Well, four episodes in and we're picking up pace nicely. For all ye faithful Dollhouse viewers who have been glued and gripped by Whedon's new project, I'm certain you were very happy with this week's offering.
'Gray Hour' provided us with the background and answered some of the questions we were having about the 'science' behind imprinting the actives. And of course it dealt with the ultimate one: What happens if something goes wrong with an active in the field?
We open really with Topher and Boyd looking at Echo, Sierra and Victor seemingly having a nice lunch and discussing that in their Tabula Rasa state, even with no memory of each other, they still have an instinctive bond together. I think that will definitely be a big factor in later episodes if the show is going the direction I think. Hopefully you think it too. Yep, you guessed it! Probably a showdown with Alpha. Just my thoughts though.
The plot this week is kind of simple once more. But I care quite little about the jobs the actives do and rather more on the mythology of the Dollhouse like; Who does Miss DeWitt take orders from? The problems with the imprinting and wiping of the actives and definitely about the past when Alpha went 'wrong' and what his motives are with Echo. 'Gray Hour' had a little Greek feel with Echo being a skilled professional thief pulling a Trojan Horse trick to get into a hotel vault to steal a piece of the Parthenon.
On a sidebar, once again I didn't get the sense that Echo was anyone different. That's not a plot twist but rather Miss Dushku not pulling off different characters. Taffy was just like Faith and whoever Echo was last week. Anyways, Taffy and her band of merry men get double crossed by the antique dealer they brought with them and get locked in the vault. Not a problem for Taffy, but during her call to Boyd...a mysterious transmission to her cell phone takes Taffy out of the picture and brings Echo forward in her Tabula Rasa state.
I think we weren't supposed to be fooled that Alpha was behind this. As Topher himself later explains that he only knows of one person that could do a remote wipe...and he was dead. We heard in episode two I think that he believed Alpha was dead but us gentle viewers who get to see Miss DeWitt in her office, heard that he is not.
A fantastic contingency plan was put into effect this week and answered a theory I had thought about; Can two actives be imprinted with the same personality? Yes they can! Sierra is given the Taffy imprint and I must say that Dichen Lachman who plays Sierra gave a great performance 'echoing' (excuse the pun) Eliza Dushku's version of Taffy. She is an Australian actress who used her own accent last week but had a nice American one this week. On another sidebar, so far Lachman is the actress who can show a real change in personality with her imprints and Sierra is my favourite active. Sorry Echo, but Sierra has bailed you out twice now!
Sierra/Taffy finally gets through to Echo before the Gray Hour is over but unfortunately Echo messes up the escape form the vault. Not her fault as Echo is a blank slate and has no skills to call upon. As the police are gathering, Miss DeWitt is deciding to terminate Echo to leave no trace of the Dollhouse. Understandable as she just sees the actives as assets to her organisation that can be replaced. Something Alpha found frustrating no doubt? Well, the termination is canceled when Echo escapes to meet Boyd and gets all sorts of tests done. Crisis averted and the job for the client was done...barely, but done. The teaser at the end is nice as Miss DeWitt lets Topher into her inner circle of what she knows about Alpha, since she probably sees the same faults that happened with him starting for her new actives.
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