Recap: Dollhouse Season 2, Episode 3: Belle Chose

Let me begin by saying that this was my least favorite episode of Dollhouse thus far. It seemed to be a stand-alone episode that contributed little to the overall story arc, and it failed to develop character in any significant way. If this was the first episode I ever watched, I probably would not come back for more, something that does not help if cancelation is indeed looming overhead. I’m not going to separate the recap and analysis this week, as I find little to analyze about this episode. Perhaps therein lies the reason for my disappointment. I have come to look forward to peeling back the various layers of the onion each week. This week, the show was more like an orange than an onion—you immediately get to what is beneath the surface without a lot of thought or work.

The episode opens, and we see a man playing some sort of game with some mannequins. Only, we realize that they’re not mannequins when we see one of them begin to sweat. We’re in some sort of playpen of a madman. He has these women, named for various female members of his family, held hostage and paralyzed, there for the man’s unknown machinations. One begins to come to and tries to escape. The man injects her with something, and she stabs him with a needle. He bludgeons her with a croquet mallet, crying “I guess we’ll need to find a new Aunt Sheila.”

We flash to the weirdo walking down a street, apparently stalking an unknown woman. As he crosses the street to follow her, he is hit by a car. Roll credits.

We’re at the Dollhouse. Ballard is looking for Echo in the shower room. He takes her for a treatment.

We go to a scene with Boyd and Adele, walking down the hall, discussing the “disappearance” of Dr. Saunders. Boyd says she didn’t disappear, she left. Adele notices Boyd is calling her “Claire” these days, rather than Dr. Saunders. They encounter Victor, who complains the new doc is “not his best”. They continue to Topher’s lab, where the weirdo is in a hospital bed, in a coma and hooked up to life-support. Topher is mapping his brain. Boyd wonders why they’d ever want to wake a guy like that up. Our patient obviously has a criminal record, lessened by buying off judges. We learn weirdo is the nephew of one Bradley Karrens, a major shareholder in Rossum Corp, and that’s why they’re trying to treat the guy.

Topher shows Adele two brain scans—his and Terry Karrens’. Terry’s brain scan shows similarity to that of a serial killer. Topher expresses he has “ethical concerns’ with trying to wake him up.

We learn Echo has become Kiki, an empty-headed co-ed on a romantic engagement with a college professor. Paul obviously does not like this dumb persona or the assignment. He takes Kiki to the dressing department and waits with another handler as his active is dressed for her assignment. They’re obviously bored.

Adele meets with Uncle Brad. Adele questions why they should help someone like Terry. She threatens to return him to a hospital. Bradley discusses Terry’s checkered past and history of crimes against women. He hints that “victims” had been paid off in the past to keep them quiet. Now, he’s afraid there are women out there that Terry needs to tell someone about. Brad wants Terry revived so that he can question him about some missing women.

Echo, as Kiki, prances in front of the mirror. Paul seems relieved when Boyd comes to relieve Paul of his assignment. Boyd tells Paul they need an FBI Investigator to question a possible serial killer. We see Victor in the chair, getting a treatment. Victor has become Terry Karrens. Cut to commercial.

When we return, Victor (as Terry) is in an investigation room, alone, muttering that he knows his rights. Adele and Bradley are with Topher, monitoring the investigation via CCTV. Ballard reviews a pile of missing person reports with Bradley, asking what they might have to do with Terry.

We flash to a scene of Echo (as Kiki) in a college class. She gets a paper back with a big red F on it. Kiki is the proverbial airhead, clearly confused by Chaucer. She says she thought the class was about mid-evil literature, not advanced-evil literature, and now, she wishes she took Evil Lit 101. The professor invites her back to his office to discuss her grade. The episode continues to switch back and forth between Victor and Echo, showing the parallels of their respective assignments.

Back to Victor. He is being interrogated by Ballard. Ballard taunts him, makes fun of his name, and asks about the veterinary paralytic they found in his system. Adele and Brad continue to monitor the interrogation. Ballard seems to get nowhere with Terry. Bradley questions the approach they’re taking with Terry. Adele sends Bradley off with Topher to see the real Terry. Back in the investigation room, Ballard tells Terry he’s not special, just weird and ordinary. He tells Terry he surrounded himself with fakes to feel like he was in control. Then he shows Victor video of the real Terry, laying in a coma in a hospital bed. Victor says “Goodness gracious” as we go to commercial.

