Recap & Analysis -- Season 2, Episode 4: "Belonging"

Wow. What can I say? That was the best episode of Dollhouse thus far. We were treated to a Sierra-centric episode that told us so much more about ALL of the players involved. This episode certainly exposed the darker side of Rossum, and we saw Adele’s humanitarian, noble facade crumble before our eyes. We also got to see Topher evolve significantly; he’s finally beginning to see people as more than scientific subjects, and he’s developing a bit of morals and conscience in himself. And we finally began to see the dolls emerging as people themselves, both in and out of their doll-like states.

RECAP:

The episode opens with Topher muttering to himself: "I was just trying to help her." This is not our usual smug, arrogant Topher. Rather, Topher is visibly upset. His face is bloody. The scene is blurry.

Segue to Sierra, at a craft market on Venice Beach. She is hawking paintings. A subtitle tells us it is one year ago. We find out she is Priya and she's from Australia. An admirer and repeat customer comes to her stall. Priya comments that he's not her type. We find out she's vending on the street because she lacks a work visa. The customer asks her if she'd consider doing a large, commissioned piece for him. He tells her he may even be able to arrange a showing for her.

We move into an art gallery. Priya is showing the large painting her customer commissioned. Priya is obviously bored by the rich clientele. Echo approaches her with a glass of wine and comments that Nolan said "the art was almost as beautiful as the artist." Priya replies that she's NOT one of Nolan's groupies. Echo advises that she should be happy because she's doing what she loves, and people want to pay her for it. Priya responds that these are not her type of folks and she plans to be moving on. Echo reminds her that shows like that will give Priya the ability to do so. She advises Priya to stick with Nolan.

We move to a conversation between Nolan and Harding, a Rossum Executive. Harding says although it's the least Rossum can do to repay Nolan for his hard work, it's an awful expensive, elaborate seduction. Couldn't they just buy her a necklace? Nolan says he tried all that, but Priya is an artist, a free spirit who can't be bought. Harding asks if she can be lured, then asks Nolan why they don't just build him a woman. Nolan replies that he doesn't want a Doll--he wants HER.

Echo tells Priya there's a lot of power in the room, and that Nolan is a medical genius. Harding interrupts to introduce them to Victor as "the finest Art Dealer in all of Italy." Priya appears to be immediately attracted to Victor. They converse about her painting, and Victor asks about the bird motif. She walks away with him, then tries to leave with Victor. Nolan stops her. She tells him to enjoy the painting. Her job is done, and she's leaving. Nolan accuses her of trying to give it up to some guy she just met, and tells her the man isn't even real. Victor is removed for a treatment. Nolan yells at Victor "You were supposed to help me." Victor says Nolan doesn't need his help and promises to find Priya after his treatment. Priya tries to follow. She tells Nolan "There is no 'we'". He says he's tried to give her everything--what else does she want? She says "I want to get out the door." He grabs her as she tries to leave. She tells him to get off of her. He says he won't take no for an answer. She slaps him and tells him there is nothing he could ever do to make her love him as she flees.

Flash to a scene of Priya and Nolan in his apartment. She kisses him and tells him she loves him. She asks when she can see him again. He snaps a picture of her as she leaves, and throws it into a drawer full of photos. The credits roll.

We return to a scene with Victor and Sierra in the Dollhouse. The affection between them is obvious. She is painting a picture of a bird. We see the black blob on the page as Sierra tells Victor she doesn't like the color. When he asks her why she uses it then, she replies "because it's always here." Echo eavesdrops.

We go to a scene of a frustrated Topher, examining something through a magnifying glass, muttering that it should work, but it doesn't. He ponders that Alpha could do it using just a telephone. He muses that he's talking to himself, just like Alpha did. He's startled by Echo entering his lab. She has Sierra's painting. Echo thrusts the painting at Topher, insisting that Sierra doesn't like the bad man, and that He makes her sad over and over. Topher calls it a primitive rendition and says he's not even sure it's a man. Echo replies: "You're not looking hard enough...you never do."

