I really enjoyed this episode and completely agree re: Dichen Lachman. She's a fantastic actress and always believable. I liked Eliza Dushku in Buffy and Tru Calling but she just hasn't got the range to carry this series off. I'm pretty sure that there's not going to be a third series which is a shame as there have been glimpses of something that could have been good. I wonder if it would have taken off with Dichen Lachman as the lead?
Dan
· 2 months ago
@Isobel: A part of me wonders if Joss Whedon would have cast someone else in the lead, were it not for the fact Eliza Dushku helped get the idea off the ground. Did his loyalty to Dushku, and the fact she's an easier sell to the network (hence all those semi-naked promos) influence his choice? Probably.
bob
· 2 months ago
Slight correction- Topher didn't imprint Sierra when he sent her back to Kinnard. It was just Priya. Personally I added this to my internal "this makes absolutely no sense" list because Topher should have given her some self-defence moves. Instead we had a real struggle in which luck had Priya come out on top but it could so easily have been the other way around.
This is the only episode of the season I have seen. It was a marked improvement on season 1 I felt. But the plot didn't make much sense for the reasons Dan gave and also I saw Topher's growth of a conscience as rather unbelievable (and indeed Adelle's. What? We're not allowed to have the bad guys as main characters any more?).
Oh- much praise to the guest director btw. I thought him brilliant.
Dan
· 2 months ago
Huh. I totally misread that moment, then. I thought Topher was going against what Olivia expected of him, by using his abilities to alter Priya's personality to better enable her to confront Kinnard. Hence Kinnard's startled reaction that his hippie artist girlfriend was suddenly so in-his-face and willing to take him on. If that WASN'T what was going on, apologies, but that's how it came across to me. And yes, I prefer it my way ;-)
bob
· 2 months ago
Priya was pretty in his face before... Her rejection of him (she was never his girlfriend in my definition of the word) caused him to go to such extreme lengths to have her. Plus she confronted him in season 1 in the episode where they acted out their greatest need. She's definitely a confrontational sort of girl.
But yes- it would have been preferable for Topher to programme her. I guess he must have programmed her to call him once Kinnard was killed though and return to the house like a good doll...
Lesley
· 2 months ago
Yeah, I'm with Bob. Priya wasn't his girlfriend prior to becoming a Doll. He wanted her, but she kept rejecting him. He creeped her out (obviously with good reason). So he set up this elaborate hoax of an art showing as a means to win her. This failed, as she truly wanted nothing to do with him other than as a client. He refused to take no for an answer, and then effectively had her enslaved in the Dollhouse. Topher gave her back her original personality, the one that never wanted him in the first place and was infuriated to learn what he had done to her. Kinnard was so surprised because he was expecting a programmed Doll that would adore him forever.
Topher didn't fix her schizophrenia so she could then become a Doll. He fixed her schizophrenia by making her into a Doll. She never agreed to become a Doll, even under coercive circumstances as Caroline did. She couldn't have easily left Kinnard. She tried to leave the art showing, but he had her kidnapped, injected her with antipsychotics, and used his relationship with Rossum to have them make her into a Doll so he could have her whenever he wanted her. Since he couldn't have her willingly.
I think the underlying theme of the episode was to show explicitly how much the Dollhouse is human trafficking. Priya was very clearly the victim of human trafficking. What's surprising is the cognitive dissonance of Adelle recognizing that about Priya once she learned the truth but disregarding it about the rest of the Dolls and the fact that Topher isn't a complete sociopath.
Dan
· 2 months ago
Thanks, Lesley. This will teach me for watching Dollhouse after a particularly long, exhausting day! Definitely worth another viewing -- compus mentis, this time!
Lesley
· 2 months ago
I think so too! I thought it was a very powerful episode.
Also, I definitely agree with you re: Dichen Lachman vs Eliza Dushku. I've liked Eliza ever since she played Faith, but I don't believe she could have pulled this off credibly.
Enjoy the second viewing!
