#2-4 "Belonging"

[KSiteTV]

New Dollhouse tonight!

Here's the FOX description:

SIERRA'S SHOCKING INTRODUCTION TO ACTIVE LIFE IS REVEALED ON "DOLLHOUSE" FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, ON FOX

Sierra is forced to face her past as her connection to the Rossum Corporation leads to obsession and murder in the "Belonging" episode of DOLLHOUSE airing Friday, Oct. 23 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (DOL-204) (TV-14 L, V)

Cast: Eliza Dushku as Echo; Tahmoh Penikett as Paul Ballard; Olivia Williams as Adelle DeWitt; Harry Lennix as Boyd Langton; Fran Kranz as Topher Brink; Enver Gjokaj as Victor; Dichen Lachman as Sierra

Guest Cast: Keith Carradine as Matthew Harding; Vincent Ventresca as Nolan Kinnard; Clyde Kusatsu as Dr. Makido; Carlease Burke as Pam

[A Flawed Fashion]

Does anyone ever talk in these threads - I haven't watched live in a while? I missed the begining after switching over from Smallville, but it looks like it is going to be a pretty good Sierra story tonight.

[ginnyfan]

Wow.

Well I can't say that I enjoyed this episode (too upsetting) BUT I think it's the best episode of Dollhouse I've seen in a while.

Man... that guy that wanted to basically buy Sierra was... just... scum. I think he may be the worst thing that has ever slimed his way into the Dollhouse wanting his fantasies fulfilled. Well not the worst thing. That guy from Epitaph One who was in someone else's body?! He's worse.

Victor/Sierra was like a shining beacon of love which kept me from crying and/or changing the channel. Wow. Such lovely innocence. I love the way they always come together when they are in proximity. Always. <3

I love the way her drawing actually happened in the episode.

Man... the way they jumped around in time to tell Sierra's story was so powerful. The really dragged out the suspense until the very last moment.

I think all the characters somehow became much cooler in this episode. Echo was... WOW! She's fascinating in this episode with her book. I enjoy Echo more when Boyd is hovering than when Paul is hovering. They just have a really peaceful Buffy/Giles sort of thing going on. Boyd and Echo I mean.

I like that Echo is trying to wake up the other dolls.

The actress that plays Sierra does a phenominal job. Oh and Topher! Wow! Topher really... grows a conscience. That's not really fair because he's been gradually softening up in the past couple of episodes. But I love his quest not to be the black smudge in Sierra's drawing.

It was just great. :)

The preview looks good. I'm excited about the Senator and November. I hope Summer Glau doesn't eclipse everyone. But I love the hint that maybe it's DeWitt's Dollhouse vs. other Dollhouses. Exciting!

[Hopefulsuicide]

I second that WOW

What an absolutely brilliant, moving, upsetting, beautiful, morbid episode!

Episodes that don't just centre on Echo are SO MUCH more interesting, but this was just phenomenal. Every character was right on form. DeWitt doing what she knows she has to do to protect them all, and I loved the way she tried to talk topher around by talking about toys. It was so creepy. But even then I think he assigning Boyd to help make sure nothing goes wrong was her way of helping Topher, because she knows Boyd is moral too.

Topher has always had a conscience. He has a moral grey, but even he has a line which he won't cross. I thought he was so sweet in this episode. He woke her up, because he wanted to say sorry. One of the dolls he was proud of for helping was actually being abused in a most henious way, and so he's going to start questioning everything he's thought he was proud of.

Poor Sierra, she's really gone through the most here, with the doll rape in season 1 as well. But the fact is, her and Victor's romance is the best thing on the show. And i'm not usually a shipper fan.

Truth is, the show isn't supposed to be very enjoyable. It's supposed to make us squirm, make us question. And yet in the midst of all the most seedy sides of human nature, there is this love. This honest, natural, innocent love. And it is the one thing that keeps the Dollhouse from being a horror story.

Echo's story is different. It's almost like she's become the narrator. She is there to give everyone back their lives, but something tells me she will never get back her own. Kind of like Angel never becoming human before the end. She will just keep fighting for the others, having already sacrificed any chance she had of getting Caroline back home.

Now i've said that, I think I like Echo a little more :)

P.S. I really can't see Ballard having contributed well to that episode, so i'm glad he was absent. In fact, the only thing I liked about Ballard was Mellie, and now she's gone forever. His obsessed with Echo is just a bit sad...

[darkphoenix21]

I 3rd that....WOW

That last scene just chills me to the bone. The first thing I thought is that it was completely morbid to say the least and the best episode to date. I mean just the way it played out Priya/Sierra was given her own imprint to confront the man that destroyed her life. They knock each other around and just before she gets the knife and stabs him to death. It's something straight out of "fatal attraction". The way she repeatedly stabbed him to death and than Topher and especially Boyd came to clean up the mess by cutting him to pieces....that's sick in the most wonderful sort of way.

