Dollhouse Season 1 Episode Recaps

[Buffy Summers]

Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.

Season 1

[jump=one]1.01 - Ghost [/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=two]1.02 - The Target[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=three]1.03 - Stage Fright[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=four]1.04 - Grey Hour[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=five]1.05 - True Believer[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=six]1.06 - Man on the Street[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=seven]1.07 - Echoes[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=eight]1.08 - Needs[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=nine]1.09 - A Spy in the House of Love[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=ten]1.10 - Haunted[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=eleven]1.11 - Briar Rose[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=twelve]1.12 - Omega[/jump] [Discussion]
[jump=thirteen]1.13 - Epitaph One[/jump] [Discussion]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR0RRMwEFHY]Video Season One Recap[/ame]

(Video Recap not made by me!)​

[anchor=one]1.01 - "Ghost"

Caroline (Eliza Dushku) sits at a circular table, in jeans, being spoken to by a woman in a business suit. They appear to be in an office or conference room. The woman (who we find out later is Adelle DeWitt, who runs the Dollhouse) pours her some tea. She is offering Caroline a “clean slate”.

Mrs. DeWitt: “Nothing is what it appears to be.”

Caroline: “You ever try and clean an actual slate? You always see what was on it before.”

Mrs. DeWitt asks Caroline if she is volunteering, and she replies that she doesn’t really have a choice. Mrs. DeWitt tells her that what they do helps people, and can help her if she becomes a part of it. Caroline is cynical. Mrs. DeWitt tells her that they can take care of “this mess” and that their agreement would be for five years. Caroline says she was only trying to make a difference.

Caroline: “I know, I know. Actions have consequences.”
Mrs. DeWitt: “What if they didn’t?”

We cut to two motorcycles zooming down city streets at night, weaving in and out of cars; they are racing. One bike spins out, but the rider, who is revealed to be “Caroline”, gets back on and continues. They arrive at a Chinese restaurant, driving right inside, to where there is a birthday party for Matt, the other driver. “Caroline” accuses him of cheating, and Matt accuses her of letting him win. She suggests best two out of three, but he suggests they dance instead.

Through their conversation we learn that they’ve spent the weekend together, and that it was supposed to be “no strings”. Matt gives her a necklace with a heart charm on it. They kiss. Matt says it’s getting late and goes to get a drink. “Caroline” walks a few steps, smiling, then her face falls and she walks stoically out of the restaurant to a waiting black van. A black man in a suit – Boyd Langton - helps her inside.

Boyd: “Did you have a nice time?”
“Caroline”: “I met a guy.”

We cut back to the party where a guy walks up to Matt and asks where his friend is. Matt replies that it was time for her to go.

We now cut to a garage-looking area. An elevator dings and a woman dressed as a geisha walks to a black van just like the one we’ve just seen. “Caroline” and Boyd are coming the opposite direction. She asks him if he could take her back to the party after her “treatment”. He tells her he’ll wait right there.

“Caroline” changes out of her party dress and walks to a chair in a sort of examination room with several machines around her, all the while chattering about Matt and the spark between them. She lies down in a sort of high tech dentist chair, where a young man, Topher, tells her, “This is going to pinch a bit.”

We see scenes from the weekend played in reverse order, then some scenes of her as a child. The necklace Matt had given her falls to the floor. She sits up, and asks Topher if she had fallen asleep. He tells her “for a little while”. She leaves the room, as if in a daze.

Topher pulls what looks like some sort of data tape out of the chair and goes into the next room, plugging it into a slot in a desk there. Boyd asks if everything went okay with the wipe, and Topher tells him why not just ask Echo – “Oh that’s right, because she can’t remember.” Topher tells him that they gave two people the perfect weekend together, that they are “great humanitarians”. Boyd says that they’d spend the rest of their lives in jail if anyone found this place, and we see his view into a great room below, like a modern style living area or the lobby of an expensive hotel. We see some people walking through the space, some sitting on sofas or plush chairs.

We see “Caroline”, who they now refer to as “Echo”, walk across the floor. Topher comments on how she hasn’t a care in the world.

Topher: “She’s living the dream.”
Boyd: “Who’s dream?”
Topher: “Who’s next?”

We cut to an establisher of an expensive home. A little girl, Davina Crestejo, in her pajamas is on the phone with her father, Gabriel. We intercut with the father driving in a limousine, dressed in an expensive business suit. As the girl hangs up and plops down onto her bed, two men grab her and put her in what looks like a body bag. As the bag zips closed we see Davina’s view of a third man in a mask.

Presumably the next morning, Gabriel is in Mrs. DeWitt’s office. She pours him a drink. She asks how much money the kidnappers are asking (5 million) and whether he’ll pay it. He nods. Another man (who we will discover is head of security Laurence Dominic) asks if he’s contacted the police. Gabriel says that he was instructed not to, but that they are useless anyway. Mrs. DeWitt assures him that they will provide him with what he needs. He says he wants a negotiator, someone to make things go like clockwork. She reminds him that the “active” won’t know that she’s come from there, and that he shouldn’t mention anything about it.

We see Echo being examined by Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker). The doctor tells her that she must have fallen on her knee with something heavy. Echo says she doesn’t remember. The doctor tells her not to worry, that they’ll look after her. Echo points to the scars that run across the doctor’s face, and asks if someone looks after her.

Echo see flashing lights in the upstairs windows, and follows her curiosity up to the exam room. She sees a girl lying in the chair, in obvious pain. Echo comments, childlike, that the girl’s not asleep. Topher tells the lab assistants to “keep mapping the tissue”.

Topher ushers Echo out of the room, and tells her that this is the girl’s first time and that’s why it hurts her. He tells her they’re making the girl better and that she’ll forget all about it. The girl’s name is Sierra.

Dr. Saunders appears in the doorway and Topher asks Echo shouldn’t she be having her physical right then. The doctor tells Echo they are ready for her massage, and Echo follows.

Echo: “Something fell on me.”
Topher: “I bet it was something great.”

We now see FBI Agent Paul Ballard being questioned by two higher ranked agents about his “Dollhouse” case, which he’s been investigating for 14 months. They ask him if he believes the Dollhouse exists, and he says yes. One of the agents suggests that the Dollhouse case is a joke. He asks Ballard why some billionaire would pay a million dollars to an illegal organization to program them the perfect “date, confessor, assassin, dominatrix, omelet chef…?” Ballard says nobody has everything they want. He goes on to say that the only way to imprint someone with a new personality is to get rid of their own. Ballard says that these people have essentially been murdered. They tell Paul to back off of the Borodins, a group of Russian human traffickers. He tells them “that won’t be a problem”.

Echo enters Topher’s “treatment room” and we see her being imprinted.

Dominic and Mrs. DeWitt are briefing Boyd about the kidnapping-ransom. He is told that if anything goes wrong, he is to extract the girl immediately. Mrs. DeWitt tells him the girl’s purpose is to facilitate the exchange and no more – they are not going to try and capture the kidnappers. We learn that Boyd is an ex-cop, but he says his only priority is Echo. He asks who she thinks she is.

We then see Echo come through the door of the Crestejo’s house. She is dressed in a business suit, with briefcase, glasses and her hair in a tight bun. She and Gabriel shake hands, Echo identifying herself as Eleanor Penn. Gabriel says he thinks their “mutual friend” has made a mistake, that he wanted more of a “fatherly type” and not a beautiful woman. Eleanor tells him she’s not leaving, that she’s been doing this her whole life.

We see Boyd watching the exchange on a monitor. He’s talking to Topher via a headset, and asks about the glasses. Topher tells him that she’s nearsighted. He says the personality imprints come from real people, that he can make compilations of people, but that they have to take the faults with the achievements. So Eleanor is an expert at dealing with kidnappers, but she’s also nearsighted – and has asthma.

Back at Gabriel’s house, the phone is ringing. He and Eleanor pick up at the same time. Eleanor tells the kidnapper that she will be handling the transaction. She tells him he can call her “Ms. Penn”. He tells her, “So you’re the schoolteacher now, huh?” She tells him to call back in 40 minutes and let Davina talk to her father.

Ballard is at a bar. He is watching a Russian guy (Lubov) come in the door.

The kidnapper calls back. Davina talks to Gabriel. The kidnapper says he will call the next day with the place of the exchange.

Gabriel asks Ms. Penn why they sent her, why she was the best. She starts reciting her resume. He asks her jokingly if a bad man stole her in the night and she says yes, when she was nine for three months. Ms. Penn reveals that one of her kidnappers killed the others after they were paid and didn’t give her back.

Gabriel: “Oh the terrible memories these men put in your head. Why would they do that?”
Ms. Penn: “Sometimes bad things just happen and no one can protect you from them.”

Ms. Penn now has a flash of seeing Sierra in pain in the treatment chair. She stumbles. Gabriel moves to help her but she backs away. He tells her (sincerely) that he’s sorry. He goes to see about her accommodations and Ms. Penn takes out an inhaler.

We’re now back in the bar as Lubov is going to the men’s room. Ballard comes in behind him and puts a gun to the back of his head. He asks about the Dollhouse, and tells him that he’s only interested in one client of the Borodins. He tells Lubov if he finds out who’s connected to the Dollhouse for him, the Borodins won’t be touched and he’ll never see him again. Ballard leaves.

Ms. Penn and Gabriel arrive at the exchange site, a dock. Boyd has a rifle with a scope and makes out three kidnappers. Davina is led out by a fourth. They take the money. Ms. Penn starts having an asthma attack as she sees one of the kidnappers. Gabriel kneels beside her, and she tells him that they aren’t going to give her back. Gabriel is shot. Boyd shoots one of the kidnappers as the others pull away with the girl in a boat. Boyd asks Ms. Penn if she’s ready for her treatment.

Ms. Penn and Boyd are riding in the van back to the Dollhouse. Ms. Penn is rambling. Boyd pieces together that the same man who kidnapped Ms. Penn kidnapped Davina. She tells him that the man will get rid of the others first before he hurts the girl. They arrive at the Dollhouse. Boyd pleads with Mrs. DeWitt not to wipe Echo, to let her help them find the kidnappers. She refuses. We see Boyd running to the treatment room. Echo gets out of the chair, eyes unfocused. She asks where her glasses are, and tells Boyd she knows where to find the girl.

Ms. Penn remembers the “schoolteacher” comment, and works out that the masked man must be one of Davina’s teachers. They find a house owned by the teacher’s sister. Dominic says he has a trained man ready to go in. Ms. Penn tells him to give her 10 minutes. She walks up to a small house in the middle of nowhere.

Topher and Boyd are monitoring Echo back at the Dollhouse. Topher tells Boyd he looked up the real Ms. Penn and that she’d killed herself.

Ms. Penn knocks on the door. The kidnappers pull her inside. Ms. Penn tells the others that the man will kill them both. She asks them to let her leave with the girl. She tells them about what the man does. He hits her. The kidnappers start shooting at each other. Ms. Penn runs to the kitchen and gets Davina out of the refrigerator. As she’s carrying her to the door, one kidnapper comes into the kitchen. He tells them to go. They’ve almost made it to the door when Sierra bursts through it and shoots the remaining two kidnappers.

The Dolls are showering.

Mrs. DeWitt asks Dominic how they are going to contain “this” and hand him a file labeled “Alpha” and “Eyes Only”.

The Dolls are walking to their beds.

We see a television showing images of Caroline from a video yearbook. A man is watching. He puts a photo of Caroline in a manila envelope addressed to “Paul Ballard” with “Keep Looking” written on the back. We see that around him are several bodies in suits who appear to have been shot.[/anchor]

 

[Buffy Summers]

Dollhouse Episode 2 "The Target" Recap

[anchor=two]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.

1.02 - "The Target"

This episode begins with a flashback to three months earlier. An alarm is going off at the Dollhouse, and the dolls are in a state of panic and being ushered to their beds by staff. Dominic directs his armed men to secure the exits. There are a couple dead bodies on the floor; Topher approaches, his shirt bloody. Dominic asks him what happened.

Topher (with relief): “Guns. Can I have one?”

Adelle comes in and tells Dominic that it was Alpha, that they had a “composite event”. One of Dominic’s men radios him that they’ve found Alpha on the third floor, and Dominic is in pursuit. He and his men pass more bodies on the way. We see Echo, seated, naked, and bloody (but appearing to be unharmed), with bodies of other dolls around her.

Echo (confused): “They won’t wake up.”

Dominic continues on his search.

Opening Credits.

Back to the present. Adelle is describing the active process to someone. She says that in their resting state, the actives are “as innocent and vulnerable as children”. They call this the Tabula Rasa, the blank slate. She describes imprinting as filling up that empty space with a new personality. After the engagement, the active is wiped clean of all memory.

This is intercut with scenes of Echo during an engagement, from waking to having her treatment.

We then see that Adelle is meeting with a prospective client: Richard Connell, a good-looking man in his thirties.

Adelle tells him that his engagement has been flagged a “moderate risk”, so there will be an additional fee. He agrees.

We now see Echo – now “Jenny” - white water rafting with Richard. They pull the boat up on the shore, and put on a couple of hiker’s backpacks. Next we see them rock climbing.

In the middle of the woods, Langton (and a second Dollhouse employee) is in his black van, talking to Topher, who is monitoring Echo’s vitals. Langton tells him his reception on his monitors is crappy.

Ballard enters the house from episode 1 (where the kidnappers’ had holed up). FBI are buzzing around collecting evidence. Ballard is not exactly welcomed by his fellow agents. They theorize that there was a 5th kidnapper who took the gun (Sierra’s) and the money. Ballard questions why a 5th kidnapper would have had to kick the door in. Ballard suggests that Crestejo fits a certain “profile” – that of a Dollhouse client. He also says that Davina said a “pretty lady” saved her. Ballard finds Ms. Penn’s glasses.

Richard is showing Jenny how to shoot a bow and arrow. He tells her that his dad taught him. That his dad was a real “shoulder to the wheel” kind of guy – he hits his arm in a kinf of salute when he says that. They see a deer – Jenny takes aim. And then we cut to Jenny and Richard post-sex in their tent. They’re laughing, and then Richard tells Jenny she’d better get going, and that there’s just enough light for her to make it to the main road before dark. And that she might even flag down a ride before he catches up to her. Jenny has no idea what he’s talking about. He turns more serious, tells her she needs to stop talking, and start running. He says he’ll give her a 5 minute start, then he’s coming after her.

Jenny is running through the woods, terrified.

We now flashback to Langton’s first day at the Dollhouse. Adelle greets him. Because of Alpha’s attack, the Dollhouse is hiring people with more “intensive” backgrounds. Langton will be assigned to Echo, one of the most-requested actives.

Langton: “What happened to her last handler?”
Dr. Saunders: “You’re standing in him.”

Langton looks down to a blood spot on the floor. We see that the doctor’s face has fresh slash marks on it. She does not seem to be playing the “everything is allright” game.

Langton asks to see the body of Echo’s last handler. He examines the wounds. He identifies the type of blade used, and says the cuts are almost surgical. The killer knew where to cut, and how to imflict the most pain. Dominic tells him they were done in 8 seconds – Langton says he wouldn’t have thought that was possible. Dominic says, not unless the killer was imprinted with the correct information. Langton asks why Alpha didn’t kill Echo, but then we cut back to the present with:

Richard’s watch alarm is going off. He stalks off with his bow. Jenny has in the meantime reached the top of the cliff.

Lubov is driving, and gets a call from Ballard. He says he doesn’t know the Dollhouse; Ballard tells him to find someone who does.

Ballard sees the envelope Alpha sent him, with the photo of Caroline and “Caroline” written on the back of it.

Jenny is climbing down the cliff. She reaches the bottom, and takes off running. Richard sees her, cocks his bow, and shoots her, cutting her leg. She keeps running.

The forest service pulls up. Langton and his companion pretend to be lost cameramen from the local news. The officer pulls out a gun and shoots Langton’s companion.

Another flashback of the dollhouse. Topher meets Langton for the first time. Langton asks if any of the dolls even tried to fight back, and Topher says they wouldn’t know how without an imprint. Langton then asks why not default them all with ninja skills – Topher says they tried that once, with Alpha.

Topher: “So, what do you think of your new girl?”
Langton: “She’s not a girl, she’s not even a person, she’s an empty hat. Until you stuff a rabbit into it.”

Back to the present. Jenny is still running, she falls.

Topher picks up Echo’s rapid heartbeat. He asks Boyd if he’s getting this. Boyd says that everything is fine except for the gun pointed at his head. There is a struggle, Boyd’s monitor is shot. He puts the “officer” in a sleeper hold.

Adelle and Dominic are discussing Agent Ballard. Dominic wants to have him killed. Adelle find that ludicrous and dismisses him, just as Topher bursts in and tells them they have a situation – “the kind you need to shoot at”.

Jenny sees a cottage. It seems deserted. She searches for anything that can help her. She finds a canteen and drinks deep. She hears static from a walkie talkie, and opens the closet to find a dead ranger. She gets on the walkie and asks for help. Richard’s voice answers her. Jenny, with new resolve, tells him she is going to kill him. She starts to cough and choke. Richard asks her if she drank from a canteen, and tells her that “that would be bad”.

Another flashback. Echo is in Topher’s chair and asks if it’s time for her treatment. He tells her it’s a very special one. Langton’s in the room. Echo sees him and says hello.

Echo (to Langton): “You’re tall.”
Langton (annoyed): “Do I have to be here for this?”
Topher (nods): “Handler-active imprint requires a direct line of sight.”

Topher tells Langton that from then on, she will always trust him, no matter what. Topher gives him a script of what to say to her so the imprint will take.

Langton: “Everything’s going to be all right.”
Echo: “Now that you’re here.”
Langton: “Do you trust me?”
Echo: “With my life.”

Back to the present. Richard shoots open the door to the cottage, but Jenny is not there. He radios her and tells her that what she drank won’t kill her, just put a “spin on things”. Jenny seems to be dizzy, her vision unfocused. She sees Caroline walking. She stumbles backwards and falls into the river.

Langton has gotten his monitors back up. The imposter is tied up in a chair. Langton asks how many of them there are; he just says, “what?”. Langton shoots him in one leg and asks again. The imposter says he doesn’t know, so Langton shoots him in the other leg. The imposter says a guy hired him over the phone to delay the response team. Langton then pistol whips him and knocks him out.

Jenny wakes up coughing. She sees as her surroundings the Dollhouse after Alpha’s attack, where she sat with the bodies around her. She sees a silouhetted figure with a knife. Then Jenny wakes up for real on the riverbank. She gets up, and Richard walkies her. He sees her, and she sees him. She runs.

Ballard unlocks the door to his apartment. His neighbor, Ellie, a smiling young woman, comes out holding a lasagna. She offers him some but he asks for a raincheck. She sees the picture of Caroline and asks about her. It’s clear that Ellie has a thing for Paul.

Richard is still tracking Jenny. She picks up a tree branch, and hides behind a tree. She jumps out and takes a swing at her pursuer. But it’s Langton, and he catches the branch. He tells her he’s not going to hurt her.

Langton: “Everything’s going to be all right.”
Jenny: “Now that you’re here.”

Langton is shot in the side by one of Richard’s arrows.

We flashback to one of the black vans pulling up into the garage. Langton & Echo get out, Echo in one of her active personalities. She’s going on and on about the guy from her engagement. She asks him to wait for her, and gets into the elevator.

Back to the present. Jenny is helping Langton through the woods. She asks him how she knows him. He tells her they met a while back. She says she feels like she can trust him. She tells Langton about the things the water’s making her see. He tries to go through the reassuring “script” again.

Langton: “Everything’s going to be all right.”
Jenny: “No it isn’t.”

She tells him she’s going to go after Richard.

Jenny: “Do you trust me?”
Langton: “What?”
Jenny: “Do you trust me?”
Langton: “With my life.”

He gives her a gun.

Langton: “You know how to use this?
Jenny: “Four brothers. None of them Democrats.”

Richard is still tracking Jenny though the forest. Jenny shoots at him, and grazes his shoulder. She runs and he goes after her. She runs into another image of Caroline. She turns and Richard is there, the bow trained on her, while she has the gun on him. Richard suggests they call it a draw. They both fire and graze each other. Jenny rushes him. She’s on top of him on the ground and just wailing on him. He then gets on top of her and is choking her. Jenny sees three images of herself. She grabs an arrow off the ground and stabs Richard in the throat. He dies.

Jenny goes back to Langton. One of Dominic’s helicopters arrive, with him and his men to the rescue.

Echo has her treatment. Boyd is there, and takes her hand when she wakes up.

Adelle is dressing down Dominic for not catching the fact that Richard was a psycho in his background check. Dominic says Richard Connell doesn’t exist: his entire background was fabricated. Dominic reveals that the ranger imposter was dead when they got to him, but not by Langton’s wounds.

Dr. Saunders shows Langton the body – the killing wounds were made by Alpha’s blade. Dr. Saunders tells Langton that it couldn’t be Alpha because Alpha was killed by the company.

