Comments | tardis_stowaway: Dollhouse: "Belonging"

tardis_stowaway

Dollhouse: "Belonging"

Oct 23, 2009 22:57

Whoa. Dollhouse tonight was definitely the best so far this season and right up there in the top few the show has done so far. It was also painful as hell. It took on the issues of moral compromise, rape, and victimization that the show generally traffics in and dealt with them head on, no holds barred. All of the characters who were in the ( Read more... )

episode reactions, dollhouse

Comments 3

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tardis_stowaway October 24 2009, 18:58:25 UTC

I got the impression from the comment Boyd made about "now she belongs there" that due to circumstances, it was best all around that she come back.

True, and she indicated to Topher that she didn't want to remember that day. However, I still wish they had been more explicit about her choosing to return to the Dollhouse. Hypothetically, she could have gone on the run and tried to disappear somewhere (assuming one of the first stops was a surgeon to remove the GPS), and it could have been explained away, probably by faking her death.

Boyd was initially upset about his promotion because of being increasingly complicit. He seems to have finally decided to use his power to protect the dolls and subvert the system. When Senator Wesley (or whatever his name in this show is) got that packet of information about hte Dollhouse, the natural suspect was Paul, but it occurs to me that it could also have been Boyd.

kaydeefalls October 24 2009, 18:57:54 UTC

Word, to all of this. This episode was just...wow. Spot on. I love how it never took the easy route -- like you mentioned, it could've made the confrontation cathartic, or shied away from the consequences, but it hit every raw, painful note perfectly.

I wish the show had been a little bit clearer about why she returned to the Dollhouse.
See, I think it did. That conversation between Topher and Boyd during the clean-up -- "She was never meant for the Dollhouse."

"She is now."

Consequences. This is why people need to disappear into the Dollhouse.

SUCH a good episode.

tardis_stowaway October 24 2009, 19:17:37 UTC

Consequences. This is why people need to disappear into the Dollhouse.This is true. It makes sense why she ended up back in the Dollhouse, and my objection isn't a very strong one. Still, I would have liked to have seen her explicitly choose this course. She two awful paths before her: she could have lived with the memory of this dreadful experience (and probably deep in hiding lest the Dollhouse track her down), or she could let her mind be violated yet again, knowing that her body would be used by who knows what sort of creeps. It's not a no-brainer decision either way. Topher and to a certain degree Boyd too are enough part of the Dollhouse culture that they would view the memory wipe as the automatic solution. We do see that Priya asked not to remember that day if she ever returned to herself, but I would have been happier if we saw Priya making the initial choice so we knew she wasn't pressured into it. There are enough hints that I can believe this is what happened, but I wanted it on screen. *shrug* I may be too picky ( ... )