Hey, I just figured out the Dolls names are phonetics! I deserve a cookie. I should of really have seen that in the pilot when we meet our lovely Echo and at the end the explosive Sierra, but this week we see the deadly Alpha.
Not afraid, or nor they should be, the writers have used the handy 'flashback' tool to enlighten us with the Dollhouse story this week. The opening is rather sinister as the wake of destruction that Alpha leaves three months previous is cataclysmic to say the least. Doll's bodies are thrown astrew left and right with precision and fatal cuts. Something has gone wrong with this Doll. Since his name is Alpha, he was probably the first and we'll soon learn that sometimes things don't go right the first time.
In the present Miss DeWitt (the she-pimp of the Dollhouse) has hired out Echo to some seemingly nice young man who wants an action-ready perfect girlfriend. Don't we all? What the episode gave us as well was the fact that we now know Miss DeWitt does not own the Dollhouse, as she says that. Maybe it said it in the pilot but if it did, I don't think it was made clear enough.
Elsewhere, the dedicated Agent Ballard is hot on the crime scene from episode 1.01 and is sure the Dollhouse was involved due to Sierra's shotgun skills. Still we are to learn of his interest in the Dollhouse but that will follow surely in the remaining eleven episodes. As well, as we see, Miss DeWitt knows about Agent Ballard too. I'm certain a little game of cat-and-mouse will be played deliciously between them.
Suprisingly(?), 'quel surprise' as the french would say, the seemingly nice young man turns out to be a run-of-the-mill rich guy who likes to hunt humans. Echo has become the episode title of The Target. Her personality of Jenny is not prepared for this situation and her handler, Langton, has been taken out of commission as well. He is bamboozled by a fake park ranger. The flashbacks tie in well as after the Aplha murders it develops a little background between Echo and Langton. The episode progresses nicely and we have Echo step up to the plate with the help of Langton to defeat the bow and arrow guy. Well done.
What I liked about this episode is that we are being shown the imperfections of the Dollhouse. Alpha has killed people and Langton suspects now that Alpha has some connection to Echo. She is left alive in the Dollhouse murders and supposedly hired this guy to hunt Echo for fun and faked his background. This is apparent as Langton sees the body of the fake park ranger cut up precisely like the Dollhouse murders. The imperfections that I mentioned seem to be that the Dolls remember shades of their imprinted personalities. It mentioned that Alpha has retained knowledge and when Echo is drugged during her chase, she starts to remember herself and another personality. And of course obviously when she slaps her shoulder like the dude in the woods after being deprogrammed.
Well, I'll leave you there my Dollhouse lovers, hope you keep watching as I think this guy Alpha may be just as bad-ass as Sylar from Heroes.
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