Now on to the rest of the episode....I love Victor/Sierra's innocent love. It was cute that Victor throws away the black paints because of Sierra's fear. And the way he wanted to go with her to get the treatment. It's going to be an interesting story arc once they full wake up.


ITA with you ginnyfan it is a much more interesting pairing than her and Ballard. Boyd/Echo seem to have this father/daughter type of relationship. He's very protective of her. Her secret is now his. Instead of telling Adelle, he warns her to be careful.

It''s shaping up to be a decent series and with the introduction of Summer Glua next in December:mad: its going to be incredible.

[hansioux]

I 4th that WOW.

If you haven't seen this episode, you haven't seen Dollhouse.

What an incredible episode. By the way, we might get to see Victor's origin soon, because they hinted at it in the shower.

Poor Sierra. But at least in the dollhouse she is with the one she loves. Now that she knows even in her doll state, it's incredibly sweet.

Hope every episodes are like this one. Full of human story and character story.

Topher and Victor are HOT...

yeah, WTF with Summer Glau in december????? I can't wait that long for Summer Glau.... alright, i can, but that's just cruel.... Nolan cruel.

[tink]

Definitely one of the best episodes we've seen from Dollhouse so far. I myself am not sure how it compares to Epitaph One, but it's definitely up there with it at the top.

Looks like Dollhouse is coming to use its full story potential.

Also, like in Epitaph One, the prospect of DeWitt's Dollhouse not being able to resist orders that would lead them somewhere everyone in the Dollhouse wouldn't want to go, makes everything so much more complex. The question of morality.
I would very much like to see what ginnyfan talked about: Dollhouse vs. other Dollhouses.

Thankfully, the sting of the break of one month was reduced a little by this fantastic episode :)

[Hopefulsuicide]

With episode like this, It makes you wonder what's taken them so long to tell these stories.

I mean this easily could have been told in season 1, instead of silly Echo engagement episodes that just put people off becoming fans... And now it almost feels like it could be too late! :(

[CallMeClark]

Um, yeah, this episode was fantastic. Talk about increasing the pace of the show! I hope it continues to move like this. It was so great. Loved all the Sierra/Topher/Viktor stuff. :)

[ginnyfan]

Topher has always had a conscience. He has a moral grey, but even he has a line which he won't cross. I thought he was so sweet in this episode. He woke her up, because he wanted to say sorry. One of the dolls he was proud of for helping was actually being abused in a most henious way, and so he's going to start questioning everything he's thought he was proud of.

Poor Sierra, she's really gone through the most here, with the doll rape in season 1 as well. But the fact is, her and Victor's romance is the best thing on the show. And i'm not usually a shipper fan.

Truth is, the show isn't supposed to be very enjoyable. It's supposed to make us squirm, make us question. And yet in the midst of all the most seedy sides of human nature, there is this love. This honest, natural, innocent love. And it is the one thing that keeps the Dollhouse from being a horror story.

I love what you say about Topher always being proud that he'd saved Sierra.

The bolded part is something I really needed to hear. LOL! I think it should be part of the marketing.

[Xanderman]

Topher (to Boyd): "This is a brain. A normal, boring brain. Like your brain!" :lol: (hilariously acted, loved the double finger pointing at Boyd--I wonder if that was Commander Riker's idea...heh) Fun follow-up for the previous episode's similar line from Topher: "This is a brain. A healthy brain. Frankly, an overly smart brain. It's my brain!" Good stuff Dollhouse.

Crazy episode, as in dark and twisted. I thought the second half was a lot better than the first, but overall, not bad. Apparently Jonathan Frakes directed this--appropriate given the subject material--on TNG, Riker once went completely loco for an entire episode (classic ep--one of the darkest, most psychotic eps of any Star Trek--the stuff of Twilight Zone/Outer Limits).

Really liked the "storm is coming" stuff from Echo, and that they all need to prepare themselves and "wake up" (or in other words, join her). Nice moments with Dewitt, like when she took pleasure and comfort out of knowing that Boyd took care of their mutual problem secretly (they're a family in their own way). Also liked what they did with Topher, like the whole "getting blood on his hands" literally stuff instead of just figuratively. Our little Topher is finally growing up...heh.

6/10 for me. Just a tad too twisted/dark for my liking (Becky's "morbid" is a good word for it).

[hansioux]

The bolded part is something I really needed to hear. LOL! I think it should be part of the marketing.

Watch Dollhouse, it will make your morals squirm???

best tag line ever...

[Hopefulsuicide]

I think ginnyfan was talking about the love forming despite that squirmy moral stuff...

[Vergon6]

I've been on vacation and didn't get a chance to see the episode. I go back to Canada in a day or so. My DVR should have recorded it in my absence.

[Welling_is_pretty]

I wonder if that was Commander Riker's idea...heh) Apparently Jonathan Frakes directed this--appropriate given the subject material--on TNG, Riker once went completely loco for an entire episode (classic ep--one of the darkest, most psychotic eps of any Star Trek--the stuff of Twilight Zone/Outer Limits).
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed Frakes directed this one! yeah, twas cute, eh?