Flash to Topher asking Boyd about Sierra's repeat client. He tells Boyd he has a hunch that something is wrong. Boyd laughs. He thinks it's funny something is bothering Topher. Boyd tells Topher the client is Nolan Kennard. He's a Rossum VIP, MD, neuropsychologist, helps sick kids. He asks Topher if he wants Nolan's file. Topher asks about the engagements. Boys said they're typical romantic seduction scenarios, and that Sierra never exhibits any stress and always comes back with a clean bill of health. Topher tells Boyd he helped Sierra, and that she was a paranoid schizophrenic psychotic when she came there. Boyd comments he didn't ask. Topher shows Boyd the painting, and tells him Echo brought him the painting and told him the blotch represented the bad man. He comments that Echo is a mother hen to the other dolls. Topher says he needs a pattern, and Boyd suggests they check Saunders' files. Boyd says that Saunders didn't go on engagement, but rather looked after the actives while they were in the house. Boyd says Saunders would have seen a pattern. Saunders had a whole file of Sierra's paintings and noted that the blobs probably did not represent Sierra's state of mind before going to the Dollhouse, but rather a severe state of anxiety and rage, possibly symbolizing Topher. Topher wistfully comments "I'm NOT the bad man."

Flash to Echo and Victor in the painting room. He's gathering the black paint because Sierra doesn't like it. Echo encourages him to take them all. She tells him it's good to take charge. Boyd watches Echo and wonders what she is up to.

Flash to Topher in his lab, again obviously upset. He brings up Nolan's file, then Sierra’s. He retrieves Priya's original brain scan from a vault and reviews it scrupulously. Meanwhile, Boyd is watching Echo on a monitor. She's hiding under the stairs, reading a book. Topher bursts in and drags Boyd to the lab. He says Echo was right, he wasn't looking hard enough. He says Nolan is an expert on neuroleptics. Topher explains most neuroleptics are anti-psychotics. He shows Boyd 2 brains: "This is a normal brain; this is a brain on drugs...more specifically, anti-psychotics." He launches into a complex explanation of what he sees in the "brain on drugs." He compares it to Priya's original scan. Boyd says "You lost me at brain." Topher explains that Priya wasn't psychotic DESPITE her heavy medication...she was psychotic BECAUSE of it. Topher brings up the "wish fulfillment exercise" Dr. Saunders conducted with the dolls (last season, when they apparently woke up.) They had thought Sierra went back to the mental health clinic to confront the doctor who had originally diagnosed her. In actuality, Nolan Kennard owns that clinic and lives in a penthouse in that building. Topher has figured out that Sierra actually went back to confront Nolan. De Witt walks in as they wonder if she knows about all of this. Adele says "She does now."

We segue to a meeting between Nolan and Adele. She is her usual, calm, professional self. He says he wants Sierra back as soon as he can get her, and assumes that Adele called him in to discuss their policy on return engagements. She basically tells him she's on to him, and he's never getting near one of her actives again. She calls him a raping scumbag one step shy of a murderer. She tells him their services end now. He asks her what she's going to do…call the police? He tells her to imprint Sierra and send her to him permanently by close of business. If she does, he'll see to it that she keeps her job. Adele's face shows she's clearly repulsed by the man and the situation. We go to commercial.

We return to a conference between Adele and Harding. We see Adele's facade start to crumble before our eyes as Harding orders her to do things their way and to do what Nolan wants. Harding exposes us to the dark side of Rossum as he attacks Adele’s morality. Adele is practically in tears as she protests. Harding calmly asserts that they're placing a psychological basket case into a life of wealth with a man she adores. He admonishes Adele for wanting to tell Rossum that one of their "most valuable assets" is a kidnapper and a rapist. Adele says they're not slave merchants, and however Priya got there, she's in HER house, under HER care. She will not allow it. Harding threatens Adele in return. He calls her "Miss Lonely Hearts", and says Victor is the least of Adele's indiscretions. If feeling moral helps Adele get through her day, that is her business; The Dollhouse is Rossum's business, and Adele will run it in the manner she's told, or they'll replace her with someone who will. And Adele won't like Rossum's early retirement plan, if you get his drift.

We go to a scene in the shower room. Victor is getting rid of the paint. Sierra finds him doing so, and gets playful, painting Victor's face. He has a flashback of him in battle and collapses. He says "I don't want to take charge." Sierra comforts him.

Flash to a scene of Topher protesting to Adele "We can't do this!" She says "we" are not going to do this; "you" are. They don't have a choice, and she means that. Adele is broken. Topher protests that Dr Saunders would have never allowed it. Adele asks which Dr Saunders? The one cut down right in front of Topher's eyes, or the last woman he gave a permanent imprint to in order to save her life, the one that ended up hating Topher so much she fled the city? Adele is drinking heavily as they converse. "You'll do it because you must,” She commands. “The hard reality is that everyone was chosen to be here because their morals had been compromised in some way.” She goes on to say that Topher was chosen because he had no morals whatsoever. He has always thought of people as playthings, but he also took very good care of his toys. She tells him he'll have too let this one go.

Topher is choked up as he approaches Sierra, who is sitting with Victor. He tells her it's time for her treatment. She wants to bring Victor. Topher tells her she can't. He takes her to his lab. Meanwhile, Boyd retrieves Echo's book from a false front in a step. He muses: "So she can remember." He's interrupted by a phone call from Adele. She wants Boyd to ensure Topher follows commands, and especially the command “to keep the dolls in their places.” We go to commercial.

We return to Topher's lab. Echo is in the chair, getting a treatment as Adele walks in. She asks Topher for a report on Sierra's last engagement. He says "You mean Sierra's last engagement EVER." He calls Hearn an idiot. Adele tells Topher she has a 22 year old paranoid schizophrenic who may be a possible replacement for Sierra.

We flash to a scene of Topher walking through a psychiatric hospital with a doctor. They’re discussing a patient who is delusional and usually incoherent. Nolan passes them as they enter the ward. Dr. Kennard has been treating and medicating her, but "nothing seems to take." Priya is paranoid, talking to herself, rocking back and forth, and obviously not mentally healthy. She lashes out and says everyone there is a liar. Topher tells her he's not a liar. He softly says her name: "Priya." She screams not to call her that. She tells Topher that they're dissolving her from the inside out. She begs Topher to help her. He offers to take her out of there. She tells Topher that men with guns took her there to fill her with poison and torture her. He tells her it's not uncommon to believe that. She complains that she's a prisoner.

We move to a montage of scenes. Topher is in his lab, examining brain scans. Sierra is dressed up, happily getting into the back seat of a limo. Adele is drinking in her office. Priya is being forced into a straitjacket and dragged into a mental hospital, fighting them the whole way until they sedate her. A calm Sierra is approaching Nolan's apartment. Echo walks in on Sierra being brought to the Dollhouse for the first time, with Topher taking her original scan. Sierra enters Nolan's apartment. He asks if she's here to stay. Sierra says she's all his. Victor sits alone in the Dollhouse. Topher puts Priya's original scan back into the vault. Adele enters. She asks Topher if it's done, with a pained look on her face. When she says "good", Topher replies "If you say so." Adele comforts Topher. "If you have actually managed to develop some pangs of conscience, you can take comfort in the fact that, in this matter, you had no choice." "No, I didn't", he muses while he fingers Priya's tape.

We go to a scene with Sierra and Nolan. She's seducing him. She playfully asks if she's being too aggressive. She giggles as she asks if he wanted her wide-eyed, stupid, or even mute. She teases him, asking which fantasy he wants her to be forever. Nolan's face changes from pleasure to panic as Sierra grabs his hair and slams his head against the wall. "Priya?" Nolan hesitates? "You just couldn't take no for an answer," Sierra growls as we cut to commercial.

We return to Boyd confronting Echo with the book she stashed under the stairs. Echo plays dumb. Boyd asks her when she learned how to lie. Echo asks if she's in trouble. Boyd says "Not from me, but there are a lot of people who would be very upset if they knew what you were doing." He warns that she's pushing, both the actives and the staff, and there may be consequences she cannot control. He warns that some people are not ready to wake up. Echo says she doesn't care because something bad is coming. She says there’s a storm coming, and she wants them all to survive it. Boyd warns that she may just bring the storm on herself.

