Dollhouse #1.5 "True Believer"

[KSiteTV]

New episode tonight! Where is everyone?

[Vergon6]

I'm here ;).

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

Where is everybody else?

[Randy G.]

I'm watching. :D

[Vergon6]

So it seems they are using Luthorcorp technology :p. It's like Tess.

[Randy G.]

Hey, isn't that one ATF dude the cyborg that was just driving the sub, on Sarah Connor chronicles?!! :eek:

[Vergon6]

Not sure

[Randy G.]

Hope she washed her hands first. :lol:

[WickedJenn]

Here I am.

Good opening.

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

Wow, somehow I missed DeKnight as executive producer before.

[Vergon6]

So what's the story with Lupov? Is he becoming active on his own now that he's been imprinted so much? Or is there some other imprint that is emerging after he gets imprinted? Because he is the one helping the FBI Agent. That probably made no sense.

[dsfjr1190]

Man reactions ;)

[WickedJenn]

Lmao.

[Vergon6]

lol Enough with the Adam and Eve references.

[Randy G.]

I'm having a man reaction. :rotfl:

[Vergon6]

She is totally into him, and he is totally oblivious lol.

----- Added 1 Minutes later -----


I'm having a man reaction. :rotfl:
lol

[WickedJenn]

Hah, how do you like that buddy.

[Randy G.]

I hate their complete disregard for the "dolls" safety during some missions.
They act like they're disposable. :\

[Vergon6]

That cult leader has creepy looking eyes lol.

[WickedJenn]

That cult leader has creepy looking eyes lol.

Little bit of a Marshall Applewhite going on with him.

----- Added 24 Seconds later -----


I hate their complete disregard for the "dolls" safety during some missions.
They act like they're disposable. :\

Agreed, they walk the line there.

[Randy G.]

I think I recognize those eyes & eyebrows. Isn't that cult leader Brian Bloom or something like that?

I do like the fact that commercials are very brief.
I wish all shows were like that.

[Vergon6]

I think I recognize those eyes & eyebrows. Isn't that cult leader Brian Bloom or something like that?

I do like the fact that commercials are very brief.
I wish all shows were like that.
Yes, it's Brian Bloom according to IMDB.

----- Added 46 Seconds later -----

Cults and their crazy ways about getting out of situations lol.

----- Added 1 Minutes later -----

He played a character called Carter in "Heavy Metal" from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

I don't remember his character specifically at the moment.

[WickedJenn]

Haha, that message is "Move your (arse)!"

[Vergon6]

The reason why Dominic didn't authorize her retrieval is because he knew she would adapt to the situation. That is my response to the comments earlier about treating the dolls at disposable. He knew she would find a way to survive after what DeWitt told him.

[Randy G.]

Poor girl is gettin' the hell beat out of her this episode. :eek:

[WickedJenn]

I know, damn that smarts.

[Vergon6]

Poor girl is gettin' the hell beat out of her this episode. :eek:
Yeah definitely.

----- Added 39 Seconds later -----

Oh it looks Dominic just wanted to try and kill her off.

[WickedJenn]

Hmmm...

[Vergon6]

What the? The next episode looks intense.

[Randy G.]

Nice ending. I like how she's retaining some things even though they keep mind wiping her.

Next week's episode looks REALLY good.

[Shadowlord367]

The fact that we have two sixty second commercials and two ninety second commercials means we have a total of five minutes of commercials, should my math be correct.

Most television shows are about 40:00, giving us roughly a 2:1 ratio of screentime to commercials.

With Dollhouse, we get around 50:00 of screentime! Not only do we get more screentime, but less commercials! Think of how much extra realistic flow that brings to the episode.

One of my greatest gripes with Smallville is the constant interruption. Nothing kills suspense like a good, pointless irrelevant commercial, no matter how strong the cliffhangers are.

And LOL @ "man reactions."

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

Anways, despite a plotline I totally could not invest myself in, I found Topher and Claire to continue to grow on me, Adelle to be more and more intriguing, and Boyd to be more and more of a likable protecting figure.

Supposedly, next week is the first episode that Fox let Joss do entirely on its own, and is supposed to be absolutely flawless. It's the one everyone has been raving about; a turning point in the series. I hope it breaks us from these alright, nothing special episodes into what we have all been hoping and know the show can be.

----- Added 5 Minutes later -----

Also, up until now, we've seen Echo in different personas that basically are all slight variations of Faith. Dark, smart, sexy, tough... and all of which convenientally showcased Eliza, Eliza's body, Eliza's singing talents, Eliza's body... but in this episode we finally got to see the contrast and the balance.