I honestly think that the best episodes of this show are the ensemble ones or at least the ones that don't put all the focus on Echo (no offense to Eliza or Eliza fanastics).

Dichen and Enver (sierra and Victor, respectively) are both amazing and any scene that they are in just gets elevated to wonderful levels. (Victor as an Italian art buyer? Who Priya feels an instant connection to? Loved that!)

Nolan...was a total scumbag and a wonderful representation of the worst side of the Dollhouse's clients. And that he made her crazy with meds (and the scene where she was telling the truth and no one believed her? Broke. my. heart.)? Now that is evil.

Victor taking all the black paint (and Echo encouraging him) and then having his own flashbacks? I really liked that.

Adelle telling Topher that everyone at the Dollhouse has had their morals compromised, but that he was picked because he had no morals? Now that's a punch in the gut (and made Topher's burgeoning moral dilemma all the more poignant--can I say that Fran did a fantastic job this ep.?).

The reveal that Echo is remembering and the writing on the glass (I caught some of what it said, like "Victor loves Sierra" and there was a mention of Topher as well and a few other things).

Finding out that Topher restored Priya (seriously, what did Priya and Topher think was going to happen? She was going to confront Nolan, he'd say he was sorry and they'd all go home?), and then Sierra admitting she loves Victor even though she doesn't know him. Powerful stuff.

Sierra killing Nolan. Kinda saw that coming (it was either that or Nolan would end up killing her. It's Joss--someone has to die!). Priya calling Topher (kinda kept waiting for Echo to show up to save her, myself), Boyd showing up and helping them out (and how does Boyd have all that know how anyway? And if everyone there has had their morals compromised then what about Boyd's?).

Boyd saying Priya does belong in the Dollhouse now (she does) and then the reuniting of
Victor and Sierra (did he really just sit there until she 'came back'? I think he did.) was very sweet.

The two of them in their space together and Echo finding the all access card, from Boyd. Very cool.

Having to wait til Dec. 4th for more Dollhouse, especially after a terrific episode like this? NOT so cool!

BTW, in the promo for the coming eps, was it me or did the sleeper agent, the blonde, look like Alexis's character's wife or what?

[hansioux]

Adelle telling Topher that everyone at the Dollhouse has had their morals compromised, but that he was picked because he had no morals? Now that's a punch in the gut (and made Topher's burgeoning moral dilemma all the more poignant--can I say that Fran did a fantastic job this ep.?).


Just great writing. And echos last episode...

Boyd: Topher has ethical issues. Topher!



Sierra killing Nolan. Kinda saw that coming (it was either that or Nolan would end up killing her. It's Joss--someone has to die!). Priya calling Topher (kinda kept waiting for Echo to show up to save her, myself), Boyd showing up and helping them out (and how does Boyd have all that know how anyway? And if everyone there has had their morals compromised then what about Boyd's?).

Boyd was an ex-cop. He has the know how because he used to catch stuff like these.

And yes, to find out what's compromised with Boyd now is my great interest in this show.




Having to wait til Dec. 4th for more Dollhouse, especially after a terrific episode like this? NOT so cool!


It's FOX...

[Hopefulsuicide]

okay, I didn't know about the long wait... and now i'm sad :(

[kernel_thai]

Definitely the best ep of the season. This is the dark side of the street they need to explore. The subject matter should make people squirm every week. Well acted especially Topher and Sierra. Nice to see Boyd getting some screen time.

My only real complaint is the efforts by the show to soften the characters. Adele from season one wouldnt even have blinked at this. Topher never would have investigated at all because he never would have accepted he could have been wrong. Boyd has really been the only consistantly written character. Maybe Topher is evolving buy I dont buy Adele at all

[hansioux]

My only real complaint is the efforts by the show to soften the characters. Adele from season one wouldnt even have blinked at this. Topher never would have investigated at all because he never would have accepted he could have been wrong. Boyd has really been the only consistantly written character. Maybe Topher is evolving buy I dont buy Adele at all

I think Adele's character softened a lot since the lonely heart episode.

[Vergon6]

I finally saw it the episode on my DVR. Definitely one of the stronger episodes of the season.

[Syn]

I don't understand it though. Paying a doll to have sex isn't rape, but when you know the doll, it is?

[hansioux]

I don't understand it though. Paying a doll to have sex isn't rape, but when you know the doll, it is?

as twisted as it seems, those running the dollhouse believes they are helping people. Besides Echo who seems to be forced into Dollhouse because her transgression against Rossum, others like November really seems to have either volunteered or that their situation could be improved by Dollhouse.

In Sierra's case they thought they were helping someone with her mental problem. But when they found out the mental problem is induced by some crazy bastard who just wants to get back at her for rejecting him, Adelle Topher were disgusted.

Though in reality if they really wanted to help someone, they don't have to subject people to slavery as payment. But it's what they tell themselves.