Segue to Sierra and Nolan, only she's not Sierra. Rather than giving her a permanent imprint, Topher evidentially gave her back her original self. She's back to being Priya. She tells Nolan she's no longer his lab rat. He asks if she came for revenge. She says the last thing she remembers, he was poisoning her. She can't remember a single minute of the year she supposedly loved him. She taunts him for resorting to brainwashing to get her. She says she can't remember anything from that year about him, but she CAN remember falling in love with somebody else. She trusts THAT man. HE thrills her. She can't remember him, but she CAN feel him. She loves THAT man even more than she hates Nolan. Nolan begins beating Priya. She asks if he's going to fight fair this time. He doesn't. He throws her across the room, bangs her into walls, and rips her clothes off. She struggles harder. She's doing a pretty good job of fighting back, so Nolan grabs a knife. He tells Priya that the struggle is a turn-on. He tries to control her with the knife, but she manages to take it way from him. He approaches her, and she stabs him. She stabs him over and over. Then she collapses in tears.

Flash back to the Dollhouse. Topher is in his lab when he gets a call. We only hear the musical interlude and none of the conversation. Flash to Topher, running into Nolan's apartment. He finds Nolan dead on the floor, in a pool of blood. He calls for Priya. She's curled up in a corner, hysterical and covered in blood. Topher tells Priya that they have to run. They’re startled by a noise. It's Boyd. He tells Topher that, as Head of Security, he hears ALL incoming calls. He orders Priya to wash up, then go to Nolan's room and pack a suitcase for a warm weather destination. He tells Topher to go get the supplies from the van, including plastic sheeting, tools, and acid. Topher asks Boyd what he's talking about. "Consequences," Boyd replies. We go to commercial.

We return to another montage, with a musical overlay. Boyd and Topher are cleaning up the scene. Priya is washing up and packing a bag of Nolan's things. Boyd orders Topher to drain and dissect the body. Topher is nauseated. He complains he can't do it. Boys hands him a saw. Priya sees her painting hanging in the apartment. Boyd goes through Nolan's wallet and starts taking his credit cards. Priya finds the drawer of photos. Topher cries as he dissolves the body in acid. Priya cries as she finishes washing up. Topher finishes with the body, and is puking. His face is covered with blood. He is crying. "I was just trying to help her...now she’s ruined!" Boyd matter-of-factly states: "You had a moral dilemma, your first, and it didn't go well." Topher cries that Priya does NOT belong in the Dollhouse. Boyd responds: "She does now."

Boyd says: "Now I have to start the lies." He makes a phone call to "the goose" to say "I need someone disappeared." Back at the Dollhouse, he calls DeWitt and reports Kennard's permanent engagement plans involved leaving the country with Sierra. He lies that Kennard left in a hurry, without Sierra, and they found his car abandoned south of the border with fake ID in the glove box. Sierra is back in the Dollhouse.

Priya is with Topher. She is still Priya. She complains she doesn't know what is real anymore. Yesterday, she had lost her mind and was trapped in a nightmare. Then Topher brings her there and wakes her up, and she's sane again. They tell her it's been a year, she finds about all the things they made her do, and then she kills a man. She cries "I woke up from a nightmare only to live in one...You were supposed to HELP me."

"I thought I was," Topher responds. "I was fooled. I'm so sorry." Topher is obviously humbled. He asks Priya if there's anything he can do to make it better. She asks for a beer, then asks if it will be her last. She asks Topher if "we're happy here". He stammers before admitting he has no idea how the actives feel. Priya spots Victor. She remembers she loves him. She asks Topher if THAT'S real. He says that it is real, and Victor loves her back.

Priya admits she wanted Nolan dead, and that's all she thought about while locked up in the mental hospital. Topher humbly says he never should have let Priya go to Nolan's. He should have just set her free. She admits she would have gone there anyway. She wanted to confront him. She doesn't know what she thought would happen. As she gets into the chair for a treatment, she asks Topher to erase that day from her master tape. She doesn't want to remember it--she couldn't live with herself if she did. "This secret we have...can you keep it?" she asks. Topher says he must. He can keep it, but he doesn't know if he can live with it. Priya comments she knows she can't, but she doesn't HAVE to. She lays back and prepares herself for her treatment. Topher is visibly upset as he watches. Sierra raises, accent gone, and asks "Did I fall asleep?" She's Sierra the Doll again. Topher walks her down to where Victor is sitting alone. Sierra and Victor are obviously happy to see each other again. They walk away holding hands. Topher watches, his face showing that he is a changed man.