I hope in the coming weeks this show embraces the themes of morality, identity, memory, humanity, and all the stuff I know Joss has been trying to get at, but just can't quite hit the nail on the head.

[Magda Halliwell]

I liked this episode as I was raised in a kind of cultish church. Not too cultish but it had it downfalls....anyhow. I am enjoying Dollhouse and Eliza very much. A lot of the characters remind me of Buffy and Angel characters. The lady over the house reminds me of Lila. I cannot wait to see the episode that they let Joss take complete control!

[weemanwise]

Good episode. Next weeks looks awesome.

8/10

[InactiveUserID]

I really took notice tonight.
She's switching. Not just slipping slowly into awareness. She switched instantly to the personality that would be able to help her best. To block the punch, she borrowed a combat skill. To then say it was a miracle her sight was back, she fell back into the believer download. To get the people out of the fire she drew on the leadership role from the art heist. (I don't think blind girl would have said ass or used a command voice to snap people to atention nor a blow to Sparrow's head to make escape possible.)

It's like a new kind of mystery novel where the girl is the mystery. She solves everything else pretty easily (with help from the handler).

[Hopefulsuicide]

I'd give the episode a 9

It just kept entertaining me. I laughed out loud at 'Sneezure', everything to do with man reactions, and the 'move your arse' message from god.

But I also thought the episode was well put together and moved so much forward in terms of character development and relationship development.

Boyd and Echo

-I like the scene where they were in the car. It really got me thinking 'he spends a lot of time with this girl, and yet it's always a different girl. It's almost like he gets to know someone knew every time he takes her out.

-Also liked his protectiveness. Both he and DeWitt seem a bit protective of Echo. I think DeWitt probably is because she knows why Echo is there (which is a mystery i want solved). But Boyd is protective because even though he doesn't really know her, there is trust between them, and i think he finds that very important. Whereas the Dollhouse sees his job as making sure engagements go as smoothly as their client wants, Boyd seems to see it as looking out for Echo.

Topher and Dr. Saunders

- I think they have great comedy chemistry, because he is so camp and hyper and she is so straight and monotone. Their scenes where hilarious, and it's nice to see all the Dollhouse staff interacting more

Victor and Sierra

-The first ship of the show, and I already think it's sweet. He likes her so much that it breaks the rules of the wipe. That's gotta be alot :lol:

Ballard

-definitely liked him more this episode. He is so close, and i'm frustrated with him in a way. I can't wait to see what happens when he meets Echo/Caroline/whoever she is imprinted with at the time :lol:

Dominic

-quickly becoming the character we love to hate. What is his problem? Did he know Caroline? Does he know why she's in there? Or does he just hate women who are more respected than him, especially ones who have no brain.

Anyway, there were some great twists in the plot, and all the dialog was much better than last week. I feel like the show is going to get better and better :)

[CallMeClark]

I thought this episode was very Joss-like. It had drama but filled with lots of comedy. I especially found the "man reaction" comments hilarious. :lol:

And Victor is kind of hot. I like him with Sierra. I am very fond of both characters. I still find the relationship between Echo and Boyd the most touching and close. I liked the episode a lot. :)

[Magda Halliwell]

I loved the man reaction line! HIGHlarious!

[Superboy-Prime]

ummm can anyone give me a summary or know where i can find a detailed summaryof what happend, cause fox had alot of girls basketball games on that night instead

[Hopefulsuicide]

'A' plot - Echo is hired out by a senator who is trying to help the government bring down a fanatic cult, after it seems someone from the camp wrote 'save me' on the back of a shopping list that was left at a shop in the local town. She is imprinted as a blind girl, and through some weird technology is actually made temporarily blind and her eyes are made into a camera (i know, sounds very very weird :lol:).

She goes to the cult and has been imprinted to believe that she had a vision of it's leader in a dream. She gains their trust (because it is actually true to her) and her camera eyes catch the leaders hidden arsenal of weapons. The agents decide to move even though Boyd protests as Echo is helpless and stuck in there with them. The man in charge however, has a vendetta against the cult leader who formerly slipped out of jail because of a technicality in the legal handling. Boyd tries to get clearance to extract her from the Dollhouse, but Dominic (the head of security) will not grant it.

When the agents invade the cult site, they trip alarms and the cult leader immediately suspects newcomer Echo. He gets angry and hits her, and this causes her temporary blindness to be lifted and the cameras to go off. When this happens, although at first suspicious, the cult leader decides this is a sign from god that he is powerful enough to perform miracles and protect them. So he gets everyone inside the church and his little helper sets it on fire. The cult leader tells all of his followers that they will not be harmed from the fire, as they will be saved by a miracle.

