Echo's Journey To Enlightenment

[Josh Raven]

Hello. I'm Josh Raven and I'm a Dollhouse fan. And I thought of doing a thread that would document Echo's journey from a doll into a hero. Largely because of the growing annoyance of seeing people say how there seems to be no direction for the show, or how Echo has no personality nor growth and other similar things. I see these continous things from the first episode and I want to point my finger at them so people would stop spewing such nonsense. But first let me tell you how I interpret the show.

Everyone's a doll. Every person constructs him/herself an identity and calls it his/her real nature. But the so-called real person - Caroline for example - is as fake as any person the actives are given. But when the actives are stripped from their own lies - turned into Eden-like Adam/Eve like people - in that stripped form is when their true nature has a chance to appear. True, as actives they are given the lies of powers that be as identity's to be... but so is every person in the world. Your local church authority gives you your religious identity, your local peer group you are attracted towards gives you your political/national/whatever identity... and so on, basically everyone lives a lie. The dolls are just the mirror image of society under a magnifying glass. But in that stripped form their true being emerges. Alpha's true being was wrong, before he got wrong. But Dollhouse is about how Echo finds her true being - enlightenment. She's like that guy in the cave who decides to sit in an opposite direction and discovers that she's in a cave, because she now saw the opening.

So basically my documentation of Echo's journey will be largely influenced by my own anti-authoritarian extremely individualistic philosophical biases. For me Echo is a Buddha-like figure. But before I start, I just thought I'd wait if you guys are okay with this. If you tell me to **** off then **** off I shall. Anyway, I'm now going to write my thing for Ghost. My idea is to just first write general impressions about things worth noticing and then I'll give my own interpretation for these events.

And I apologize if I give out any unlikeable vibe, or I'm coming on too strong or whatever... these first introductions always come out a bit awkward. For me at least.

---------- Post added at 04:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:06 PM ----------

GHOST

General Impressions: Well, this is my first time rewatching Dollhouse. And you know, my mouth was probably even more wide open than in the first time. It was just so... like I now could see the true brilliance, the true genius of this show. It was just that illuminating. Or felt like it anyway.

For example Paul. That scene where he is talking with his superiors and where it flashes back to the scene where he is boxing... it was like I was watching it for the first time. I didn't remember this scene anymore, which of course implies that back then I probably didn't think much of this scene, but now... now it was pure "Oh. My. God." That I couldn't see it before, but now I saw and I understood and it rocked my world. It felt like such an important and brilliant scene of foreshadowing. It foreshadowed Paul's arc for this season. That moment when he, after getting his ass kicked, rises up and unmercifies his opponent... that was Paul defined. It was amazing. Period.

Now of course, whether it's a good or a bad thing that only now I can appreaciate the brilliance of these moments with the foreknowledge is a whole different matter. But it is good that an episode can offer such surprises even in repeat viewings.

Also I had forgotten how much screentime Boyd used to have in these earlier episodes. I've missed that guy. In the beginning of the show he and his relationship with Echo seemed to be really important. Of course Boyd made an impressive comeback in Belonging.

Which brings me to the scene where Echo is being Echo and just curiously peeks around and then she sees Sierra, well in this moment she's still Priya, getting wiped. And Priya cries. Completely forgettable in the first time. But now we know what those tears meant. I had the whole episode of Belonging flashing back to me when I saw those tears. Just beautiful.

And Topher. There are a lot of meaningful glances between Topher and Whiskey, which now in post-Omega world, reveals that Saunders was already somewhat aware. When Echo goes to Topher, when he is doing the first wipe on Sierra, and the way Saunders acts – it's very similar to the rats moment in Vows. And now I knew what those glances meant. Guilt. Pain. Hatred.

There where also those funny moments where I remembered what I thought about this or that scene, when I watched it for the first time. For example the beginning – the scene with Adelle and Caroline.

Adelle: Nothing is what it appears to be.
Caroline: It seems pretty clear to me.
Adelle: Because you're only seeing part of it. I'm talking about a clean slate.
Caroline: You ever try and clean an actual slate? You always see what was on it before.
Adelle: Are you volunteering?
Caroline: I don't have a choice, do I? How did it get this far?
Adelle: Actions have consequences.
Caroline: God, you're loving this.
Adelle: I'm sorry you don't understand what I'm offering here. But what we do helps people. And if you become a part of that it can help you.
Caroline: Right, you're just looking out for me.
Adelle: Perhaps better than you have. We can take care of this mess.
Caroline: I don't deserve this. I was just trying to make a difference. Trying to just take my place in the world, like she always said, but now...

I had no idea. I just didn't know.

And when the motorbike scene started and Echo danced and fooled around, I thought I was watching some new sci-fi spy show. And I also thought that the guy that Echo was with was stupid and his lines were stupid. But now they were like "oh my."

Or Victor. I remember how I thought that he was such a silly stereotype. Now I of course, especially after post-Belle Chose girly dance, know that Victor is awesome... but it was just funny how wrong I was.

So the general impression from the re-viewing is basically wow. It's all there in the beginning.