We go to Echo, reading her book. Inside, she finds a folded sheet of paper. It has a transit pass tucked inside, with the note saying "For the storm". We flash to Sierra and Victor, spooning in a sleeping pod. Credits roll.

ANALYSIS:

Hands down, this was the best episode of the season, and possibly the series thus far. What last week's episode lacked in character development, this week's more than made up for. On the surface, the episode was about Sierra and her back-story. But I would argue that we saw more character development in the other characters than we saw in Sierra.

What did we learn about Sierra? Sierra was an Australian artist named Priya, here without the proper Visa, getting by by hawking her wares at the craft market by the beach. A powerful Rossum VIP became obsessed with her. She wasn't interested. He did everything he could to try to woo her, but neither neither money nor power could sway her. So the VIP used his power to have her committed to a mental hospital, and drugged her to the point of psychoses. Then he used his power to commit Sierra to the Dollhouse, all under the guise of curing her mental health issues. When his ruse was uncovered, he used his power to ensure it was continued, even expanded. He's obviously so important to Rossum, they'd do anything to keep him happy, so they gave him Priya, against her will. Priya got a raw deal. She did nothing to deserve what happened to her. Unlike Caroline and Madeline, Priya had no part in agreeing to the contract; she was forced into Dollhood without any say in the matter. Her character was such she'd never willingly agree to such a thing.

Through his interactions with Priya, we saw Topher really start to change. I'd argue that this episode was actually more Topher-centric than Sierra-centric. Topher finally evolved into a fully fleshed out human being, a real man rather than an adolescent characterature. This episode was about Topher's self-delusions getting completely shattered, about him seeing and coming to terms with the consequences of his scientific tinkering. Like Adele said, he was brought in because he failed to see people as intelligent, special creatures. Rather, the old Topher viewed himself superior to every other human specimen on the planet, and anything not as genius as himself was a lab rat, there for his ministrations. His world view was Darwinian--if you're not one of the fittest, who cares what happens to you. The evolved Topher realizes every life has value, be it that of a free spirit, a scientist, or an average Joe, and that no one deserved to have his life manipulated for another's amusement. Topher was forced to see the dark side of his doings, and he didn't like what he saw.

Topher also realized that even in their wiped state, the dolls are human beings that retain feelings and emotions. No science can completely wipe a mind of all its humanity, no matter how hard it tried. As Boyd and Adele both pointed out, Topher had finally developed a conscience. He was looking down from his pedestal to see the hell he had wrought. He was responsible for that all of that evil done in the name of science. Now, he is prepared to climb down from that pedestal and walk amongst those who he had written off as valueless in the past, possibly even to begin trying to atone for what he has started.

Adele went through a similar transformation. Always the caretaker, Adele was prepared to stand up for her actives and come down on the gross bad guy who had duped her into a game she did not want to play. We saw Adele shatter when she realized the limits of her power, and the depth to which Rossum would sink to cover its tracks. Adele had the rose colored glasses knocked right off of her face. However righteous she pretended to be, she was just as complicit in the wrongdoings as the Rossum VIPs. She wasn't funding research that would save the world while protecting those that made the sacrifices to fund it; she was merely helping to pad the pockets of those that didn't care about who they trampled along the way. And she was highly dispensable. Her way wasn't even going to come into play here; she was a puppet as much as those Dolls she was trying to protect. We saw Adele descend into a well of drunken darkness, no longer a benevolent powerhouse, but rather a powerless pawn in a game she no longer wanted to play. No matter how hard she tried to be the ray of goodness, she too was powerless against the evil.

Boyd remained his cool, level-headed self throughout the chaos, making me question his true motives even more. I'm convinced more than ever that he's some sort of mole. I'm more confused about who he's mole-ing for, though. He seems to be trying to coax Topher and Adele into some kind of epiphany, while protecting the dolls at the same time. Each week, he does more and more guiding, to help other Dollhouse personnel to see the consequences of this scientific tinkering. He appears to be 100% loyal to the Dollhouse on the surface, yet he kept both Echo's self-awareness and Topher's change-of-imprint to himself, purposely hiding it from his Dollhouse superiors. Just who exactly was he protecting when he covered up the murder to Adele? Just who did he call on for assistance with the cover-up? Was he covering for Sierra, for Topher, or for someone higher up?

