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connielane at 04:27pm on 11/05/2009 under dollhouse
connielane at 04:27pm on 11/05/2009 under dollhouseI loved the heck out of this episode, but I'm afraid it raised many more questions than in answered. Which will make it incredibly infuriating if FOX decides to be douche-bags and not give it another season.
So now, without further ado...
- LOL at Echo's imprint and her love for "Tasty Couture." A clear shout-out to Juicy Couture, which I find kind of chavvy, but the kids seem to love it.
- I kind of love the idea that some guy had a fantasy about being kidnapped by essentially Mickey and Mallory from Natural Born Killers. That might be kind of fun if it were actually safe and one of the dolls wasn't, yanno, a psychopath.
- I've thought for a while that Saunders might be a doll. Last week pretty much confirmed it, and of course "Omega" was the big payoff.
- So, as far as I can tell, Alpha imprinted Echo with the personality that Whiskey had been imprinted with in the kidnapping engagement. That "Thirteen, and already a woman" line made me ewwwwwww.
- "I trust that I know what he wants," says Adelle. So what exactly does Ballard want? That's never really addressed. Why does he decide to work for them? Is it simply the most appealing of his choices at that point, since they're not going to let him walk out of there? I noticed the tea on Adelle's table - I KNEW organic tea was in his future! :P
- Speaking of which, I adored that Ballard's condition for working with the Dollhouse was for them to release November/Madeline. However, that raises even more questions. Why was it suddenly more important for him to help her than Caroline, who was clearly his priority in "Briar Rose"? I presume Echo was not an option, but that should have been addressed, in my opinion. If Madeline was being released before her contract was up, is she going to be confused, thinking it's a year later or whatever? Is she still a sleeper active? It seems weird that an active they can turn into a killer is somehow more disposable than simply a popular active like Echo. I mean, yeah if Caroline was put back in her own body, she'd go after Rossum and they can't have that, but ... she'd do that anyway after her five years was up.
- Also, if the five year term only feels like a blip to the original self, is that really helping Madeline deal with the grief of losing her child, since when she gets out, it will only feel like it just happened?
- Loved LOVED the little moment between "blank slate" November and Ballard in the imprint room. AWKWARD! XD
- I distinctly remember seeing pictures from this episodes of Sierra and November in their bounty hunter getup. What happened to that? Topher imprinted them, and they just disappeared, with barely a throwaway remark from Boyd ("your bounty hunters") as to what they had even been imprinted with.
- Okay, sorry, one more November thing. I really hope they bring her back. There is a lot they can do with the idea of a post-active. Could they find out what was done to them while they were "asleep"? How do they re-enter their lives if all evidence that they exist has been erased? Could she somehow find out about what she was subjected to and be part of an outside effort (say, with Loomis, who is bound to wonder what happened to Ballard?) to bring the Dollhouse down?
- Interesting that they give the real people who sign contracts a tour of the place before their initial wipe. I can only assume that pre-actives are not told what is done to them besides the memory wipe and the use of the spa facilities.
- "Why is there a tall, morally judgmental man in my imprint room besides [Boyd]?" LOL, TOPHER.
- I really, really love that they brought up what's wrong with people who are willing to trade five years of not just their freedom but also their mind and free will to avoid the consequences of life. In prison, you don't have freedom, but you still have your mind and can think and (mostly) act for yourself.
- I also really, really liked the idea (and that Ballard is the one to say it) that even if you can erase someone's memories and personality, you can't erase who they are at their core.
- The "black president" line was exceptionally and uncharacteristically lame. And especially lame as the one reason Caroline suddenly decided she wanted back in her own body. I mean, Obama is awesome and all, but really - "I signed a contract, I have to go back-- wait, did you say black president? The hell with that, then!" Just, no.
- Someone on a comment thread complained about the lollipop thing at the end. That since it was something the original Saunders did, Whiskey!Saunders should have been doing that all season. I disagree. Topher didn't simply imprint her with the original Saunders. He tweaked things a bit. We see the lollipop thing specifically linked to Whiskey. I think, since she's now aware that she's a doll, she's just remembering that the original doctor used to do that when she gives the sucker to Victor.
- Okay, something I thought was a plot hole but as I watch "Target" again, it isn't, really. In the second episode, we see Whiskey!Saunders with fresh cuts right after Alpha's escape, and of course we assume that she was Saunders when she got those cuts. But we don't even see her in those flashbacks until they've already brought Boyd in, which would have given them some time to have imprinted Whiskey with the original doctor.
- Speaking of Boyd and the "Target" flashback scenes, that was awfully quick of them to have recruited him in light of Alpha's escape, since Echo's old handler's body and pools of blood were still on the premises. If I put on my rationalization hat, however, perhaps they started recruiting Boyd before Alpha's killing spree - perhaps around the time the kidnapping engagement went awry? I'm thinking they intended him for another use, but since Echo's handler needed to be replaced, that's where Boyd went.