We come back to Victor and Ballard in the interrogation room. Victor is confused, saying it’s impossible, and that it cannot be him in the video. Ballard tells Victor to remember the car. He tells him he THINKS he walked away from the car without a scratch, but he didn’t. Victor watches the video of Uncle Bradley, looking at Terry in a coma. Ballard tells Victor that they need to find the women. Victor needs to tell them about the women if he ever wants out of the hospital bed. Victor points to the picture of Aunt Shelia and tells Ballard that it’s her fault. She made him do this. She didn’t pay enough attention to him. He calls the women whores.

We go back to Echo, in the professor’s office, discussing Chaucer and the role of women in Chaucer’s tales. Then we go back to Victor, as Terry, discussing the role of women. We continue to go back and forth between Victor discussing the women with Ballard, and Echo discussing women with the professor. Victor tells Ballard he can fix things, make them right. They just need a new Aunt Shelia. Ballard reports to Adele that Terry has killed at least one of the women.

Adele receives a phone call, and rushes to Terry’s hospital bed. Alarms are blaring. Topher reports that Terry is in cardiac arrest. Not really, says the doctor. Someone tampered with the equipment. Adele rushes back to her office. The camera shows the interrogation room is empty. She calls Bradley and chastises him, immediately deducing where Victor has gone. Bradley says he’s taken Victor to try to get the information out of “Terry” himself. Bradley gets no further with Victor than Ballard did. Instead, Victor knocks Bradley out, crashes the car and escapes. We cut to commercial.

We return to Adele in her office. She is upset, as she cannot get Bradley on the phone. Ballard thinks Terry is returning to his victims. Adele wants to use Victor’s GPS strip to locate him and the women. Topher reports Victor’s GPS strip was removed during facial reconstruction surgery, at the order of Dr. Saunders, and was never replaced. Ballard suggests they try to locate them by using the GPS in the car.

We flash to the women. The tranquilizer is wearing off. They’re crying, afraid Terry is coming back to kill the rest of them like he killed Aunt Shelia. One woman, Robin, reminds the others that they are humans, not toys. She urges them to fight.

Ballard reports Victor is on foot, or maybe on the subway. He asks where Terry was hit by the car. Adele reports he was hit in Beverly Hills, so Ballard heads that way. Adele orders Topher to perform a remote wipe so that Terry doesn’t use Victor for his nefarious acts. Topher says it can’t be done. Adele reminds Topher that Alpha did it to Echo. Topher reminds Adele that Alpha used a cell phone, and asks Adele for Victor’s cell number. Victor doesn’t have a cell phone. Adele commands Topher to “think of another way and think of it fast.”

We see Victor emerge from the Hollywood and Vine Subway station. Then we see Echo discussing Chaucer with the professor. She’s starting to come on to the professor. She puts on some music and starts to dance. Boyd is monitoring her from the van outside. Just then, Topher calls Boyd to inform him he has to take the biolink system offline. He tells Boyd he needs to take the system down to attempt a remote wipe of Victor.

Victor is walking down a Hollywood street, checking out women. He comes to a club and goes inside. Flash to Topher in the lab with Adele, attempting the remote wipe. Flash to Victor. He appears to be in pain. The system goes down, and there is a power outage at the Dollhouse.

Back to Echo. She is dancing with the professor. All of the sudden, she pulls out a knife and stabs him in the neck. Echo says “Goodness gracious” as we cut to commercial.

We come back to the Dollhouse. The power is still out. Adele calls Boyd and tells him that they are calling in all of the actives, as the whole system is down. Boyd concurs with the decision and offers to help spread the word to the other handlers. Back to Echo. She is rifling the professor’s pockets. Evidentially, something went wacky and Echo assumed Victor’s imprint. She steals the professor’s keys and leaves. Boyd rushes in to extract his active only to find the professor bleeding on the floor. He calls for an ambulance.

Adele and Topher are talking. Topher says everything got scrambled. They know Echo became Terry. They wonder what happened to Kiki.

Flash to Victor in the club. He’s dancing. Evidentially now, Victor is Kiki. The remote wipe transposed the imprints. Ballard enters the club, hot on the tail of Victor. His phone rings, and he steps out to take the call (Adele). Meanwhile, Victor (as Kiki) hits on some guy. The guy takes offense. Ballard returns to see Victor has knocked the guy out. Victor sees Paul and rushes to him.

Back to the caged women. They’re trying to break out when Echo comes in. Echo hits a woman with a croquet mallet and informs the women that she is “him”. The women are confused. Echo holds her head. She seems to be getting confused too. Echo accuses “Mother” of doing this to Terry. She starts beating the women. Just as she is about to bludgeon one, she appears confused. She stops herself and muses “Did I fall asleep?” Cut to commercial.

