Dollhouse - 1x11 - "Briar Rose"

[timepiececlock]

1. I kinda ship it.

2. "Whiskey!"

3. I'm happy to say that the WTF?!Surprise value has at last eclipsed the WTF?!Ick value for me.



- Ballard is not very likeable to me right now. I could say that I get why he's making these practical decisions about Caroline and Melly, but the fact that he's making them is so arbitrary and cold, that I can't really sympathize with him at all. It's like the series is trying to showcase how ridiculous it is for him to be the hero when he arbitrarily picks Caroline to save instead of trying to save the woman whom he's had friggin sex with, who is absolutely as much a slave as Caroline. Especially since he has no guarantee that they can't flip an "attack/kill" switch on Echo just as easily as Melly/November. Why should we see him in a heroic light at all, if his heroism is so naive and his devotion so shallowly decided?

- "The apples were monitored!" Heeeheheee. It's good to have the humor in there! Now we just need some more of it. This show is so daaaaaark.

- At first I thought they turned their environmental designer into their first subject Alpha, but turns out he just murdered the designer and took is place. Interestingly, Alpha seemed to maintain character past the point it was necessary for Ballard; maybe he enjoys getting into character, or maybe some leftover of his time as a doll means that once he takes on an impersonation it's difficult to snap out of it. He lingers until the last moment.

- I'm ridiculously happy that Alan Tudyk is Alpha because that means he gets to stay on for more episodes and he isn't the nerdy drug guy who gets killed off immediately. On a separate note, I like that the "prince" who gets all the credit at the end is Alpha, instead of Ballard. Even if he's CRAYZAY and not Charming at all.

- I don't think the imprint Alpha gave Echo was Caroline's personality, or at least, not a complete one. There's clearly more going on here. And I'd also like to add that while Alpha may desire to bring down the Dollhouse and help Caroline's mission, he's clearly CRAYZAY violent and that means he won't be Caroline's hero for very long. Still, I'm shipping them in a BadLoveWTF kinda way right now. Because that was kinda twisted hot.

- The girl Susan said she let 4 chances to escape go by her. I believe Echo/Caroline will do the same, at least once or twice. In fact, we may have seen the first missed opportunity tonight.

- There's a LOT more going on with Dominic. (How creepy was his wake-up scene, btw?) Dominic looked at Dr. Saunders and shouted "Whiskey!" which confirms in my mind that she was a doll. Clearly Dominic was around long enough to know that, to see what Alpha did. So Alpha cut up and murdered several of the dolls, including Whiskey. He probably murdered the original Dr. Saunders. The Dollhouse takes one of their "damaged" dolls and imprints her with Dr. Saunder's personality. I'd been expecting almost exactly this. Listening to Alpha's interrogation of her, asking her how they met... he met the real Dr. Saunders, not the woman whose face he cut. This woman, this body, never examined him.

ETA: At first my brain was all "Ha! I called that!"...but in my excitement over having guessed correctly and in the revelations of Alpha's face, I forgot the most interesting thing about the Dr.Saunders/Whiskey revelation, which isn't at all to do with Alpha: "Why would Dominic call out to Whiskey? WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THAT?" What is it about Whiskey/Saunders that would compel Dominic to appeal to her? Were they involved? Was he once her handler? ...oh my gosh. I bet he was Whiskey's handler!

- Victor!

- I wonder if Alpha adjusted the CO2 levels in the pods to be high enough to kill the dolls instead of just putting them to sleep?

- I wonder if the set really *is* designed to match "Feng Shui up the wazoo"?

- I'm annoyed we've gone ANOTHER episode without meeting Echo's new handler! This show needs more diversity in the cast, and for a second in episode 9 we saw a cute Asian guy as her new handler...but that was the last we've seen.

That's all for now. Many revelations. I don't see how anyone's supposed to be able to write fanfic for this series, though. How can you characterize people when you have no idea who is who or why or how?