Nat
· 2 months ago
This was a great episode and easily one of the best they've done. It was such an interesting and powerful story. It was a little confusing going back and forth between the present and past and (I don't think) they didn't make much difference between the 2.
RE the imprint Sierra was given I think it was the original Priya, and she was given extra knowledge of the last year. I don't think many adjustments were made. I agree she should've been given kung-fu skills to help her.
As for the end I think Priya went back to the Dollhouse because she had killed a man and she couldn't live with the guilt. She didn't want to feel that guilt or hatred any more so becoming a Doll was easier. Plus there's the fact that she loves Victor and he's in the house.
bob
· 2 months ago
"As for the end I think Priya went back to the Dollhouse because she had killed a man and she couldn't live with the guilt. She didn't want to feel that guilt or hatred any more so becoming a Doll was easier. Plus there's the fact that she loves Victor and he's in the house."
I agree that those are the reasons given by the episode. I feel uncomfortable with them though as her memory of the murder could have been wiped (Topher's could be wiped too) and sweet as Sierra and Victor are, it isn't a compelling relationship as they are so childlike. So... I'm with Dan that the "why" isn't really explained. Not on an emotional level I could connect to anyway. The discomfort comes from me being absolutely convinced that being a Doll is a Bad Thing essentially.
Oh, and I understood it as Topher curing Sierra of her schizophrenia and then turning her into a Doll, not using the Dollification process as the cure. I mean, with this level of personality manipulation, how could he not have the ability to cure schizophrenia? He melds personalities all the time... He managed to cure November of depression (with the payment being her service as a Doll).
All Comments
This is the only episode of the season I have seen. It was a marked improvement on season 1 I felt. But the plot didn't make much sense for the reasons Dan gave and also I saw Topher's growth of a conscience as rather unbelievable (and indeed Adelle's. What? We're not allowed to have the bad guys as main characters any more?).
Oh- much praise to the guest director btw. I thought him brilliant.
But yes- it would have been preferable for Topher to programme her. I guess he must have programmed her to call him once Kinnard was killed though and return to the house like a good doll...
Topher didn't fix her schizophrenia so she could then become a Doll. He fixed her schizophrenia by making her into a Doll. She never agreed to become a Doll, even under coercive circumstances as Caroline did. She couldn't have easily left Kinnard. She tried to leave the art showing, but he had her kidnapped, injected her with antipsychotics, and used his relationship with Rossum to have them make her into a Doll so he could have her whenever he wanted her. Since he couldn't have her willingly.
I think the underlying theme of the episode was to show explicitly how much the Dollhouse is human trafficking. Priya was very clearly the victim of human trafficking. What's surprising is the cognitive dissonance of Adelle recognizing that about Priya once she learned the truth but disregarding it about the rest of the Dolls and the fact that Topher isn't a complete sociopath.
Also, I definitely agree with you re: Dichen Lachman vs Eliza Dushku. I've liked Eliza ever since she played Faith, but I don't believe she could have pulled this off credibly.
Enjoy the second viewing!
RE the imprint Sierra was given I think it was the original Priya, and she was given extra knowledge of the last year. I don't think many adjustments were made. I agree she should've been given kung-fu skills to help her.
As for the end I think Priya went back to the Dollhouse because she had killed a man and she couldn't live with the guilt. She didn't want to feel that guilt or hatred any more so becoming a Doll was easier. Plus there's the fact that she loves Victor and he's in the house.
I agree that those are the reasons given by the episode. I feel uncomfortable with them though as her memory of the murder could have been wiped (Topher's could be wiped too) and sweet as Sierra and Victor are, it isn't a compelling relationship as they are so childlike. So... I'm with Dan that the "why" isn't really explained. Not on an emotional level I could connect to anyway. The discomfort comes from me being absolutely convinced that being a Doll is a Bad Thing essentially.
Oh, and I understood it as Topher curing Sierra of her schizophrenia and then turning her into a Doll, not using the Dollification process as the cure. I mean, with this level of personality manipulation, how could he not have the ability to cure schizophrenia? He melds personalities all the time... He managed to cure November of depression (with the payment being her service as a Doll).