Dominic stops Echo on the Dollhouse floor. He comments that a lot of people wind up dead around her, and that if it were up to him he’d put her in the attic – or the ground. As he walks away, Echo makes the “shoulder to the wheel” salute. [/anchor]

 

[Buffy Summers]

Dollhouse Episode 3 "Stage Fright" Recap

[anchor=three]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.

1.03 - "Stage Fright"

We see a girl (who we will later know as Rayna), who looks like she is in a cage. After a pause the music starts and she begins dancing. The camera pulls back to show that she is on a stage giving a Beyonce-style concert. Suddenly, one of the backup singers is caught in some sparking pyrotechnics and catches fire. She is quickly fire extinguisher-ed and Rayna is rushed off the stage. The camera pans over the crowd and holds on a creepy-looking guy who is just staring dreamily at the stage.

We cut to the Dollhouse, where Sierra and Echo are running on the treadmill. Sierra gets off, and stumbles. Echo catches her.

Sierra: “I’m sorry, I was dizzy.”
Echo: “I didn’t want you to get hurt. You’re my friend.”
Sierra: “Friends help each other out.”

Next we see Boyd being checked over by Dr. Saunders (for his arrow wound). Boyd tries to convince the doctor to certify him so that he can be there to protect Echo, because someone wants her dead. He tell her that the “word from upstairs” is that it can’t be Alpha. She certifies him, and tells him to keep a close eye on Echo, because someone else is watching. Boyd tells her, “Someone always is.”

Cut to Lubov walking down the hall to Paul’s apartment. He looks nervous. He jiggles the doorknob and Mellie comes out into the hall, thinking he’s Paul. He tells her he’s a friend of Paul’s, and gives her a card with an address that Paul should meet him at.

A man (Hearn) we recognize from the earlier concert scene is greeted in her office by Adelle. They seem to be old friends. It’s clear that he is Rayna’s manager. He tells Adelle that someone is trying to kill Rayna, and lists a string of “accidents”. He also shows her a bunch of letters from a stalker.

Cut to Echo singing in a rehearsal space for Rayna and Hearn. It’s an audition. Half way through, Rayna, impressed, joins in with her. Echo gets the backup singer job.

Opening Credits

Saunders comes into Topher’s office, angry that he let Echo go on a dangerous mission against her orders. Topher tells her that Echo’s imprint is that of a struggling singer, but that she is subconsciously programmed to protect Rayna at all costs (though Echo herself doesn’t know she’s a bodyguard). He also tells Saunders not to stress, that they’re sending in backup. Sierra and her handler then enter, and she gets into Topher’s chair.

Cut to a dance rehearsal. Then we see Jordan (Echo) and the other singer practicing, while Jordan gets fitted for her costume. Rayna suddenly freaks out: “Somebody’s eating a mint!” Her manager hurries her off to go to sound check, and she invites Jordan to ride with her. One of the other singers comments, “Well, look who’s pick of the week.”

We see a rooftop pool party. Paul enters, and finds Lubov on the balcony. Lubov tells Ballard that the Borodins are not involved with the Dollhouse. Lubov says the Dollhouse doesn’t exist, but that if he hears differently, he’ll let Paul know. He then says he wishes it did exist, because he’d sign up to have all his burdens wiped away. Paul says he’ll keep him in mind.

Lubov: “I start over, I wanna be Doris frickin’ Day.”

Topher and Boyd are monitoring Echo. Topher says Sierra should enter shortly. Boyd is worried about Echo. As their conversation closes, we see that Topher has someone in the chair: “Victor”, who we recognize as Lubov.

Cut to the Music Box Theater, where fans are going through security. We see the creepy guy from the first scene, now on crutches.

Rayna and Jordan are walking backstage, and Hearn catches up to them and introduces Audra, the winner of the biggest fan competition, who we see is Sierra. Rayna and Jordan proceed to the stage.

Creepy Guy ducks behind a curtain backstage, no longer using his crutches. He climbs a ladder.

The show starts, much the same way as the first scene.

We see Creepy Guy, taking gun pieces out of the poles of his crutches. He then exits on his crutches.

Cut to a club. Rayna and Jordan duck behind the VIP screen. Creepy Guy is in the club. “Audra” is waiting at Rayna’s table.

A guys walks briskly towards the table, pulling something from underneath his jacket. Jordan rushes him and pushes him over the railing onto the floor below. We see it was a camera in his hand and security ushers him out.

Audra: “That was so cool!”
Jordan: “I’m a Southie.”

Lubov calls Ballard. He gives him a lead on the location of the Dollhouse, in a basement.

We see Paul kick the door in. The basement is long deserted. The Borodins’ men show up and beat Paul before shooting him. Paul manages to turn the tables on them. He asks where the Dollhouse is, but they say they don’t know what he’s talking about. Paul then calls for an ambulance.

Boyd and Sierra’s handler are in the van, monitoring. Boyd asks what happened to the previous Sierra. “She got the job done,” is the reply.

Jordan knocks on Rayna’s dressing room and she lets her in. Jordan notices some of the stalker’s letters on the table. Rayna says they’re old, but Jordan points out one mentions the last night’s show. Jordan realizes all the letters are from the same guy, and says, “You’re communicating with him?” Rayna replies, “He’s my number one fan.” Jordan disagrees with her, saying the guy is insane. Rayna gets angry. She heads to the stage.

Jordan is left alone, and notices a note underneath some flowers in the room. It says, “Tonight”. She moves the other flower pots and finds two more notes that say, “Will be your last” and “Goodbye!”

Jordan runs after Rayna, begging her not to go on. She tells her that he’s going to kill her. Rayna says, “You have no idea what it’s like.”

Jordan: “You want him to shoot you. On stage. Tonight. You’re crazier than he is.
Rayna: I’m not crazy, I just wanna be free.”

Rayna goes on, and Jordan runs to get Hearn. Audra is on the side of the stage. We see Creepy Guy putting the gun together. Rayna calls Audra onto the stage as her number one fan. Creepy Guy takes aim. Jordan finds Hearn and tells him he’s here. Hearn says to stop the show. The venue’s manager says no, and Jordan rushes onto the stage and tackles Rayna just as the gunman fires.

Cut to Ballard in the ambulance.

Jordan and Rayna go back to her dressing room. Rayna is angry at Jordan for shutting down the show.

Rayna: “You disappointed all those people. I was gonna give them a show. Now all they’ll say is I didn’t give them a finish.”

Jordan tells her she’s having a breakdown. Rayna talks about how she doesn’t get to be herself and hates her life.

Jordan: “You don’t like your life? Change it!”

Rayna fires her, and grabs her to try and force her out of the room. Jordan pushes her the opposite way to the wall.

Jordan: “You can fire me, but bitch don’t think you can take me.”

Cut to Audra walking around to the back of the stage to be let in. Someone jumps out and grabs her. We then see Creepy Guy on a video. Rayna and Hearn are watching. He points a gun at Audra’s head, and asks, “Who is this?”

Jordan enters, telling another of the singers that she came to get her stuff. She goes up to the office where they are watching the video. Creepy Guy on the tape says, “How is she your number one fan?” He says he won’t shoot Audra if Rayna comes to meet him in person.

Creepy Guy: “I kill for you, you die for me. That was the deal. I wanna fulfill my part, Rayna. You have my number, call me.”

Hearn realizes what Rayna’s done, and slaps her. Jordan restrains him, and Rayna exits. Jordan goes after her.

Dominic enters DeWitt’s office and tells her that Sierra’s been kidnapped. DeWitt is proud that Sierra drew the focus away from Rayna. Sierra’s handler is waiting at her location for the Dollhouse team to arrive.

Adelle: “Are you a fan, Mr. Dominic?”
Dominic: “I’m sorry?”
Adelle: “Rayna, do you like her music?”
Dominic: “I don’t know if being a fan has very much to do with that, not at the level we’re dealing with. “
Adelle: “No. Get the girl. Close it out.”

We cut to Creepy Guy and Audra. He forces her to sing. After a while Creepy Guy joins in.

Then cut to Rayna practicing dance moves in front of a mirror. Jordan enters, and wants Rayna to help save Audra. Rayna says she called the police, what more can she do? Jordan hits her with a chair, knocking her unconscious.

Jordan: “Friends help each other out.”

We hear a message on Creepy Guy’s answering machine that Jordan will trade Rayna for Audra.

Dominic bursts into Topher’s office and grabs him. He yells at him because Echo is off task.

Jordan, with Rayna, and Creepy Guy, with Audra, meet on the truss of the stage. Boyd is there, searching for Echo. Dominic and Adelle are in her office, talking to Boyd. Dominic asks for the go ahead to remove the threat. She tells him, “Not just yet.”

Creepy Guys threatens to shoot Jordan, Jordan says that then she’ll drop Rayna off the truss, then actually does push her off. Creepy Guy rushes forward to catch/help Rayna, and Jordan kicks him in the head and proceeds to beat on him. The fight, and Jordan comes up with the gun. She punches Creepy Guy out, then goes to pull Rayna up.

Rayna: “I wanna live!”
Jordan: “I know.”

Jordan and Audra are walking together. Boyd and Sierra’s handler come and take the girls for their treatments.

Cut to Adelle’s office. Dominic is angry, saying that they can’t control Echo. He recommends that they send Echo to the attic. Adelle disagrees.

Cut to Boyd and Saunders talking about Echo, how she is able to think outside of the parameters, and find new approaches to the problem.

Boyd: “She really is special.”
Saunders: “Special isn’t always a good thing here, Boyd.”

Cut to Mellie arriving at the hospital and going in to see Ballard.

Echo walks through the Dollhouse. Sierra passes her and smiles. Echo shakes her head “no” at her and Sierra keeps walking as others stare. [/anchor]

 

[Buffy Summers]

Dollhouse Episode 4 "Grey Hour" Recap

[anchor=four]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.

1.04 - "Grey Hour"

We see a snow covered mountain, with a home perched on a cliff – nothing else around as far as the eye can see. A woman lies on the bed, in labor, an anxious husband near by. Echo is a midwife, delivering the baby.

Echo: All this? This scary, painful stuff? You won’t even remember.
Pregnant woman: I want to forget…I want to forget…

Echo wakes up after her treatment.

Echo is eating lunch at a table. Sierra walks by with her own lunch, and Echo motions for her to sit with her. They talk about exercise, and Sierra says, “I try to be my best.” Echo asks, “Are you?” and we see that Lubov is also sitting with them.

Topher and Langton are discussing the fact that the three are eating lunch together. Again. At the same table. It’s not that they remember each other – Topher describes it as flocking, instinctual grouping, the herd.

Topher: “They volunteered for this.”
Langton: “So we’re told.”

Adelle is meeting with a client. She tells him that no one knows the details of engagements except the client themself. But that his engagement was calculated by the computer to have additional risks. She gets up and takes a phone call.

She talks to a mysterious “Sir” – clearly her superior – as she looks down at the desk to an open file on Ballard, and an imprint card with Lubov’s picture on it. She tells him she understands her concern. She says he (Paul) needs closure, and that they are the experts at giving people what they need.

A little shaken, she offers the client a drink. He goes to leave, and mentions that the engagement is a gift.

We now see “Echo” – active name Taffy - dressed rather provocatively (thigh high boots, low cut blouse), looking into a mirror. She puts a tube of lipstick into the top of her boot. Smiling at her reflection, she says, “Blue skies.”

She is now in a hotel lounge, drinking and crawling all over a guy, while two other guys sit nearby. We learn that she has been supposedly hired by the groom’s uncle for his bachelor party. The hotel manager asks that they move the party up to their suite.

Next we see Taffy running down the hallway of the hotel, crying, a cut on her lip, banging on doors asking for help. The groom comes out of his suite, shirt unbuttoned, carrying a bottle of booze. One of the other guys from the party soon follows the groom, shirt also unbuttoned. The manager steps off the elevator; he tells her she’s safe now.

He leads her through the kitchen, down to an office with a keypad on the door. He offers her $10,000 for her discretion. She says no thanks, and grabs her purse, knocking the money onto the floor. The manager bends over to pick it up, and Taffy knees him in the face and knocks him back against some lockers; he sinks down unconscious.

Taffy pulls an earpiece out of her purse, and says, “I’m in.” The “groom” responds that they are in position, and we see on the security monitors the three men from the bachelor party coming down to the office. Taffy gives them the code for the door. She stands over the manager’s body and says, “Blue skies.”

Opening Credits.

Taffy changes her shirt, as the guys are setting up a computer and moving a storage closet. She reveals they are working for a client, who has put together the team, with her in charge. Also that this is a “no kill job”. Explosives are attached to the wall.

The building next door is going to shut down their security systems to replace them with new ones. Taffy says this gives them one hour to break in to their vault.

They blow a hole in the wall, and make their way through to the other building. Taffy cracks the lock on the safe, and they enter the vault. It’s filled with stolen artwork. Their target is one of the Elgin marbles from the Parthenon.

Ballard returns home, gun shot wound still tender, pain medication in a pharmacy bag in his hand. Lubov shows up, asking for protection. Ballard pulls his gun. Lubov says the Borodins are going to kill him. Ballard shows him the picture of Caroline, and asks if she is the reason they want him dead. Lubov says he doesn’t know her. That the Borodins used him to get to Ballard. Ballard says he’ll see what he can do to help Lubov.

Back to the vault. The antiquities expert of the crew is trying to sneak away with something in a bag. Computer expert guy moves to stop him, and he picks up a sword and stabs him with it. Antiquities guy escapes and closes the door behind him, locking them in. Taffy says it’s not a problem and has to make a quick call. She calls Langton, and tells him she needs him to finish the job for her, that a double-crosser is trying to escape with the package. He says he’ll finish the job – then there is loud interference over the phone line. Taffy drops the phone, a blank look on her face, and asks, “Did I fall asleep?”

Topher: “Do you wanna know how to avoid spandrels when aligning rigid designators?”

Back at the Dollhouse, Topher sees that something is wrong on Echo’s monitors.

In the vault, Echo is curled up, scared. The remaining two crooks are freaking out. She just keeps asking, “Can I go now?” The “groom” hits her.
Langton intercepts the antiquities guy.

Langton: “You drop it, I shoot you. Then you don’t get paid, or breathe.”

AG drop the bag and runs; Langton shoots him.

Antiquities Guy: “You shot me!”
Langton: “Barely.”

Topher is informing Adelle that he can’t find Boyd and Echo’s vitals are off the charts. Dominic comes in and tells them what has happened (but they don’t know that it’s Echo in there and not Taffy). They replay Taffy’s phone call to Boyd, to see what happened that made her vitals spike. Topher figures out that someone has remote wiped Echo, and that they can’t undo it. Adelle says they need to finish the engagement. Topher says Echo is experience severe sensory overload, and she could go into a coma or go psycho. He also says they need to help her, because she can’t help herself.

Back at the vault, Groom Guy is trying to explain to Echo who she is, unsuccessfully.

Back at the Dollhouse, Sierra has now been imprinted with Taffy.

Echo is looking at the paintings hanging in the room, then stops and stares at a cubist painting, a Picasso.

Echo: “This one’s broken.”
Computer Expert Guy: “Look who’s talking.”

Echo reaches up to feel her face, thinking he means her’s looks like the one in the painting. He says, “On the inside.” He asks her if she likes art, and she says that they don’t look right. He replies that it’s not about looking right, but about feeling right. Echo says that the girl in the Picasso makes her feel funny. Computer Guy says that other painters painted what they saw, but that Picasso painted what is. He says that’s what art is for, to show us who we are. That everyone starts out whole, then somewhere along the way we get broken. Echo says, “That’s sad.”

Adelle and Dominic are convincing the new Taffy to take the job of rescuing Echo and the others.

Topher is ranting to his assistant about how this could have happened and that it must be a conspiracy. He calls Boyd…who didn’t know until then that Echo had been wiped. Boyd calls Adelle, angry. Adelle tells him they are trying to rescue Echo but that he should prepare himself for the worst.

Langton tells Antiquities Guy to draw him a map to the vault.

Dominic starts to brief Taffy – she says she doesn’t need to get inside to save the day, she only needs a phone.

Computer Guy and Echo are sitting on the floor looking at a painting of a mountain.

Echo: “I like sky.”
Computer Expert Guy: “Yeah, the blue kind, you mentioned.”
Echo: “That’s a mountain.”
Computer Expert Guy: “Yep.”
Echo: “What’s my name?”
Computer Expert Guy: “Taffy.”
Echo (confused): “When I’m there, my name is…something else.”

Computer Guy tells Echo it will be security who opens the door to the vault, and that they’ll take them to prison. Echo asks what prison is, and he tells her it’s a place with no sky. He tells her they’re bad guys, and that when bad guys get caught, they don’t get to see sky.

Echo: “I’m a bad guy?”
Computer Expert Guy: “You…are a talking cucumber….and I’m too broken to fix.”

With that, CG goes to inject himself with something in a syringe but is stopped by Imposter Groom Guy. IGG tells him that he’s (CG) not taking the easy way out. He picks up some kind of submachine gun and says that when they doors open, they’re going to shoot their way out.

Topher is trying to think of who could have done the remote wipe.

Taffy is trying to call Echo, but Echo is not picking up. Taffy goes over the plan again. She explains that there is glass between the locks of the door, so that if someone tries to drill through the door, the glass breaks and other alarms are set off. They will use resin which makes the glass crack rather than shatter “if you do it right”.

The hour is up.

Echo finds the phone in her pocket, and answers. Taffy tells her to do exactly what she says. Taffy gives her step by step instructions on applying the resin.

Echo: “This is fun. Are you having fun?”
Groom Guy: “No!”

Echo begins to drill through the door. She sprays the resin in the hole. She starts drilling again. They hear the glass break, the lights go out, and alarms start going off.

Adelle tells Taffy Dominic will take her down for her treatment. Dominic tells Adelle he’ll notify Boyd, as he might have to “neutralize her”. She says no, and tells him to put “Ramirez and Hutchens” on standby.

Dominic: “I’m sorry.”
Adelle: “Me too.”

Topher gives Taffy her treatment.

Imposter Groom Guy is trying to set up some type of barricade of art objects. Computer Expert Guy is trying to explain to Echo to put her hands up over her head when security gets there so they don’t shoot her. IGG hands her a gun and tells her to shoot at the bad guys. She asks, “Aren’t we the bad guys?”

The vault door opens. A voice calls to them to surrender. IGG tells Echo to start shooting, or he’ll shoot her.

Echo: “I’d like to go now.”

Echo stabs IGG in the neck with the syringe. He starts shooting at the security guards. Echo rushes to CG, who is now lying on his back. He pulls a smoke bomb from his pocket and tells her that around the corner, she can get out. He throws the smoke grenade and tells her to go, that they won’t be able to see her.

Langton is running through the hotel kitchen, retracing the route the manager had taken Taffy down to the office by earlier, following Antiquities Guy’s map.

Boyd reaches the hole in the office wall just as Echo is helping Computer Guy through from the other side.

Langton: “Are you okay?”
Echo: “He’s broken. Can we fix him?”
Langton: “We’ll try.”
Echo: “I’m not broken.”
Langton: “No, you’re not.”

Ballard returns home, and Lubov asks him what took him so long. Lubov asks who he’s going to be, and Ballard tells him he’s going to be Anton Lubov.

Ballard: “I may have misled you about the me helping you. I needed you to stay put while I put you front and center on every be on the lookout list from here to New York. If you try to leave Los Angeles via plane, train or automobile, the FBI is going to be all over you. We won’t be discreet. I’ll personally drop you off at the Borodins’ doorstep, and make sure they know we’re friends.”

Lubov starts to walk out the door then turns back.
Lubov: “Put on your mean face, act tough. But you will care, Agent Ballard. That’s your problem.”

Echo has her treatment.
Adelle and Dominic are standing over the Parthenon piece. She runs her finger lightly over it.

Adelle: “Michelangelo believed his sculptures already existed inside the marble, waiting to be freed.”

The piece will go to the client. Dominic asks about the Antiquities Expert – Adelle says they can have him too.

Topher tells Adelle that there’s no permanent damage to Echo. She tells him Victor is ready to be wiped. Topher asks her, “It was Alpha, wasn’t it?” Adelle tells him she is upping his security clearance. Topher says that he’s right then, Alpha is alive, they didn’t kill him like they told everyone. Adelle tells him they’re not all-powerful – they couldn’t find him.

Topher: “I’m scared. I’m scared like a little girl.”

Echo walks through the floor of the Dollhouse, swims in the pool, takes a shower. She passes Sierra, they smile at each other. Echo draws a face over her own in the steam in the bath room mirror.[/anchor]

 

[Buffy Summers]

Dollhouse Episode 5 "True Believer" Recap

[anchor=five]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.

1.05 - "True Believer"

We see a bus driving into a small town in Arizona; we can hear singing (Church music) coming from it. The people from the bus are all younge people and are dressed old-fashioned, and continue singing as they enter a small grocery store. One of them hands a list to the storekeeper.

