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| Monday, April 13, 2009 07:52 PM |
| On the Viewer - Dollhouse (Episode 7 - "Echoes") |
 by Fëanor |
We open with a flashback to the meeting with Miss DeWitt, when Caroline agreed to become Echo. Interesting stuff. Apparently she signed on with the Rossum Corporation for a five year mission, at the end of which she'd be given her freedom. Also, she knew DeWitt for almost two years?
Cut to a very disturbing scene at the Rossum Building lab on a college campus, where an experimental drug is driving the kids crazy! Woah! You really never know what's going to happen in this show.
Looks like the Rossum Corporation lost a vial of its most promising new memory drug, and they need all the Dollhouse actives on the case! Exciting.
Topher meets high up Rossum scientist/exec Clive Ambrose and says: "I might throw up. That's a compliment." Heh heh.
The drug destroys inhibitions, and is now loose in the general campus population somehow. Luckily, the actives are immune. Topher needs to develop an antidote while they secure the vial.
Echo's hanging out with the dude from the first episode again. Interesting. DeWitt says Echo can sit out the big mission at the college, but I have a feeling she's going to get pulled in anyway somehow.
Back to Ballard and Mellie. Maybe the Dollhouse handled that situation better than I thought. Sure, now he's free and clear to continue the investigation on his own, but if he does so, he puts Mellie in danger, and loses her affection.
The actives on campus believe they're government agents and health experts sent in to track down the vial, and Victor, as an NSA agent, outranks Dominic in his role as Rossum Corporation security, so Dominic has to take orders from Victor! Awesome.
The version of Echo who's with the young guy this time (Alice) seems more timid; guess he wanted to introduce her to new experiences. Problem is, he has a video camera that he says has his life on it. Is his previous time with Echo on there?? That would be kind of mind-blowing for her to see.
Echo sees the Rossum Building on TV, has some kind of flashback, says, "I have to get him out of there," and takes off. Very interesting! Dominic will be overjoyed to see her.
Another quick Echo flashback, from a few years ago - when she was still Caroline. She's in bed with a guy, I'm betting on that college campus. Hmm...
Mellie's at the Dollhouse! Topher seems to be using her as a guinea pig to try to develop an antidote to the drug.
DeWitt reveals that it's Dollhouse that funds the Rossum Corporation, and she's not a fan of Clive Ambrose. She says the only reason she doesn't have his job is because he couldn't handle hers.
Crap! Langton touched one of the kids who's been affected by the drug. I expect he'll start showing symptoms very soon. Well, looks like the drug wears off eventually by itself, so that's good.
Btw, not to be a pig or anything, but Eliza Dushku looks super fine in her Alice outfit. Seriously. That skirt, those stockings. Wow.
So Caroline hated Clive Ambrose and the Rossum Corporation back when she was an idealistic college student. I wonder if she got caught and thrown into the Dollhouse after some kind of act of terrorism committed against Rossum?
Man, Caroline and her friends were such naive, snotty, self-righteous animal activists I kind of want to slap them.
Oh, this is not good. Dominic, who is sitting around playing with a loaded gun, is clearly being affected by the drug now, as well.
Hilarious conversation between Topher and DeWitt. DeWitt: "Still, you have to admit, I am very British." Uh oh! They've been affected by the drug, too! It does indeed spread through physical contact.
Topher to Victor: "You're safe as houses. Because of the government. They do things!" I really love the drugged up Topher and DeWitt. This must have been a fun episode to make. DeWitt is bouncing up and down on a trampoline eating crisps while Topher walks around in his underwear.
Woah! Echo just walked by a woman who remembers her as Caroline!
Topher and DeWitt seem to have pretty thoroughly emptied Topher's "drawer of inappropriate starches." Does Topher have mermaids on his socks?
Mellie, instead of tripping on the drug, is glitching - remembering. She suddenly flips into super ninja killer mode. Uh oh. The glitching might actually be worse than what happens to normal people!
DeWitt and Topher realize that the first guy affected by the drug must have been forced to overdose - it was a murder. And I'm afraid the guy Echo's with, Sam, might be the murderer. Sam stashed the other vial, and he's attacking Echo with it.
When Caroline and her boyfriend came to the Rossum lab before, they might actually have uncovered some Dollhouse R&D.
Sam and his buddy Owen were actually just going to sell the vial to another drug company for tons of money. But Owen got cold feet and Sam hit him with the drug to keep him quiet.
Echo is glitching something terrible, and her memories of Caroline's adventure here are coming back very strongly now. Caroline and her boyfriend Leo dropped the camera trying to escape. Leo got shot and later died from his injuries.
Langton comes to the rescue again. This time, yes, Echo would like a treatment.
It looks like I was right; DeWitt did grab Caroline and turn her into Echo after the incident at the Rossum lab.
Dominic and DeWitt are very awkward and embarrassed, post drugging.
Mellie's going on a trip but she says "Debbie might crash here sometimes," which I assume means there'll still be an active next door, keeping an eye on Ballard.
Oh, wow. DeWitt is going to try to recruit Sam to be an active. Now we're finally getting to see how it is that they recruit people. They're offering Sam the solution to his problems. He disappears, gets a new life, they give his mother the money she'll need to live while he's away, and after his five years are up, he'll be able to support her on his own.
I can't say I loved the Caroline flashback scenes in this episode - they actually made me hate Caroline a little - but it was interesting to learn more about Echo's true past, and to see how the Dollhouse recruits and how it's connected to the Rossum Corporation. Plus I enjoyed the action and suspense, the silly drugged up sequences, and Eliza Dushku in that outfit.
The Dollhouse mythology continues to build and expand! I'm curious to see what it grows into next. |
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