**********
*sigh* So on May 18, we'll know yay or nay on Season 2. *fingers crossed pretzel-style*
So now, without further ado...
- LOL at Echo's imprint and her love for "Tasty Couture." A clear shout-out to Juicy Couture, which I find kind of chavvy, but the kids seem to love it.
- I kind of love the idea that some guy had a fantasy about being kidnapped by essentially Mickey and Mallory from Natural Born Killers. That might be kind of fun if it were actually safe and one of the dolls wasn't, yanno, a psychopath.
- I've thought for a while that Saunders might be a doll. Last week pretty much confirmed it, and of course "Omega" was the big payoff.
- So, as far as I can tell, Alpha imprinted Echo with the personality that Whiskey had been imprinted with in the kidnapping engagement. That "Thirteen, and already a woman" line made me ewwwwwww.
- "I trust that I know what he wants," says Adelle. So what exactly does Ballard want? That's never really addressed. Why does he decide to work for them? Is it simply the most appealing of his choices at that point, since they're not going to let him walk out of there? I noticed the tea on Adelle's table - I KNEW organic tea was in his future! :P
- Speaking of which, I adored that Ballard's condition for working with the Dollhouse was for them to release November/Madeline. However, that raises even more questions. Why was it suddenly more important for him to help her than Caroline, who was clearly his priority in "Briar Rose"? I presume Echo was not an option, but that should have been addressed, in my opinion. If Madeline was being released before her contract was up, is she going to be confused, thinking it's a year later or whatever? Is she still a sleeper active? It seems weird that an active they can turn into a killer is somehow more disposable than simply a popular active like Echo. I mean, yeah if Caroline was put back in her own body, she'd go after Rossum and they can't have that, but ... she'd do that anyway after her five years was up.
- Also, if the five year term only feels like a blip to the original self, is that really helping Madeline deal with the grief of losing her child, since when she gets out, it will only feel like it just happened?
- Loved LOVED the little moment between "blank slate" November and Ballard in the imprint room. AWKWARD! XD
- I distinctly remember seeing pictures from this episodes of Sierra and November in their bounty hunter getup. What happened to that? Topher imprinted them, and they just disappeared, with barely a throwaway remark from Boyd ("your bounty hunters") as to what they had even been imprinted with.
- Okay, sorry, one more November thing. I really hope they bring her back. There is a lot they can do with the idea of a post-active. Could they find out what was done to them while they were "asleep"? How do they re-enter their lives if all evidence that they exist has been erased? Could she somehow find out about what she was subjected to and be part of an outside effort (say, with Loomis, who is bound to wonder what happened to Ballard?) to bring the Dollhouse down?
- Interesting that they give the real people who sign contracts a tour of the place before their initial wipe. I can only assume that pre-actives are not told what is done to them besides the memory wipe and the use of the spa facilities.
- "Why is there a tall, morally judgmental man in my imprint room besides [Boyd]?" LOL, TOPHER.
- I really, really love that they brought up what's wrong with people who are willing to trade five years of not just their freedom but also their mind and free will to avoid the consequences of life. In prison, you don't have freedom, but you still have your mind and can think and (mostly) act for yourself.
- I also really, really liked the idea (and that Ballard is the one to say it) that even if you can erase someone's memories and personality, you can't erase who they are at their core.
- The "black president" line was exceptionally and uncharacteristically lame. And especially lame as the one reason Caroline suddenly decided she wanted back in her own body. I mean, Obama is awesome and all, but really - "I signed a contract, I have to go back-- wait, did you say black president? The hell with that, then!" Just, no.
- Someone on a comment thread complained about the lollipop thing at the end. That since it was something the original Saunders did, Whiskey!Saunders should have been doing that all season. I disagree. Topher didn't simply imprint her with the original Saunders. He tweaked things a bit. We see the lollipop thing specifically linked to Whiskey. I think, since she's now aware that she's a doll, she's just remembering that the original doctor used to do that when she gives the sucker to Victor.
- Okay, something I thought was a plot hole but as I watch "Target" again, it isn't, really. In the second episode, we see Whiskey!Saunders with fresh cuts right after Alpha's escape, and of course we assume that she was Saunders when she got those cuts. But we don't even see her in those flashbacks until they've already brought Boyd in, which would have given them some time to have imprinted Whiskey with the original doctor.
- Speaking of Boyd and the "Target" flashback scenes, that was awfully quick of them to have recruited him in light of Alpha's escape, since Echo's old handler's body and pools of blood were still on the premises. If I put on my rationalization hat, however, perhaps they started recruiting Boyd before Alpha's killing spree - perhaps around the time the kidnapping engagement went awry? I'm thinking they intended him for another use, but since Echo's handler needed to be replaced, that's where Boyd went.
**********
*sigh* So on May 18, we'll know yay or nay on Season 2. *fingers crossed pretzel-style*
enthralled