Echo's Journey To Enlightenment

In that moment where that mexican rich guy confronts Echo and says that why would these men do that do you – that's the moment where Echo surfaces. And in the end, the one who saves that girl, the one who argues with Boyd, the one who goes to Topher – that's Echo. That's Echo dealing with the experience of one raped and dead girl and overcoming that trauma – hence the title Ghost. "You can't kill a ghost!" Echo avenges that girl and saves the other girl. The Ghost reappeared from the past to finally put an end to that man's evil. But it was Echo's choice to allow that Ghost to reappear. It's in these moments where the imprinted girl and Echo overlap and mix in such a way that there's no clear way to tell where one begins or the other ends. Echo is the driving force behind this Ghost finding peace. However she isn't yet self-aware as Echo. But Miss Penn went bye-bye and existed only as much as Echo allowed her to exist.

Foreshadowing: Paul's boxing scene, Echo surfacing in that balcony scene, Topher/Saunders relationship, and some creepy guy in a room with dead bodies sending information to Paul.

.......

So like what I'm doing? Shall I continue? Or stop now?

Edit: I shall say this that I wasn't actually expecting when I was in my opinion writing a new post that these posts would merge with each other. Is there a trick to this?

 

[Josh Raven]

TARGET

General Impressions: Dollhouse is all about slow patient revealing of it's mysteries. It's a layered amazing show, to be peeled slowly.

And this episode also provided one of the first revelations. That scene in the past when Echo talks about that nice "heavy" guy - the one that basically is a repeat of "I've finally found the right guy/You're good people" scene from Ghost. That was one of the first "whoa!" moments for me in Dollhouse. It was like "whoa Boyd, I totally get you now."

I'm not a fan of the original pilot, because discovering all those things that the original pilot throwed at you immediately, was one of the better things of season 1. I have a 5-page essay for that already written in my head, but now's not the time.

Anyway, I just love how Paul walks. He just has a such a nice stride.

And the introduction of Miracle Laurie. For me it was love from the first sight. This is what I love about Joss Whedon shows - the casting. Always amazing casting.

Echo's Journey to Enlightenment

One of the prominent themes in Dollhouse is the human being at it's most basic. The deepest core being. Remember Firefly's episode War Stories? It's torture subject? How torture is all about revealing who you really are? And of course, Mal was revealed to be awesome, but that's beside the point.

Basically what Alpha does, is what that guy did to Mal - he forces Echo to awaken. For Echo to become self-aware. And I really enjoyed those scenes where Echo sees all those past imprints. "I'm all those people and yet I am none of those people." You know, I really should do a post dedicated entirely to a buddhist interpretation of Dollhouse - the more religious one with reincarnations and stuff, not my own secular philosophical version.

Anyway, it's about throwing people down the volcano, so you could know who they really are. Or whatever that Firefly quote was. As in, the true nature of one is revealed under torture. However Alpha doesn't want to know who Echo is, he thinks he knows who Echo is. He wants Echo to know who she is. So he creates situations for her where she has to go down to her instincts, her deepest core. Alpha hopes Echo will become like he is - a natural born killer. Alpha is lonely and wants a Queen at his side. However Echo, reaching that awakening after Alpha forced her, chooses a different path. And we will see that choice in Gray Hour, but more of that later.

And that scene in the end, when she does that hand to the shoulder thing? That rocked my world. Post-Belle Chose world, because back then I didn't notice it. In Belle Chose Echo says "goodness gracious!" when watching the body of her recent imprint die. It seemed like that bad guy was still in Echo, but no... she does the same thing here. It's something completely else. It wasn't Echo being "possessed", but it's what she does. These traits she adapts are usually involved in very intense situations that leave a mark, that goes down to her deepest core, and so become part of her.

Foreshadowing: Echo's "shoulder to the wheel" in the end foreshadows that she's somewhat aware that Dominic is a threat to her.

Grading: That "crazy hunter guy who hunts people" plot was a bit too similar. I've seen that plot in of those CSI-like shows. And this episode didn't provide that many "oh my god, it all makes sense from the beginning" moments in rewatching than Ghost did. But the introduction of Alpha, and all those flashback scenes and Boyd-centricness deliver this episode pretty close to heaven for me. So B+. Yeah, I really don't have a system for reviewing, I usually grade them on whim.

---------- Post added at 12:55 AM ---------- Previous post was Yesterday at 11:11 PM ----------

STAGE FRIGHT

General Impressions: The semi-musical episode. At least we can see that Eliza can sing. This was the first episode to start revealing the actives - Victor's revelation was just very awesome. Also Victor's scene with Mellie gives us the false signals that Mellie could be in danger of somewhat from Dollhouse if she keeps mingling with Ballard. I just love it. I think this is also the last episode in where all the stock footage from the original pilot is done with. Oh wait, there's still the pool scene which we get in the next episode.

Well, in rewatching my opinion of this episode got better as I can now understand the ideas and themes behind this episode, but this is still very non-Dollhousey episode. It's very typical, this could be a Quantum Leap episode where Scott Bakula has to fix people's lives. Quantum Leap is awesome, but this episode was so typical of tv. True, all of these first 5 episodes use very familiar tropes or scenarios, but Stage Fright really nails hit with non-Dollhousyness.