A few men come in and start hassling the singers. One of them mentions that the singers live in a compound. The storekeeping tells the men to leave. The sheriff comes in. The people leave with their groceries. The storekeeper then sees that on the back of the grocery list, someone has written, “Save me!”

Cut to the Dollhouse. A Senator is in Adelle’s office, asking her to place an active inside the compound.

Paul is at the FBI, asking a woman to run a picture through the database for him.

Dominic is walking with Adelle at the Dollhouse. He doesn’t think Echo is the right doll for this job. Adelle overrides him. She walks into Dr. Saunder’s office where Echo is having an exam. She suggests that Echo go have a massage.

Echo: “A massage would be relaxing.”
Topher: “If she were any more relaxed, she’d be ooze.”

They are going to turn Echo into a human camera – but have to make her blind to do it. Saunders is against it, but Topher thinks it’s no big deal. Adelle says the level of risk is within acceptable margins.

Cut to an ATF basecamp, where agents are being briefed on the leader of the compound, Jonas Sparrow. Boyd is there. They have 48 hours to show cause to take action. Boyd then tells them about “Esther”, a girl he works with that is going to go in. Boyd’s speech is intercut with scenes of Echo being operated on.

Boyd is driving Esther. We learn she is supposedly hitchhiking across the country to join the compound. He drops her off.

Compound members stare at her as she approaches with her cane. Jonas walks up to her silently. She touches his face, and says, “Jonas Sparrow. I’d know your face anywhere.”

Cut to Opening Credits.

Paul’s coworker from earlier comes to his desk, and tells him she couldn’t find Caroline anywhere.

Sparrow is questioning Esther about how she got there. She tells him that he appeared to her in a vision and told her to come. The crowd around them erupts in “amens” and they accept her. They take her inside.

Sparrow is speaking to Seth, the young man with the list from the grocery store. He is not convinced that Esther is who she says she is.

Back at the Dollhouse showers, Victor and Sierra talk. Victor has a “man-reaction.”

Topher notices and, flustered, goes to see Dr. Saunders. She tells him that she has cautioned against dolls getting the same imprint too many times (Victor had had one 8 times) and tells Topher to find out how many times this has happened in the last three months.

At the compound, Esther is being introduced around. Seth comes and tells her that Jonas would like to see her.

At the base camp, agents are printing pictures of the compound’s residents. Boyd asks if they know who sent the note, but they don’t. The camera in Echo goes dark.

We then see Jonas shining a flashlight into Esther’s eyes. He tells her he’s going to ask her some questions. He asks if she works for the government, or law enforcement. She says no. He tells her he wants to believe her story, but that it could be a trick of the devil. He is loading bullets into a gun as he talks. He points the gun at Esther’s forehead. Convinced, he tells her welcome and kisses her on the top of the head. As Esther (blindly) looks around the room, the agents see guns and ammunition everywhere.

Mellie comes into Paul’s office. She’s brought Paul’s pain meds and a manicotti (lol). She gives him an envelope from the office mail clerk. It’s from the same person that sent him the picture of Caroline. It’s the video yearbook tape of Caroline.

Topher and Saunders are watching tapes of the dolls in the shower. They discover it only happens when Sierra’s there.

The ATF agents are preparing to go into the compound. Boyd wants to get Echo out, but the lead agent won’t allow it. Boyd calls Dominic and asks for permission to go in and get her. Dominic tells him no.

As Esther is being “baptized” into the group, the agents circle the compound. One of them sets off a trip wire and flood lights come on. Jonas goes to the basement and gets a rifle. He hands a gun to Seth, who has followed him. Jonas returns upstairs and asks Esther if she brought them there. She says she doesn’t understand. He strikes her, and the camera feed goes out. Jonas picks her up off the floor and goes to hit her again. She grabs his hand.

Esther: “It’s a miracle. I can see.”

It’s the next day at the compound. The agents have surrounded the compound. Sparrow’s followers are huddled together inside. Sparrow goes over to Esther and tells her that he knows she is telling the truth. He asks her if this is a miracle. She tells him that she was blind, and now she sees. He tells her she was brought there so he would know what to do.

Boyd tries to get the lead agent to try and find out who wrote the note. He says no.

Sparrow tells the group that there is a store of weapons. He tells them that they will not take up arms, that they will not have to.

Back at Paul’s office, people are watching the news coverage of the compound. Paul sees “Caroline”.

Boyd is at the grocery store, trying to find out info on the note. He asks if anyone checked the security tapes, and the clerk says no.

Boyd is back at the compound. He tells the agent he knows it was him that wrote the note. No one ever asked to be saved.

The followers in the compound are inside the chapel. Sparrow asks Esther to read to them from the Bible. It’s a story about fire. As she reads, we see Seth outside with a gasoline can. He siphons gas from the bus into the can, pours it on the outside of the chapel and lights it. He comes back inside as Esther finishes reading.

Sparrow tells them to prepare themselves for the next miracle. One of the women gets up, saying she wants to leave. Sparrow stops her and tells her the flames can’t hurt them if they keep their faith.

The lead agent tells one of his men that Boyd might be working with Sparrow and may have set the fire, and that if he’s in there, he should be “taken down”. The agents cut the locks on the fences and enter the compound. Boyd is in the shadows. He knocks one of the agents unconscious.

Inside the chapel, as smoke fills the room, Esther begs Sparrow to let them leave. He hits her. They all start to pray together. Esther knocks Sparrow out with a candlestick. She convinces them all to leave and they run out.

Esther: “He has a message for you. And that message…is move your ass!”

Esther runs back in to get one boy who has stayed. He spits in her face. She decks him. Seth comes in and carries him out. As they leave, Sparrow gets up and points his gun at Esther. He is shot by an automatic rifle, and we see Dominic in the doorway. He hits Esther with the butt of his gun.

Dominic: “Our trouble ends here.”

Esther lays on the floor of the burning chapel. The lead agent asks where Langdon and the girl are. One of his men tells him that they think they’re still inside. He tells him to pull the men back.

Inside the chapel, Boyd finds Esther and carries her out.

The next morning, Paul pulls up to the charred remains of the chapel, looking for Caroline. He talks to the lead agent, who stonewalls him and tells him to get a warrant.

Back at the Dollhouse, Adelle tells Saunders and Topher that Victor must be scrubbed and monitored closely.

Dominic tells Adelle that Echo is exhibiting the same behavior that Alpha did before he composited. She isn’t hearing any of it.

Echo is having her treatment. As she leaves, Dr. Saunders asks if she can see okay. She looks out at the Dollhouse, and her gaze rests on Dominic, walking below.

Echo: “I see perfectly.”[/anchor]

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

Dollhouse Episode 6 "Man on the Street" Recap

[anchor=six]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.

1.06 - "Man on the Street"

"File [HASHTAG]#659HQX[/HASHTAG] 782
Testimonial Documents

Case Designated
DOLLHOUSE Interviews
Los Angeles, CA"

A television news reporter speaks to his camera about the local LA urban legend of the "Dollhouse". His report is interspersed with on-the-spot interviews with the public - one nervous looking man explains that everyone knows the dolls are available to do "...whatever". The reporter goes on: the legend was born in the late 80s, and suggests that programmable people are available to the rich and elite. Despite the fact that people are about as inclined to actually believe in it as they are Bigfoot, the interviews show that public opinion on the concept is very much divided.

One woman is very skeptical of the idea that the dolls volunteered.

"There's only one reason someone would volunteer to be a slave - is if he is one already."

On the other hand, one girl sounds more than happy to sign up - the lack of responsibility seems very attractive to her.

The reporter resumes his speech to the camera, talking about the Governor's denial of the existence of such a place as we slowly zoom out from a television monitor. Other monitors are playing footage of Echo's escape from the ranch during her previous engagement, and of Caroline's yearbook message. Agent Ballard is viewing the tapes as the newsreader reports on the FBI's denial of any active investigations into the Dollhouse.

Looking tired and frustrated, Ballard turns the news report off, and looks though some paperwork. Suddenly, noticing a link, he becomes excited.

"No....it can't be that easy!"

Agent Tanaka walks into the room. Ballard had been looking through the Agent’s old case notes, and he's not happy. Tanaka taunts Ballard about his obsession with the Dollhouse before noticing Caroline on the monitor. Distracted, he comments on how he'd hire her if he had the money.

Ballard, ignoring him, asks about a paper trail left by certain large payments that Tanaka should have followed up, but the other agent is unwilling to co-operate. He doesn't see the Dolls as worth the effort. He crosses the line at calling Caroline a "mindless whore", however, and all of a sudden Ballard has him pinned against the wall in an arm-lock. Tanaka's pride gets the better of him - he continues to taunt Ballard about his apparent obsession with Caroline, but he only earns himself a painful twist of the arm. Finally allowed to leave, Tanaka tries to re-assert himself:

Tanaka: "Someone's gonna put you down....I pray to God I'm there to see it..."
Ballard, cheerfully: "Come by any time!"

We cut to the Dollhouse, where the Actives are engaging in their daily activities. Echo and Victor are eating together peacefully, until Sierra comes over. Victor, obviously attracted to her, looks hopeful as she approaches, but she ignores them and sits alone. Confused, Victor asks Echo why. She replies simply that she's heard Sierra cry in her sleep.

Victor, believing that Sierra must not have seen them, goes over to her. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he tries to get her attention, but she suddenly snaps around, screaming in terror. Throwing herself away from him, her screams continue as she falls hard to the floor. The other Dolls barely react.

We cut to Dr. Saunders' medical lab, where a now calm Sierra lies, legs spread, on a chair designed for gynecology. The doctor herself is examining the Doll, asking about Victor. Sierra reveals that Victor pretends that the pair are married, to Dr. Saunders' surprise and unease.

After the Doll leaves the room, the Handlers Hearn and Langton enter, and discuss the developments with Dr. Saunders. She reveals to them that Sierra has had sex - within the Dollhouse itself. Hearn is outraged and he insists that Victor be sent to "The Attic" if he's malfunctioning, despite the doctor's obvious reservations.

Hearn storms out in anger, leaving Langton and Dr. Saunders to question why Victor would do such a thing, and why Sierra reacted the way she did. Echo suddenly speaks - she has been standing in the doorway, though neither knows for how long - and she repeats her earlier observation.

"When we go to sleep, when we go in the pods...Sierra cries..."

We cut back to an animated Ballard, pestering Agent Loomis who is trying to follow up on his lead. She discovers that huge payments are being made into a mysterious and untraceable "Mayfair fund", with one particular fee recurring every year. Following up on his new lead, he convinces Loomis to draw up all the info the FBI has on Joel Mynor - a dotcom millionaire who has been on Ballard's radar as a potential client for a long time.

Back in his apartment, Ballard is sitting on the sofa eating Chinese takeaway with Mellie, explaining to her what he discovered at work. After a moment's silence, he asks her about her boyfriend:

Ballard: "Weren't you...um, seeing someone?....Rick?"
Mellie: "Dick."
Ballard: "Really? I thought it was Rick."
Mellie: "Oh, his name was Rick."

She speaks of how he dumped her, making the comment that she isn't "the gold standard in LA."

"Please, you're gorgeous."

Ballard then goes back to talking about his job, but makes the slip of referring to "her" rather than "them" when talking about the dolls. Millie picks up on this immediately - she knows he's still obsessed with Caroline.

We cut to see Joel Mynor standing outside a large suburban house. There are guards surveying the place, on what looks like their last patrol. Joel looks nervous. When approached by a guard, however, it is clear he is in charge. He dismisses them, telling the guard that he doesn't want anyone in or around the house. Nevertheless, one guard is unlucky enough to come across Agent Ballard.

Echo pulls up to the house in a convertible - this is clearly an engagement. She quickly runs up to Joel, worried that something is wrong, but caring at the same time. They kiss, tenderly, as Joel admits he has "Done something.".

Meanwhile, Ballard and the guard fight, harshly and quietly. It is soon over, and Ballard makes his way into the house, gun raised. Looking around, the place is totally empty, save for a candlelit bed sprinkled with rose petals. He hears Joel and Echo speaking in the kitchen - he is showing her around the place. Ballard enters pointing his gun at Joel. The fridge door closes, revealing Echo's face, and Ballard freezes - it's Caroline.

Opening Credits

We return to another set of interviews with the public - one old man thinks veterans should have the right to a doll, a woman blushes at the prospect of hiring a doll.

Back in Mynor's new house, Ballard tries to reach out to Caroline. She reveals herself to be Rebecca Mynor - an imprint. When Ballard reveals he's from the FBI, she suddenly switches from fear to anger:

Rebecca: "I knew it..."
Joel: "What?"
Rebecca: "It's....porn, isn't it? The internet venture that suddenly pays off! You did porn! My husband does porn!"

Suddenly, Ballard is attacked by a guard, and in the ensuing brawl Langton pulls Echo away for her treatment. Passing the flower-strewn bed she cries out: "PORN!"

Ballard manages to dispatch with the guards and begins to quiz Joel, who is totally unafraid of him. Instead of answering his questions, Joel exposes Ballard’s desire to play the hero with Caroline. Pouring himself a glass of champagne, Joel goes on to claim that Ballard's fantasy is even more pathetic than his own - he had merely wanted to live the day with his wife that was stolen from him when she was killed in a road accident.

Back in the Dollhouse, Dr Saunders and Topher are interviewing Victor about his relationship with Sierra. They have a camera rigged up to view his pupil dilations as he answers.

Dr Saunders: "How does Sierra make you feel?"
Victor: "...........Better.

Outside, Langton is discussing the matter with Victor's handler, when he realizes that the problem isn't just with Victor - it's all the dolls that are broken.

Back with Ballard, Joel tells the agent his story. Rebecca, his wife, was a strong, beautiful woman who fell for him when he was poor. The day he made his millions, he bought the house they are sitting in, and wanted to surprise Rebecca with it. She never made it to the house. Since then, Joel has relived the day the way he planned it every year, using Echo in the place of Rebecca.

Ballard: "And then you sleep with her."

Sirens are heard in the background, and Ballard flees.

End of Act 1

Again, we return to a series of interviews. A young blonde woman convinces herself that if a person has volunteered to help others, the Dollhouse could be "maybe....beautiful." The next woman has a very different view.

"It's human trafficking. It's repulsive."

In the Dollhouse, Langdon is examining the sleeping chambers and the halls, working out what can and cannot be seen by the cameras. He seems to discover something and calls Dominic to have both Victor and his handler isolated.

Echo strolls serenely across to Victor, and sits with him.

Victor: "I did something bad..."
Echo: "What did you do?"
Victor: "......Nobody will tell me..."

The Dollhouse staff quickly removes him, and we see his Handler struggling against his own escort on the upper level.

Back in Ballard's apartment, the agent is dressing his wounds. Mellie helps, unable to resist the occasional not-so-surreptitious glance at his bare chest. Ballard, however, is distracted by his failure at the house. He tells Mellie of his encounter with Caroline and blames himself for letting his guard down around her. Mellie asks if he managed to get the client, but he interrupts her with a sudden kiss.

Much to Mellie's disappointment, he pulls away and apologizes. She retreats back into herself and they decide to be "neighborly" from now on.

Back in the Dollhouse, Sierra is walking through the corridor with three other dolls when she stops, alone, and passes through a door hidden from the cameras. Hearn, her Handler, approaches from the shadows, beginning to remove his clothes.

Hearn: "Do you want to play the game?"
Sierra (confused and upset): ".........no...."
Hearn: "But, you remember to be very quiet during the game, right?"
Sierra: "......noise is..upsetting."
Hearn: "Lift up your dress."

Sierra can do nothing but comply - she is programmed to trust him with her life. Hearne removes his jacket. Suddenly, Langton's fist sweeps out of the shadows and connects with Hearn, sending him flying through the glass door into the Dollhouse proper.

We cut to Adelle DeWitt looking out her window over the Dollhouse, hands on hips, and clearly furious. She reprimands Langton for taking action against Hearn on his own, but gives him a bonus anyway. After he is dismissed, she sinks into her chair, exhausted. Dominic, who was waiting at the door, asks her about a "tap". She plays a video on her computer monitor - footage of Ballard's apartment when he was discussing Joel Mynor with Mellie.

Olivia watches, clearly not paying any real attention, when Dominic steps forward and asks abruptly whether she has an "exit strategy." The mistakes that have been made recently fall on her shoulders, at least in the view of their nameless employers. DeWitt, nevertheless, is not one to quit. She dismisses Dominic, and asks that Hearn be sent to her office. Moving on to the matter of Ballard, DeWitt orders that Echo be prepared, referring to their next meeting ominously as "a second date."

End of Act Two.

Another interview - one man, his arm around his girlfriend, seems all for the idea. After all, how else can a man spend a night with another man - just once, to see what it's like, of course - and have the other party forget the next day? His girlfriend looks slightly perplexed.

In Topher's lab, Echo's next imprint is being prepared. He constructs a persona that will make Echo "gorgeous, but deadly." While uploading the imprint, however, he is interrupted by Langton, who wants to know what's going on. He's been placed on hold, after his altercation with Hearn. Topher lies through his teeth, placating Langton with the falsehood that Echo's mission is entirely safe and boring. Topher returns to his imprint, now uploaded to the file system, and uses it on Echo.

Back in DeWitt's office, Hearn is tied up. She is disgusted to discover he raped Sierra four times, but he shoots back with the claim that he is no worse than they are - the only difference is that they make the dolls feel they are in love for the moment of the rape. Ms DeWitt is unswayed. Much to Hearn's surprise, she offers him one chance to avoid the Attic - he has to kill Mellie.

Suddenly, we cut to Mellie in bed with Ballard at the moment of climax. Afterwards, they seem content to be a couple, and Ballard suggests they work together on his case - after some more takeaway, of course.

In the Chinese restaurant, Ballard is waiting for his order when he glances over at the kitchen door. Reflected in the glass for the second it takes to close, he sees a woman. Caroline. He follows her into the kitchen, slowly reaching for his gun. Before he can get there, she springs on him, grabbing it, disarming him. She stands over him with a knife and his gun.

End of Act Three

An interview with a dishevelled looking man. He's clearly a conspiracy theorist, and he believes in the Dollhouse wholeheartedly.

"You think it's not happenin'? You think they're not controlin' you?"

Echo kicks Ballard away, hard, but he's ready for her this time. They fight, brutally, using any weapon to hand, be it knives, pans, doors. Their fighting is fast paced, but it's clear that both are masters at their individual arts. Eventually, Ballard forces Echo out into the alleyway, where she throws him into a car. He finally manages to pin her to the hood and pulls back his fist to knock her out. Suddenly, her whole demeanour changes - she panics and raises her hands in surrender. He hesitates, she looks so helpless. Then she headbutts him violently.

With Ballard on the floor, Echo speaks. She admits the Dollhouse is real, and goes on to say that "We have a person inside. This person corrupted the imprint while the programmer wasn't looking.". She claims not to be speaking for the person who sent Ballard the tapes and info on Caroline, and warns him he's going about the investigation the wrong way.

Echo: "There are over twenty Dollhouses, in cities around the world. They have ties to every major political power on the planet. You cannot possibly stop them alone."
Ballard: "You're going to help me?"
Echo: "The person who sent this message is."

Echo charges Ballard with finding out the Dollhouses' "purpose", puts his gun back in his hand, and shoots an approaching policeman. Ballard tries to help the man, but Echo lets him know the Dollhouse will "protect the information.".

Back in Ballard's apartment, Mellie is tidying the files, listening to classical music. Suddenly, Hearn bursts in - masked, and brutally throws her around the room. He begins to strangle her as Ballard runs home, trying to phone her. The phone rings out, and the answer machine takes over. But it is not Paul who leaves a message:

Adelle DeWitt: "There are three flowers in a vase. The third flower, is green."

Suddenly, Mellie's combat skills are awakened. She beats Hearn off, and kills him.

Adelle DeWitt: "There are three flowers in a vase. The third flower, is yellow."

Mellie returns to her normal self, and breaks down as Ballard enters.

End of Act Four

This time a scientist is being interviewed.

"If that technology exists....it'll be used. It'll be abused. It'll be global. And we will be over."

Ballard places his badge and gun on the desk of his superior officer - he has been suspended over the shooting.

In the Dollhouse, DeWitt and Dominic are very pleased with the way their plans worked out. Mellie is to be returned to the Dollhouse - she is of course a sleeper doll. Sierra's mind has been wiped of all memories of the rape, and the other Dollhouses will be informed of Hearn's actions to prevent it happening again.

On the floor, Victor approaches Sierra. He sits with her, and they look at a picture book together serenely.

Echo is painting alone. She paints a house, with a happy couple outside. Adelle approaches, and compliments her work.

Echo: "It isn't finished..."
Adelle: "The picture?."
Echo (more emphatically): "It isn't finished."

Adelle looks surprised, but seems to understand.