Comments

[bloodypoetry.livejournal.com]

I was also very annoyed at Paul's utter dismissal of November. I've been all emo about the two of them for awhile now. I was telling myself he's just trying to completely cut off his emotions toward her so he won't be a 'client' or whatever, but really? He was just an asshole. Poor Mille.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the show really tossed the idea of his heroism out the window this episode. That conversation in the taxi when NerdAlpha asked him if he was going to save his "other" doll too...it was awkward then, even moreso in retrospect. And wow to the irony, knowing that Alpha was just using Ballard at the time to do exactly the same thing: retrieve the one he's obsessed with.

[umadoshi.livejournal.com]

What is it about Whiskey/Saunders that would compel Dominic to appeal to her? Were they involved? Was he once her handler? ...oh my gosh. I bet he was Whiskey's handler!

I really like this theory a lot. ^_^

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

=) The only other thing I can think of is that he was somehow intimate with her as a doll, which is too gross and makes me think of the dead handler and I kind of like Dominic's character too much to want that to be the answer.

The more I think about it, he *had* to be someone's handler before getting promoted, I assume, and if he was, I wonder why he's so dismissive--dislike almost to the point of rage--regarding the dolls. Is that subverted anger at himself for participating, that he takes out on them? Or does he just resent the whole process? And could that have resulted from his previous work as a handler...possibly for Whiskey-Saunders? Or is it because he saw what happened with Alpha and now fears the dolls?

[umadoshi.livejournal.com]

I kind of like Dominic's character too much to want that to be the answer.

I agree with that. I don't actually know that I like him (I wasn't happy about the attempting to kill Echo), but he's really interesting, and I don't think of him as being that slimy. (Well, other than the fundamental "works at the Dollhouse" issue, which may be taken care of by the whole NSA spy thing.)

[clodia-risa.livejournal.com]

Wow. You're brilliant. I totally didn't get the whole Whiskey thing, but there is no possible way that you are wrong.

This episode was awesome. I had my suspicions about Tudyk's character when he got to the Dollhouse and suddenly seemed more functional, and also when the environmental designer knew something about the security systems. These two jobs would not have been given to the same person. I love that he was Alpha. This episode was amazing.

And yes. Whoever Echo is currently channeling - her relationship with Alpha is totally hot.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

also when the environmental designer knew something about the security systems. These two jobs would not have been given to the same person.

Yes, I noticed that too. I didn't connect it to Alpha; I just thought it was sloppy "any type of geek knows all types of geek" writing.

[clodia-risa.livejournal.com]

See, I was hoping that they weren't falling into that error because they had just had Alpha not be able to get into Topher's computer because Topher is super careful about passwords and stuff. Paranoid was the word they used, I think. Actually having to find a terminal that wasn't secure (unlike every other spy/action film ever) rather than simply hacking it or it being open won them a lot of points. I'm glad to see that they didn't fall into teh other trope as well.

[muffytaj.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't even think of the whole Whiskey thing! Shows how awake I am.

This puts a totally different spin on Alpha/Saunder's conversation... (Alpha just had badwrong chemistry with everyone, doesn't he?)

[irrel.livejournal.com]

I squeed at the Alpha/Caroline kiss. And then my mind was BLOWN because WOW crossover!

I don't think I could love Alan Tudyk anymore than I do now...

Victor!!!!1 It breaks my heart, what will happen to him? I loved how the actor played Victor playing Dominic, just perfect.

And the Whiskey-Saunders thing sounds SO plausible. Will we ever find out if it's true?

[vickiso.livejournal.com]

Awesome analysis. Totally did not see the Whiskey/Dominic/Dr. Saunders reference, but now it makes complete sense.

I love Whedon's ability to twist character archetypes and redefine hero roles. Paul Ballard is that perfect blend of hero meets anti-hero, a man with an obvious need to save the girl, be right, be the good guy, even though he's really not. His Echo/Grail quest is a good counterpoint to the Dollhouse mission, and makes sure we don't know who to root for.

If Paul becomes Echo's handler at the end of this season, I don't know what to make of what the next one will be like...

[dtkokoro.livejournal.com]

I like your theory on Dr. Saunders. When I watched it I thought that maybe Saunders was in cohorts with Dominic.