It's about a singer, a pop star, who feels like she is a prisoner of her own fame. She's just a fantasy, not a real human being, imprinted with society's desires and she wants to become free. Yes she's supposed to mirror Echo's own situation in Dollhouse, but there's just something very tiresome and uninspired about her tale.

The song Freedom is supposed to be very meaningful when it plays in the end, and while yeah it's good to know that Eliza can sing, it has somewhat the opposite effect from "The Devil That You Know" scene in Needs. Okay it's not that bad, but I'd rather have had Echo alone singing that song. In her dollstate. That would have been deep.

However the last act is more into awesome. But that is the subject of my next category.

Echo's Journey to Enlightenment: Echo is programmed to be a friend with this superstar. She is supposed to be very protective of her. However, the episode starts with a small wonderful scene from Echo and Sierra.

Sierra trips, Echo grabs 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."

So in the end Sierra gets kidnapped. Echo and Sierra are both imprinted. Echo is supposed to be protective of that popstar. However what happens is that Echo kicks the popstar unconscious and is seemingly going to trade her life for Sierra's. Actually, she is going to trade. It's just that the circumstance allows her to save both Sierra's life and help the popstar to deal with her meaningless existence. But the underlying "friends help each other out" theme is just so powerful and one of the best things about this episode.

Foreshadowing: I think we get some signals that there is something inherently unlikeable about Sierra's handler. Also the end scene where Echo and Sierra walk pass each other, we see how aware Echo is of her surroundings. And that denying nod which says "too many people looking at us now." Beautiful.

Grading: Powerful underlying Dollhouse themes, but overall the episode feels very non-Dollhousey. C. Or possibly B-. Depends on how I rate future episodes.

 

[Josh Raven]

Kinslayer: "The trick to not get posts merged is to have patience and not post that often. 😉 I think 2 hours or maybe even 1 is enough."

Thanks for the tip. It did surprise the hell out of me when that happened.

 

[Josh Raven]

GRAY HOUR

I think my posts are starting to improve.

General Impressions: Whoa. This episode is just so much better than the previous. It just more playful. From the first scene we can see... okay, not from the first scene. But there's a very wonderful Dollhousey scene in the beginning which really just inspires.

Echo: "I swam 30 laps today."
Sierra: "Good for you."
Echo: "I'm tired now."
Sierra: "It's important to exercise. I try to be my best."
Echo: "Are you?"
Sierra: "Excuse me?"
Echo: "Are you your best?"
Sierra: "I'm not sure how to know that."
Echo: "I think if you always try, that's best, right?"
Victor: "Every day is a chance to be better."

Pure ****ing poetry. Echo is very wonderfully inquisitive that way. Notice how suprised she was by the fact that other people don't know if they are their best.

And then we get a wonderful misleading scene that makes us think that Echo's on a sexual mission only... only for us to be proven so wrong. There's energy in this episode. Okay, so the greek government hiring thieves to get it's national treasures back from museums of the world is also from somekinda procedural show (like all these plots for the first 5 episodes are)... but unlike the previous episode where the "same old" took too much of the episode's time, this episode really just kicks it quickly with Echo getting remotely wiped. Eliza was really awesome in this episode. Her Taffy personality was just pure fun, but she was just poetic as wiped Echo. Especially in this moment.

Echo: "This one is broken."
Wounded Thief-Guy: "Look who's talking."
*Echo starts to touch her face*
Wounded Thief-Guy: "On the inside. So you like art?"
Echo: "It doesn't look right."
Wounded Thief-Guy: "It's not about looking right, art's about feeling right. And you... have no idea what I'm talking about."
Echo: "She makes me feel... funny."
Wounded Thief-Guy: "Cause these other guys painted what they saw, but this guy painted what is. That's what art is for. Shows us who we are. And this one is saying how we start out as a whole and somewhere along the line, pieces start to slide... we are broken."
Echo: "That's sad."

All these "I want to be my best" and "broken" moments... this episode is just full of Dollhousey goodness.

Echo's Journey: Okay, this is probably one of the most important moments for Echo. That dialogue about funny art and feeling broken, that for Echo was a very strong experience.

Notice how Echo, after getting out of that safe and saving that wounded thief-guy, notice how she then says "I'm not broken"? For Boyd it was "sure whatever" moment. But for Echo it was a conscious choice, a statement that marks a change in her. It's this moment that marks Echo's awakement. She has made her first real choice - "I am not broken."

And we will see how both those "I don't know how to know if I'm my best" and "We are broken" discoveries Echo made in this episode start to affect her. Whereas Alpha wants to become a God, Echo wants people to not be broken anymore.

After the first 5 episodes we will see Echo playing inside the Dollhouse system, but not as a doll but as an awakened person eliminating threats, helping friends, and even comforting her "prison guards" when they are broken. She starts to see how everyone is broken, everyone wants to be their best but they can't because they're broken. And that's what makes Echo beautiful. She's very compassionate and intelligent. Rather than going against the obvious "bad guys", her prisoners she instead is going to give them a hug. Kinda. There is one future episode where I distinctly remember that she comforted Topher because he felt sad. It's not the people that are at fault in her mind. They're broken. And she's not anymore. There's something out there that keeps breaking her people and she's going to find it and eliminate it. She needs to be strong and the system that keeps breaking her people needs to go.

