BRIAR ROSE
The good;
Totally had me fooled with Alpha (partly because his agorophobic uber-geek and Ballard makes such a great team). Stunning performance on both counts. You really feel for Mellie when Ballard dumps her. Great performance from the actress who plays the little girl too. Dominic asking for 'Whiskey' is a masterful bit of foreshadowing and Ballard is one smart cookie with his plan (but not as much as you-know-who).
The bad;
Alpha's plan seems unecessarily complicated? Ballard says he doesn't have a badge any more but then he shows one to 'Kepler' (did he swipe Loomis'?)
Best line;
Adele; "There's indignation enough for everyone to have seconds"
reprogrammed Echo upon seeing Alpha
"My prince"
Packing heat; Both Boyd and Ballard with their pistols again. Ballard also uses a stungun on Topher.
Echo;6
Boyd; 7
Dominic; 7
Sierra; 3
Victor; 2
Ballard; 8
Echo kissage;2
She plants a big old smackaroo on Alpha, so much so it cuts her lip
Kinky dinky;
Notches on the Dollhouse bedpost;
Echo; 3 definite, 1 possible
November; 1
Ballard; 1
Victor; 1
Adele; 1
Sierra 1 possible
Topher; 1 possible
How'd they get away with that?
Watching Alpha slicing up Victor is HORRIBLE! The little girl's plight is also horrific but at least she has a chance to recover. Also hard to watch Ballard cruelly dumping Mellie and her near suicide. Plus Alpha's recycled urine.
This weeks fantasy;
Topher has made Echo into a grown up, healthy version of the damaged little girl in order to counsel her, Alpha turns her into a white trash princess. Sierra is a CSI girl (her technobabble may be a subtle joke on them). Victor is Dominic
Total number personalitites;
Echo; 19
Sierra; 9
Victor; 6
November; 2
Total dolls; add Alpha so 7
Echo, Sierra, November, Victor, Mike, Tango, Alpha
Addy is a bit British;
Topher is a bit geeky;
He actually uses the phrase 'All frakked up'.
Subverting the Hollywood cliche;
Amanda lets Echo sit near her, not because she trusts her but because she has flicknife concealed on her.
Bondage; Boyd puts Ballard in handcuffs (presumably his own?)
Sierra tied up; 1
Ballard; 1
Knocked out; Toper get's tasered into unconsciousness by Ballard
Echo; 2
November; 1
Sierra; 1
Victor; 1
Topher; 1
Kills;
Sierra; 2 kills
Echo; 1
November;1
Dolls injured;.
Poor Victor, traumatised by Ballard and Boyd crashing down on top of him and then cut to ribbons by Alpha.
Capt subtext;
Check out the very caring, maternal way Dr Saunders helps Victor who really comes across as a frightened child. The Briar Rose story has a feminist slant on it similar to Buffy, Amanda and Echo prefer the ending where the Briar Rose saves herself. Echo says that Amanda is "Close to moving forwards but it'll hurt" just as she is. Interestingly when Ballard asks Alpha is he Kepler he replies "Well there are a lot of aspects to that question" . He also refers to the Dollhouse as 'The New Eden' which it just might be. He asks Dr Saunders if she always wanted to be a Dr and when she says yes tells her that's a lie.
Happy hookers
The little girl seems to have been exploited as a child prostitute by her mother's boyfriend. All the Dolls in the Dollhouse are above the age of consent but only those we've seen (and only in LA).
Know the face? Alan Tudyk was Wash on Firefly/Serenity
7 Whedon alumni-Mark Shepherd, Amy Acker, walking action figure, Eliza Dushku, Jim Piddock, Gregg Henry, Alan Tudyk
Guantanamo;
Drugging and torturing Dominic who's on a day trip out of the attic, very hard to watch (great performance from Enver, really nails Reed Diamond in his mannerisms). Sending Echo to help the little girl is everybodys way of living with themselves.
Fanfic;
The adventures of doomed lovers Echo and Alpha disturbingly popular. The little girl's story reminded me of a Buffy fanfic where we learn why Faith is as screwed up as she is and Buffy, Joyce and Dawn help her get over it and adopt her as a new Summers girl
Thanks for taking care of my body, Faith!, a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fanfic - FanFiction.Net
Missing scenes;.
Reminds me off;
Breaking the programming;
Questions and observations;
So, the headquarters for the whole Dollhouse project is in Tuscon? Can anyone tell me exactly WHY Alpha is hiding naked in a dumpster when he kills the homeless man? Or am I trying to find logic in the actions of a madman? Note when Ballard finally gets into the Dollhouse he says 'It really exists', he'd obviously begun to doubt his own sanity. 'We call that editing' may be a subtle joke on the crew. Alpha thinks the Dollhouse is a good place but with bad people. I hate stairs without risers too, always fear I'm going to fall through them. Note Boyd gives Ballard a way out, he's not going to turn him in if he can help it. Surely consensual slavery is a contradiction in terms, if it's consensual it's not slavery? The Dollhouse we see was only built ten years ago despite the rumours dating from the 80s.
Marks out of 10; 9/10 really good
