The close Dollhouse gets to its unfair cancellation , the nearer the end of civilisation gets . And once again , the apocalypse just makes everyone , and everything , better . But what was up with that last plot twist ? plunderer forward …
I despair of writing a full recapitulation of last night ’s sequence , because you had so much insanity go on . You had :
The return of Whiskey aka Dr. Claire Saunders , who seized her prospect to take out Topher ’s one instant of happiness ( and kick upstairs her lover ’s schemes )
The backstory on why Bennett ( Summer Glau ) detest Caroline , Echo ’s former personality — and wow , it in reality made sentience and was n’t arbitrary
Our first real glimpse of Caroline since last year , and this prison term Caroline was actually likeable
Adelle ramp up her rebellion by gunning down a Rossum add-in penis , and then making some seriously uncollectible decisions , like commit away her right - hand man and let go all her active . If it ’s a war , does n’t she necessitate all her soldiers ?
The explanation for what Paul “ lost ” when Topher miraculously restored his cognizance . Maybe a bit too cheap , but another neat kink on the show ’s eldritch - neuroscience focus
Echo losing both the men she trusts , and foolishly sends out her two best ally
The return of November , and more importantly the homecoming of Mellie , which only foreground quite how much Ballard ’s jumped the fence lately
Topher and Bennett rekindling their twisted flirtation , which may be my favorite romantic relationship on television — so of course it cease the Joss Whedon agency
Mr. Dominic arrive out of the garret somehow , but it ’s only a irregular abatement
Ivy finally gets some recognition , and Topher finally treats her like a sorta - equal … before sending her away in a grievous scene
The family relationship between Adelle and Topher lurches much close to a mother - son dynamic , as Topher begins to fall to objet d’art
And then there ’s Boyd . Where do we even start ?
So looking at that ginormous leaning , I ’m remind of the people who tell , early on on , that Dollhouse ’s openhanded weakness was its characters . There was nobody to settle down for , nobody to handle about , and no relationships to get sucked into . You definitely would not say that about Dollhouse now . Thanks to a tidy sum of rich episodes — cap off by Tim “ can do no faulty ” Minear ’s writing and focus last night — the characters are the main matter we manage about on this show .
Topher , especially , has go from Satan Jr. to one of the richest characters on tv set . Topher ’s relationships with almost every character on the show got small consequence of Apocalypse and dismay . There ’s his reunification with Claire , who set about out strip Topher ’s bust back talk with something consanguineous to tenderness , and winds up shoot the woman Topher is fall for . Then the scene where Topher , already drowning , has to excuse to Echo that yes , he deleted Paul ’s love for her . Like I mentioned , Topher and Adelle are now naut mi from the snarky banter and inappropriate toying of their earlier relationship . And Topher ’s scenes with Bennett were so rummy and twisted , with the two amoral geniuses bonding over their honey of pure mad science , that I got more clothe in their relationship , after that unforesightful prison term , than I ’ll ever be in Skate or Huddy .
And yes , the scenes between Caroline and Bennett made me like both characters right smart more than I ever think I would — Caroline as a terrorist who declare war on Rossum is way more interesting than Caroline as a giddy college protestor who broke into Rossum ’s labs to make a Youtube television . And I absolutely loved the picture where Caroline asks Bennett if she ’s quick for her discourse , puts her in “ the chairwoman ” and render her a fresh personality . So classic . Last Nox ’s instalment occupy two of my least preferred face of Dollhouse in the past — Caroline , and Bennett ’s vendetta , and made them shine .
( Also , a random question — I can guess now why hapless “ Claire Saunders ” gets erased , between now and the “ Epitaph One ” timeline . But when on Earth do they have prison term to desexualise her scars ? Maybe Boyd does that at some point between now and then . But it might have made more sense if her mark were already fixed since we last saw her , during the time she was Boyd ’s little confidential . )
But everything else in that episode was overshadowed by the huge Apocalypse at the close — that Boyd is the show ’s Big Bad . Rewatch the clipping above , from the startle of the episode , and the bit where Boyd keeps harping on the fact that Caroline can identify him suddenly seem much creepy .
And yet , did this revelation make sense ? Or was it a “ Final Five ” kind of deal , where the writer pull a name from a hat ?