This marks the first choice - Echo is not broken. After that she starts to notice that all the people around her are broken - both the dolls and the dollmasters, prisoners and prison guards. So she is going to help everyone be their best, by going to the root of this "that's sad" problem.

I probably repeated myself here too often. But I find this self-discovery for Echo to be very touching and inspiring moment. She is going to slay that line where the pieces start to slide. She's crazy that way. There was something of this in Caroline (I guess I'll go into it with Echoes), but Caroline was a very diluted Echo. This girl here is the real thing.

Foreshadowing: Remote wipes. The reason why the world went down the shithole in Epitaph One.

Grading: A for amazing Dollhousey moments.

 

[Josh Raven]

TRUE BELIEVER

General Impressions: I get this episode. It's not very Dollhousey but I get what it wants to say. This episode basically wants to be a symbolic picture of what's going on in this show.

For example how that ATF guy mirrors Ballard's obsessiveness. ATF guy set up the situation so he could get rid of Jonas Sparrow. His "I don't do things unofficially" unofficial approach is what Ballard is also all about in this season.

But mostly this episode flirts with making a comparison between religious cults and Dollhouse. Like Dollhouse religious cults also rip of your identity and replace it with an insane dogma, reduce you into a childlike being, and so on.

Though there are differences. No one wanted to be saved from the cult, and the cult's leader didn't care about his sheep. Adelle does care. This episode hints that Adelle even admires some of her sheep(Echo). And Echo is all about breaking free from the bonds.

I also think that Eliza did a really wonderful job as the blind girl.

Some other general things. Ballard takes notice of Mellie for the first time in this episode. Dominic makes it finally clear that he doesn't like Echo. This episode had the first mention of Miss Lonelyhearts. And Victor's and Sierra's love story starts here. One of the most beautiful love stories ever.

Echo's Journey: Echo didn't have actually a lot of personal moments here. This episode was mostly about symbolic similarities, with ATF guy mirroring Ballard and religious cults mirroring Dollhouse. So does the tale of Esther, a true believer and a blind girl who was "blind, but now can see" work more as a symbolic thingy mirrorring Echo's journey. Echo was oblivious, but has grown constantly more aware of her surroundings, and like Esther saved the cult members from coming fire, so does Echo save the dolls from the coming storm. Most likely the non-blind Esther was all Echo taking control of the situation.

And when Saunders asks "can you see?", she looks at Dominic and she sees perfectly. Echo has awakened.

By now, Echo has already gone through the two trials of Alpha - Target and Gray Hour - she has become and embodiment of "friends help each other" in Stage Fright and she allowed a ghost from the past to finally find peace. She has made a choice to be not broken anymore, and she has shown a tendency to help people. We now start seeing how she gets more and more playful inside the Dollhouse system.

Foreshadowing: Miss Lonelyhearts, Echo's "I can see perfectly" when looking at Dominic

Grading: Well, I don't know. I kinda liked the episode with Boyd being so protective of Echo, coming like an angel to save her. And also it's the start of Victor/Sierra romance which is just one of the most beautiful love stories ever. And I get what it tries to show. But it's not very Dollhousey. Sort of B minusy. I think.

 

[Josh Raven]

MAN ON THE STREET

General Impressions: I found the conversation between Ballard and Joel Mynor to be really good classic Whedon. Two people just talking and it's awesome. For me it was the best thing about this episode.

And I liked how he hitted it right when he suggested that Ballard is basically living out his fantasy. Suddenly the knight in shining armor gets tarnished.

And I like how Ballard tries to then not live his fantasy and falls into another fantasy constructed for him specially by the Dollhouse. Lot of small ironies in this show.

Boyd was all cool in this episode with punching that people through the window. We also start to see something of Adelle's nature, with her orchestrating a rather symbolic revenge death on that rapist guy. But until to that scene we didn't know enough about Adelle and I and probably quite a lot of others actually thought she was going to do something vicious.

Sierra just gets it really bad. First an egocentric millionaire kidnaps her and drugs her into insanity, then sells her to Dollhouse so he could **** her in so many different ways, then her handler rapes her before bedtime. At least she has Victor.

Echo's Journey: Echo notices that Sierra has a problem. She hears her crying at night. She then goes to report this to people that can do something about it. She tells it to Boyd, cause she trusts him. Boyd solves it and kicks ass. Echo knows how these things work. In Belonging she does a similar things, but approaches Topher then.

Echo also says to Adelle that it's not finished. That Joel Myner guy was broken, repeating his unfulfilled day of making his wife happy, and now because of Ballard he was robbed again of that day. So Echo finishes it. Sure it can be interpreted as "pity sex", but in Echo's state of mind sex is rather irrelevant... she sees broken and wants to fix it.

Foreshadowing: Some of the interviews with common people are quite insightful, Echo's message to Ballard.

Grading: Hey, until to Spy in the House of Love it's all one big continous arc (with groundwork laid in True Believer) that is just awesome. There really is no way to tear out a chapter and grade it as a stand-alone.