We cut to Rebecca driving up to Joel's house, she runs towards him, her happiness clear for all to see as he tells her about their new house. Smiling, they clasp hands, and it is finished.[/anchor]

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

Dollhouse Episode 7 "Echoes" Recap

[anchor=seven]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.

1.07 - "Echoes"

Caroline and Adelle DeWitt are in the interview room again: the former looking tired and frustrated, the latter, collected and in control. DeWitt tries to make Caroline an offer - 5 years of Caroline's life, then she can be free. Caroline isn't convinced. She suspects that the offer is really coming from "The Rossum Corporation". DeWitt hesitates, but carries on with her charm offensive. DeWitt mentions that two years have passed since she first approached Caroline, ending enigmatically on the assurance that nothing is what it first appears.

We cut back to the present day, where two graduate students are walking into a lab adorned with brain scans and jars full of live insects. In the middle of the floor sits a young man wearing nothing but his underwear. He is studying one of the jars intently, speaking like a child to the flies within. As he gets more and more excited, his friends become worried. When one reaches out to touch him, he snaps around towards her, acknowledging their presence for the first time. Then, just as suddenly, he throws himself violently at the window. Merely bouncing off the reinforced glass, he begins to repeatedly smash his head against it. The other friend, a young man named Sam Jennings, races over to pull him back, but is thrown backwards onto the ground. Seeing this, the girl begins to laugh, the hysteria soon becoming uncontrollable. She and Sam laugh away as the other continues to smash his bloodied head through the glass of one of the many windows of the "Rossum Building".

Back in the Dollhouse, DeWitt is meeting with a client. He is explaining to her the properties of an experimental, vitally important and top-secret memory drug developed by Rossum, one vial of which has been stolen. He's not there to ask for a single Active for the recovery - he wants an army. Topher enters the room, making excuses for the silly mistake he thinks he's being called up on. DeWitt cuts across his ramblings, introducing the man as Clive Ambrose - though Topher already knows him as the co-chairman of the Rossum Corporation. He deduces that the only reason for such a visit would be if something "really bad happened", and he's right: Owen Johnson, the student from before, succeeded in killing himself at Freemont College. He had ingested some of the drug Ambrose was showing DeWitt, which is designed to "break down natural inhibitions in the hippocampus, in order to awaken sleeping parts of the brain."

Ambrose goes on to describe the symptoms and side effects of the drug. Initially, this loss of inhibition makes people act like they would on recreational drugs, but this develops into a complete loss of impulse control, as evidenced by Owen's assault on the window. Topher, however, issues a caveat: all people react to drugs differently. DeWitt cuts across him again, asking how the drug managed to make its way into the general campus population. Ambrose can't answer, but he warns that the one missing vial would be enough to affect the entire student body. Moreover, there is no antidote. Topher is asked to attempt to engineer one, while the Actives are to secure the campus and reclaim what remains of the missing drug. They should be immune to its effects, thanks to Topher's re-programming of their brains - they have no repressed memory blocks to de-inhibit. DeWitt takes Topher aside and gives him instructions on sending out the Actives. Echo is revealed to be already on an engagement with an old client, and so is left to "sit this one out".

We cut to Echo on her engagement as Alice; bubbly, enthusiastic, and besotted. The camera pans over a familiar motorcycle: this is the same client she was with at the very beginning of the first episode. Echo claims she's never ridden before, but Matt her client convinces her to try it out.

With another cut we see Agent Paul Ballard (badly) making breakfast for two. Mellie, having spent the night, walks into the kitchen smiling at his endearing attempts. However, as she pours the coffee (and tells him to stop over-cooking the eggs), she takes a much more serious tone. She's worried that he's only taking care of her because he feels responsible for the attack the previous night. He tries to reassure her that he really does like her, but gets distracted by the thought of tracking down the people who attacked her, believing it will lead him to the Dollhouse. Mellie pleads with him to drop it, having believed that his suspension would have had an impact. Her tactics get more and more manipulative, as she plays on his guilt for letting them hurt her. In the end, he can't promise her what she wants, and she leaves.

We cut back to the Rossum Building, where the Dollhouse troops are arriving. Dominic introduces Victor to Sierra, the former in the role of an NSA agent, the latter a specialist doctor. Dominic is furious to discover that Topher has programmed Victor into a role which outranks him, but he allows the Active to take the lead. Dolls are sent to search the building for the vial, while others begin to round up the affected students - easily identified by their obvious inebriation.

Echo, meanwhile, is still serving her client. He is tied to the headboard of his bed, reassuring a nervously excited Alice. She picks up a video camera, pointing it at her half-naked client, but she accidentally presses the wrong button in her eagerness. Fiddling with the TV to get it to work again, she turns on a News station. The large screen is filled with a shot of the Rossum Building, and Echo goes strangely blank. Slowly backing away from the screen, she reaches the bed and absently sits down. Images flash through her head: the Rossum Building; a caged monkey, a young man, looking at a computer monitor with concern. Her face conflicted; she mutters to herself "I have to go...I have to help him". Confused, her client asks if she is alright, but Alice is already making her apologies and walking through the door.

After the credits, we flashback to a few years ago. Caroline is lying in bed with the man from Echo's memory. They're talking about attending an anti-war demonstration - Caroline intending to attend every anti-war demonstration - and they are clearly very much in love.

Back to the present day, Topher is experimenting with the drug on November. As a doll, she is immune to its effects, but he hopes it will help him find an antidote. DeWitt looks on, troubled. As Topher works at his terminal, DeWitt begins pacing up and down the room, complaining irritably about Ambrose. She claims the only reason she doesn't have his job is that he couldn't do hers. Topher, amused by DeWitt's uncharacteristic openness becomes even more flippant than usual, but DeWitt reminds him to get back to work. The damage is done, however: Topher no longer believes her standoffish front, ignoring her requests to ask the crucial question: "Can you get me a juice box?"

Back on campus, Alice pulls up on her clients motorcycle. She wanders the campus, looking lost, until she catches sight of the Rossum Building. Suddenly, she hears a voice from behind - it's none other than Victor asking if she's lost. He questions her on whether she attends college her, but she's very confused. Parts of it seem very familiar to her, but the persona of Alice had never been there. Victor merely passes the confusion off as the effects of the drug, and orders his agents to escort her to be sedated by Sierra.

By this time, Echo's handler Langton has made it to the College, and is on the phone to DeWitt. He seems fairly unconcerned, but as soon as he mentions the name of the College to DeWitt she gets anxious and annoyed. Langton pauses, he notices a young woman approaching him, apparently fascinated. "There are mansions in your eyes! Did you know that? You can see the doors...." The girl reaches out to touch him, but he brushes her hand away with his arm, excuses himself, and walks away.

Alice has now been brought to see Sierra's doctor persona. She babbles about how the television "made" her come, and Sierra attempts to give her a shot of the sedative. Just as she preps the needle, Echo has a flashback of Caroline's boyfriend, who is muttering "What do they need babies for?". Putting two and two together, Alice realises that everything is tied in with Rossum, and she pulls away. The man on the adjacent camp bed stands up for her, causing Sierra to abandon the planned injection in favour of a liquid gel sedative, which she leaves to find.

The man next to Alice introduces himself as Sam, and we see that he is the friend of the student who killed himself at the start. The drug's effects are temporary - he claims that it's almost worn off for him. Alice is still confused, however, feeling a compelling urge to save "him", though she can't specify who she means. Sam decides to help her get into the lab; after all, they "killed" his friend. The pair make their escape while the guards are distracted by the student who approached Langton; her earlier spaced out mood has developed into severe distress.

Alice and Sam head toward the Rossum Building, when suddenly Langton steps out of the shadows to block Alice's path.

Langton: "Would you like to have a treatment?"
Echo: ".........no."

Alice walks off, leaving Langton alone and confused. He looks around blankly, marveling at his incompetence, before inexplicably descending into fits of laughter.

As Act 2 begins, we return to Caroline in her college days. She and her friends are talking about an advert in a magazine for the Rossum Corporation - a beaming Clive Ambrose surrounded by smiling children with the tagline "Because Minds Matter."

Caroline: "I don't want to say evil..."
Friend: "Yes, you do."
Caroline: "The Rossum Corporation is evil."

Caroline seems convinced that the Rossum Corporation are involved in cruel animal testing, and she's determined to take them down by filming the torture and putting it online, even if it means doing it alone. Luckily, her boyfriend feels just as strongly, and is with her to the end.

Back in the present day Rossum Building, Victor enters the operation HQ. Dominic seems a little off, muttering to himself about how the dolls are suddenly "experts" and fiddling with his gun. Victor makes a report to him about the 14 subjects so far sedated, but he doesn't seem to be listening. When Victor asks if he's ok, Dominic merely laughs and continues playing with his gun. Victor then tries to coax him into heading over to containment to be sedated, but Dominic suddenly snaps, aiming his gun at the Active. Victor approaches slowly, trying all the while to calm the man down, when suddenly Dominic's wrist drops.

Dominic: "Ohh...this is so heavy...Makes my arms tired!"

Victor plucks the gun out of Dominic's hand, and he is escorted off to containment.

DeWitt, still pacing in Topher's office, receives news of Dominic's behaviour. She realises that this means the drug isn't being sold on campus: it's spreading. Topher's convinced that Dominic wouldn't take any:

Topher: "There's no way Dom would consciously try to have fun!"

He's suddenly hit by the seriousness of the situation. Topher starts to explain to DeWitt that the drug could be airborne. She shoots this down; if that were true, there would be a lot more cases. Topher continues to theorize, speculating that it could be viral, or could spread through touch. As he does so, he absently grasps DeWitt's arm as an example. However, her frosty glare soon puts an end to that overfamiliarity. She starts to get angry, demanding to know if Topher has made any progress at all. He gets defensive, throwing the question right back at her:

Topher: "What are you doing? Besides being..."
DeWitt: "Being what?!?"
Topher: "Errr...."
DeWitt: "Sarcastic? Unfeeling? British?"
Topher: "It's an animal..."
DeWitt: "Where?!?"
Topher: "No, the word!"
DeWitt:"....Still, you have to admit, I am.....very...British..."

Clearly the drug has made its way into the Dollhouse.

While Topher and Adelle continue their discussion of the origin of Brown Sauce, the incomprehensibility of lentils, which words they could eat, and Topher's Drawer of Inappropriate Starches, the escapees have made their way to Sam's dorm room. Alice is still feeling very confused about why she remembers the campus - the persona never attended this college, after all - but she is distracted by Sam's map of the college. She knows that the only way in is underground, but of course can't remember how to get there. All she has to go on is a name.

Alice: "Lily Foundry. We have to find Lily Foundry."

Back in the Dollhouse, Topher is on the phone to Victor, urgently explaining the recent developments. DeWitt continues to make herself useful...by bouncing on a trampoline in the background. Suddenly needing to say something, she clambers over the railing, pencil skirt be damned. Before she can tell her interesting story about Victor, however, Boyd calls, and she snatches the phone away from Topher. Desperately trying to maintain her professionalism, she asks if Echo is contained. Boyd answers with a piano solo. Putting him on speakerphone, DeWitt and Topher are overcome with emotion, and Echo, forgotten.

Alice, however, is very active. The pair are now exploring the campus, searching for Lily. When Caroline is recognised by a professor - albeit, a professor under the influence of the drugs - she becomes even more confused, but Sam convinces her it's nothing.

DeWitt and Topher are now in deep contemplation, the contents of Topher's drawer of inappropriate starches scattered across the floor. As DeWitt dwells on how this is all Caroline punishing her, November walks through the door. The name "Caroline" seems to have brought out Mellie's jealousy in the doll. Evidently very distressed, she seems to believe she is talking to Ballard.

November: "Is she what you think about when you're on me? Would you let me die Paul? Would you be...relieved?"

Topher and DeWitt watch with bemused interest. When the latter makes a comment about how it shouldn't affect Dolls, Topher explains that she's not high, but glitching. Memories that should have been suppressed are rising to the surface. Suddenly, November's face goes blank, and with her next words the relaxed mood in the office is shattered.

November/Mellie: "There are three flowers in the vase."

End of Act 2.

Act 3 begins back in Caroline's college days. She has managed to obtain blueprints to the Rossum Building, and explains her plan to make footage of the animals to her friends. There are utility tunnels they can use. Her boyfriend, suddenly realising the reality of what they're doing, but she convinces him that it's right.

Alice and Sam, unknowingly retracing Caroline's steps, stumble upon Lily Foundry: a drain which leads to the utility tunnels. They creep through the halls of the building, until suddenly a hand grabs Alice's shoulder. She spins round to see Dominic, pathetically attempting to apologise for trying to kill her while she was on the prior engagement. Confused, but believing this to be nothing but the drugs, she accepts his apology and moves on, leaving Dominic muttering to himself in the hallway. As they round a corner, they see another agent in a similar state of distress; it would appear the advance symptoms of the drug are similar to what happened to Owen. They move on, but the agent accidentally fires at the ceiling, prompting Victor to demand all arms are handed in immediately. Sierra walks across the room to sedate the agent, when she is struck by repressed memories in mid-step. As she begins to glitch, remembering the sexual assaults carried out by her former Handler, Victor steps forward to hold her up, but she grabs a gun and points it in his face. Seeing the gun then causes Victor himself to glitch. He remembers being in the military, pleading with a distressed woman to leave her house in the middle of a war-zone. Their pasts blend with their present; Victor tries to take hold of Sierra, while she struggles to be free of the remembered assault. Dominic, ignorant to it all, stands in the corner, stroking his arm contentedly, as if he were holding a cat.

Topher and Adelle, however, aren't so calm. Hiding out in Topher's office, they snap at each other to check whether November is going to kill them or not. DeWitt points out that she never actually finished the trigger code, and so eventually goes out to see. November is in no state to harm anyone. Lying in a foetal position, she continues to remember her life with Paul. The pair drag her to the chair, while Topher attempts to explain that the compound must be circumventing his memory blocks. This is good news; if the drug behaves like this, it's devolving, and so will work its way out of everyone's systems in a few hours time. DeWitt points out that this makes no sense, as Owen didn't recover on his own. Topher quickly comes up with a riposte - Owen received an extreme dose. It wasn't a case of accidental exposure. It was murder.

Finally, Sam and Alice have found their way to the lab. Sam immediately heads to the refrigeration units and grabs a specific vial, while Alice looks around. It's different to how Caroline remembers it, there are no longer any caged animals around the walls. Snapping out of her reverie, Alice notices that Sam found the drug very quickly. Putting two and two together, she realises that he knew where it was all along. With a pained expression, Sam turns to face her. She looks imploringly at him, before he swoops down, violently covering her mouth with a cloth doused in the drug.

We enter Act 4 with another flashback. Caroline and her boyfriend, Leo, sneaking into the lab, finally see the horrors of Rossum's secrets. All manner of animals line the walls. There are cages of monkeys, dogs, and in the middle, jars containing some kind of liquid. Looking closer, they make out the shape of the objects floating within: tiny, unborn babies. Caroline, concerned with the animals, never moves away from the walls, but Leo scans the room with his camera. A computer monitor catches his eye: it shows an image of a brain scan, and is evidently early Dollhouse research. He passes the camera to Caroline, and attempts to extract more information from the computer terminal, but a guard interrupts them.

In the present, Alice has collapsed to the floor, and is having trouble retaining consciousness. Nevertheless, she questions Sam. He admits to stealing the drug, to using it as a weapon when Owen got cold feet. He planned to take it to a rival pharmaceutical firm, making millions in the process to fund him and his poverty-stricken mother. Alice clambers up, using the counter as support, while he talks. Unfortunately for her, he takes his chance to flee. She follows, unsteady but determined, all the while being struck by memories of Caroline's former escape down the same halls. Alice pauses for a second after the full picture finally comes together in her head. She sees Caroline and her boyfriend drop the camera; she hears a gunshot from the guards. Suddenly, her face is contorted in anger, and her sheer willpower overcomes the effects of the drug as she sprints down the hallway after Sam.

Alice/Caroline: "You're a killer!"

Caroline and Alice run through the halls, evading guards and ignoring disoriented dolls. Finally, their two paths collide as Alice tackles Sam on the lawn outside the building, and Caroline falls on top of her boyfriend, bleeding from a bullet wound. Neither Alice, Echo, nor Caroline, but a combination of all three, the doll holds Sam down, unsure if she is restraining or resuscitating. Sam finally throws her off, where she crumples in a broken heap on the ground, near catatonic with the conflictions. He rises to make his escape, but doesn't get far. Boyd strikes out of nowhere, knocking him out cold. The Handler, fully recovered, crouches down beside Echo, pulling her attention back to the present. This time, she gladly accepts the treatment.

Again, we flash back for the beginning of Act 5. Caroline is lying in a hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, possibly comatose, but for a single blink. DeWitt has come to visit, and it soon becomes clear that this is where their two years of bargaining and offers began. DeWitt, having been assured that Caroline "fits the profile", enters the ward. Caroline, however, is nowhere to be seen; the window stands open to the night. The guard seems concerned. DeWitt, does not. Smiling, with a look of admiration at Caroline's resolve, she assures him: "She won't get far."

Things aren't quite so relaxed for the present day DeWitt. Her debrief with Dominic is distinctly awkward - they both obviously are appalled at how they acted under the influence of the drug. She hands him back his gun, while he confirms that the press are running with the Dollhouse's false story of student drug abuse, while Echo has been wiped clean. She dismisses him, and sinks into her chair, finally letting the tiredness and stress affect her. Massaging her temples, she sighs deeply, but the moment is brief. Composing herself, she switches her computer monitor on, following Echo on the Dollhouse floor through the cameras.

The work never stops for the Dollhouse. November is sent out once more to play the part of Mellie, but this time is different. She's leaving, and Paul knows that it's his fault. She tries to let him know where he can find her, but he interrupts. As long as he continues his investigation, it's safer for him not to know. Mellie, hurt that even now he won't consider stopping, gives up, and walks away.

Finally, we return right back to where we started. DeWitt is in the interview room, once again pouring her herbal tea. This time, however, it's not Caroline on the other side of the table, but Sam. DeWitt will make everything better for his mother, and in five years, he'll be free to support her himself.

DeWitt: "I'm going to make you an offer."

End Credits.[/anchor]

 

[Flannen]

Dollhouse Episode 8 'Needs' recap

[anchor=eight]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.[/anchor]

Episode 1.08 – "Needs"

Ballard opens his apartment door to Echo/Caroline. She enters telling him she only has a few minutes to give him a message from inside the Dollhouse; he has something they need and they have something he needs. She responds to his question ‘and what is that?’ by kissing him. He pushes her away telling her he’s not a client and he doesn’t need that. She kisses him again withdrawing to ask him to save her. They move to his couch and continue to kiss. Mellie enters, upset to see them together. Caroline tells him she needs him, Mellie tells him she’s not even real. Caroline asks him to finish what he started. Mellie tells him Caroline is dead. Paul looks to down to see Caroline, cold and pale with her eyes fixed open. Mellie says Paul let them hurt her. Paul wakes up to the echo of ‘how do they know?’

We see the actives sleeping quarters from above as the doors slide open. The dolls all leave their pods as Adele looks on from the window above.

We move to Adele’s office where all the staff are assembled together. Topher arrives late as Adele is telling them they have had problems recently and that the Dollhouse is experiencing a technical upgrade. Adele confirms that they have had an active go off mission, one is showing urges and another Is showing signs of cognitive recognition. All the actives exposed to the memory drug experienced glitches and Adele tells them that the house is ‘out of balance’. The handlers are expected to report any strange behaviour from their actives. Dominic tells them to think of them as pets, as opposed to children, which upsets Dr Saunders.

Dr Saunders: Is that supposed to be funny?
Dominic: If your child starts talking for the first time, you feel proud. If your dog does, you freak the hell out.

He warns them that any strange behaviour from the actives is a danger to the house and could cause there to be another Alpha. Boyd asks about the ‘current’ Alpha and Dominic says his whereabouts are unknown. Topher says he’s wiped the actives who were affected as well as he can. He moves on to talk about the actives sleeping pattern and that he could adapt their cycle and adjust the chemicals. Dr Saunders expresses concern at the fact the actives are most vulnerable in their sleep, and that playing with their meds could damage them. Topher says he knows what he is doing, Saunders says she does too but that she also cares about what they are doing to their ‘pets’. Adele asks for reports at the end of each shift with explicit details of each active. Boyd says they’re job is to protect them, to which Adele says, only in the field. Right now they have to protect the Dollhouse itself.

Adele: A tide is rising. Until we learn how to turn it back, we pile up the sandbags, together. Unless anyone here thinks they’ve got a better idea?

Echo is combing her hair in the mirror. She hears Ballard’s voice telling her who he is and that his name is Caroline. She has tiny flashbacks to seeing Paul.

The actives make their way back to the sleeping quarters. Sierra stops and hears the voice of her handler, and experiences flashbacks of what happened to her there. She is visibly shaken. The sight of Victor waiting to see her, making sure she is safe seems to calm her fears and she smiles. We see Victor, Sierra and Echo all settling down to sleep.