Meanwhile, the agents are all ready to go swarming in, and Boyd figures out that the 'save me' note that sparked the investigation was actually faked by the leader of the agents. He confronts the man about it and then goes in to find Echo. The leader of the agents lies and says that Boyd may be the one who set the fire.

Inside the church, Echo as the blind women who can now see, tries to convince all the people inside to get out. She gets into a fight with the cult leader and eventually knocks him out. However, Dominic then appears dressed as an agent and knocks Echo out, leaving here there to die in the fire.

Boyd finds her, and saves her, though she has to knock out another cult member who refuses to leave so that Boyd can carry him out. Once out, it's straight back to the dollhouse for a wipe. Dr Saunders makes sure Echo can still see, and as she looks around she spots Dominic and says 'I see perfectly' (episode ends with this)

'B' plot 1 - Ballard is trying to find out who Caroline is. He pulls strings to get her photo run through more extensive face recognition files and software. But it still comes up a blank. His sweet neighbour comes down to the office to bring him his pain medicine and hands him a letter that the mail man gave her. It is from Alpha, and contains a disk with the video Alpha was watching of Caroline.

Later, Ballard passes by a television set that is reporting on the raid of the cult that Echo is at. And Ballard is shocked to see this mysterious Caroline on the screen. He goes down to the site when everything is over and asks the agent leader if he recognizes the girl, but he lies and says it could be anybody. He refuses to give Ballard access to the other cult members.

'B' plot 2 - Victor and Sierra are having a shower together, when Victor becomes aroused and gets an erection. Topher spots this on the screen in his office and runs down to tell Dr Saunders that Victor has had a 'man reaction'. This is not supposed to happen to the dolls in their blank state, and so Dr Saunders and Topher go through old tapes of the showers in order to find the trigger. This trigger is Sierra. It happens only when he is looking at her. He likes her.

DeWitt tells them to take this very seriously, and watch him closely in case he becomes a liability.

Hope that makes sense :lol: I've only watched it once so far and i forget people's names.

[actaeon]

Every episode I see makes me like this show more! It's really coming together, as the actors get more engaged in their roles. ED is fantastic-- I really bought her performance as a potential cult recruit. The cult leader was appropriately creepy-- is he the same actor who plays the trench coat "angel of the lord" on Supernatural? The gravelly voice seemed familiar.

Joss is brilliant when it comes to bringing out the creepy side of religion! It was delicious, slamming the cult. I loved ED's deadpan "I can see. It's a miracle." as she blocked the head-smack. You go, girl!

Hilarious, the erectio-- er, man reaction!

I'm freaking lovin' this show. It's 5 by 5!

[Hopefulsuicide]

Oh, i have one point :lol:

Why do they have the dolls shower together at all? Surely this problem could simply be solved by not keeping it unisex!

[Xanderman]

Good ep with some of the best writing so far. Nothing glaringly "lame" about any of the dialogue or story elements. They should have Tim Minear do more eps. He and Steven DeKnight, who did the other keeper, The Target.

Also, the director (Allan Kroeker) apparently directed 13 eps for each of Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, including the series finales for all. Pretty cool. It seems he also directed the Firefly episode "Ariel", my favorite episode for that series.

Topher's sneezure and man reaction lines were very funny. However, I'm still not liking Amy Acker as Dr. Claire Saunders. Bad casting choice I still feel. And the facial scars are distracting. Their idea to make her character scarred by an attack from Alpha was quite a lame one to me, I don't see the need to drag out this lameness any further--just fix her face already. Her acting is annoying enough as it is, I don't need to be turned off just by looking at her.

And about the ending--it sort of implied that Echo remembered everything ("I see perfectly"). Has she already reached the point where erasures no longer work on her at all? I guess she's going to be faking from now on? Anyway nice episode.

8/10

[Kevin24]

I haven't seen this series before until last friday. I decided to give it a chance because I have enjoyed Buffy and Angel which are both Joss Whedon projects. Anyway, I have heard alot of bad things about the show and how it wasn't that great.

Well, I decided to give it a shot and form my own opinion and I saw this episode and I have to say I enjoyed it. I had to LOL when the guy wouldn't say erection but instead said Man reaction heehhehe.

I still don't know what is really going on since I missed many epsiodes but I did enjoy this epsiode for what it was.