 

[Josh Raven]

ECHOES

General Impressions: This is a really great idea. I mean, what better way it is to know a character than to make them all high. Brilliant. I think this is also the first episode that sort of paints out Rossum Corporation as the "ultimate evil" of this show.

I liked how ashamed Adelle was when Topher was a bit too Tophery with Adelle's superior. Slight hint that there's a slight dissonance between Adelle at home (Dollhouse) and Adelle at work (Rossum).

In Belonging we saw Victor's war flashback... hinting that it's going to play out in future episodes. I had forgotten that there was a war flashback in this episode too. Perhaps we will see something of Victor's war past tonight?

Like any other character in Dollhouse Dominic isn't really a bad person. This sort of thing that they're basically good people... or more precisely, just normal broken people with good/kind moments to them adds a lot of nuances to Echo's tale of self-liberation from mental slavery (my take on the show is really just blacking and whiting the whole thing). I liked how he apologized to Echo.

And those being high moments were just so good.

This episode also hints at a very complex relationship between Echo/Caroline and Adelle. We have gotten a few moments so far that hint that Adelle admired E/C. Adelle also seems to believe that there is a core something, a soul, that cannot be wiped. You can see it Omega when she's all "damn he's hot" when Ballard comes out with the same idea. I really hope they have some hot MILF action planned for these remaining 9 last episodes. I thought that Belle Chose kinda shipped Badelle. Badelle is better than Becho. Anyway, Adelle fears that Caroline is punishing her, that Caroline is there... aware.

Echo's Journey: Finally we can compare Caroline and Echo. Well to be honest, they're not that different. It's just Caroline is very diluted Echo, Caroline is 25% of what Echo is. She is Echo anchored down by her cultural limitations – all that militant veganism and PETA activity. She also is inconsiderate about people in her life. Echo has learned to observe people. Echo would have noticed that Caroline's boyfriend pissed his pants when he discovered that Caroline was actually serious. And Echo's boyfriend would have been cool – like Spike or something. Echo's boyfriend wouldn't have made me feel dissapointed or annoyed. :awkward silence: Okay... so yeah.

Of course there are similarities. After all Echo is Caroline's core being. Caroline and Echo share the "to the end, going all the way" thing. When they see something is wrong then they go all the way trying to bring it down. Similar way of falling into things too big for them. I think I read something that hinted that one of those December/Friday two hour episodes depicts how it happens with Echo. Of course I tried to avoid spoilers so I just assume the attic thing will happen to her.

I don't really have an explanation why Echo felt the need to go to Rossum School when she saw it in the news. But we can see that Echo is beneath all those imprinted personalities. That this show sides with Ballard when he says in Omega that the core being never changes. So when the sleeping giant Echo gets a hint of something, the imprinted personality goes bye-bye and Echo gradually surfaces more and more.

I really have no idea what that thing meant where scenes of Echo chasing that guy and Caroline running with her boyfriend for their lives overlap. One of those small symbolic ironies moment. But to interpret a deeper meaning out from that goes beyond my capabilities.

Foreshadowing: Victor is NSA and Dominic's reaction, tired Adelle after an exhausting day checks up on Echo and Echo walks all doll-like until a plant comes between her and the camera (okay so this is falls more into interpretation, but I think it hints at Echo doing stuff that Adelle can't see).

 

[Josh Raven]

NEEDS

General Impressions: I noticed a couple of things, that in my opinion in post-Bennett episodes world are rather revealing.

First thing, when that soldier doll comes home, Victor hides himself rather knee-jerkly, while others are hiding in normal way. They are sitting behind the car and watching. Victor acts like he's about to go under the car. Which seems to imply that Victor is not just a former military guy, but he is also in trouble with them.

Second thing, Echo (or Caroline) is saying that she thinks doctor Saunders is a prisoner like them. So true.

Third thing, Boyd says "Echo wanted to save us all." Notice the word us. Quite telling, no?

Echo's "huh?" face when Mike names a lot of sweet things and just mentioned mayonaisse. Okay, that was just a cute touch. Other cute touch was Victor finding a rather homosexual costume in his rack.

Ballard's dream. Beautiful. Weird. Funny. "I'm sorry but I have a thing she needs." Lol. He's really under pressure. Dancing between two fantasies. Sometimes fantasies can be quite tough.

We had no idea what would happen with Nolan, eh? He got what he deserved to be honest. I kinda felt sorry for him in Belonging... only kinda (very small tiny kinda), but this episode only added to my self-righteous satisfaction.

Dominic was right about the possible post-apocalyptic future that could happen with Dollhouse technology. But, why does he dislike the dolls so much? Oh well, his downfall. Wonder if we see him in season 2. I miss him.

It was very interesting to see how these people act with their original personalities restored. All those small touches. Victor's "I'm in a shower with naked people so I'll just think about baseball" chant and November's "Being naked is fun"... touches like that.

Echo's Journey: After witnessing Bennett in season 2, and now watching this... methinks Echo did some really bad things between the time she escaped from the hospital and before she became a doll. She's very intense. Oh there is that caring side to her... like starting to wipe that handler's blood before giving up... but...