Echo’s sleep is disturbed. She has flashbacks of her past engagements and wakes up when she hears a voice saying ‘Caroline, wake up!’ She has woken as Caroline. She begins to bang on the walls and door shouting for help.

Opening credits

Back to Caroline trying to get out of the pod. She cuts her hand trying to open the door. She manages to slide it open and is confronted by ‘Victor’ who has also returned to his normal self. Caroline reminds him she has just woken up there too, the same way he has. Sierra and November start screaming to be let out and another male active also makes his way out of his chamber. Theories of where they are begin to fly around, Mike suggests they have been abducted by aliens. Sierra goes to leave. Caroline suggests they are ‘lab rats’. Caroline says she doesn’t remember anything. Victor suggests they should form a strategy but Sierra wants to run. She suggests they are prisoners of a millionaire serial killer. When Mike ridicules her, Victor becomes aggressive. Caroline tries to calm them. Victor points to Sierra and says he knows her. Caroline says she must get to the mountains and November feels like she has lost something. Caroline quiets them as people walk past the doors. The lights come on and the door opens. They all leave the sleeping chamber.

As they walk past the dolls, Victor tells them they must act like the others. They are all awe struck as the make their way into the lobby area. A staff member tells them they have banana pancakes for breakfast and Victor decides ‘they’re all going to die’ after another doll walks past saying ‘I like pancakes’.

We see Paul tearing his apartment apart. He checks his phone and seems determined to find out how the Dollhouse knows so much. His eyes fall on a vent in the wall. He uncovers it and finds some kind of device.

Another staff member notices the cut on ‘Echo’s’ hand and takes her to see Dr Saunders. Caroline is struggling to keep up the act of being a doll. She is shocked by Claire’s scars and lets her guard down. Saunders quiets her, warning her ‘they are watching’ and Caroline notices the camera. She begins to question Claire about where they are and why they are there. Saunders tells her she is not Echo’s friend in there and cannot help her. As Caroline leaves Saunders office, Mike is being escorted upstairs by two members of staff despite his protests that he is calm and relaxed. He screams as he is taken to Topher’s office.

Victor is telling them all that Mike screwed up. Caroline says that the doctor helped, warning her of the cameras. They realise they are going to have to shower like the others, which bothers them all but November. Sierra tells Victor to keeps his eyes where they are and he seems to need to distract himself. Mike returns. They go to him only to discover he has had a ‘treatment’ and he is no longer one of them, he is a doll again. They realise they need to save themselves.

Dominic enters Adele’s office. He has been informed that four actives are preparing to escape. Adele turns away from the window to look at Dominic. She is smiling as she says: ‘Right on cue’.

Dominic asks to at least be able to alert the security staff. Adele says that everyone should always be prepared and capable to deal with something like this. Dominic suggests that they won’t be capable of ending it. Adele says he is being melodramatic and that she has made her decision.

Victor is walking with a handler. As he opens the door to the sauna, Victor knocks him unconscious, and takes his security card. Victor and Sierra make their way through a door, hiding the key card in a plant pot. They enter a corridor and realise escaping may not be as easy as they thought.

Caroline is watching a yoga class as Tango is taken for a treatment. Mellie tells her it is time and she glances at the camera.

Victor and Sierra hide in a doorway to wait for the others. Victor asks Sierra to tell her something about herself but she says they don’t remember anything. Victor says that he remembers Sierra again and he has a feeling in his gut that something bad happened to her. Caroline and Mellie join them.

Boyd meets with another handler in the weapons room. They discuss their doll’s engagement. The other handler suggests Echo won’t last long.

Sierra falters on the stairs as her memory comes back to her. She remembers being taken away and the man who put her in there. Victor says they will find him. They clasp hands. They find themselves in the warehouse type room full of outfits and realise there is a rack for each of them, everything fitting perfectly. Victor comments they might be clothes from their former life. Then he finds a rather embarrassing outfit and decides that actually they should leave. Right now. Mellie sees a pram and remembers her daughter, Katie. Caroline says they’ll get out of there and help find her. Someone enters the room and they hide amongst the rails. Tension between Sierra and Victor increases as they hide together.

They make their way to the elevator and call it up. It’s empty when it arrives. They make their way to the underground car park and start checking for an unlocked vehicle. They hear a car arriving and hide. An active dressed as a soldier gets out of the car talking about a fellow solider dying. Caroline asks Sierra the name of the guy who put her in the Dollhouse. She remembers it is Nolan. Victor has acquired a set of keys. They get into the vehicle and duck down as the lift door opens. It is Tango, scantily dressed and speaking French, with her handler. Caroline realises it is Tango and seems alarmed at her dress.

Cut to Dominic in Adele’s office picking up the phone and alerting security that the actives are leaving in a car. Adele watches the CCTV. ‘Here we go’.

Caroline gets out the car, realising what the Dollhouse does to people. She wants to go back in to save the others. Victor, Sierra and November drive off.

Caroline is in the weapons room, trying to break a lock with a fire extinguisher. The handler Boyd was talking with previously enters. She reaches for her walkie and talks about calling Boyd. As she goes to call for help, Caroline aims the fire extinguisher at her and they begin to fight. As the handler reaches for the walkie, Caroline hits her in the face with the extinguisher knocking her unconscious. She takes her keys, unlocks one of the cages and takes a gun.

Paul Ballard enters a dingy shop, asking the owner if he’s Jimmy. Jimmy is rather sarcastic and rude which angers Ballard. He takes Jimmy’s head and gives him an extra close up view of the device he found in the vent. He tells Paul the technology is so advanced it shouldn’t even exist yet. Paul wants to know if he can trace the signal. Jimmy says he can if he’s ET. The signals are inverted and transmitted into white noise, making it near impossible to identify where the signal is sent. Jimmy comments that he will need a lot of equipment to scramble something so advanced and that the people behind it are clearly ‘bigger’ than Paul can handle.

We go back to Sierra, Victor and November in the car trying to find Nolan’s house. November asks them to stop the car and be let out, she knows where Katie is and she wants to go alone. Sierra wants them to stay together but concedes to what November wants. They pull over and November gets out, they wish each other luck and the car drives off.

Back to Adele’s office. Dominic puts the phone down and tells Adele that November has left the group. She notices an active leaving Dr Saunders office and rewinds the tape realising it is Caroline. Adele says she should have seen it coming, it’s exactly what Caroline would do. The electricity goes down. Adele phones Topher to check on the actives. She asks Topher to find Echo. He hangs up and turns around to see her aiming a gun at him.

Caroline demands Topher tells her what goes on and how people change. He tells her he programs them using the chair, ‘hacking the system’. Caroline asks how long she has been there after finding out it is 2009. Caroline blames Topher for her lack of memory and demands to see the chair.

Back to Victor and Sierra, knocking at a door. A man opens it and refers to Sierra as Priya. He is shocked and confused to see her. Priya asks what she did to Nolan. He says ‘you said no’. Priya is disgusted that he did this to her simply because she would not sleep with him. He mocks how difficult it was to pull off. Victor punches him. Nolan tells Priya is programmed to give him and everyone else exactly what they want, and she does. Nolan tells them his security are on their way. They run.

November walks past a school where children are outside playing.

Caroline is at the chair with Topher trying to understand the imprinting process. Topher says they are helping people. Caroline tells him they murder people, using them for their playthings. He tells her she volunteered and without her memories she won’t remember. She asks what the last imprint she received was as the lights come back on. Topher tells her she was imprinted with herself, just as she was before she came into the Dollhouse, but without her memories. He tells her she will get them back when her contract is up and she is free to do what she wants. When she asks why she isn’t like the other dolls, Topher tells her they are running a test on her. She tells him of her desire to go to the mountains and asks if that is real. He says it is, it comes from her because it is what she needs. He offers to give her memories back but she needs to go in the chair. Caroline tells him ‘you first’.

We see Victor and Priya running down some stairs trying to escape Nolan’s security staff. Shots are fired out them. They get down to the car park but have to avoid a police car. They run to a door to hide.

Topher is in the chair, Caroline still has the gun aimed at him. Topher is telling her you can’t imprint on top of a normal brain, it will implode. She asks if it hurts. He explains that pain is just nerves sending messages to the brain. He pleads that he is only the science guy but Caroline says he sits up there watching everyone and ‘playing God’. Topher offers her anything she wants. She wants him to let everyone go, he says he doesn’t have that power. Caroline activates the chair and tries to force Topher to lay back. He begs her to understand he can’t do what she wants. Adele appears informing Caroline that she can.

She tells Caroline to stop the imprint so she shoots it. Adele tells Caroline that she gave Caroline what she wanted; she wanted to forget, Adele is easing her pain. Caroline says that she is taking away human rights and free will, which Adele tells her were voluntarily given up because Caroline could not live with the consequences of her own actions. Adele tells her she is free to leave, but who is she to speak for everyone else. Adele made a promise to them and she will not return their memories.

We see November walking through a gate and into a graveyard.

Back to Caroline as she shoots at another piece of equipment.

Victor and Priya are hiding. She apologies for what is happening. Victor says again that he remembers her and he wanted to help her because someone hurt her; he can see his face but he couldn’t stop it. Priya remembers that Victor waits for her when they go to bed to make sure she is okay. They begin to panic as they hear people outside. Victor says they’ll look for each other like they always do and that they’ll finish it. They kiss.

November is on her knees at a grave, crying bitterly. She reaches out to touch the stone which says ‘Beloved Katie’.

Back to Topher’s office, looking down to the lobby at the other actives. Adele tells Caroline she cannot take them outside in their doll state, they will be overwhelmed by the conflict of the outside world. Caroline tells Adele she is not as important as she think she is and demands her to show them out.

We see the actives making their way towards the light at the end of the underground car park. Caroline walks behind Adele, with her gun pointed at Adele’s back. The dolls walk into the sunshine outside and Caroline falls to the ground. Adele stops and looks back at her.

Victor and Sierra lose consciousness resting on each other.

November rests unconscious upon the grave stone.

Back to the car pack and the handlers move in to direct the actives back inside. Echo is picked up and taken back inside, as are Victor, Sierra and November.

A long shot of Adele walking back towards the Dollhouse. A voiceover begins of her speech about the tide rising as we flashback to the staff meeting at the start of the episode.

After Adele asks if anyone has a better idea, Dr Saunders suggests ‘we give them what they need…closure’. She suggests recurring experiences will cause desire which could be removed if they are allowed to tie up loose ends.

Dr Saunders: Let the tide come in. It’s the only way to wash it back out.

Boyd asks Saunders if the tide has turned. She tells him that each of the actives were programmed to release a sedative when they felt they had reached some kind of closure which suggests that they will not longer glitch. Boyd says he understands November and Sierra’s need for closure and that Echo wanted to free everyone but he can’t understand what Victor needed. Saunders says he is in love. Boyd says he would have liked to have seen Echo leading everyone out even if it was all a game, Saunders game. Saunders tells Boyd he only has to look after Echo, but she has to care for them all. She says that the chaos and terror of the outside world would have destroyed the other actives. She tells Boyd he should be grateful but he seems unconvinced.

Echo and Sierra walk towards the sleeping chamber again, but Sierra no longer seems troubled by her memory of what happened there. Echo, Sierra, Victor and November all lay down in the pods and the doors slide shut.

Paul is putting his telephone back together and has one new message. It is Caroline telling him that his number was in her file and that she feels they have met before. She tells him they are underground and asks him to find them if she can’t get everyone out.

 

[Flannen]

Dollhouse Episode 9 'Spy in the House of Love' recap

[anchor=nine]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.[/anchor]

1.09 - "A Spy in the House of Love"

Episode opens with suited men running towards the camera. Flashes of strobe electric light show us someone is being forced into the chair and hooked up to a lot of wires. Sierra and Echo walk through the lobby. Echo senses something is going on and looks up to the window of Topher’s office.

Sierra: What’s happening?
Echo: She made a mistake. Now she’s sad.

A shot is fired and blood splatters the window.

A black van drives along the road. Inside, Echo is dressed as a dominatrix telling Boyd that it isn’t about pain, it’s about trust. The van pulls into the underground car park. Victor and his handler exit the elevator. Victor is dressed in a suit. His handler tells Boyd that Victor is going on his tenth ‘lonely hearts' engagement with the same client. Victor speaks with an English accent. Victor’s handler mocks the client and as she walks away Echo whips her. ‘It’s love, show some respect.’
Boyd confiscates Echo’s whip and they walk to the elevator.

Echo has just received her treatment. She sits up. Ivy, quite sternly asks how Echo is. ‘Did I fall asleep?' Again, Ivy is cold in her response: ‘for a little while’. After Ivy tells Echo she may go if she likes, Topher appears from behind the equipment and makes the sound like that of a ‘wrong answer’ buzzer. He tells Ivy that the post-wipe script is the first thing an active hears after a memory wipe and it has to be nice and friendly.

Dominic enters, orders Echo out of the chair and tells Topher he is behind schedule which Topher explains is due to Caroline shooting the equipment. Dominic tells Echo she has an appointment with Dr Saunders. He starts to walk with Echo until he sees Adele at the other end of the landing and he goes to her. Dominic tells her everything is under control and Adele hopes that he will keep it that way while she is gone. Dominic asks If Rossum have told her why she is being called in and Adele puts it down to the recent events. Adele tells him that everything that happens under the Dollhouse’s roof is her fault, but that for the next two days, it will be his.

Echo walks towards the yoga session and says hello to November who says hello back. November is called for a treatment.

Echo is being examined by Dr Saunders. Boyd enters and asks if everything is okay; Echo’s last engagement seemed ‘unnecessarily rough’ which Saunders says is the point of a dominatrix. They begin to debate whether the engagements are about need. Saunders says that it is about a desire that cannot usually be met. Echo seems to be paying attention to what Saunders is saying, maybe more than she should. As Boyd and Echo leave Dr Saunders office, Topher runs down the stairs to Boyd.

Topher tells him that in about two minutes he is going to call Adele and that if Boyd was to take himself out of the Dollhouse for any reason, he wouldn’t know he had done it. Boyd is confused. Topher explains that he has found a chip in the chair which would allow someone to access the primary imprint protocol so his imprints could have been altered. They both look up at Ivy. Boyd declares they have a spy and asks Topher is he thinks it is him. He does, but not in a bad way. Echo starts waving at November, post-treatment.

Echo watches what is going on in Topher’s office from art class. Topher is making a frantic phone call and bangs on the door to get Dominic’s attention. Echo finishes with her bonsai tree but is still very interested in what is going on between Topher and Dominic. Dominic storms out of the office, down the stairs and informs two handlers that the Dollhouse is to go on lockdown; no one is to come in or leave without his authorisation. He takes Sierra up for a treatment. Echo remains concerned in the chair. She sees Dominic and Topher arguing about who has access to the office. Dominic pushes Topher into the chair. She hears Sierra say ‘I’d kill him’ as she walks past.

Echo goes to Topher’s office and tells him that ‘everyone is unhappy today’. Topher, still annoyed, mocks her. He begins to explain that if it wasn’t for him there would still be a
security breach. Echo says ‘I can help you’.

Echo: You make people different. (sits down in the chair) You can make me help.

Topher looks at her astonished.

Opening credits.

“Imprint November”
November gets out of the chair as Mellie. She takes a look around the Dollhouse and surveys the lobby. We see her asking how she knows Echo who is waving at her.

Mellie walks down the hall of her and Paul’s block. She has luggage with her. Paul opens his door aiming a gun at her. He tells her he didn’t know she was coming back so soon and it’s not safe to talk in the hall. She goes into his apartment and looks on as Paul locks the several locks he now has on his door. He tells her that the Dollhouse had his apartment bugged, and they should check hers. She walks into his lounge and sees how much work Paul has done on the case that is now pinned up all over his wall. He tells her he thinks the Dollhouse is underground. Mellie does not look impressed and Paul apologises and advises her to go back to her mother’s. Mellie says no and begins to tidy up Paul’s apartment. She wants to help him stay grounded and he gets more and more involved. She silences him with a kiss and leads him to the shower. As he starts to undress her, she freezes and Paul is confused.

She looks up at him and tells him she has a message for him from inside the Dollhouse. Paul is stunned. She tells him her name is November and that the body belongs to a doll but they ‘did this’ long before he met Mellie. Now that he has removed their surveillance they will be relying on her more and he should not tell her any details of the case and he cannot tell Mellie about it. If the Dollhouse finds out that he knows he will be killed, and by Mellie. Paul learns that she is a sleeper active and that a trigger will turn her into a killer. Paul is angry at the lack of information, November tells him to investigate the Dollhouse’s purpose. Mellie is back. Paul immediately returns to a state of calm and continues to kiss her.

“Imprint Sierra”
Dominic is in Topher’s office, he can’t get hold of Adele and her GPS isn’t transmitting. Sierra has been imprinted with Topher’s ‘best secret agent’. We see the argument that Echo witnessed earlier. Topher’s way of dealing with the situation angers Dominic and he slams him into the chair.

Dominic takes Sierra into the office and identifies the NSA as their target and that the device Topher found belongs to them. Dominic wants access to their files. Sierra goes to get changed.

Sierra sits down in a train carriage dressed smartly and in a short brown wig. She sits next to a woman wearing identical clothes and with the same hairstyle. She asks the woman if she can borrow a pen. The woman is shocked and confused to see her looking exactly as she does. Sierra injects her in the leg and tells her ‘never mind, found one’. The woman passes out. Sierra steals her access car d and takes a picture of her eye and then leaves.

The access card swipes fine and Sierra is in. She gets into an elevator and then makes her way to a security locked door. She opens the back of her cell phone and removes a contact lens which she puts in. She passes the retinal scan and gains access through the door. She walks up to a desk with a guard behind it, enters her key, hands over her bag and makes her way into the files office. She enters the room, scans her card and removes a transparent file from the draw that opens. She activates the alarm as she leaves the files room. As the security guard is scanning her, she punches him and flips him over her, takes her bag gets back into the elevator. Once inside she removes the file from under her top.

An announcement of a security breach is going out around the building, asking all employees to vacate. Sierra swipes her card to access ‘Ms Sato’s’ office. Once she is in she runs to her desk, logs into the NSA system to read the file. As the data begins to appear another staff member knocks and enters to tell her she needs to vacate. She makes her way out with the rest of the employees and phones for a roof extraction. She opens a door to the stairs and first heads up, but after hearing voices of security guards she ends up having go to down them. She phones back, says she now needs the extraction at the south end, pulls her wig off and continues to run as security begins to fire at her. She gets to the roof as a helicopter appears.

“Imprint Victor”
Victor wakes up as Roger. Ivy arrives and Topher instantly questions whether she has been tampering with the equipment as its being slow. Roger tells him to be nice, he thinks she likes him.

Roger gets out of the van with a bouquet of roses. He knocks at the door and an older lady answers the door. Roger leaves immediately, driving off in a convertible.

He arrives and walks into another house and out onto a balcony to ‘Catherine’ who we all recognise as Adele DeWitt. They kiss, passionately. Her phone starts to ring, it’s Topher. She tells Roger they think she is at headquarters. Roger ‘accidentally’ drops her phone over the balcony and down the cliff face – there goes her GPS signal!

Roger can sense that Adele is tense. She tells him it has been ‘rocky’ at work, and Roger names the Dollhouse, he evidently knows about her job.

Adele: I used to head a division that grew replacement organs out of stem cells. I could tell people what I did for a living.

Roger says she's told him; they just help lonely people. Adele says ‘pathetic, self-deluding souls’ and the look on her face suggests she is also referring to herself.

Roger and ‘Catherine’ are fencing, quite competitively. Roger goads her. She cuts his arm and he fights even more aggressively, smashing a vase. She knocks him to the ground, he gets up and pins her against the wall. They begin to kiss passionately. She falls back on to the bed. Roger tells her she is an image of perfection, if he could make a woman it would be her although it is the real her that he wants. Adele touches his face and says she wants the real him too. Roger suggests they run away together. She joins in the fantasy but soon tells him to forget it because it can’t happen; he is who she needs but they just can’t have that.

Adele enters the bedroom dressed, Roger wakes up. She sits on the side of the bed and breaks down in tears and Roger tries to comfort her.

“Imprint Echo”
Echo wakes up from a treatment.

Echo: I need copies of personnel records, security logs for the past three months and access to your mainframe.
Topher: Anything else?
Echo: Yeah, some clothes. I can’t catch a spy in my pajamas.

Echo and Topher walk into Adele’s office, Dominic is laid back in her desk chair. Echo hands him a list and tells him she needs to interrogate everyone on it. Topher tells Dominic he made her a spy catcher, despite Sierra already being deployed. Topher has built her to read body language and is rocking a bit of ‘Sherlock Holmes’. Echo wants to start with Topher, he pleads he was the one who found the spy. She tells him he is either ‘dangerously incompetent’ or he is the culprit. This amuses Dominic and he gives Echo the go-ahead.

