So, I have now slept on the latest episode. Just like I’ve slept on Speed Grapher’s having a dentist explaining a tooth extraction in a way that made you think you were watching a pornographic rape. And you know, Dollhouse is still the less skeevy of the two by far. But now I have more thoughts!
1. I meant to say this yesterday, but I’m disappointed that it’s looking more and more like all the dolls were pressured into joining the Dollhouse, or sold. Earlier, it was implied that they all had something bad they were running from, possibly bad things they’ve done, and that they needed to have their slates wiped clean because of their memories. Now? Our three origins are a woman who was sold to the Dollhouse by a man who couldn’t get her to have sex with him so that he could buy her as often as he wanted, a woman who spent two years running from them and can only be free if she serves them for five years, and a man in a desperate financial situation who stumbled across their secret. There’s no way to read Sierra as anything but a victim. Caroline might have done bad things in those two years, who knows. Only Sam has really done anything wrong. I just…I liked the idea that these helpless victims maybe weren’t incredibly nice people before they were dolls.
2. I realized in comments to the last post that how you come away from the episode may rely a lot of how you read the ending. No matter how you look at it, the actives-with the possible exception of November-didn’t get closure. Instead, they have it stolen from them at the last moment. Caroline didn’t save anyone, Victor won’t be able to protect Sierra, and having found someone who will be on her side won’t do Sierra any good, because he’s just as helpless as she is. What saved it for me, though, is that Victor and Sierra slept facing each other, which is something the experiment was supposed to break them of. So while they might think the problem is solved, it’s really just delayed, and possibly made worse in the long run. And since the plan was Dr. Fred’s, it could be a stronger indication that she’s the mole.
3. Beyond the fact that it’s probably the creepiest thing the series has come up with yet, Sierra’s story is probably the creepiest thing the series has come up with yet. You can sympathize or not with Caroline and Sam’s story, we don’t know enough yet about November’s to think anything of it, save that she lost her child, though we don’t know how, and we don’t know anything about Victor’s story. Sierra? Was sent to the Dollhouse because she wouldn’t have sex with a guy, and he regularly buys her with a series of personalities suited for whatever sexual mood he’s in. If you have a soul, you’re horrified by that. The human trafficking was bad enough, but you can see the characters in at least a somewhat grey area. But now? Now at least some of them are ok with that. Heck, Adelle always seemed to at least have standards before. This is especially bad for me because, the more I watch, the more convinced I am that we’ll eventually be expected to sympathize with these characters. We’re already apparently meant to find Topher funny and Boyd at least somewhat tragic.
4. You know, I don’t particularly mind that Victor and Agent Helo don’t seem to have much in their heads beyond I MUST SAVE THE GIRL! I find it much easier with Victor because he needs saving himself, and he wants to save an actual person, as opposed to an idea of a person that he’s using to represent all of the Dolls. What I mind is that I can’t tell yet if the girls will be trying to save themselves. Caroline seems to have been proactive so far, and Sierra’s reaction to her history is anger and outrage, not fear and shame, and episode 7 indicates that her instinctive reaction to a threat is fight, not flight, but Agent Helo is the only main “good” character who isn’t a Doll, and I MUST SAVE THE GIRL! is the bulk of his character so far. Plus, my only real experience with Joss Whedon and I UST SAVE THE GIRL! as a major theme is Fred/Gunn, which…wasn’t very pretty for me.
5. I’m getting tired of how sad it is that Boyd must work for the Dollhouse. I have no problems with the idea that he loves Echo and I believe that he does. I kind of which we knew how (pleaseopleaseopleaseoplease be platonic) and why (is it because she’s helpless and trusting and needs him, or is it because she’s empty and will do anything he wants) he loves her, but it seems to be real in some fashion. But you know, that doesn’t absolve him of the fact that he’s an active participant in what happens to her, and neither does his guilt.
6. SHALLOWLY! Despite the actual horror of the scene and what they did to Caroline, the scene where the Dolls were leaving was amazingly beautiful. And I really wish they’d put November in more attractive clothing. I mean, I think she’s attractive, and they apparently realize that her not being a size 2 doesn’t render her sexless, but it’s like they have no idea how to dress a woman who isn’t stick thin, so they just put her in shapeless, sometimes oddly colored things. Also, I was playing around with the caps I took last night, and can't decide if I'm sad or happy about how easy it is to get a crop with two women (even if the lighting in most made them unusable). Because on the one hand, Hey! Women in scenes together! Interacting! Regularly! On the other hand...it's in this show, where they're either regular victims or active participants in human trafficking.