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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]
[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]
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]