She asks Topher why he is at the Dollhouse. Topher says that he is in ‘neuro plastic heaven’ and that he is doing work his grad professor’s can’t even imagine. Ivy is next, she reveals her anger at the menial tasks she is set by Topher but unfortunately makes herself look suspicious when she says she could take the equipment apart and reassemble it without Topher knowing. When questioning Boyd he says that the Dollhouse are ‘pimps and killers’. Echo asks Dr Saunders, since the Alpha incident, whether she has left the Dollhouse? Saunders stalls and says she can better treat the actives if she is there permanently. The phone rings. Dominic tells Echo she’s loses, Sierra has been extracted and has the identity of the mole.

Ivy is manhandled into the office by Dominic. He tells her they’ll find out why when Adele lets him torture her. Topher seems upset that Ivy is the spy. She is told she will be sent to the Attic; described by Topher:

Topher: It’s a mental suck. You know that feeling you get when a name is on the tip of your tongue but you can’t say it? It’s like that. With every thought…you never have.

Ivy continues to plead her innocence. Dominic asks for her to be taken to the holding room. Echo asks Dominic ‘how long?’ She asks how long he can keep it up and claims HE is the one who works for the NSA. Echo tells him that when Ivy was revealed as the spy, everyone else ‘got tense’ but he relaxed as he knew the file would implicate someone else; Ivy. Echo reveals that a phone call was made to the NSA after the Dollhouse went into lockdown. Dominic warned them Sierra was coming and had them plant the file. Echo receives one more sign of his guilt: Dominic unsnapped his holster.

He fires at her and she takes cover, throwing herself over the desk. Topher and Ivy hide behind the couch as Dominic continues to shoot. She kicks the desk chair at him and then sweeps his legs out from under him, kicking the gun away. Dominic gets up and slams her against the wall telling her she is a broken doll and that he will tell Adele Echo went off mission again and he had to kill her. Echo cuts his hand with a shard of glass. She asks about Topher and Ivy and Dominic says they will be ‘collateral damage’. He also picks up a bit of broken glass and starts lunging out her.

Behind the sofa, Ivy suggests they should help and Topher replies he already has by imprinting her with kung fu skills.

Dominic roundhouse kicks Echo through the table and while she lays on the floor, he stands over her and tells her she’s dangerous and she should have been in the ground a long time ago. Echo has a flashback to Dominic trying to kill her in ‘True Believer’. He picks her up by her hair and throws her across the floor, remarking she is ‘another Alpha waiting to happen’. Echo swipes at him with another piece of broken glass and kicks him towards the broken window. She hangs him over the bar: ‘I’m not broken’.

Echo sits Dominic down in front of Adele. She tells him she trusted him with a gift. They argue over who they have helped and who they have hurt. Adele advances towards him and asks why he wanted to bring the Dollhouse down. He says he was sent to make sure she didn’t bring it down herself. He tells her the technology needs to be controlled and that she is embarrassingly naà¯ve. Adele demands Echo get what she can out of him and then have Topher prepare him for the attic. Adele mocks Dominic when he seems to expect he will be shown mercy.

Dominic: You’re a piece of work.
Adele: So they tell me.

Echo transports Dominic back to the Dollhouse and asks ponders what he has to smile about.

Dominic: After you beat me to a pulp, they’re going to erase me. But first they’re going to erase you.
Echo: I can take care of myself.
Dominic: I know, that’s why I’m smiling. Cos one day you’ll be erasing them, even after all this, they still won’t see it coming. Sooner or later, everybody gets theirs.

Back to the opening scene. The men in suits are dragging Dominic towards the chair, he has a wedge in his mouth. Several members of staff are struggling to restrain him as he continues to fight against them. He manages to get hold of a gun and aims it at his head. Adele demands them to stop him, he fires the gun at her and it catches her side, causing blood to spatter the window. Boyd goes to help her but she bats him away and tells them to get on with it. They finally get him hooked up and he is erased. Adele leaves, in some pain.

Topher brings her the hard drive. Adele tells him to lose it in the archives. She asks how she didn’t see it coming, he did which is why he imprinted Echo the way he did. Topher tells her it was not his idea, it was Echo’s. Adele realises that Echo knew to take out her biggest threat. Topher tells her that Echo is still evolving. Echo saved the Dollhouse. Adele tells Topher to ‘shelve’ the Roger imprint, the contract has been terminated, she finally realised the ‘indiscretion was unwise’.

Dr Saunders stitches Adele’s wound. Adele puts her shirt back on and Claire tells her it’s okay to feel something about Dominic. She says she hasn’t lost anything she can’t live without, as she watches Victor walk past. Boyd enters and tells Adele he has ran a full security sweep, it seems to stop at Dominic. Adele promotes him to head of security but he says he’d rather stay as Echo’s handler. Adele tells him Echo doesn’t need to be looked after, she’s looking after them.

Echo is in the chair as her new handler tells her ‘everything’s going to be alright’. Before answering that she trusts him with her life, she looks at Boyd who is looking on, visibly pained at losing Echo.

 

[Flannen]

Dollhouse Episode 10 'Haunted' recap

[anchor=ten]Please do not reproduce this cap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.[/anchor]

1.10 - "Haunted"

A woman riding a horse stops at a table of men telling one in particular that she’s taking the horse for a run. The horse comes back without her.

Echo wakes up in the chair and addresses Adele as ‘Addie’. Adele calls her Margaret and informs her that she is dead.

Opening credits.

Boyd walks into Topher’s office. Topher asks how his promotion is going. Boyd seems disappointed with the lack of work as Adele is keeping the Dollhouse idle. Boyd asks what sort of engagement Echo is on at the moment and Topher comments that he is finding it hard to let go. Topher explains they ‘put a dead lady in her’: Boyd had heard but he didn’t want to believe it. He seems uncomfortable with the idea of giving life to the dead. Topher tells Boyd he needs an active for his annual diagnostic, he needs the head of security to sign off on it. Boyd says he can use Sierra.

In Adele’s office, Margaret is admiring Echo’s body. She recalls that her last memory was a month before her death; the last time she visited the Dollhouse. Adele reminds her that it’s temporary and Margaret says she knows, she just wants to ‘indulge her curiosity’. She asks Adele to accompany her to her own funeral which surprises Adele. She’s even more surprised when Margaret suggests that afterwards, they can solve her murder.

Margaret explains that the autopsy said she had a heart attack but as far as she is concerned she was healthy and happy and incredibly rich and think she was murdered for her money. Adele and Margaret walk in and sit down at the funeral. Margaret says she is going to pass herself as ‘Julia’ someone who she mentioned to her family before dying so they would not be surprised if she turned up. Margaret points out her children and her brother to Adele. A man arrives late and Margaret reveals it is her husband.

Back at the Dollhouse, blue lights flash from Topher’s office. He is running the diagnostic. Sierra wakes up as the female version of Topher.

Paul and Mellie are having dinner. Paul seems distant and Mellie is concerned. She comments that Paul doesn’t talk about the Dollhouse much and he snaps at her but says he’ll be fine. Mellie says she’ll clear away but Paul insists. They kiss. Paul goes into the kitchen, empties Mellie’s wine glass and puts it in an evidence bag.

At Margaret’s house her brother is questioning Julia. She says that Margaret took Julia under her wing when she was backpacking and they kept in touch. They’d spend hours on the phone and Margaret was always gushing about her loved ones. Margaret’s family start mocking whether they’re talking about the same person. Julia finds it difficult to keep up the appearance when Margaret is being slated. The conversation moves towards Jack, Margaret’s husband. Nicholas suggests he is sulking because he was left the horses even though he knows nothing about them. Julia/Margaret tries to explain it was because he was the only one she trusted enough to look after them.

Julia/Margaret goes outside to get some air and compose herself. Nicholas goes out to join her. She finds it difficult to try and determine why her family have been speaking of her that way. Nicholas explains to her that she pushed him into going to Wall Street from a young age. Julia/Margaret tries to justify it by saying she wanted the best for him. Nicholas misconstrues Julia’s meaning when she says she wants to comfort him and kisses her. Julia/Margaret pulls away disgusted, wiping her mouth. She tries to reinforce how much she did not mean what he thought she did and makes a quick exit.

Julia/Margaret instinctively goes to her room and walks in on Jack. She takes it upon herself to explain that leaving him the horses was a gesture of trust. He refers to the horses as ‘her real loves’ and knows that the family are calling him a ‘killer’ or at least insinuating something of that sort.

Julia/Margaret phones Adele to tell her how difficult it is and worrying whether she is being paranoid. Adele reminds her that she spent eighteen months receiving painful brain scans because she thought this was going to happen. Margaret is beginning to regret her decision. As she hangs up the phone we can see that someone is watching her through the bedroom window from outside.

Adele walks into the office as Boyd knocks at the door and enters. He is still angry at Echo’s latest engagement.

Boyd: Is that something we offer now? Because if it is, you realise that’s the beginning of the end. Life everlasting, it’s – it’s the ultimate quest.

Adele explains it is a one time situation and she has a new head of security to handle it should anything go wrong. She also tells him he can still look out for Echo. He tells her that his instincts are saying to follow the money and he’s looked into the horses, which would mean Jack would stand to make a profit. Boyd has already sent in a prospective buyer.

Victor, imprinted as that buyer, arrives at Margaret’s home and is met by Jack.

Jocelyn is crying over a photograph. Julia/Margaret stops to say hello and Jocelyn tells her go away, but then calls her back. Julia/Margaret tells her she has lost her mother and has a right to be sad. Jocelyn tells her that Margaret didn’t want to know her, she never attended any of her photographic exhibitions. Julia/Margaret agrees that she was wrong not to have supported her. Jocelyn carries on speaking negatively of Jack and suggests he slept around behind Margaret’s back. Julia/Margaret asks if he ever tried anything with Jocelyn, she says no but advises her to go and find out for herself. Jocelyn reveals she is hurt that her mother confided more in Jack and ‘Julia’ as opposed to her.

Paul startles Loomis in her office. He shouldn’t be there. He’s entered data into the database but needs her authorisation which Loomis gives. As the database searches it brings up various images of Mellie and then they are all erased.

Ballard: What just happened?
Loomis: I just started to believe you.

Back at the Dollhouse, Sierra and Topher are playing catch across the lobby. Sierra wants to play with the ‘sleepies’ but Topher tells her they can’t.

Julia/Margaret goes to speak to Jack, who is packing. He says Margaret belonged there, not him, he only belonged to her. He seems unconvinced when Julia says Margaret seemed very devoted to him. Julia/Margaret begins to question him about how difficult it must have been to be married to an older woman and whether he ever accepted any other options. Jack says he knows who Julia is, suggesting she is a spy. He says he is selling the horses because they are a constant reminder of Margaret and that maybe she should be looking at Bill. As far as Julia/Margaret is concerned he only came for the funeral, but Jack tells her he arrived the day before she died; turning up and needing to talk to her but Jack never found out why.

Victor is examining the horse. Nicholas questions him about who he is. He comments that the horse was Margaret’s favourite thing and tells Victor the he is not for sale.

Julia/Margaret goes to speak with Bill. He asks if she believes in ghosts; he is getting a ‘creepy feeling’ that Margaret is lingering in the house. He begins to explain that he and Margaret had not spoken for years but that he got over his pride just in time and they reconciled before she died and makes a toast to her. Bill lets slip that Nicholas had/has a gambling addiction.

Back at the Dollhouse, Topher and Sierra are playing in the darkness of the Dollhouse now that the dolls are asleep.

Paul gets home and Mellie is there and again he struggles to hide his feelings. Mellie tells Paul he needs to let her talk AT him. She tells him that she loves being with him and she will stop asking if he’s fine and that she will give him what he needs, it doesn’t have to mean anything. He kisses her passionately, almost violently pinning her against the wall before moving to the bedroom.

Julia/Margaret is out riding her horse at night. She takes him back to the stable. A figure in the darkness is at the end of the stable. A voice announces that it is strange because the horse doesn’t usually like people. When Julia/Margaret confronts the voice, it turns out to be Nicholas: ‘did you think I wouldn’t recognise my own mother? Mother.’

Margaret is relieved to be able to talk to Nicholas about the situation and that he could tell by the way she moved. When Margaret asks how he thought it would even be possible he says ‘the Dollhouse’ and that he is a customer of the Manhattan branch. Margaret tells him she is his mother and it was her role to bear his burdens which encourages Nicholas to talk about his addiction, breaking down in tears about how disappointed she would have been. They hear Jack’s voice entering the stable. He is with Victor who is telling him that King’s Ransom, the horse, has been tampered with and given steroids but hidden with a masking agent. Jack is angry and starts throwing things around. Margaret exposes her and Nicholas when she screams at a light being smashed.
They run and hide but Jack is behind them. He goes to hit Nicholas with a shovel but Nicholas stabs him in the side with a hook and runs.

Adele is sitting in her office in the dark when Boyd enters to tell her that he was right about the horses and that Margaret was killed with the same drug and the same masking agent was used. Boyd suggests going in himself but Adele reminds him Echo has a new handler and he’s going to have to get used to it. He also asks Adele if she is aware of ‘the Topher situation’, which she is. She allows him this diagnostic every now and again.

Adele: Loneliness leads to nothing good, only detachment and sometimes the people who most need to reach out are the least capable of it. In any case, it only happens once a year.

As Adele says this we see Sierra bring out a cake with a candle in it. Topher blows the candle out and they both sit down to eat.

Margaret and Nicholas run into her bedroom and he locks the door behind them. Nicholas says there is evidence that Jack killed her; if she writes a letter dated before her death and hides it in the room. As Margaret looks over the letter, Nicholas is looking for something in the closet. Margaret soon realises that Jack knew nothing of racehorses; he wouldn’t know how to drug one. Nicholas begins trying to come up with a reason but then gives up and reveals he is holding a syringe.

Nicholas says it was difficult to kill her the first time, but its getting easier. Jack forces his way into the bedroom telling Nicholas he knew it was him and they start fighting. Nicholas pins Jack against the wall by his throat. Margaret hits him over the back of the head with the butt of the shotgun. He hits her to the ground and while his back is turned, Jack smashes a mirror over his head, knocking him unconscious. Bill enters and Julia/Margaret tells him to phone the police and an ambulance. Jack says he hopes that Margaret didn’t know it was Nicholas.

Later a lawyer reads out a letter from Margaret, much like the one Nicholas told her to write implicating Jack. This time it details how Nicholas would murder her and includes an adjusted will. Margaret has taken this opportunity to include things her family members would have wanted to hear.

Cut to Paul in the shower. Mellie calls out to him that last night was ‘pretty crazy’. Paul stands in the shower letting the water run over him. He seems disgusted with himself and when Mellie asks if he’s going to look for more Dollhouse clients he mutters to himself that ‘he found one’.

Back in Margaret’s ground, Julia/Margaret is standing and watching the horses with Jack. He wishes Margaret was there, and ‘Julia’ suggests he could talk as if she were. He describes Margaret as his favourite person but he’ll never know if she believed him. ‘Julia’ hands him a letter before walking away.

Back at the Dollhouse, Margaret is preparing to be wiped. Adele is convinced she was must have been slightly tempted to disappear in Echo’s body. She says she has given her family enough to move on and that she knows Adele would not have let her get as far as the airport. She asks if she will see her life flash before her eyes. Adele fights back tears as she takes her hand and replies: ‘every single moment’.

 

[Flannen]

Dollhouse Episode 11 "Briar Rose" recap

[anchor=eleven]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.[/anchor]

1.11 - "Briar Rose"

A homeless man walks through an alley and makes his way to a dumpster. As he is rummaging he comes across a human hand. As he moves closer the hand launches out and grabs him by the neck.

Echo is reading the fairytale ‘Briar Rose’ to a group of children. A young girl is standing at the back and says that the fairy tale is crap. Echo encourages her to wait until afterwards to talk to her about it as the other children are enjoying it. The girl carries on, ridiculing the story and the curse/spell. Echo asks for her name and another child tells her it is Susan, which is also the name of the person Echo has been imprinted with. The younger Susan becomes more and more angry with the concept of the curse and takes the book from ‘Susan’ and rips it up. A member of staff restrains her and the owner of the home ends the session.

The owner and the older Susan discuss that the young girl obviously has an issue with the story and ‘Susan’ says she always did too; that’s why she picked it. She says she was told that she could help the young girl.

Paul is packing up his stuff in his apartment. Mellie is questioning him about where he is going and whether it is to do with Caroline. Mellie asks if Paul was even going to tell her. Paul says they’re not good for each other and Mellie becomes upset and tries to stop him, making excuses for why it isn’t working and demands him to look at her. She asks Paul if she has ever said anything she didn’t believe with all her heart which is exactly what Paul needed to hear and the reason why he is leaving. Paul says she’ll get over it and she begins to cry as he leaves.

Boyd and Adele are examining a flash drive/memory stick. Boyd doesn’t know what is on it but that it was hand delivered for Mr Dominic. They debate whether it has come from the NSA and if they are trying to contact him as they haven’t heard from him. The information it contains is encrypted but Adele suggests they could just imprint an active with the skills required to access it. Boyd thinks it safe to assume that all the necessary precautions have been taken and that surely Dominic is the only one who can open it. Adele suggests he had better ask Mr Dominic then. Adele doesn’t seem to think that the fact he is in the Attic should stop them.

Back to the young girl, Susan. The owner explains to the older Susan that she is a difficult child; she gets into fights at school and they have had to remove five knifes from her. The young girl is crossing out passages from the story book. Her mother died of an overdose when she was very young and she was left with the mother’s boyfriend; a drug dealer and a pimp and it seems Susan was used by him. ‘Susan’ asks if anyone knows anything more of the young girl than what was written in the report. The young girl becomes more and more angry with the book as the older Susan suggests she lies to her therapist and won’t open up to anyone. The owner seems shocked that she can assume so much, knowing so little of the girl.

Topher and Ivy are looking at images of two brains on the monitor. Ivy identifies that they are not the same. Topher says that they kind of are; one of them is the imprint that he gave Echo and the other is the 11 year old Susan. Ivy points out similar patterns of reaction and signs of depression and instability. Topher explains that the child is so damaged that she needs help to become a healthy woman. Echo’s imprint is the young girl as an adult if she grows up okay. It means that the older Susan will know just what to expect and that the young girl will be able to recognise a bright future is still ahead of her if she wants it. The whole engagement was Topher’s idea! The phone rings and he seems less than impressed with what it is about. He tells Ivy to bring up Victor.

Mellie is crying and walking along the road. She stops at the bridge and looks over the edge, seemingly debating whether to jump. A hand clasps her shoulder and she turns round and follows him to a black van. She is heartbroken telling her ‘handler’ that she doesn’t know what she did wrong with Paul. As the van pulls into the underground car park, a car pulls up. It seems Paul might know where the Dollhouse is.

Opening credits

‘Susan’ joins the young Susan at the table. She’s ‘fixing’ the story book. The older Susan suggests that the girl has an issue with the fact that Briar Rose didn’t save herself and the young girl says that everyone can run away. ‘Susan’ tells her that she couldn’t; she’d try at night, waiting for the sun to come up so she could run but ‘he’ was always there and she never could. The young girl seems to relate to the older Susan’s story; that she ended up feeling guilty too.

Paul has gone to see Loomis again. Paul explains that the further he looked the less he found but that they sent someone to him; Mellie is a doll. He went into the building but couldn’t find anything so now he needs to get into the ‘invisible’ building. Loomis is confused but Paul explains that there must be a building underground, Caroline told him they were underground when she phoned him, and that when checking their contractors most of them were the normal ones involved but that they also had a environmental systems consultant named Stephen Keplar whose file he brings up on the database. He is an expert in buildings that recycle their own air and electricity; closed systems.

Victor is in the chair but Boyd calls him Mr Dominic: they have a job for him. Adele explains that information has arrived form the NSA and they need his help in opening it. He asks who’s body he has been imprinted into and when he realises it is Victor he becomes distressed realising he is in the Attic. Adele calls for him to be sedated. He looks over at Claire and says ‘whiskey’ and she suggests he needs a drink. Adele asks for him to be given something which makes him more receptive to answering their questions.

The young Susan finally opens up to the older one, explaining she was told ‘he’ knew all the cops and that she could have run away four times. The older Susan explains that it’s okay to need to be rescued when you’re young, or small, or weak and can’t do it for yourself. The older Susan tells the young girl to read the story again and think of herself as the Prince.

Echo/Susan: Hey, remember what you said, the Prince shows up at the last minute, takes all the credit that means Briar Rose was trapped all that time, sleeping, and dreaming of getting out. The Prince was her dream, she made him, she made him fight to get her out. Prince.

The owner arrives to tell the older Susan there is a van waiting for her. She tells the young girl she will be back. Before leaving the she asks the young girl for the knife she is carrying; she have one as she let her sit close to her quite happily. She explains to the owner that she has made a start and they should be ready for when she moves forward because it will hurt.