There's those opening lines from Ghost.

Adelle: Perhaps better than you have. We can take care of this mess.
Caroline: I don't deserve this. I was just trying to make a difference. Trying to just take my place in the world, like she always said, but now...

And now Adelle's "You couldn't bear to live with the consequences of your actions. I can't reveal it to you, I would be breaking a trust."

I'm starting to think that I know who that she in "like she always said" is. Or I'm just imagining to much. But that's what Dollhouse is. Each episode throws pieces of the puzzle in the air and then they all fall in place at the right time and it will be the greatest heureka moment ever.

Caroline wants to save everyone. So does Echo. But slightly differently. Like Topher said in Bennet two-parter "Echo's a friend." Echo looks out for all the prisoners in Dollhouse. Caroline just points guns at sad broken people. Echo has a more nuanced way of doing things. But yeah. Beautiful ending.

"The devil that you know, is better than the one you don't."

Hmm... wonder if that mountain resort will ever start to mean anything? Caroline was great. She really surprised Adelle. Gotta love their relationship.

Foreshadowing: Nolan, Victor&Sierra moments, Echo/Caroline's need to save everyone and that line "I think doctor Saunders is a prisoner like us." And perhaps Boyd's us in "Echo wanted to save us all", implying that he too is a prisoner of Dollhouse.

 

[Josh Raven]

A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE

General Impressions: This felt like a season 2 episode. Perhaps it's the same pieces falling together with a touch of descending into hell, that leaves you with a feeling like someone ripped a hole in your soul and you want more. But it's not just that. Echo in this episode was Echo "“ really season 2 Echo, so very close to what Echo was in episodes what we now just saw last friday.

Heh, it's funny how Dollhouse wanted to end Echo with giving her a sense of closure... but she's even more Echo. People are like talking important stuff before her and she's listening and thinking along. It was just so crazy. I'm doing Topher's body language here. The thing with the hands, the head and the stuttering. Echo's amazing.

Really amazing episode. The way it starts... you know something dark is going to happen... but to whom?

You know, a lot of these things that have now happened in past 4 episodes... much of that was hinted by True Beliver. Miss Lonelyhearts got it's first mention there. First signs of Victor/Sierra romance. And of course Echo's "I see perfectly" when looking at Dominic. Speaking of Dominic... very powerful stuff. What he said through Mellie, that Dollhouse deals with fantasies but that's not their true purpose. So true. That Rossum is going to destroy the world. So true. He's right. And he helps Ballard in his quest. But he despises the dolls. He can't stand them. He's mean. He didn't smile when Sierra was talking about killing Topher.

Let's look it from Echo's perspective. There's this guy who walks around and yells a lot and then everyone is unhappy. Tragic really.

And Ballard. This was the moment when I was really starting to fall for Ballard. This obsessed desperate guy. I like that sort of thing. And then his only attachment with reality turns out to be unreal. Damn. I wonder, Ballard hasn't met Dominic, right? I wonder if he will... I mean Dominic sort of helped him and everything.

Lot of pain in this episode. Very intimate look at Adelle. All that Miss Lonelyhearts fantasy. And then Dominic. Total breakdown. And concluding with Boyd's slight pain with Echo getting a new handler. Now it's time to look this episode from Echo's point of view.

Echo's Journey: As I already said Echo is very season 2-ish in this episode. She walks around, she notices things, she listens to what people say and even thinks along. It's crazy. And very cute. Eliza might be a slutty sexy type, but Echo's all cute.

From her perspective, there's this guy who once tried to kill her and now that guy walks around and makes everyone sad. Then there's November who she just said hello to. Then she waves at her when November's on the balcony, but November is different. Then mean guy takes Sierra and she follows them and suddenly Sierra's different. It's also funny that Echo's hearing is rather selective. She tunes in to Boyd's and Saunders discussion when they are talking about how the system is flawed. And she hears changed Sierra talking about killing Topher. So she goes to Topher. For some reason she's thinking of Topher as part of her flock. And she states it very echoianly clear. Change me so I could help you.

And then when she's programmed with her mad spy-detector skills, she's again doing Echoian observations. She's interviewing those people and making all those small meaningful observations. She really made Saunders pause.

In Grey Hour Echo makes a statement "I'm not broken." Dominic calls her a broken doll. They fight. Echo wins. And then she says "I'm not broken."

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

Also when they're programming a new handler for Echo, Echo looks at Boyd.

Foreshadowing: Dominic's rant could be rather prophetic.

Grading: B for Beautiful. Actually P for Perfect. This section of my thread has always been rather pointless. But who knows, I remember disliking the next episode.​

 

[Josh Raven]

HAUNTED

General Impressions: Hmm... funny how our memories can be rather selective. I remembered this episode as somekinda Murder She Wrote tribute with all that 80's soap opera the lives of rich people angle. And I was like "oh, so not interested." I kinda somehow managed to separate all the small touching moments of Topher and Ballard and Echo's Murder She Wrote into different episodes in my head. So yeah, surprised to realize that one of the best moments were in this episode. And I didn't actually mind the Murder She Wrote story this time. I kinda enjoyed this time.

