Echo: "There is a me. This is me."So let's see. Our two romantic leads had very little in the way of romantic connection, so they removed them from the Dollhouse for three months and slapped them together.
It worked, to some extent. It was fun to see Echo and Paul together in the real world. I liked that Paul was too honorable to have sex with Echo, probably because of what happened with Mellie, and I liked the Buffy/Angel sublimation of sexual desire with fighting. Okay, "training." And that was some kiss. It actually got to me. I didn't think Paul and Echo as a couple would ever get to me, so that was a nice surprise.
And I liked Echo and Paul's "mission" to rescue Galena. I liked Echo being able to consciously choose the appropriate imprint for each task; it made her a very interesting sort of superhero. If this is where Joss Whedon was always going with Eliza's character... well, he should have gotten there awhile ago. I guess better late than never. Except that the show has been canceled.
I don't care about Caroline, and I never did. Not surprising, since we never knew her. I think I care about Echo now. She has become a person in her own right. Echo is the one Paul loves, not Caroline. And Echo loves him back. I thought Eliza Dushku gave one of her best performances in that kitchen table conversation.
Meanwhile, back in the Dollhouse, it wasn't just Echo and Paul that changed in a big way. Adelle, treated by Harding like a servant, went from persecuted champion of the dolls to the "coldest bitch on this planet" and betrayed the dolls and Topher. And now Topher has created the machine that could end the world as we know it. The series is slowly moving toward "Epitaph One."
Bits and pieces:
-- When Sierra and Victor were imprinted as scientists, I thought for a moment that Adelle and Topher were protecting them from Harding. Guess not. Split them up? Dubai? Noooooo!
-- How diabolical, having twenty-three houses each working separately on a component of something that could imprint anyone. But wouldn't someone need to invent the final product first in order to split it into components?
-- Kilo was back.
-- Echo has terrible headaches. Being able to access all of her imprints is bound to have consequences.
Quotes:
Topher: "She totally went all cylon on me and sent a sleeperized assassin after Echo right behind my back. Disarmed me with her arm and glasses, and face, mostly."
Boyd: "We always put them at risk. We just don't lie to ourselves about it now."
Paul: "Thirty-six personalities and not one of them can cook?"
That explains part of his attraction to Mellie. It really was the lasagna.
Echo: "But the idea that Caroline might not be... I've been saving this body for her. But I'm not her."
Paul: "The Dollhouse made you fall in love, over and over. You told me that."
Echo: "They also made me aggressively sexual and phenomenally creative in bed."
Paul: "Now that's just cruel."
Four excellent episodes in a row. Four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Have to say I didn’t enjoy this episode as much and thought it was a bit of a letdown after the last few great episodes. I’ve never really been invested in Echo and Paul as a couple and this episode did little to change that.
ReplyDeleteBut I loved all the stuff in the dollhouse, especially the scenes with Adelle. Seeing her reduced to nothing more than a glorified tea lady was shocking but not as much as seeing her go into ruthless, self-serving, cold bitch mode and screw over Topher and, in a sense, everyone else on the planet who likes their brain the way it is.
Without a moments hesitation she’s doomed the entire human race just because she wanted her office back. This goes some way to explaining why she was caring for Topher in the future. Her conscience must eventually catch up with her, albeit too late. Amazing performance there by Olivia Williams.
I agree with Mark that this episode was not on par with the last two.
ReplyDeleteI'm not digging Echo and Paul. They just make me feel uncomfortable when they are together. I think it is great that Paul (and Boyd) are helping Echo, but I'm not getting the romantic chemistry at all.
But other than that, I liked the way this episode advanced us on the path to Epitaph One. It was great to see Echo as her own person, channeling her imprints to do good deeds. And I'm glad that she is developing as a character independent of Caroline. I agree with Billie that I don't like Caroline, never did, and if I never see her again, I'd be happy.
I loved the stuff with Topher and Adelle. I was kind of disappointed to see Topher back to his "devil may care" tech development, and then completely thrilled to learn that he was trying to subvert the system to protect the masses. Even though it was intensely dumb for him to put his ideas down on paper and then show them to anyone, let alone Adelle. If you had to write them down to figure out the creepy tech, just burn them up when done. Still, it did make for a great betrayal/confrontation scene between them.
And just when I was starting to kind of like Adelle. I find myself hoping that Echo does kill her following their Epitaph One confrontation. After the hell on Earth she hath wrought, it is the least she deserves. Then again, maybe having to live with the consequences is better punishment.
I really enjoyed this episode and the one following: it's not that I disagree with everyone's comments, but that I'm just so happy that things are moving along, even if they are moving towards the end.
ReplyDeleteI did find it interesting, though, that Echo kept asserting that she wasn't Caroline, even as she was doing exactly what we know Caroline was always driven to do: rescuing a charmingly helpless person/animal from cruel imprisonment.
I'm getting sad, now, about the cancellation. I wasn't heartbroken before, but this is getting interesting.
I thought the first half was fairly pedestrian, compared to the last two, but it really picked up steam from the half way point, and finished as a four star episode.
ReplyDeleteJust one thing though - if Paul had the recording of the sheriff, why not just walk into the front office and threaten him with it from the outset? I guess the point was that it was a test for Echo, but given how fragile her state of mind was, and how it nearly went spectacularly wrong, it still seems outrageously risky.
This season really is superb.
The Galena plot felt a bit boring but it was amazing seeing Echo accessing all of her imprints, it felt like The Pretender.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also had the feeling that this episode right here is the beginning of the end.