Okay here we go, be warned, this could get lengthy cause I rather like this episode and wish it would have been the aired pilot 🙂
So, the intro of Echo in the pool - perhaps symbolizing some kind of rebirth/innocence - and cut to Adele's speech which is both kind of moving and rings true at turns is lovely.
Then the cut to the 'reality' of what a doll is while Adele says the memorable "An active is the truest soul among us", and yet, when viewing this I feel her words are actually the opposite of what an active is.
The truest soul... but no, not really, 'it's the body we want' comes to mind here; they're not true souls, they're a tool, almost a machine, something to be aimed and used at someone elses whim. The 'trueness' of the Active is in the hands of whoever hired them, because once imprinted they're complete people, for a short time, and then they're just containers again. There's nothing that makes them a "true" soul at all in my mind.
I have to confess that I can't stand the bar scene. It's stupid, I don't care for it, Echo comes across as supremely unsympathetic and frankly her story is ridiculous and unbelievable. Who would listen to her? And who would hire her to do that gig? (later said to be pro-bono but I mean really, why would Adele sign off on that? It just feels like a way to make the use of 'dolls' more sympathetic but it's just silly and fails in that aspect)
I do like the idea of showing three imprints of the bat like that however, I just don't care for the execution of it. But the layout of the Dollhouse's motives and the Adele parts are brilliant!
The imprint in/out process in the share is brilliant too and very traumatic. But here's my though, everyone makes a big deal out of how dolls are a "blank slate", they're nobody... yet each time they're wiped they're "returned" to their doll persona i.e. Echo, Viktor, Sierra etc etc.... so they're not completely blank are they now. They're calm, they may not be informed but they always know who they are, suggesting in fact that these blank slates are in fact already a personality in and of themselves. They don't need to be told who they are when they wake up from "wiping", they already know...
I love the intro, I love the showing off of the Dollhouse and then big heart for Paul Ballard at the party (and Enver Gjokaj, so talented!), Paul's jaded speech on humanity is great as you instantly get a feel for who he is and what he believes and Viktor's "Yeah people are mostly crap" is hilarious.
Then hello Sierra. I feel as though the show is setting up three headliners - Echo, Sierra and Viktor, rather than only one... which is awesome! Only supported by the (hilarious) "they're a little bit bison"
It's a good show of Boyd and Topher, their roles and characters are also well portrayed, even if Topher comes across as somewhat naive, perhaps willingly so for the sake of the science.
Although I react to Boyd's "they didn't know what they were signing up for", I'm all on board when it comes to protecting the innocent dolls, these so called blank slates, but frankly speaking to claim that the people who signed up to be dolls didn't know what was going to happen... honestly, I doubt these people thought they would be drinking tea and cuddling puppies for five years. They're aware of the demands of the risks and they take it because clearly they're in some kind of dire state. They're not innocent children going in, I just feel that that's a good point to make before victimizing them too much here.
Love the set up of Paul Ballard as a real threat and Viktor as a doll. :heart:
The chemistry between Paul and Echo is great, you see something there, and I love both of their double cross. Love that he doesn't buy her act, even though her pretends to, and I love that he stirs something in her with "You're nobody".
Is it Echo we see take over for that split second? That's why when the imprint slides back in place she goes to finish the job? (I love her helpless girl act to get a car btw)
They slip in Alpha casually enough.
And then Topher and Dr. Saunders - brilliant set up. Clearly there's more than meets the eye when it comes to her character. Their different stand points in all of this is so well put and so understandable where they coming from (albeit she's far more sympathetic)
One last point though, Topher talking to Boyd not wanting him to stop Echo from finishing the job, the subtle threat of orders coming from on high and what would they do if he did stop the order... it doesn't feel like Topher. It feels as though no one better could say it so he had to but it doesn't feel like his character to me.
All in all, a good episode and I repeat, the one I wish had been the real pilot, despite the bar scenes. 🙂