Ballard was really humbled with this episode. Mellie just going with her low self-esteem "it doesn't have to mean anything" speech and then Ballard's eyes... a decision, rough sex, and a sad aknowledgement that he too is a Dollhouse client.

I remember how painful it felt when Boyd couldn't be Echo's handler anymore. This really rubs it in.

And Topher's birthday. So sad. So lonely.

Adelle: "Loneliness detaches. Sometimes the people who need reaching out the most are the ones least capable of it."

Echo's Journey: This episode doesn't really provide any writing material for this section since Echo had no personal moments in this episode. All the Dollhousey goodness was being done with the other characters. I guess this episode happened when it wasn't exactly clear that how they were going to be allowed to do the show. With the show that Dollhouse now has become and the way it's going to end, this episode does seem a bit out of place. Very out of place. But in that alternative universe where Dollhouse seasons lasted 24 episodes and it had 5 seasons, and each season had a bunch of stand-alones... I guess it would have fitted there. But in this "Dollhouse the Miniseries" dimension it's kinda out of tune with the rest of the episodes. However the Dollhousey goodness was great. The revelation that it was Topher's birthday made it all so tragic and Ballard's shower scene... heartbreaking.

Foreshadowing: Oh yeah, rich people would definitely use the bodies of worthless lower castes to have everlasting life. And Adelle's "I'm not planning on presiding over the end of Western civilization" seems so ironic now.

Grading: Eh, it's a B-C thingy. Kinda like Stage Fright.

Can't wait for tonight's episodes. Heard there's going to be some Alpha action. Potential awesomeness redefined.

 

[Josh Raven]

BRIAR ROSE

General Impressions: With this extra week between Hollow Men and Epitaph Two, I've had time to think about what exactly I found to be missing in the last few episodes. And this episode provided the answer.

In the first season, Dollhouse was more meditative, it was more about making allusions of what Dollhouse is with metaphorical or symbolical exmples. Like True Believer - Dollhouse is like a cult, where people trade away their individuality for imagined safety and comfort, and Esther is the blind girl who sees the most.

It was much more of a symbolical show, and they always had some Greg Laswell song finishing the episode. Okay, so there was a Greg Laswell song just a few episodes ago, but Dollhouse 2nd season is still much more of a straightforward sci-fi action show - and there are also those thematic similarities, or repeated patterns if you will, with Buffy 7th and 8th season and Fray.

Oh, it has been a breathtaking and awesome second season, but I miss this old Dollhouse with it's symbolic meditative approach.

Speaking about allusions that mirror the current situation in Dollhouse - Echo the Imprint making ironical comments considering she's Echo the Sleeping Beauty.

All that talk of the prince showing up in the last minute and taking all the credit for rescuing Briar Rose. And then Echo says something about Briar Rose dreaming the prince up...

...flashback to Needs where Echo calls Paul and asks his help...

The prince is coming, we're getting really excited about Paul and in a clever twist, we find out that the real prince is the other guy. Alan Tyduk is just awesome in this episode - I really enjoyed his Stephen Kepler personality, with all those brilliant moments like "the earth day speech" and "this is the same kind of expansionist thinking that led to the Trail of Tears."

And this is also the first episode, where we the viewer, start to realize the awesomeness that is Enver Gjokaj with his brilliant and intense Dominic imprint scene.

Echo's Journey: In the style of 1st season, the current mission personality of Echo is an allusion that mirrors the situation in Dollhouse. Her speech about Briar Rose really creates this clever irony, because she is the Briar Rose. And she's right about her dreaming up her rescuer right before the curse was about to end. Because by now, she was just one step away from Super Echo. Her prince, Alpha who dropped all her imprints into her, arrived in the last moment to take credit for making Echo into "a god". But we see in Omega what she says about that. She was her own person before Alpha did that thing, and that person kicked Alpha's ass.

The Question of Boyd (is there anything that would reveal whether Getting Closer was pulled out from their asses in the last minute or not?): No. Not really. However you see his fight scene(particulary his lines) with Paul in a new light. There is a bit of that "whoa, I now see" moment, but there are also some other things that make it more fuzzy - his expressed reluctance over Adelle's idea of making Paul into a doll against his will, and his surprise over Adelle's "we're not going to let a thing like Attic stop us from speaking with mister Dominic, now are we?"

Foreshadowing: The word "Whiskey" uttered by Victor/Dominic. Plus, Boyd dialogue with Ballard is interesting in light of the recent revelations.

 

[Josh Raven]

OMEGA

General Impressions: I still think they were playing around with the idea of Paul and Adelle. Because we see in this episode, how Adelle's initial "such a tool" reaction gets replaced by a certain respect or admiration. This carries over to Belle Chose, where we can see Adelle watching Paul in action with an admiring smile. And then in "A Love Supreme", Adelle seems to have a somewhat jealous reaction over the Echo/Paul romance revelation. I mean, remember the EvilGlare!Adelle in the end of that episode!

And since the next episode started immediately with Adelle in sack with Victor, which kinda implied that she was trying to hump out whatever infatuation she had for Paul, but Victor rejects her and thus makes her unloved woman twice in a row, and she's all double unloved and starts drinking heavily, and that episode actually ends on a certain note that she's sending Echo to the Attic because of jealousy.

