A Spy in the House of Love - reaction&review
First off, Adelle. Poor Adelle. Oh god, my heart just broke for her in this episode. Now, I've waxed poetic about my love for this character before; you all know that she's my favorite, but this goes beyond, well, anything. So lonely. So sad. I knew right from the start that she was hiding something, holding a secret, but I never could have guessed that this was it. At least now I understand why she seems to believe with all her heart that the Dollhouse help people.
She always wears this...face. This mask crafted of an intoxicating combination of stoicism and bravado. Perfect poise and perfect control. But she couldn't live her life that way, no one can. No one to talk to, no one to share her troubles with. So she creates a perfect man. Roger, who's handsome, charming, clever, and British to boot. And she knows that everyone at the Dollhouse talks smack about “Ms. Lonely Hearts,” but she does it anyways. Because she needs someone so badly who will listen to her, and laugh with her and take her mind off her work. Someone who will fence with her and fight with her and let her let go.
Was Adelle taking exploiting Victor more than anyone else in the house? Maybe. Probably. But I don't even care, because I was too busy crying for a woman who didn't even think it was okay to show pain at a gunshot wound.
Adelle craves control, this much is obvious, but what I never realized before all the dominatrix imagery is that Adelle Dewitt wants pain. She's punishing herself. She believes, with all her heart, that the problems in the Dollhouse are all her fault. She was responsible. She made a mistake.
And so she goes into surgery without anesthetic, as though that will fix everything. As though that will make the hurt go away. The physical she can tolerate, but emotional pain? That's what's breaking her. So she says goodbye to Roger, her only release. She says no to painkillers, and she always, always tries to be her best. Adelle is in for a world of hurt, that's my prediction. How much more of this can she take before she she becomes just as broken as the dolls in her Attic?
Which brings me to Dominic. Dominic who she trusted, who I trusted. It's funny, but I feel almost personally betrayed. This episode made me want to shout at the television, to point my finger and say, "Laurence Dominic, I believed in you. I defended you!" Which is ridiculous, of course, but there we go. Because I did. I liked Dominic.
At yet, through all of this, I still can't make up my mind. Is he the good guy or the bad? He tried to take down the Dollhouse, to kill Echo. But is the Dollhouse the evil one? Is Dominic some kind of freedom fighter? Dominic claims that he wants to help people, but her also says he came to protect the Dollhouse. He says that one day it will fall, and I believe him. So, ethically, where does that leave me? Joss is the master at moral ambiguity, and he's prove, once again, that there's more to a person than black and white.
And sure, my ship was shot to pieces (Dewitt/Dominic 4 evah!), but you've got to admit, I was right about one thing: Adelle and Dominic? Totally having sex. Un-freaking-deniable.
Clearly, though, these two aren't the only ones with problems here. Claire hasn't left the Dollhouse since Alpha? She lives there, with the dolls, caring and doctoring 24/7. But who's caring for her? She's certainly not taking care of herself, and it's obvious that Claire is scarred, and not just externally. The closest she came to outside was when Caroline "liberated" her and spirited her out into the sunlight. And then she just went right back inside.
I'm starting to warm to Echo, now. At first I thought that Eliza was playing the same role, over and over again. But this episode felt...new, somehow. I found myself really connecting with Echo. Before, I wanted to skip straight to Sierra and Victor and Adelle, but now I'm watching her scenes with interest. I don't know if that's an improvement in the acting or the writing, but either way, I'm interested.
Paul and Mellie. Well, I don't have all that much to say here. Just curiosity. How's this going to play out? I'm not sure that Paul will be able to keep pretending now that he knows Mellie's status as a sleeper agent. After all, he's not exactly a master at secret keeping!
Speaking of, Topher can't exactly keep a secret either, can he? Topher was written just for people like me, I think. I was to hate him, to find him repulsive, pretentious and cruel. But somehow, I can't. I really like Topher, much to my dismay. He's unrepentantly sociopathic, but he's also witty and wacky and a total smartie-pants. I'll admit it, I've fallen for his charms.
He really does abuse that poor Ivy girl though, doesn't he? I knew she wasn't the spy, though- too obvious. I really like this character: smart, feisty, and independent. She's definitely gone beyond "Juice Box Girl" in my mind, and I really want to know what happens with her next. With her brains, her skill, I think that she's what Topher could have been. You know, if he wasn't all crazy-like. (P.S., I'm starting to ship the two of them. Hard.)
Not a whole lot of focus on Victor and Sierra today, but that's okay after last weeks episode. Sierra kicks major ass, as usual, and Enver Gjokai shows off his mad accent skillz. Business as usual with these two: complete awesomeness.
I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting, but my brain is a little fried. But yeah, heartbreaking, beautiful, terribly sad episode today. I loved it. If Dollhouse doesn't get a second season I think that I'll cry.