Wouldn’t you know it … as we head into a Dollhouse-free month, the show goes out with the best episode of the season. It was so good, I was left wondering why the season didn’t start out on this note. Priya’s story not only gave us the history of Sierra, but also offered a very bleak look behind the scenes at the Dollhouse. All that while advancing a number of the bigger picture plot points.
Update: (Because it has become a Saturday tradition) Proving once again that the quality of the episode doesn’t have a lot to do with the ratings, Dollhouse was down this week. 2.15 million viewers with a .8 demo.
Let’s start with Priya, as well we should, since Dichen Lachman’s performance was outstanding. I didn’t think there was a lot of revelation in how she came to be in the Dollhouse. The fact that Nolan basically put her there after she turned him down had already been given away long ago. The big revelation came in finding out who knew what, and when.
That’s the part of the episode I find most intriguing. The writers continue to blur the lines, trying to paint some kind of grey area for Adelle, Topher, and Boyd to walk in. The shining example of that came in Adelle’s confrontation with Nolan: “You have made me an accomplice in something vile.” While that’s true… he had… she must have cut her feet with all of that broken glass everywhere. This was far from Adelle’s first trip into the vile arena.
Which brings us to my second favorite part of the episode, Harding (Keith Carradine). He cuts right to the chase, calling Adelle on her bullshit. When she asks, “What does this make us?” he answers with the question, “What are we already?” He then goes on to make the point of the night with the line, “If feeling that you’re somehow decent and moral helps you get through your day, that’s your business.”
That’s really what it comes down to. The fact that Adelle and Topher have finally found something that they don’t agree with, and felt a little guilt, doesn’t erase any of the other horrid things they’ve done. They are the same as Harding. Harding just accepts what he is.
I’m still puzzled by the idea that Topher and Adelle somehow think they were on the side of right by kidnapping a mental patient and making her their slave. Clearly, the goal was never to do anything to try and help Priya. It took Topher what, five minutes, to restore Priya with no mental problems? No, they found a hot girl, that wouldn’t be missed, and kidnapped her to do their bidding. It’s not a grey area, and it puts them on the same side of the scale where Nolan was making camp.
And really, it only got worse. After everything that happened, they finally had the opportunity to do right by Priya. Nolan was gone, and they could have reset her to the day she came to the Dollhouse, erasing the last year of torment, and let her get on with her life. Wake her up in a hospital in Australia and tell her she’s been in a coma for a year. Instead, it’s business as usual.
Elsewhere, we’re starting to see a lot of little signs pointing toward what is to come. Certainly Topher’s new-found morals are a factor in how things play out in the future. We also saw him continuing his work on the remote wipe technology, with a nice hat-tip to Alpha. Meanwhile, downstairs, Echo continues to evolve and Boyd has taken to enabling her. Just a hunch, but this can’t end well, right?
All things considered, “Belonging” is a fine example of just how good this show can be. With any luck, we’ll get to see more episodes on this level when the show returns in December.
Clacked by Brett Love
on Oct 24, 2009 @ 09:01 EST5EDT
I was kinda caught off-guard with Keith Carradine’s appearance. I like him. He’s terrific on Dexter.
Is Harding gonna be a recurring character? That character has potential.
I loved Carradine as well, and hopefully he’ll be recurring, since something tells me we’ll not be seeing much of him on Dexter anymore… it was not looking good for him at the end of the last episode.
So… is the quality of an episode inversely proportional to the amount of screen time that Dushku gets?
Also, apparently a mind wipe also wipes out accents. Interesting.
*POST AUTHOR*
I wouldn’t say that, because Omega was pretty heavy with the Echo, and excellent. It is always better when they use the whole ensemble though. Having Sierra, Victor, and Boyd all involved helped a great deal. I think the show is much better when it deals with the Dollhouse itself, and the overall arc. Standalone stories, like Instinct, don’t measure up.
I think one could argue, Brett and Bob, that there is an inverse ratio here at work, but it has to do with Peninkett more so than with Dushku.
Sierra and Victor are so sweet together! Where can I get my Sierra/Victor happiness everafter dolls, I wonder?
Great episode. Adele and Topher really stood out to me.
I would get those dolls, too.
Bye bye Paul and Mellie, say hello to Victor and Sierra!
I got whedon-chills when Adelle looked down at Topher and said, “You were selected because you have no morals.”
Definitely the best episode of the season.
*POST AUTHOR*
Agreed. That was a great line.
Priya never had any actual mental problems. What Topher did so easily was only after coming to the realization that her issues were, in fact, caused by something external to her actual brain (the drugs given to her).
*POST AUTHOR*
I understand that, but take is as proof that they never actually tried to help Priya. When he did apply the least effort to actually figuring out what was wrong with her, it was obvious. And, one could argue that Sierra’s brain scans mysteriously cleared up right away.
To me though, the whole thing played not as them doing some great humanitarian thing to help this poor girl with a mental disorder, but taking advantage of a defenseless woman that wouldn’t be missed. They even said as much. It wasn’t, “I think I found someone who we can really help with our technology.” Rather, it was, “I think I found our new Sierra.”
Even if you ignore the Nolan factor, what Adelle and Topher both knowingly agreed to was abducting a girl from a mental hospital and making her their slave. They’re no better than Nolan in this story. Other than the fact that finally taking a look at just what a horrible bastard he is may actually be forcing some sort of change for Topher.
Epitaph One is a great episode, but I regret watching it. It spoils the story too much for me. Damn, I wish I didn’t watch it in the first place.
Adelle: “Oh, that’s a non-issue. I would no sooner allow you near one of our other Actives than I would a mad dog near a child. I forget, do you take sugar?” Freaking awesome delivery.
Why was this episode good? Jed and Maurissa wrote it AND it was directed by Jonathan Frakes. Can we please sign him up to direct more? He did rather well by this show. Victor and Sierra, almost NO Echo, and take-charge Boyd (“Boyd: You’re a doctor. You know how to dissect a body. Topher: In school and how do you?)!
I had a feeling Topher wasn’t all bad.
“I had a feeling Topher wasn’t all bad.”
Now that he’s awake (morally speaking) he’ll be even more interesting as a character. I know I’ll care more for him now. Adele too, for the same reason.
I hope we can get some back story on Boyd too before time runs out.