Paul walks down a hall and stops outside an apartment door and knocks. A shifty looking man pokes his head out of the door. Paul asks if he is Stephen Kepler. The man is clearly uncomfortable talking to Paul, who lets him know he is not in any trouble, he’s just interested in his work and asks to go in. Stephen says he’d rather talk outside. Paul pushes past him and walks into the apartment to see a large amount of marijuana plants being grown inside. Kepler stumbles over several excuses; they were there when he moved in and he’s holding them for a friend!

Paul moves on to talking about his work. Kepler explains the ultimate goal is total self-sufficiency and reducing the carbon footprint. The more Kepler talks, the more we realise he seems quite unstable. He pulls a jar out of the fridge; recycled urine. Paul brings up his idea of a totally self-contained building. Kepler confirms his suspicions; recycled air, water and electricity, it would hardly show up on the grid at all. Paul tells him he’s looking for something, Kepler advises he should make an appointment, he’s not comfortable talking to people in his home. When Paul mentions the Dollhouse, Kepler starts to freak out, telling Paul they’ll kill him. Paul removes his gun and Kepler says he only built the shell and that even though he designed it from his home and he never leaves it, he could probably get inside. Paul tells him he’s coming with him, and Kepler has no choice; Paul is the only one who knows where the Dollhouse is and Kepler is the only one who knows how to get in.

Boyd is showing ‘Dominic’ the flash drive. He says he doesn’t know what it is, he didn’t communicate with the NSA that way; they used phones. When Boyd says it was hand delivered and asks who else would want to contact him directly, both Dominic and Adele says ‘Alpha’ at the same time. Topher inserts the device into the computer and asks for the password. Dominic says he doesn’t know, he’s never sent him anything before but Adele angrily tells him that as he is the recipient he should be able to open it. Dominic reveals that Alpha used to sign his art work with the Greek letter and that gains them access. A statue of Paul Bunyan appears on the screen and Boyd says there are several of those statues in various cities. Adele suggests Tuscon, she has seen it from the window of the ‘centre’ there – she does not, however, reveal what the ‘centre’ is, even when Topher asks.

They do a quick search for news results involving Tuscon. Boyd says a body was found there this morning, slashed with a knife. Adele orders them to ‘send Sierra.’

A car pulls up outside the building with the Dollhouse underneath. Kepler is not eager to go in. Paul’s only concern is saving Caroline, he does not want to save Mellie yet. Kepler won’t get out of the car. Paul goes round the other side and bribes him to get out by warning him he’ll tell the DA about his carrots.

Sierra wakes up from her treatment; she is now an FBI trained forensic scientist. She hopes the helicopter is waiting, describing all the things that are changing with the dead body that could hinder her chances of finding what they want her to.

Paul and Kepler make their way across the outside of the building. They stop at a grate and Kepler says it is ten storeys down. When Paul makes a move to go down, Kepler withdraws. He hoped Paul would give up when he saw how difficult it would be to get in. Paul lifts the grate.

Echo wakes up after being wiped. ‘Did I fall asleep?’

Paul jumps down and Kepler begins to shout that he is falling. Paul takes hold of his ankles but Kepler demands he lets go, and then doesn’t want him to. Paul helps Kepler down. He complains of a wedgie before huddling up into the corner, clearly panicking. He doesn’t want to go any further. Paul kicks through a vent. Paul shouts ‘carrots’ and Kepler decides he has to follow.

The young Susan is rereading the story of Briar Rose. As she speaks of the Prince finding out about Briar Rose and wishing to save her, we see Paul as he advances to the Dollhouse.

The dolls make their way to their pods to sleep.

Paul and Kepler enter through a side door and survey the lobby that lies ahead of them. Paul is stunned. ‘It’s real’.

Sierra has made it to Tuscon. She begins to look at the body. The other scientist asks if it is a signature she is looking for. The body has lacerations all over. When the male scientist asks if the target is always homeless people, Sierra responds that homeless people smell of things like sweat and urine but this body smells like ‘garbage’ and it smells recent. She decides she should take over.

Kepler is telling Paul he was told the Dollhouse would be the new Eden. Paul quiets him and warns him they will be on camera as soon as they walk out. Kepler says he could do something with the surveillance if he could access a computer. Paul tells him to wait and he leaves through a door. An active is making his way up the stairs, Paul directs him back through the door which freaks Kepler out again. Paul asks him to take off his clothes. Kepler begins to ask if Paul is going to dress like a doll but stops when he realises that it is actually him Paul intends to do the dressing up.

They make their way into the Dollhouse itself, Kepler is telling himself to keep calm. Topher walks past and turns round: ‘Hey, person I don’t know’. Paul moves towards him and goes towards his pocket. He removes a taser and takes Topher out. They lay him on the couch in his office and Kepler goes over to the computer. He can’t take the security down because Topher is a ‘paranoid freak’ and there are too many layers of passwords. Kepler wants to watch for a few minutes in order to identify any security patterns. Paul notices the chair through the door and moves in to look at it.

As they go to head downstairs Kepler expresses his fear of stairs with risers and the feeling that some thing will reach out and grab him. Paul encourages him to go down. They stop as Claire leaves her office. Paul is shocked to see Victor, who he recognises as Lubov. ‘My whole life…my whole life isn’t real’.

Kepler and Paul enter Saunders office, Paul just wants to know where ‘they sleep’. Kepler gets to work on adapting the chemicals being released into the sleeping chambers so they won’t wake up if the alarms go off. He explains that the pods are locked, if the light is on inside Paul should not try to open it. As he unlocks each pod remotely the lights will go off and he tells Paul where to find the sleeping quarters.

Paul advances towards the pods, disturbed by what he sees. As the first pod’s light goes off he opens the door to find Mellie/November. As she sleeps he tells her that she could kill at the flip of a switch without even knowing it. He apologises and closes the door again. He moves on to the next pod and finds Caroline. Echo opens her eyes at the name. We hear the sound of a gun being cocked and Boyd stands behind him. ‘Sorry Agent Ballard, you don’t get the girl.’

The Dollhouse is in darkness. Boyd demands Paul gives him his gun. Paul puts it on the floor. Echo asks Paul who he is, he says he is Paul and that she called him and asked him to come rescue her. Boyd orders Echo to go for a swim as Paul tries to tell her she has been brainwashed and her real name is Caroline. As Echo moves to get up, Paul turns and knocks Boyd’s gun out of his hands. Boyd punches him to the ground and Paul asks if Boyd is her ‘pimp’. He tells Paul it is his job to look after Echo, Paul cannot get her out. They are giving Paul one chance to leave. They continue to fight. They fall through and smash the door to Victor’s pod and he wakes up screaming, covered in glass. Echo backs away slowly, Boyd tells her to run but Paul takes her arm. As she walks with him, she has flashbacks to their fight when she was sent to deliver him a message. Echo shouts for Paul to let her go. Paul turns round at the sound of Boyd’s voice and Echo pushes him over the banister of the stairs. Paul kicks the gun from Boyd’s hand and they continue to fight.

Kepler continues to work on the computer, disabling the security devices.

Dr Saunders walks past the sleeping chamber and runs in when she sees Victor.

Paul and Boyd continue to fight violently as Kepler carries on typing. Boyd asks Paul If he thinks they would let him take her? She couldn’t live outside.

Paul reaches into the fountain to retrieve the gun but Boyd jumps on him. He smashes Boyd in the side of the head with a rock from the fountain. As Echo watches Boyd fall to the ground she has a flashback to him saving her in ‘The Target’ and does as she is told when he tells her to run. Paul catches up with her and takes her arm again leading her up the stairs. As Boyd leaps over the banister, Echo is pushed and falls down the stairs. They continue to fight. When Paul finally gets Boyd in a vulnerable position and is about to deliver a devastating blow, a hand appears through the riser. Echo pulls at his ankle and he falls forward down the stairs, unconscious. Boyd handcuffs him, tells Echo to stay where she is and that he will come back. She tells him: ‘I trust you’.

Dr Saunders takes Victor into her office to sort out his wounds. As she moves towards her desk, Kepler, looking angry and pretty much evil, appears from behind the door. Claire gasps. He steps forwards and slashes at Victor’s face several times. Claire looks at Kepler in disbelief: ‘Alpha’.

He grabs her by the face and forces her backwards, studying her scars. He says ‘of course’. He explains the scars turn out different every time. He kicks Victor. Alpha asks whether Claire has always wanted to be a doctor. When she replies ‘yes’ he tells her she is lying.

Boyd takes Paul into Adele’s office.

Adele: Did you really think you could just walk into the Dollhouse…when everyone knows it doesn’t exist?

Alpha asks Claire to tell him when she first met him. She describes that he had just signed the forms and had been wiped for the first time and came to her for an exam.
Paul is telling Adele and Boyd that they are in trouble, he is a federal agent. Adele quaffs that he has been suspended and he is ‘no longer protected by those laws’. Paul asks if they can justify and live with what they do to ‘these people’. Adele tells Paul he has been quite a challenge and begins to suggest they can come to a compromise. Adele tells Paul that he knows so many things and asks Boyd if they should put him in the chair.

Echo is still waiting for Boyd. Claire asks her to ‘come here please’ which Echo does. Once inside the office, she sees Victor on the floor. Alpha goes to her and she backs away telling him that she knows him and remembers something about him. He responds: ‘I remember everything about you’.

Alpha takes Echo up the stairs.

Adele tells Boyd she doesn’t need his consent. He responds that she asked for his opinion; Paul has not agreed to be wiped. Adele’s office phone rings and it is Sierra. She tells Adele that the MO is right for their suspect and the name of the victim is Stephen J Kepler. Adele repeats the name to Boyd and he begins to search on the computer. Sierra tells Adele that the man was not killed in Tuscon, he was killed in L.A and planted there.

Boyd pulls up the record of Kepler and that he helped build the Dollhouse. Adele looks on the CCTV as Alpha takes Echo towards the chair.

Adele: Alpha isn’t in Tuscon.

Echo has been imprinted. She looks at Alpha: ‘oh, I know you’. They kiss passionately. Alpha tells her that he always said he’d come rescue her and ‘Echo’ calls him ‘her Prince’.

The elevator door opens as they leave the Dollhouse together.

 

[msfantastico87]

Dollhouse Episode 12 "Omega" recap

[anchor=twelve]Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.[/anchor]

Episode 1.12 "Omega"

Episode starts off with Dr. Claire Saunders running around calling for help.

Saunders: "Help! I need help in here! Victor! He attacked Victor!"
Adelle: "Alpha. We need EMT response. NOW!"
Saunders: "He had a scalpel. He cut..."

Boyd goes on to report that the entrance has been secured and that there is a parked van outside. Adelle then demands a full head count of all the actives and staff, and also demands a complete lock-down of the Dollhouse. EMT and Dollhouse staff are seen in the background rushing towards Victor to aide him.

Saunders: "He came for Echo."

Boyd and Adelle meet up with Topher Brink where they are informed that Echo was indeed taken by Alpha. Topher goes on to explaining that signatures had been taken somehow. Boyd suggests that they may be able to lacate them via Echo's gps tag. Unfortunately, Topher goes on to explain that it would do no good since the gps tag had been dug out of Echo's skin. He then continues to explain that searching for Echo's vitals would be useless. She pretty much disappeared from their radar. Adelle demands to know what personality signature she was implanted with. After Topher tells her he does not know, she demands that they keep searching. Topher looks up to find Dr. Saunders eavesdropping.

Saunders: "He asked me if I always wanted to be a doctor."
Topher: "Heh. Who would fathom the mind of a crazy person?"
Saunders: "The one that made him crazy, maybe."

Saunders then turns around and walks away with a worried look upon her face.

*music plays and we see a freeway*

Alpha is driving on the freeway with Echo in the passenger seat, happy as can be. She proceeds to thank Alpha for her new clothing by kissing him on the lips. As she releases from the kiss, she complains about a pain in her neck from where the gps tag was implanted, stating that it still stings. Alpha insists that he had to take it out and asks Echo is she trusts him. Smiling, she agrees that she does trust him. They start to discuss how much they have been through together and how he took her out of some place when she was 13.

Alpha in deranged voice: "But it never happened. Did you tell her that? Shut up! "
Alpha: "I didn't know you when you were 13."
Alpha in deranged voice: "One of us did."
Alpha: "One of us did."

As Echo applies some makeup, using the rear view mirror for support, Alpha goes on to explaining that he is not the man that Echo thinks he is. Oblivious to what he just said, Echo starts to panic because her favorite Juicy Couture shirt was missing from her shopping bags, and thinks she may have left it behind. Alpha assures her that she's got enough things and that they cannot go back. Of course this upsets her, so she starts complaining and whinning. She looks towards the back seat and we see a woman tied up with her mouth taped shut. Echo continues to complain and starts to blame the tied up woman, who was also the store clerk, for leaving the shirt beind. Finally calming down some, Echo looks at Alpha and decides to rest her head on his shoulder as he wraps his arm around her.

*Opening Credits*

We flashback a year. We see a black van driving around with a woman and a man that are the handlers of the dolls, the woman being Sophie. They are talking to Adelle DeWitt via phone. It appears as though they are having an argument over a client and an active. Adelle goes on to say that she doesn't not care about it as long as they observe the "proceedings". That is when we learn that the active in question is, indeed, Alpha, and that Alpha believes he is being followed. That is when Topher begins to speak frantically, saying that he had warned that the imprint they gave him could cause paranoia. He is at a loss for words after Adelle asks just how lethal this imprint could be.

Music is playing in the background and we see the silhouette of a woman dancing in blue lighting. Alpha shows up and he starts to interrogate a badly beaten man. He then demands to know who is in the black van, but of course, the man does not know. Alpha steps back and we see the woman dancing in the blue lighting again in the background. He walks around to face the mans back and pours some liquor all over the man, covering his cuts with the burning alcohol. As the man screams in pain, Alpha takes a swig of the liquor. Again, we see the woman dancing. Who could this woman be? Alpha continues interrogating. He then threatens the man even more by pulling out a knife and pointing it at the mans face. The man decides to cooperate by telling Alpha that he and the dancing girl are not real, and that they only think that they are on a cross country crime spree. That their relationship isn't real, that they aren't in love, and that he had them hired for fun. This last one apparently upsets Alpha, so he tells the man that the girl is definitely real. He calls the girl over and we finally get to see who our mystery dancer is- Dr. Saunders.

We close up on a map and Adelle and Topher saying that the actives have been located. In the meantime, Alpha and Saunders are kissing each other rather erotically and passionately all over on top of the tortured client, running the knife all over his skin. Suddenly, the doors blow open with a bang and reinforcements rush in and grab hold of Alpha, pinning him against the wall. Saunders immediately grabs the knife and attempts to get to Sophie.

Sophie: "Whiskey would you like a treatment?"

Saunders drops the knife almost instantly and calms down.

Saunders/Whiskey: "Yes please."

Alpha then gets approached and was asked if he too wanted his treatment. He responded by saying he would rather be doing just that. Saunders/Whiskey then thanks the client for "the ride" and both she and Alpha are escorted back to the black van.

Back in real time now, one year forward, we catch up to Adelle walking into her office with Boyd where Paul Ballard has been sitting handcuffed. As Boyd releases him, Adelle takes a file out of her desk and shows it to Ballard. Ballard then proceeds to ask why he is being given a picture of Keplar, and Adelle answers by telling him that the real Keplar's corpse had been found earlier that day. Alpha was merely posing as him, and that Alpha was in fact an active until a year ago(hence the flashback). Other than Alpha's photograph, the file also contained photos of the people Alpha killed. She tells Ballard that Alpha's situation was a technological anomaly. Ballard then claims that the Dollhouse made a killer. This caused Adelle to retaliate by telling Ballard that he was the one that brought said killer to her house, and that he has also taken Echo/Caroline, that last bit of information obviously concerning Ballard. Ballard then gets up to leave but Boyd lets the all know that the house is under lock down because someone had called in a terrorist threat, which Adelle believes is the doing of Alpha. Ballard offers his assistance and heads up to the street to meet up with Tanaka to have him call off the lack down and to let him know that the Dollhouse is, in fact, real. Tanaka calls off the lock down and walks away.

Topher then walks in to deliver some news. Adelle asks him about Echo's imprints and that is when Topher tells her that he was searching for all of Echo's past imprints for a signature, but realized that they were all missing; both the primaries and the back-ups.

Lights turn on, and we see a black leather chair in the middle of a dark and dingy room. Alpha, Echo and the prisoner store clerk walk in. Alpha tells Echo that this place is her new home and that the leather chair is her throne.

We are back at the Dollhouse. Dr. Saunders is tending to Victors cuts. He tells her that he is not his best and proceeds to ask Saunders how he can be his best. She replies by telling him he will no longer be his best and that from now on they will only look upon him with pitty because he is ugly.

*flashback*

Dr. Saunders is in his office when Sophia walks in with Whiskey. She tells him that Whiskey came back from engagement with a pain in her shoulder. Saunders hands her a lollipop and she goes ahead and sits so that Saunders can examine her. Sophia gets called in to greet the new active pre-Echo. As Saunders tends to Whiskey, we see Alpha watching pre-Echo walk around with Adelle as she is given the rundown of the place.

*End Flashback*

Adelle, Boyd, Topher and Ballard are all gathered surrounding the chair. Adelle tells Topher that Ballard is going to assist in gathering Alpha and Echo. Topher is hesitant at first but in the end agrees to go through it. November and Sierra walk in to get imprinted so that they can help Ballard achieve his goal.

Meanwhile, Alpha has placed Wendy the store clerk on the chair in the middle of the room and explains to Echo that he is going to take her and put her on the wedge. Echo doesn't quite understand what is going on so Alpha lashes out at her, then switches to being Bobby to console her and kiss her as the chair turns on and wedges Wendy.

*Flashback*

Echo is walking through a corridor in the Dollhouse and Alpha is watching her closely. He approaches her and they exchange greetings, but Alpha kisses her. Alpha's handler then walks in and tells Echo that she is needed for a treatment and then proceeds to warn Alpha about his actions, because had it been Adelle, he would've been in the Attic by now. He walks away, leaving Alpha to watch Echo on her way to get treatment.

*End Flashback*

November and Sierra get imprinted to help Ballard. Sierra flirts with Ballard for a while and then both dolls walk out.

Back in the old dingy room, Alpha keeps slipping back and forth between Bobby and his other personalities. Wendy is no longer screaming in pain from being wedged.

Echo: "Bobby you're scaring me."
Alpha as Bobby: "Little lamb, what do you got to be scared of?"
Alpha deranged: "I'll tell you what! There is only one person that can hurt you now, and that's what we are going to take care of."

*close up on the wedge that Alpha is holding*

Back at the dollhouse, Ballard is trying to classify what kind of killer Alpha is, and who he is after. Topher explains to him that there is no real way to classify him since he is, after all more than one person. He has 48 full personalities inside him, thus making him more than one person, and which also made him snap. Because of this, he has no real pattern, and he is just on a random killing spree;no real target. Ballard wanted to know who Alpha was trying to go for. Topher replied by saying the staff, his handler, and Dr. Saunders.

Ballard: "Who did he go after the moment he had the chance?"
Topher: "Himself."

Boyd and Ballard await for an explanation. When Alpha snapped, he went to Tophers lab and took his own primary imprint of himself and smashed it to bits. Ballard then asks to see Caroline's original wedge and Topher comes back with it in his hand, smashed to bits as well.

Boyd: "You have a backup right?"
Topher: "That was the back up."
Ballard: "Where is the original?"

We then see Wendy waking up from the imprint. Alpha looks at her.

Alpha: "Hello Caroline"
Wendy/Caroline: "Has it been five years?"

She looks at Echo and realizes that she is not in her own body and demands to know who's body she is in. Alpha goes on to tell her that is doesn't matter. He tells Echo that Caroline is the reason she has done so much wrong and that Caroline abandoned her when she needed her most and then looks at Echo and tells her that she can evolve without Caroline.

*Flashback*

Echo and other actives are grooming Bansai trees. Alpha keep sclose watch on Echo. Sophia approaches Whiskey and tells her it's time for her treatment. After overhearing Sophia talk to another member of the staff about Whiskey being number one, Alpha tells Whiskey to let Echo be number one and proceeds to cut Whiskeys face with the scissors he was using to trim the trees.Dollhouse staff see what is happening and immediately go to escort Alpha over to the chair. They believe that what caused him to do this to Whiskey is that he may still have some of the personality he last used from his previous engagement. his handler offers him a treatment so that Topher can see what is wrong, and Alpha complies, until he kicks his handler out of the way, causing the man to topple over some of Topher's equipment, which makes the chair go crazy and implant every single imprint Alpha has ever used back into his brain at once. 48 personalities. One brain.

*End Flashback*

Ballard, Topher, Boyd, and Adelle are in her office. They are all trying to explain to Ballard that Alpha is more than one person. He is now everyone he was imprinted with. Topher then says he will try and figure out which imprint he used on Echo.

Back at the hideout, Wendy/Caroline is strapped to a chair as alpha is putting the finishing touches on Echo before putting her under the influence of the chair. Caroline tries to convince them not to go through with it but Echo wants to become a superior creature. Alpha tells Caroline that Echo will kill her. A life from a death. Alpha turns on the chair.

Alpha: "Alpha, meet Omega."

As Echo is getting imprinted, we see inside her head every single personality she has ever been imprinted with in the past. Echo wakes up and grabs a pipe and walks over to Caroline. She raises the pipe about to hit Caroline with it and does a full 180 degree turn and hits Alpha with it instead right against his head.

Echo: "Now I understand everything."

Adelle hands Alpha's original file over to Ballard and tells him that his real name is Carl William Craft, a prisoner that had a long sentence that exchanged it for 5 year service at the Dollhouse. We learn that Carl was taken in for kidnapping and attempted murder. his attempted murder victim is still alive and Ballard and Boyd decide to go pay her a visit.

Alpha snaps out of it and he begins to argue that his plan may not have worked. Echo assures him that it worked just fine and that it was horrible for him to do that and want her to kill herself (points at Wendy/Caroline). Alpha says that they are no longer the same person and that they are now gods. Echo begs to differ. She says that even though they are now multiple personalities they are nobody because they are everybody. She understands and can feel 38 of her personalities trying to be her. She understands that non of them are really her and that she is just a container. She still blames Caroline for abandoning her. Alpha and Echo fight with pipes

Meanwhile, Ballard and Boyd arrive at Anita Walsh's apartment-Alpha's attempted murder victim. They ring her doorbell and Ballard tells her that he's from the FBI and would like to ask her a few questions about Carl Craft via the intercom. She agrees to come down and talk to them, mostly because she doesn't allow strangers in her home. She arrives at the ground floor to meet up with them and we see that her face is badly cut in the face in the same way that Whiskey was cut.

Alpha and Echo continue battling it out. He says things to Echo and she merely responds telling him that she may not know who she is but she knows who she is not, and that she is not his girlfriend. She give him a final blow and he lays there. She unties Caroline and tells her what now. Caroline tells her that they need to put Caroline back in the wedge and put Wendy back inside her own body. Echo asks why Caroline doesn't want to just go back into her own body. Caroline says that she did sign a contract. Echo rebuttals by saying that the 38 people in her brain all agree that it is a form of slavery and that it's wrong, especially now that there is a black president. At this, Caroline agrees to put herself back into Echo's(her own) body. Suddenly a gunshot and Caroline is shot in the neck/artery, killing her almost instantly. Alpha is holding a gun up to Caroline's wedge and threatens to shoot it.

Topher continues looking for the imprint that Alpha may have used on Echo. He gets a phone call from Boyd with Ballard asking him about a specific engagement that happened in San Pedro. According to the victim, she was held captive here for three days and she managed to escape and was found at the side of the road by police. Topher immediately knew what he was talking about because it was an engagement that Alpha did with Whiskey. He then gives Boyd the address from when this happened. He gets curious and checks the imprint. It turns out Alpha used an old Whiskey imprint on Echo.

Alpha tells Echo that he is going to take the Caroline imprint and put it right back inside of her brain. Then he says he is going to imprint random girls and gorily explains how he will kill them. He demands that she get on the chair, and at first she complies, but then she snaps and she can see that Alpha like scissors and knives. That's when she realized that Alpha hurt Whiskey because of her. Alpha threatens to shoot Caroline's imprint and Echo dares him to do it, because at the end of the day, they will both come after him. Alpha then shoots her in the shoulder.

Alpha runs out and he is outside and we can see that they are in some kind of power plant. Echo runs after him. He climbs up some stairs with Echo close behind, so he tries shooting at her. At this point Boyd and Ballard arrive; this is the place that Topher had told them to go. They see a car parked outside and decided to proceed with caution. As they were about to enter the room, Alpha shoots at them from the stairs. They go after him, and realize Echo is up there.

Echo is close behind Alpha. He teases Echo with the wedge and throws it over his shoulder. Luckily it landed on a metal beam high in the structure they are on. She gets on the beam and attempts to grab the wedge, which slips her fingers and falls. Fortunately, Ballard was there to catch it.

In Topher's lab, he walks in to find Dr. Saunders standing there looking over the house through the big window. Topher asks her why she is there. She simply replies by telling him that she thinks he gave her more computer skills than required for a doctor. He looks over to his computer and finds that Whiskey's file had been opened. She says she can understand what happened.

Saunders: "Why hire a new physician when you can fix a broken doll?"

She finds it odd that he imprinted hate towards him on her. She turns to walk out and Topher asks her why she didn't open the file. He wanted to know why she wasn't curious about who she was. She replies by saying she knows who she was, then walks out.

Adelle and Boyd are in her office and they confirm for us that Alpha is still on the run. However, Adelle is certain they will find Alpha with their new contractor, which just happens to be Paul Ballard (as long as they give Mellie/November her freedom with with her full pay of her contract.) Adelle calls her in to sign the paperwork.

Echo gets wiped. Dr. Saunders is tending to Victor. Dr. Saunders offers Victor a lollipop before he leaves. Ballard asks Mellie for her real name. Her name is Madeline. Echo feels Topher's heartbeat and then leaves. The dolls then go to their room to sleep.

Echo: "Caroline."

*End Credits*

 

[msfantastico87]

Dollhouse Episode 13 "Epitaph One" recap

Please do not reproduce this recap without permission. Linking to this page is fine.

[anchor=thirteen]Episode 1.13 "Epitaph One"[/anchor]

We begin by seeing a woman wearing a large backpack and holding a pistol. She looks around a dark, dingy alleyway, with fires and dirt, and takes out her walkie-talkie. She gives her location to a man named Griff and mentions her name is Mag. She let's Griff know to come in softly and then tosses the walkie. She sits on the dirty floor and stares. She starts to cry to herself with a worried look. The camera looks up above over her head and gets a clear shot of the place right after the alleyway. People are running around like crazy, fires everywhere, fighting each other.

"Dollhouse" appears on the screen.

It's Los Angeles. The year 2019. Griff and two other people and a little girl with her father are with him, loaded with guns and backpacks, meet up with Mag. They are running from something. They argue about possibilities, and then they agree that going underground is the safest way out. One of the guys, Zone, runs out into the fighting crowd, and Lynn, one of the other people in the group, pretends to be the little girls mother. Zone gets on top of a car and starts shooting at people, creating a distraction so that the rest of the group can go by unharmed. They find a ladder leading underground and climb down it. They are surrounded by large pipes, and Mag and Zone start to argue about carrying the little girl and her father. They say they don't want to be surrounded by her fathers kind and that they can only roll with "actuals". Zone wants to tell the little girl about them "unplugging" her father but Griff calms him down and tells them they are going to see what happens and then ditch the father. There is a radio turned on , but all you can hear is static. Close by, is the corpse of a man and his dog. They go down a tunnel that leads further down underneath. Lynn finds a hole in the ground, and tells everyone to check it out. Griff lights a flare and tosses it in the hole. It's not a very deep hole, as they can see by how fast the flare reached hardwood floors. The group realizes someone is after them so they all decided to go down into the hole in the ground. Griff and Zone set traps around the hole so that no one will go in. Once down the hole, they realize they are not in a sewer.

Lynn: "It looks like a spa."

It is actually a very empty Dollhouse. THE Dollhouse.

They all split up to find a generator since they realized they just walked into a paradise, meaning there is air and electricity, but it wasn't meant to be found by anyone, so they are keeping their eyes peeled for anyone who may be there already. As they look around, the camera goes up into the lab and focuses on the chair, covered in a plastic sheet. Somehow, the plastic covering comes off.

Mag, Zone, the little girl and her father all walk into Topher's room/ lab. They think it's some sort of daycare, with some very powerful tech. The lights turn on and they get a good look at the dollhouse. As the little girls sits and plays with some of Topher's toys, Mag and Zone open a set of double glass doors only to reveal a clear shot of the chair. Lynn and Griff meet up with them. They all gather around the chair and feel something about it, like they have seen it before. Griff turns on the screen attached to the chair and Zone freaks out and points his gun at it. Griff assures him that there is no signal down there so they should be fine, and Zone calms down. Griff then tells the group that the chair is used for imprinting and they all startle a bit. Griff slightly calms them down when he tells them the chair can also load memories. They all look at the father and Griff says there is only one way to find out and suggests loading a memory into the father. They all start to argue about this. Zone points uot that they all agreed to live without tech, but Griff suggests they stop running and see if the chair can give them a cure. Everyone but Zone agrees to load a memory into the fathers brain, and Zone walks out. They tie the father into the chair, and Griff loads one single memory, instead of a whole persona into him. When the chair is done, they all draw their weapons as precaution. We learn here the fathers name.

Mr. Miller: "Did I fall asleep?"

Griff asks Miller if he remembers anything. He replies that he does remember talking to a man.

*start memory*

Adelle is in her office speaking to a man about a something he wants. He tells Adelle he wants an active to fall in love with him. Adelle tells him no, because if they were to do that, the active would fall completely in love; not just emotionally, but chemically as well. She suggests that there must be something else the man wants badly enough. As she hands the man some tea, she tells him that an active is just like a genuine human contact he will have with them.

*end memory*

Zone is laughing, saying that he can't believe that all this amazing technology was made to create more believable hookers. He points out that even thought they were not hookers, they were only available to the wealthiest people. Lynn acompanies the little girl to the restroom with a gun. As she does that, they load another memory into Miller's brain.

*start memory*

Adelle walks Topher into his lab. She lets him know that they are standing in the programming center. Topher lets Adelle know that he will require some more things like a refrigerator and some throw pillows. Adelle takes him into the room with the chair to show him the imprinting process. They watch as they techs are imprinting a young man. Dominic tells Topher that it takes them roughly 2 hours to imprint someone. Topher says that it's ridiculously long and can cut the load time by more than half simply by dumping the entire imprint and the memories just kind of fall in place, instead of just loading everything in chronologically. Dominic asks what if the brain turns to jelly. Topher responds by saying that one should not underestimate the power of the human brain. Adelle tells Dominic to get Topher a refrigerator.

*end memory*

Meanwhile, Lynn and the little girl(which we later learn her name is Iris Miller) stumble upon a huge shower. they get close and the shower turns on automatically, startling the two. Lynn feels the water and realizes it's hot water. She tells Iris to go use the bathroom while she takes a shower and not to worry because she will be nearby. Lynn immediately undresses and leaves her gun and flashlight on the floor, and starts to shower. As she does this, someone walks by, and she feels their presence. She looks around worriedly and then just continues to shower with her eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the water. When she opens her eyes we see the hand of someone clobbering her with her own flashlight in the head.

Back at the imprinting room, they load another memory into Mr. Miller.

*start memory*

Topher walks into the imprinting room and finds Echo waiting for him in the chair. He greets her and asks her if she would like a treatment. She replies yes and he tells her to lay down on the chair. As the imprint is happening, he tells Ballard, who is standing right in front of Echo, who he is imprinting her with. He lets Ballard know that he imprinted her with the persona of a Russian woman that speaks no English. When she wakes up, she is looks up at the both of them and starts speaking in a different language and very enthused. She and Ballard get into the elevator and she tells Topher goodbye in Russian language. Ballard asks her how she is feeling and she replies, in English, that she is not feeling quite as good as new, but that he needs to pick up the pace, and that the headaches she has been getting have been getting worse. At that moment, Echo starts to get a terribly painful headache.

*End memory*

Iris is screaming at the top of her lungs. Zone, Mag and Griff come running in to the showers only to find Lynn laying on the floor naked and dead with blood all over her.Guns drawn, they cautiously walk down the corridors of the dollhouse. As they make their way through, they agree to try and use the tech to find a cure.

*start memory*

Dr. Claire Saunders and Boyd Langdon are in Saunders office. He is packing up some things he may need like medical supplies and clothing as Saunders asks where he is going. He tells her he will not tell her since Echo is already in danger and doesn't want the same to happen to her. Saunders starts to cry, worried and wishing they had more time. The hug each other, and Boyd promises to come back for her. Boyd walks out.

*end memory*

We see Zone tattooing Iris's name onto her back in case if she ever gets imprinted, she will always know who she is. As Mag is about to walk out, Iris tells her that they do not need to tattoo her dad because he doesn't not know who he is anymore. Mag meets up with Griff and they start talking about needing real food, and how the dollhouse has running water, no signal, air and how they should set up there, if they can find the source of Lynn's death and kill it first. Griff realizes that the source, just found them. There is a woman smack dab in the middle of the Dollhouse, wearing a white gown, almost ghost-like. She has brown, shoulder length hair and is pale white. We see her face and it is Claire Saunders/ Whiskey.

Whiskey: "I found your friend."

Mag, Zone and Griff rush towards Whiskey with their weapons drawn directly at her. They ask who she is and she simply tells them her name is Whiskey. They ask for a last name and a place of birth and she says she does not know. Griff asks her if she killed Lynn and Whiskey replies that she merely found her, that she was sleeping. Zone at this point, really wants to put an end to Whiskey because they all know she is an active. Mag then asks her how she got down there and Whiskey tells her that she's always been there.

Whiskey: "Are you looking for safe haven?"

*everyone looks at each other in disbelief*

Mag: "What do you know about safe haven?"
Griff: "It's a myth."
Zone: "She's empty!"
Whiskey: "Where no one can be changed. You die as you were born. Heart in concert with the mind."

She tells the group that she can take them to safe haven by showing them the way. They head back up to the imprinting room. The group is looking for some kind of secret door, but Whiskey tells them that the way to safe haven is through the chair. Basically, the way to safe haven is to find out through one of the memories. Zone, of course, has trouble with this theory because he thinks she wants to imprint them. He argues that instead of finding food, they are playing with tech. Whiskey tells them where they can find food: in the kitchen.

*start memory*

Victor is in the kitchen eating some crab legs. Adelle and Topher are in the kitchen as well and Victor says that Adelle does not recognize him. Adelle realizes that it's Ambrose, and he tells her that "this" is now a service that they provide, upgrades.Ambrose says that for a hefty sum of money, they will let a client take full control of an active, to replace the clients previous body. He also describes it of a way for someone to have endless opportunities and for them to never have the fear of dying. Adelle refuses to let them do anything of the the sort to her actives. She is describing it as stealing someones body and that it is unlawful to humanity and that she will not allow it no matter how much they pay her. Ambrose tells Adelle that she does have a choice, but that it will not matter because as they are speaking, he is having the same exact conversation with ten other houses, in ten different bodies. He then gives Adelle the ultimatum.

*end memory*

Iris and Griff are in the imprint room with Mr. Miller after he woke up from his memory. She asks Griff if the chair can "take people our of people and put them in other people". Griff responds yes, and suddenly Iris takes out a gun and shoots Griff twice. He falls to the floor, dead. Iris unties one of Mr. Miller's hands and plants the gun into it. She heads over the a corner of the room and screams.

Mal and Zone rush up to the imprinting room and find Griff laying on the floor. Iris is still screaming and saying that her father was angry. Griff sees that Mr. Miller had the gun in his hands and escorts him out of the room. Whiskey walks in and searches for something on the chair and tells Mag that she will help them find safe haven. She sits on the chair and imprints herself.

*start memory*

Dominic throws Adelle onto the couch with a gun pointing directly at her face. After she tells him she sent for him, he asks why after everything that happened, the attic and his body.They start to talk about what is currently happening. People are imprinting other people, and some people are imprinting themselves. For example, a middle aged man crying because he didn't want to go to kindergarten. They are not sure if someone imprinted the man, or if he was sick enough to imprint himself. Adelle tells Dominic that there is a block to the tech that has been released to the public, like a defense against being imprinted.

Dominic: "Topher has a cure?"
Adelle: "Caroline has it."
Dominic: "Which one is Caroline?"

*end memory*

Zone takes Mr. Miller to the showers, and lets him walk in front of him, and shoots Mr. Miller in the back of the head. Meanwhile, back at the imprinting room, Mag is trying to find a memory of Caroline's but there are none to be found. Whiskey points out to the rectangular hole in the chair, but she doesn't remember what goes in there (we know from previous episodes that this hole is where the wedges go in). Zone walks in and Iris asks what happened to her dad, to which he simply responds that he is dead. Whiskey loads another memory into her brain.

*start memory*

Victor and Sierra are in some kind of armory in the dollhouse. They start to argue about her headaches and about going above ground. Victor doesn't want her to end up like November. He says the safest thing would be to stay in the dollhouse, cut off the lines and remain on lock down. She hugs him and asks if they've ever known anything other than lock down. When they release from the hug, Victor notices that she has blood on her back. She lefts up her shirt to show him the tattoo of her real name, just so that she could always remember who she is. Victor says he wants to show her something and reveals a secret cubby hole behind a panel in the wall. It contains wedges from the lab, so that no matter what happens, they have a back-up. There is one for everyone, even Caroline.

*end memory*

Mag, Iris, and Zone are in the exact same spot that Victor and Sierra were during the memory. Mag is looking for the panel and Zone is telling Iris that it's just the three of them now so it's time to give her a gun. She replies that she is scared of them and he gives her directions on how ot use it. Mag finds the panel by breaking past a barrier.She opens the panels and finds the wedges. They head back to the imprint room and being the wedges with them. They decide to load whiskey with each wedge until they find Caroline's. Iris walks in and points the gun at them. They realize that she is the one that has been killing them. Iris tells them that she has no idea how she got into the little girls body, but that the chair is her only way out. She tells the lot that she wants Mag's body and that either Mag or Whiskey will lead the way, points her gun at Zone, and pulls the trigger. Unfortunately for her, the gun was not loaded. Zone picks her up and places her in the chair. They start to imprint her. Mag asks him how he knew and he replies by saying that he saw Mr. Millers tattoo after killing him, and it did not say Miller.

*start memory*

Adelle and the actives are in lock down in the dollhouse. No electricity. The actives are all surrounding candles that each places with some word about wishing to be able to go outside soon. Saunders walks in and hands some medication to Adelle, telling her that "he" won't take his meds without her. Adelle walks into one of the actives dormitories and finds Topher in one of the pods, writing against the walls. By the looks of Topher's condition, he has clearly gone mad. He tells Adelle of a scheme that may happen. A government making an army programmed to kill anyone that is not programmed to kill anyone. He starts to mumble which of the two sides would be worse.

Topher: "An army in an instant.That's brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?" Silence."Did I think of that?" Silence. "Did I?"

He then realizes that he was the one that he was the one that thought of it and thinks he is arrogant. He then starts to ramble and Adelle jumps in to the pod with him to console him and hug him.

Suddenly there is a loud banging coming from a closed off, ceramic wall. Victor, Adelle and some more actives rush towards it, guns at the ready. Once the wall is busted through, they all realize that it is Echo and Ballard.

Echo: "Home sweet home."

Saunders is in her office trying to close a rather large wound on Echo's leg. Echo is surprised that she is still there after they had fixed Sunders face. She tells Saunders that thanks to Alpha, there is a place where there is not imprinting. She tells Saunders that she needs Topher to make another copy of herself, but Topher no longer imprints, and Saunders offers to do it. She tells her that she knows where to go and needs to make a copy of herself in case anything were to happen, and if later down the road someone needs to know what happened. Ballard is giving instructions to the rest of the actives. Echo/Caroline is planning on taking them all with her to that place. Adelle tells her that she's already made up her mind.

*end memory*

Mag to Iris: "Caroline?"
Caroline: "Yes."

Caroline (in Iris' body) sees Whiskey in the corner and rushes to thank her thinking she is Saunders, but Whiskey says her active name. So all Caroline can do is say thank you for helping Mag and Zone find her.

Whiskey: "Was I my best?"
Caroline: "Better."

Caroline explains how Whiskey chose to stay behind, risking the chance to go insane. They all start packing for the long trip to safe haven and start to leave when the trap goes off and people make their way down into the dollhouse. They all tell Whiskey to come along, but she insists that she needs to wait there. They fight their way through, shooting at the people below, towards the elevator shaft. Whiskey goes to a power breaker looking room. As Mag, Zone, and Caroline make their way up the elevator shaft, Whiskey flips three switches, which release a gas throughout the dollhouse. The gas kills everyone down below instantly. Whiskey goes back to the main room looking down at all the bodies and sits there, in the middle of the gas. Mag, Caroline and Zone reach the top of the elevator shaft, which leads to Adelle's office. a look out the window and we get a post-apocalyptic feel of what's going on out there.

Mag:"Is this what we needed?
Caroline: "No. Kids playing with matches."

Around the room we see sleeping bags, some food and pictures on a wall with a heading that reads :To Remember: We see pictures of Sierra, November, Victor, and finally Caroline.Caroline takes her picture off the wall and stares at it while telling them tha tshe wishes they find her alive. She then puts the picture back on the wall. They head towards the window, where there awaits a ladder. We see them climb up the ladder and then the camera does a close-up of Caroline's picture.

*end credits*