From what I can tell it looks like Faith is remembering things from her adventures? Also that one guy who got a man reaction is attracted to that girl ?

I really have no idea what all that means and if someone could explain to me....I would be thankful.

[Vergon6]

I haven't seen this series before until last friday. I decided to give it a chance because I have enjoyed Buffy and Angel which are both Joss Whedon projects. Anyway, I have heard alot of bad things about the show and how it wasn't that great.

Well, I decided to give it a shot and form my own opinion and I saw this episode and I have to say I enjoyed it. I had to LOL when the guy wouldn't say erection but instead said Man reaction heehhehe.

I still don't know what is really going on since I missed many epsiodes but I did enjoy this epsiode for what it was.

From what I can tell it looks like Faith is remembering things from her adventures? Also that one guy who got a man reaction is attracted to that girl ?

I really have no idea what all that means and if someone could explain to me....I would be thankful.
Eliza Dushku is playing a completely different character named Echo. This is not meant to be in the Buffyverse. I'm not sure if that was clear. Yes, it seems that Victor is attracted to that other 'active' or 'doll', which is apparently not supposed to happen as they explain. And yes Echo, seems to at least remember vague things from her missions, which is another thing isn't supposed to happen.

[Superboy-Prime]

'A' plot - Echo is hired out by a senator who is trying to help the government bring down a fanatic cult, after it seems someone from the camp wrote 'save me' on the back of a shopping list that was left at a shop in the local town. She is imprinted as a blind girl, and through some weird technology is actually made temporarily blind and her eyes are made into a camera (i know, sounds very very weird :lol:).

She goes to the cult and has been imprinted to believe that she had a vision of it's leader in a dream. She gains their trust (because it is actually true to her) and her camera eyes catch the leaders hidden arsenal of weapons. The agents decide to move even though Boyd protests as Echo is helpless and stuck in there with them. The man in charge however, has a vendetta against the cult leader who formerly slipped out of jail because of a technicality in the legal handling. Boyd tries to get clearance to extract her from the Dollhouse, but Dominic (the head of security) will not grant it.

When the agents invade the cult site, they trip alarms and the cult leader immediately suspects newcomer Echo. He gets angry and hits her, and this causes her temporary blindness to be lifted and the cameras to go off. When this happens, although at first suspicious, the cult leader decides this is a sign from god that he is powerful enough to perform miracles and protect them. So he gets everyone inside the church and his little helper sets it on fire. The cult leader tells all of his followers that they will not be harmed from the fire, as they will be saved by a miracle.

Meanwhile, the agents are all ready to go swarming in, and Boyd figures out that the 'save me' note that sparked the investigation was actually faked by the leader of the agents. He confronts the man about it and then goes in to find Echo. The leader of the agents lies and says that Boyd may be the one who set the fire.

Inside the church, Echo as the blind women who can now see, tries to convince all the people inside to get out. She gets into a fight with the cult leader and eventually knocks him out. However, Dominic then appears dressed as an agent and knocks Echo out, leaving here there to die in the fire.

Boyd finds her, and saves her, though she has to knock out another cult member who refuses to leave so that Boyd can carry him out. Once out, it's straight back to the dollhouse for a wipe. Dr Saunders makes sure Echo can still see, and as she looks around she spots Dominic and says 'I see perfectly' (episode ends with this)

'B' plot 1 - Ballard is trying to find out who Caroline is. He pulls strings to get her photo run through more extensive face recognition files and software. But it still comes up a blank. His sweet neighbour comes down to the office to bring him his pain medicine and hands him a letter that the mail man gave her. It is from Alpha, and contains a disk with the video Alpha was watching of Caroline.

Later, Ballard passes by a television set that is reporting on the raid of the cult that Echo is at. And Ballard is shocked to see this mysterious Caroline on the screen. He goes down to the site when everything is over and asks the agent leader if he recognizes the girl, but he lies and says it could be anybody. He refuses to give Ballard access to the other cult members.

'B' plot 2 - Victor and Sierra are having a shower together, when Victor becomes aroused and gets an erection. Topher spots this on the screen in his office and runs down to tell Dr Saunders that Victor has had a 'man reaction'. This is not supposed to happen to the dolls in their blank state, and so Dr Saunders and Topher go through old tapes of the showers in order to find the trigger. This trigger is Sierra. It happens only when he is looking at her. He likes her.

DeWitt tells them to take this very seriously, and watch him closely in case he becomes a liability.

Hope that makes sense :lol: I've only watched it once so far and i forget people's names.

