Dollhouse – You realize, that’s the beginning of the end

Just when you thought that the Dollhouse couldn’t be more sinister, along comes “Haunted.” We’ve seen a host of horrible things that the company is capable of, but now the idea of selling replacement bodies has been floated. And it’s all kinds of creepy. It’s not technically what the story, a one-off murder mystery, was about, but it is the most intriguing point brought to light. Along the way, there were some hints at November’s background, a somewhat sad look at Topher’s social life, and a furthering of the downward spiral for Ballard.

Update: The show hit a new low in the ratings. 2.99 million viewers, 1.2 demo.

Right off the top, I’ll say this was an excellent episode, but it gained its excellence in an odd way. The main story was just OK. A pretty cut and dry murder mystery involving characters we know nothing about and probably won’t be seeing again. Although, the inclusion of Gregg Henry as Uncle Bill was a nice touch. (Unrelated, Eddie Izzard recently noted on twitter that The Riches movie is still a possibility) It would have been right at home on Ghost Whisperer, with the minor change of Margaret actually being a ghost.

Ahhh, but that was just the framework. The really interesting bit is this idea that the Dollhouse can give a person a new body. The voice of reason, Boyd, noted that doing so is the beginning of the end. I see it differently, and can’t imagine why they wouldn’t offer that as a service. Think about it. Of all the products one could possibly have to sell, what tops everlasting life? It almost makes the ridiculous pricing we saw earlier in the season start to sound reasonable, because it really is a ‘name your price’ product. And it actually works with everything we’ve learned so far.

We already know that actives are available for high end crime and assassinations, so nobody can really pull the morality card. The five year plan? Assuming you believe that anyone ever actually gets out of the deal, the idea that the everlasting life customer gets a new skin every five years isn’t far fetched. And don’t forget the little programmatic additions, as we saw with November/Mellie. If a client doesn’t want to pay their yearly installment, because this would totally be a subscription service, a few words can shut them off. Or, more dastardly, the richest and most powerful people on the planet would all be sleeper agents that could have been programmed to work in favor of the company. Agents that are updated with new goals every five years, at a minimum. It’s a fascinating idea.

The one bit working against it is the reveal that Margaret spent a year and a half getting scanned. Although, it wasn’t clear whether that was required for a full transfer, or if it was just her keeping her image up to date while she waited to be murdered. Clearly, the dolls don’t require that long for their own personalities to be stored away. But then, we don’t know how much of their personalities remain when they are in the wiped state. It’s a tech question that lacks detail at the moment. All of it also works rather well with the question of where they get all of the skills they use for the imprints. Under this theory, they have a growing database of various skilled people that are making ‘just in case’ backups to pull from.

Meanwhile, back at the office, Topher was having a playdate. It was a fun story, watching Topher and Sierra play games, and it did bring with it the tension of waiting for the other shoe to drop. That could have gone a couple different ways. Maybe you were expecting Topher to have sex with Sierra? I ruled that one out right away, when he asked Boyd to pick an active. He didn’t specify that he needed a certain active, or even what gender, so I don’t think that really mattered. Instead, I watched the whole thing wondering if we would get a reveal of just who this person was. Childhood friend? Sibling? We never found out, and it’s probably best to assume that Topher just created the ultimate best friend. And that’s what makes it, ultimately, a little sad. That given some down time at the office, rather than going out with his actual friends, he creates one.

And then we have Ballard. I really didn’t see that one coming. From what we’ve learned about Ballard, especially from “Man On The Street,” I didn’t think he’d break so easily. It’s made his story that much darker, and probably that much more driven to destroy the Dollhouse. He also handed us the latest clues about just who November was before she became an active. There are a lot of ways those quick flashes could go, but I’m leaning toward some sort of grifter, explaining all the locations and names. It goes a long way toward explaining what the Dollhouse had over her to get her to sign up. Although, that is assuming that all of that information was legit. You do have to consider the question — If TPTB are able to wipe all traces of her from the FBI computers the moment someone accesses them, why are they still there to be found? Is it possible that someone wanted Ballard to see those names and places, possibly to throw him off the trail?

One final bit of TV minutia. Those that make TV have to realize that we are living in an HD world now, and that requires a certain level of detail. If they are going to show a computer on the screen, I’m going to pause and see what information can be gleened. And in the case of an FBI database of a grifter/missing person/doll, I don’t think they are concerned with her tempo, beats per minute, or the fact that she is in 4/4 time. Although, it could all just be a clever reference to Miracle Laurie’s band, Uke Box Heroes (click it – it’s awesome).

Clacked by Brett Love
on Apr 25, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT