handler interrupts conference to take her back to Dollhouse for a checkup. Ballard protests, and insists Echo return as soon as she is checked out. "You're the client", the handler responds.

Echo returns to the Dollhouse, and Dr. Saunders gives her a physical exam. Echo has a flash of a previous engagement and calls Saunders "whiskey." This does not seem to make Saunders very happy. Echo comments that she remembers Saunders used to be number one, but she doesn't remember the rest. Saunders tells her that Alpha cut up her face so that Echo could be number one. She asks Echo if she remembers that. Echo says that she tries to be her best, but later comments that no one is their best "in here".

Flash to a new politician, giving a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in DC. He begins dissing Rossum Corp, accusing them of some sort of conspiracy related to withholding healthcare. Flash to Boyd and DeWitt watching and discussing this press conference in her office.

"How is it he wasn't on our radar?" DeWitt asks.

"We weren't on his," Boyd responds. "I'm sure he was looking for a cause, someone gave him us."

"Any idea of who?" DeWitt queries.

Just then, Ballard walks in, and Boyd says "We were just about to begin talking about you."

Boyd leaves, and Ballard accuses Boyd of outing them to the senator. Each seems to be pointing the finger at the other to DeWitt, implying the other is only there for nefarious purposes. Ballard tells DeWitt that he knows why he's there: he can't beat them, and he got kicked out of the FBI for trying. Now, he's just focused on doing "what is right", like taking down an international arms dealer the FBI couldn't touch. When DeWitt asks Ballard to consider becoming Echo's handler, Ballard reminds her that he doesn't work for them. DeWitt then brings up Mellie/November, saying she thought Ballard really cared for her, but he hasn't asked about her once since he negotiated her early release. She theorizes he was just "done with her", but she guesses he's not done with Echo. She reminds him that Echo is both special and only a hair away from being sent to the Attic. With 3 years left on her contract, DeWitt wants to ensure Echo has a handler who REALLY cares about her. She implies it’s the best way to save Echo from the Attic.

Back to the Klar mansion. Echo as Roma Klar is returning from a shopping trip. She lays a big lip lock on him, and they go off to continue the wedding night. Meanwhile, Klar's associate is staring at a picture of Echo with Ballard.

We return from commercial to a scene of Saunders in bed with Topher, spooning him as he sleeps. He awakens, jumps out of bed, and exclaims "What the hell?" He tells Saunders he doesn't want THAT, especially from HER. After a little verbal sparring, Topher tells Saunders that he didn't program her to be a slave. Saunders theorizes he programmed her to hate him so she'd love him. He responds he programmed her to be better than that, to be better than him. The real Saunders was dead, and Whiskey was recently out of service, so he designed a "whole person" as a replacement, someone who would challenge his every notion so that as a team, nothing would be overlooked and the actives would be safe. He programmed her to challenge, to fight for her beliefs, but not to hate him. Hating him was a choice SHE made. Whiskey questions how she is supposed to live, knowing she's not real and that everything she is comes from something she cannot abide. When Topher asks her why she doesn't ask DeWitt to imprint her with her "original" identity, Saunders responds that she doesn't want to die. She isn't even real; she's a person borrowing someone else's personality. She doesn't want to give it up. "I'm not better than you; I'm just a series of excuses," she muses. "You're human," Topher counters. "Don't flatter yourself," she coldly replies.

Echo awakens, and her new hubby is no where to be found. She quickly dresses, and takes his absence as an opportunity for spy duties. He catches her as she is trying to break into a locked desk drawer, and slams her head against the desk. He confronts her with the picture of her and Ballard, demanding to know who she really is. She feigns ignorance. Her head is bleeding. She momentarily has a flash of another assignment. Echo claims the photo is a fake, but Klar doesn't seem to be buying it. Echo tries to cover by going on the offense, calling him a wife-beater. Then she slips when trying to reassure him. "I am, and I always will be Mrs. Eleanor Penn." She looks confused, realizing her duff, and adds "Wait...who did they make me this time?"

Cut to Klar and Echo in a limo, inside of an airplane hangar. Klar is showing Echo a case of dirty bombs. Ballard is watching via binoculars. He calls Topher. Echo's handler reported weird brain activity a couple of hours ago, but didn't check into it, thinking it was just wedding night activities causing the spikes. Can Topher pull it up on the computer? Topher does, and notices a complete lack of serotonin. He reports that the spikes weren’t hot monkey love, but rather real pain, panic and fear. Currently, he says, her brain waves are all over the place. She appears to be concussed. Topher says he's calling her in, but Ballard says that would mean certain death. Instead, he walks into the hangar and tells Klar to release Echo. Klar taunts Ballard for being a pathetic failure as an FBI agent. While this is happening, Echo seems to be having flashes of other selves. She's confused. She starts slipping back into other imprints. She flashes back to other interactions with Ballard. Ballard works this confusion until he brings back the personality from the Chinese restaurant, the kung-fu super assassin. Echo springs into action, kicking everyone else out of action and into oblivion. Klar manages to get inside a car, and he tries to escape. Echo clings to the windshield, thwarting him. She manages to grab one of the bombs. She throws it into the car and rolls off. Klar jumps out as the car explodes. She takes Kler down just as Ballard runs on to the scene.

We come back from commercial, and Echo is in the chair, getting a treatment. DeWitt is telling Ballard that they successfully nabbed the bad guy. She reminds Ballard that Echo only remained safe because Ballard saw what her handler failed to.