Of course, it's all part of the big plan in the next episode... but the point I'm trying to make is that, in my opinion, they were playing around with the idea of Paul and Adelle (and making it potentially a very complicated quadrangle) and this episode drops the first hint of this with Adelle's first admiring smile, which then gets repeated in Belle Chose and... I'm a bit unfocused. Sorry. It's just I've got all these recent events running around in my head... whole new levels of meanings...

Also Topher is just so hurt when Whiskey says that she hates her. That Whiskey is one ****ed up individual.

Echo's Journey: We already discussed the Briar Rose allusion in the previous episode. All we can say is this. Echo get's a treatment that should fix her back into a normal doll, she walks, notices that Topher is sad and then comforts him... and cue meaningful song. Echo's a real person now.

Well there is still Instinct and Vows that teach Echo important lessons (by Public Eye, we're already pretty much talking about finished Echo), but I'm not going into season 2. My intention was just doing season 1 in this way, to show that things happened already in season 1. Babylon 5 fans often say that B5 is deceptive, you just won't get the early seasons without the later seasons... and thus you might be deceived into thinking that B5 is crap, but it isn't because everything is meaningful. I think Dollhouse is a similar show, and I tried to be my best to show some of these things which I noticed.

The Question of Boyd (did they pull it out from their asses or not?): "There's always a girl." - Boyd's comment when Paul says that he isn't working for Dollhouse, but just looking after Echo. Fits perfectly with the new revelations.

Foreshadowing: "Call me Omega again and I'll..." She has finally finished her Echo identity. This shows how she identifies from now on as Echo and not as Omega or Caroline. That she won't let others tell her who she is. I really enjoyed the tale of Echo and her intellectual emancipation.

So now, I'll do some writing for Epitaph One, and try to guess Epitaph Two as much as I can and that's it for this thread.

 

[Josh Raven]

EPITAPH ONE

General Impressions: My-my, the most overrated episode ever. I used to think that. I still think that the characters of this episode stepped out from Alien Resurrections. And I still think it's overrated. I mean, we've got pre-apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic before with Whedon - Buffy season 7 and 8, Angel season 5 and After the Fall... and now, that the world is ending, now you like the show?! I was very disappointed that no one liked the not-so-Whedon-Dollhouse-ending-with Greg-Laswell-song-all-the-time. So that's how I felt about the episode. But whatever. This, like most of Dollhouse, got more awesome in second viewing.

There's really nothing else to talk about besides the flashbacks, so I'm just sharing what interesting things I noticed. I'm thinking that most of these memories are Adelle's. Because except for the Boyd memory (and russian Echo), she is in all of them, and the memories form one continuous narrative around the themes of giving people what they need, rather than what they want.

1) What Dollhouse is. That's the scene from the original pilot. Nothing special about that.

2) Welcome Topher to the Dollhouse. Awesome Reed Diamond, and awesome Topher.

3) Paul, Topher and russian Echo. This probably takes place after Instinct.

4) Boyd and Saunders from Getting Closer. At first, before the Boyd-factor, I assumed that this tells why Whiskey got left behind. Because she wanted to wait for Boyd. Now of course, there seems to be another reason.

5) Adelle and imprinted Victor with mr.Ambrose. This I assume takes place either in post-Hollow Men, or before Getting Closer. "This law will be legal within a year." This kinda implies that senator Daniel Perrin is already a president. I think. Or around the same time when Echo is helping mexican immigrants.

6) Adelle and Dominic. Beautiful scene. Awesome in it's bitterness and tall morally judgmental men. I love how Dominic keeps shooting at Adelle. And that near-crazy realization hitting home. Also, in light of new revelations... Dominic asks "which one is Caroline."

7) Victor and Sierra. "Don't end up like November" "Which one?" What's the deal with these "which one" Novembers and Carolines? I was sad to see that their greatest love story has ended. Sierra would still like, and she has all that unloved woman on crack vibe to her, but Victor is all "no." What's up with that?

8) Crazy sad Topher and Echo's return. That cult thing was just scary. ****ed up world. Taking cues from Battlestar Galactica with it's fascist humanity collective, I see.

And why does Echo refer to herself as Caroline. It made me sad. Is she going to kill Adelle? Sad. And Topher's scene just tore me apart.

I'm thinking that this is the flashback that we will see in Epitaph Two again. In trailers, you have Echo and Paul walking in post-apocalyptic LA and shooting people, so I assume that is just before their arrival.

Right before Caroline pointed the gun at Adelle, it was sort of hinted that Caroline was behind this new crazy cult. Adelle cynically referring to them as Caroline's lambs. Okay, not specifically as Caroline's lambs, but she was all disappointed in having this cult, and then Caroline barked barked at her.

What I expect from Epitaph Two? Answers dammit. Boyd to make sense (he does kinda, last two episodes fitted quite well with Getting Closer revelation, but I'm still kinda not completely sold on this being carefully planned) and to see why Echo isn't Echo anymore but some mean bitch leader of a religious cult.

So that's it for this thread. Can't wait for Epitaph Two.