We return to Topher and Ivy, trying to fix the computer. Ballard returns with Victor, still as Kiki. The system comes back up. Everyone is relieved. They immediately use her GPS strip to locate Echo. She’s in Beverly Hills.

Back to Echo. She is very confused. She seems to be part Echo and part Terry. “He was here…he’s still here,” she mutters. “He wants to kill you. You have to kill him first.” She drops the mallet and grabs her head. Robin grabs the mallet. She tells Echo to move away from the door so they can all escape. Echo tells Robin “he” will not let her get away from the door. She says they have to kill “him.” Robin says “No problem” as she raises the mallet above her head. She begins beating Echo, but another of the women stops her. Echo tells the women he is coming back. He’ll never stop—he can’t. They’ll have to kill her in order to kill him. Robin tells Echo it doesn’t make sense. Echo describes how Terry stalked the women before taking them. She warns them he’ll do it again. She tells the women that they need to stop “him”. Robin raises the mallet to bludgeon Echo, just like Terry bludgeoned Aunt Shelia. Luckily, a group of men from the Dollhouse rush in just as Robin raises the mallet above her head. One grabs the croquet mallet from Robin as Ballard rushed in to protect Echo. Ballard asks Echo if she’s okay, and she replies in the negative. He asks her if she wants a treatment as he leads her away.

Back to the Dollhouse. Adele is by Terry’s hospital bed. Ballard says he never really got inside of Terry’s head. Adele informs Paul that Bradley is having Terry moved back to a regular hospital. She comments it would be nice if Terry never woke up.

Echo is a doll again. So is Victor. They pass each other in the hall. Echo stops outside of Terry’s room. “I think he dreams,” Echo says. “Not anymore,” Ballard responds. Terry flat lines. Echo says “Goodness gracious.” The credits roll.

Like I said, not a lot to analyze here. We learned very little to advance the overall story arc. We did get to see the seeds of the remote wipe technology, the end result of which was a big part of Epitaph 13. We also got out first glimpse of programming being used for no beneficial reason whatsoever. Idealistic Adele seemed repelled by what they had to do for one of their major investors. She had no real idea of the true depravity contained within Terry’s mind, as his family had managed to cover up all of his criminal past, save for a few misdemeanors. She seemed horrified when she fount out the extent of Terry’s true nature, almost determined to undermine their efforts in any way she could. We also saw her mother hen side come out when she realized Bradley was using one of her dolls for something of which she did not approve. Adele continues to try to draw a line when she sees her assignments beginning to get out of hand.

We also saw Topher question the ethics of his scientific misdoings for the first time in his life. Even Boyd was amazed that Topher had misgivings about the current assignment. Topher’s humanization continues, if only in baby steps. We also learned that, for all intents and purposes, Claire escaped. Although as the doctor, Claire was free to come and go as she pleased, it was obvious that Adele thought she’s never leave the Dollhouse. We learned that Claire had approved the removal of Victor’s GPS strip. They implied she probably had her own removed as well, as Adele was unable to locate her. So we saw a second doll that the Powers that Be cannot keep completely under control. But that’s as far as the layers go.

In terms of Echo, I guess we saw a little moral development on her part as well. We saw the re-emergence of the uber-doll. When the imprints transposed, Echo was somehow able to control the Terry inside of her, where Victor could not. She stopped Terry from using her to bludgeon the women. Instead, Echo somehow interpreted the Terry inside of her, using the part of herself she retains to instead warn the women. She was seemingly willing to die herself, rather than let the unsavory implant use her to kill others. We also saw that Echo’s retaining bits of all of her imprints, intentional or not, when she closed the episode by repeating Terry’s tagline. The sardonic manner in which she repeated the tagline seemed to imply she can control the darker sides of the memories she retains.

We have to wait two weeks to see if episode 4 is better than episode 3. The coming attractions promise us Sierra’s back-story, and in my opinion, episode 4 shows promise of returning to advancing the overall tale. Episode 5 will introduce Summer Glau as some sort of counterpart to Topher. These episodes appear to be a return to the multi-layered Dollhouse we’ve come to know and love. I hope they will give me an opportunity to analyze again, rather than to merely recap.

I seem to be in the minority when it comes to not liking Belle Chose. Was there depth there that I missed? Why did the rest of you think this was the best episode of the season so far? Please use the comments section below to enlighten me on your viewpoints. I’d love someone to say something that will change my opinion of this episode and make me want to watch it again to catch what I missed.