I loved the development of the "doll" character reflected in this episode. We did get to see where Sierra and Victor's attraction first began. And it began despite the fact that only one of them was a doll at that time. Again, we saw that the dolls have human feelings, no matter what state that they're in, and that science cannot ever completely erase chemistry. Through Dr Saunders' notes and Sierra's paintings, we saw that all dolls retain feelings from their former and current states. What Echo has tried to describe, all the dolls experience to some extent. Love is way more powerful than science can ever be. However, that build up of emotion can be an explosive thing when a doll is released from her contract and returned to her former state. Priya could remember nothing but the built up hatred she had for Nolan, despite a year of programming designed to change that. Yet, Priya also remembered the love she developed during that missing year, even stronger than anything else. That feeling was present in any of her mind-states.

I also loved how we saw the dark side of Rossum through subtle interactions. That evil seems to transcend to anything even remotely associated with Rossum. No ends can justify their means. They manage to dupe their participants into thinking otherwise for a while, but no good can come of anything Rossum even breathes on. This episode planted enough seeds to explain the Topher, Adele, and rest of the Dollhouse we glimpsed in Epitaph One.

Echo was almost ancillary in this episode. We saw her trying to make the others take charge. We also found out the others may not be ready to. Through Echo's machinations, we saw a glimpse of Victor's past and what ghosts he may be running away from. Echo wants to make all of the actives as strong as she; the other actives may be there simply because they are not that strong and never will be. Boyd seems to have an awareness of this that no one else has, and he seems to be trying to guide Echo to that very awareness. He sees Echo's proclivities, recognizes the impact they may have, and seems to be trying to guide her to the same awareness. Unlike Paul, Boyd seems to want to protect Echo's developing abilities, rather than exploit them, while keeping her safe from those who would try to program them away. He also seems willing to provide her with an escape, when/if the need should arise.

I can't wait to see the continued evolution/devolution of Topher in the weeks to come. Now that he's developed a conscience, what paths will Topher take in the storm ahead? Will Rossum be able to scare him into line like they did Adele? What will Adele become now she realizes she's just as bad as the guys she works for? How will she deal with having to compromise her values on a daily basis to protect her life? How will she continue to protect her family while convincing her bosses she's playing their game? Or will she take the path of least resistance and take up residence at the bottom of a bottle?

Who is Boyd, and why exactly is he there? Was Ballard just the Keystone Kop, the FBI distraction sent so the real mole could infiltrate unnoticed? We know Dominick was a mole from an agency more covert and more powerful than the FBI. He worked unnoticed for how long? Could Boyd be of the same ilk? Or could Boyd possibly be affiliated with Rossum, working for someone higher up the chain than Harding, and there to report back to the real higher ups? While the other characters are beginning to unfurl their leaves, Boyd is clenching his tighter. He becomes more interesting and more of a mystery with each passing episode.

I am so disappointed that we have to wait an entire month for another episode. Fox, in their great wisdom, think that reruns of drivel House and Bones will bring bigger numbers than our great, multi-layered sci-fi masterpiece. The good news is that they may run back to back episodes in December to catch us up, and hopefully, entice more folks to watch the show live. Maybe enough folks will discover this great episode during the hiatus and join us for the back nine of the season. Maybe the hulu numbers will convince Fox to let Joss go out with a two-hour wrap up, so we get the ending we truly deserve. I fear nine episodes will not be enough to finish fleshing out the characters and to provide a spectacular wrap-up.

I’m told Hulu watching, ITunes downloads, and international numbers may sway Fox to fund a few more episodes. I, for one, will be rewatching on Hulu during the hiatus. It certainly can’t hurt, and I’m going to miss my weekly fix. This was supposed to keep me occupied until Lost came back. I also invite everyone to come join me on the forums at Fox to show our support for and love of this show. If there’s any news that breaks over the hiatus, I’ll post it here.

In the mean time, I wait with baited breath for the remaining episodes. I can only hope they’ll all be the quality of THIS episode, “Belonging”.