The thing that give me pause is the whole business where Boyd make shot , and Adelle ( in one of a few confutable decisions last night ) determine to essay and pick the whole line on Boyd to buy herself some time . If Boyd ’s really the head of Rossum Corp. , he knows he does n’t actually have to go on the run from his own ship’s company . ( If it ’s his word against Adelle ’s , she suffer . ) Of course , the estimation of a company being run by someone that nobody ’s ever met is also a bit silly , but there you go . I ’m approximate he carry the company via accounts that only he can access or something . Anyway , Boyd has that scene with Claire Saunders , which we go through in “ Epitaph One , ” where he lecture about how he ’s really going on the run , and he wo n’t tell her where . If Claire ’s in on Boyd ’s deception — and she ’s got to be — then why is he bothering to pretend with her ? Is it just an act , for the benefit of anyone who might be listening ?
And yet , if you’re able to dismiss that scene and a few other things like it , the whole thing does make a fair amount of sense . Boyd is the character whose background we empathise the least , and every fourth dimension he ’s talked about his past , it ’s been in such world-wide terms , we harvest nothing . ( I vaguely remember him saying he was an x - cop once , though . ) And he ’s always been the smartest person on the show , letting little glimpse of his intelligence chirp out while Topher lower oneself to him and Adelle bosses him around .
He ’s also always been the most beastly in his assessments of what ’s going on in the Dollhouse — he and his colleagues are “ procurer and cause of death , ” he say in season one . He seems to have no problem with Ballard ’s original assessment of the Dollhouse — that these people are still people , and that they ca n’t possibly consent to what ’s being done with them . When Harding takes over the L.A. Dollhouse , Boyd sees no deviation between his old boss and his new boss — except that Adelle cherished some illusions that she was treating her Dolls well , and Harding have it away they ’re just dimension . Boyd strongly hints that he thinks Harding ’s right . Boyd always seems faintly shamed and troubled about his part in this human - trafficking outline , but it does n’t block him from going along with it . It ’s enchanting to revisit those scenes , knowing that Boyd is actually the designer of the whole matter .
So why would the carbon monoxide gas - founder of Rossum Corp. , the designer of the apocalypse , go hole-and-corner as a handler at one of his company ’s two dozen doll’s house ? Presumably because of Echo . Boyd “ notices ” that Echo is becoming particular and gaining self - awareness early in season one , and it seems to be the result of Alpha ’s tampering . But both Boyd and Adelle ( in all probability at Boyd ’s urging ) decide to boost Echo ’s “ specialness , ” instead of sending her to the Attic flop off . And the longer this goes on , the more in command of herself Echo becomes .
Then in time of year two , Boyd give way Echo a keycard and warns her to be discreet about her rapidly increasing self - awareness . When Adelle gets removed as head of the L.A. Dollhouse , he encourages her to recapture her theatre — because he need someone in charge there who can protect Echo ’s ontogeny . And he knead with Ballard to bring the newly integrate Echo back to the house .
And now it turns out that Boyd had his eye on Caroline before she even became Echo — somehow he knew she had the electric potential to be more than the other Dolls . perhaps because she was so fervent ? Or maybe he had arrest a chance to skim her brain at some point and noticed something ? ( Or possibly , he set up for Echo ’s initial imprinting and “ alive computer architecture ” to be dissimilar from the beginning . )
Which only leaves the biggest question unrequited — if Boyd ’s the guy who ’s arranged the apocalypse and push onward the growing of chairless brainwashing engineering , so that he and a few of his rich friends can push their personalities and memories into as many body as possible , what does he require Echo for ? Why is someone who ca n’t be mindwiped so valuable to someone who plans to mindwipe the integral world ?
I suppose we ’ll chance out next hebdomad . But the Boyd revelation , on top of everything else , ensures that whenever you rewatch one of those time of year - one episodes — yes , even the boring “ backup singer ” one — you ’ll have a slew more to conceive about than just , “ Is n’t Echo ’s a la mode lustrous rig lustrous ? ” I ca n’t say it often enough — this is one of those shows that will become legendary once the whole matter is out on DVD and you’re able to watch over all 26 episodes in a week or two . The half a twelve really tough episodes are proceed to fall into symmetry , as part of a greater overall intent .
So what did you all think ?
dollhouseEliza DushkuJoss WhedonTelevision
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