Thank you, i really appreciate it. Stupid fox showing girl basketball instead of dollhouse

[CallMeClark]

Oh, i have one point :lol:

Why do they have the dolls shower together at all? Surely this problem could simply be solved by not keeping it unisex!

:lol: Money. You know how bad the economy is. They cannot afford two different shower areas. ;)

I think it just emphasizes their innocence.

[Hopefulsuicide]

I think, that even in the middle of a recession, with the amount of money they charge for the use of the doll (which if i remember rightly from a Joss interview was in the millions), they can probably afford to build a second shower room... i mean it'd probably cost less to do that than to up the security around the dolls when they are showering :lol:

[Kevin24]

Eliza Dushku is playing a completely different character named Echo. This is not meant to be in the Buffyverse. I'm not sure if that was clear. Yes, it seems that Victor is attracted to that other 'active' or 'doll', which is apparently not supposed to happen as they explain. And yes Echo, seems to at least remember vague things from her missions, which is another thing isn't supposed to happen.

lol, I know it's different but I just know her as Faith! So it was either call her Faith or the girl from Bring it on :lol:

That's a nice name...Echo. That is the man reaction guy's name...Victor! :D

[CallMeClark]

I think, that even in the middle of a recession, with the amount of money they charge for the use of the doll (which if i remember rightly from a Joss interview was in the millions), they can probably afford to build a second shower room... i mean it'd probably cost less to do that than to up the security around the dolls when they are showering :lol:
True. :lol:

[lorenzovanmatterhorn]

TRUE BELIEVER

The good;
Pretty good story and some nice political campaigning from Adele. The start of Victor and Sierra's relationship is sweet and Topher's reaction to it hilarious. Also like the gag where Ballard asks Mellie to describe the guy who gave her the letter only for her to describe the mailman. Also love Echo/Esther hitting the cult leader with the candlestick.

The bad;
Rather odd that Boyd uses his real name when dealing with the ATF?

Best line;
Topher (on the phone, upon seeing Victor's 'man reaction' to naked Sierra) "I gotta go, somethings come up"
also like
Echo/Esther "God brought me here with a message. That message is MOVE YOUR ASS!"

Packing heat; Boyd/Dominic with an SMG. Oddly in an ep full of guns Echo never uses one
Echo;3
Boyd; 6
Dominic; 4
Sierra; 1

Kinky dinky;
Victor and Sierra, some impulses obviously stronger than brain wiping

Notches on the Dollhouse bedpost;
Echo; 2

How'd they get away with that?
Can't watch Echoes eye surgery, very Clockwork Orange. The cult leader has a penchant for underage girls.

This weeks fantasy;
Echo is a blind religious zealot

Total number personalitites;
Echo; 11
Sierra; 4
Victor; 1

Total dolls;3
Echo, Sierra and Victor

Addy is a bit British;

Topher is a bit geeky;
Prefers the term 'man reaction' to errection.

Subverting the Hollywood cliche

Bondage;
Sierra tied up; 1

Knocked out;
Echo by Dominic

Kills;
Sierra; 2 kills
Echo; 1

Dolls injured;
Echo roughed up and slapped around again

Capt subtext;

Happy hookers

Know the face?
5 Whedon alumni-Mark Shepherd, Amy Acker, walking action figure, Eliza Dushku, Jim Piddock

Guantanamo;
Big goverment kicking in the door and storming inside...to discover enough illegal weaponry to take Iwo Jima in the hands of those seeking the end of the world. Hard to know who's right or wrong?

Fanfic;

Missing scenes;
Very nice dinner scene on the deleted scenes, actually makes the cult members much more likeable.

Reminds me off;

Questions and observations;
Hard to know what to make of the rights and wrongs of this ep, the ATF agent plays a dirty trick although ultimately he's proven to 100% right and avoids another Waco. The irony that the cult members have sacrificed their free will much more by choice than the Dolls have (or have they?). The difference is that the cultists pose a threat to the outside with their arsenal whilst the Dollhouse doesn't...yet? Dominic shows his dislike of Echo whilst the affection developing between her and Adele also becomes evident
In many ways these eps remind me of early eps of Angel, that it was supposed to be an anthology show with the case of the week but eventually became more a story of Angel Investigations themselves with the cases as incidental. The problem is that with the Doll's wiped every week it's difficult for the characters to develop. Also whilst it's a slick series it lacks the humour and and joi de vive of Buffy and Angel (and even Firefly) it feels too sterile.
Marks out of 10; 7/10, again, enjoyed this more in the rewatch than I thought I would