Boyd walks into Saunders office. He finds a note on the desk. It says "I'm running out...of excuses." Flash to a scene of Saunders, out driving a convertible somewhere, in daylight, obviously out of the Dollhouse. Flash to Topher, deep in contemplation. Flash to Victor and Sierra meeting in passing, then tenderly walking off together. Echo is sitting alone in the background. Ballard approaches. Echo tells Ballard that she remembers everything.

"Sometimes I'm someone else, and then I come back. But I still feel them...all of them...I've been many people. I can hear them, sometimes suddenly. I'm all of them, but none of them is me. Do you know who's real?"

"Caroline," Ballard replies.

"I want to find her. I want to find all of them...real them. They can be found.” Echo broods. “We are lost, but we are not gone. Will you help me?"

Ballard tells her he's with her, no matter what, and that everything will be all right." The episode ends with Echo in the treatment chair, with Ballard next to her, repeating the handler script.

ANALYSIS:

I can't say I love loved this episode as much as some, but I felt like it was a good lead in to the second season. Several things were established. First, the powers that be recognize that Caroline is somehow special. They recognize that she is evolving differently than the average active. Still, they are completely unaware that Alpha's little escapade had any lasting impact. They are sure they wiped Echo of all remnants and returned her to the proverbial tabula rasa. Only Ballard and Echo have any idea that she can feel every imprint she's ever had. And it doesn't seem to be the result of the head injury she suffered at the hands of her most recent assignment, but rather something that is unique to Echo, and perhaps a result of not being able to completely erase all remnants of Caroline.

The episode also developed the character of Ballard much more fully. We learn that although he is supposedly motivated by "doing what's right," it's really more about saving face. On the outside, Paul is the modern day superhero, fighting for truth, justice, and the American way, and not letting anything get in it's path--marriages, personal relationships, nothing. Instead, we see he's a man who's been pitied, ridiculed, and laughed at for failing at almost everything he's ever tried. He sees himself as a modern day Don Quixote, the world thinking he’s only chasing windmills while he’s really saving the world from all the scum. Now, he’s going to use some of that scum to bring down the others.

Paul Ballard is a man looking to salvage his reputation, to prove to the world that they were wrong about him, that all of those windmills were really dragons. He wants a chance to laugh at everyone who has ever laughed at him. He is a man obsessed all right. He's obsessed with proving to the world that he was right all along, that the bad guys exist, and that in the end, he is the golden boy who will save humanity. He cares about the people he's saving along the way only so much. Once he's done saving them, he loses interest and moves on.

DeWitt has pegged Ballard perfectly. She is in charge because she is so good at convincing folks that what SHE wants is what THEY want. She lets all of her employees think they are making independent choices, controlling their own destinies, all the while pulling their strings from up in the catwalks, directing their every step. But she and Ballard are similar in that they justify their own misdoings by convincing themselves its all in the name of the greater goods. The end justifies the means, especially if it makes me look good along the way. Olivia tells herself that she is only controlling lives to fund research that will revolutionize lives. Like Ballard, she paints whatever picture will make her feel good about her day-to-day activities. They're both superheroes in their own minds, controlling others from afar for the good of humanity.

Finally, we learned more about the full impact being a doll has on ones consciousness. Claire Saunders is a very changed woman since discovering that she used to be Whiskey. Now, she's just someone who doesn't really know who, or what, she is. If she goes back to being “herself”, the one she was born as, or even goes back to being Whiskey, then Claire Saunders ceases to exist; it's like suicide, or murder. But as Claire Saunders, she's just someone else's creation in a body that isn't hers. She feels like a real person, but knows she’s just a fake. She can't go back to being herself without killing herself. How does one exist like that?

Through his interactions with Saunders, we see Topher evolving. In season one, Topher was nothing but an arrogant geek, proud of himself for being able to create better people than nature seemed produce, condescendingly looking down on anyone that was not as perfect as himself or as one of his creations. Already this season, we see Topher beginning to examine the impact of his actions. Topher is beginning to become more self-aware, self-actualized. He realizes that he's not necessarily better than anyone, and in fact, is more flawed than any one of his creations. He's starting to realize that he does not, in fact, live in a vacuum, and that all humans are inter-dependent, that everything he is doing is impacting lives. It's not all just data. Mother Nature is a stubborn woman, and data will never be able to completely overcome her. You cannot completely wipe all of her influences and effects.

I can't wait to see how Topher develops when he finds out Echo has a highly resistant consciousness, and can never be completely and totally wiped. How will this impact other actives? What will this do to Whiskey's psyche? Is the ongoing affection between Sierra and Victor another signal of Mother Nature's persistence? How will DeWitt react to Saunders' newest personality quirks? Is that what leads her to become the vapid, ghostly Whiskey we saw in Epitaph 13?

I am looking forward to seeing these themes develop as the season progresses. I hope we get to learn more about some of the other actives in upcoming episodes. Will DeWitt and Ballard continue to convince the other that he/she is really leading this dance? Will DeWitt continue to explore and exploit Ballard's weaknesses to keep him under her thumb? When will Topher really begin to crack? And what is Boyd's real deal? I've wondered THAT since he first joined the Dollhouse. He's one character who has remained an enigma thus far. When will his motivations be revealed? Why is he really there? How will a Senator making Rossum a campaign issue effect their operations? When will Alpha return, and how will Dollhouse react?

I only wish Dollhouse was not on Friday nights. Because of its timing, I will be recording most episodes. I will continue to recap and review episodes. But my reviews will always be a few days behind the latest episode. I will try to faithfully post them by Monday morning, but if life interferes, my reviews may be late. I hope you'll feel they are worth the wait, and you will use the comments section to expand on my own analyses. Do you agree with my characterizations? Are there important things I've missed?

I look forward to sharing Season 2 of Dollhouse with you.