Heroes 3×19 “Shades of Gray”

Well, first thing’s first. Why exactly do you owe the Puppeteer ANY answers, Claire? You don’t! He tried to kill you and both your moms! You Owe Him Nothing! (And her hair color needs some serious help, she’s looking like one big shade of nude.)

And now Parkman, back at the Capitol Building, is being cornered by cops who think he’s a threat. Well, let’s see, you’re an ex-cop, so…you SHOULD know exactly how NOT to act. And none of what he does here remotely reflects that. Nathan, also, is winning the award for Least Subtle Superhero, since he’s making no efforts at all to hide his flying ability. Now they want us to believe that the Hunter is actually going to kill Parkman, and you know what? I hope they do! It would show that they have some balls on this show! (Added bonus, no more Nathan!) But no, the MacGuffin named Rebel saves the day. Ugh. And Matt’s drugged mind comes back online JUST in time.

I can’t even believe that this is remotely accurate for a bomb situation near the Capitol Building. And no one dies, and we all learn what we already knew: no balls.

Ah, but here comes Sylar! Maybe he’ll do us a favor and kill someone today in a delightfully evil manner! A girl can dream, after all. And we finally get to see John Glove as Sylar’s Dad! John Glover, raising megalomaniac evildoers since 2001!

Meanwhile, the gig is up for Nathan…and no one cares. Up to and including Nathan! Oh, I guess that Hunter guy does. Meh, whatever.

Now Nathan, the idiot, is trying to convince Tracy that he still cares. Funny how that’s hard to believe when you’ve got her locked up in a heat room with chains–I’m sort of on her side with thinking that’s a bunch of BS. And it is, let’s be honest. Nathan’s only trying to sweet talk Tracy because she’s the one they have on tape claiming he’s one of them. He is right, at least, in that he’s Tracy’s last hope. And…both he and Tracy are terrible liars, yet the Hunter passes up the opportunity to torture her further to get the truth out of her? Seriously? The Big Bad Ass Hunter? Whatevs!

HAH! Okay, Claire getting a job at the comic book store MAY be the best storyline ever. Her getting it purely because she’s hot makes perfect sense, but seriously, what better place for her to learn what being a hero is REALLY about than here? I hope this is as fantastically comedic as it damn well should be.

Sylar and his dad are bonding over not having epic battles, much to Sylar’s chagrin. Dad’s a cancer-ridden taxidermist facing the end of his days either way, and he’s not interested in making a big show for his prodigal son. He is interested in making him a rabbit statue, however, and we learn that daddy’s got the same ability that he does!

This scene here? This is what happens when you have two good actors on screen together. Glover, or Samson Gray rather, gets to the crux of Sylar’s problem, the reason for his journey here and even the reason we’ve been seeing fewer and fewer heads split open lately. Sure, he could’ve killed the agents, but why? It wasn’t a challenge, and Sylar can have as many powers as he likes, but, Samson tells him, it’s worthless if he’s living an unsatisfied life. “Do you want to know more?” he asks. “Or do you want to kill me now?” He offers Sylar the knife, and his son hesitates, but takes it…and doesn’t kill dear old dad. He asks what he does next as Samson holds up the scared rabbit by the scruff. “You cut him.” And so Sylar does, with gusto.

This? This is a daddy issues story I could actually get behind! It’d only be better if Elle was there to be awesome and snarky and so Samson could tell her to put a sock in snark and learn something. Sigh…pour another one out for the dearly departed!

Bennett points the Hunter in Angela’s direction, and I have to say that could be fun to watch.

Claire calls dad for some advice–how does one lead a successful double life, anyways? It’s nice to see her call him for advice, even if it is weird advice further showing that these peoples lives only revolve around powers, but I digress. As she’s talking to him, the agents tailing her race off to apprehend the Puppeteer. I buy his claim of wanting normalcy even less than I’ve ever bought Sylar’s, and even more lamentable is that the man is trying to give us a new nickname for Claire: “Barbie.” Even lamer than continuing to call her cheerleader, guys. She shows up after he takes out the agents, so….uh, yay? No seriously, this is one of the guys who actually SHOULD be locked up, what the hell are you doing?

Another deliciously awesome scene is given us as the Hunter approaches Angela at a posh restaraunt, where she’s drinking champagne and living the life of a rich retiree. He asks about Nathan, she tells him he was the odd one out, born powerless in a family of mutants, but he doesn’t buy it. She tells the Hunter she knows his type, and that they’re useful, but expendable. And then shakes him off very effectively with a veiled threat, recounting an incident in Angola in ’97 where a lot of people died…but, surprisingly, not him. And the dogged Hunter? He backs off! Angela’s delight in her neatly obtained win over this man so many fear is fantastic, and as he walks off, she continues with her champange-swiling and I love her for it. If I’m ever a duplicitous mastermind who’s firmly embedded in the shades of gray? I want to be as awesome at it as she is!

Now back to the Sylar cabin, filmed in quite a few shades of gray as well as hosting a pair (see what I did there?). Samson says a man needs a hobby; Sylar looks up with eager eyes that want approval and tells him he fixes watches. Samson chuckles at his retained need for connection. Aww, poor Sylar. But Samson is a firm misanthropist, it seems. People suck, so screw ‘em. And…wow. He tells Sylar he doesn’t remember why exactly he killed mom and sold Sylar. Damn, that’s cold, man! Ahh, but Sylar is a willful man and he’ll spark your interest one way or another, old man–Sylar can heal and live forever! So there! Dad feigns disinterest….but is a good liar and is awesome! Tracy and Nathan, you could learn something here. He pins Sylar to the wall with arrows thrown telekinetically and dammit, he wants that power after all. I can’t blame him, who wants to die of painful lung cancer? He whistles…and Sylar seems to pass out.

Now, I just hope we aren’t about to be denied the best twist ever of watching Sylar be the one to get his head cut off and his brain mined for powers while he’s helpless to stop his assailant.

Okay, we don’t, but this is almost just as good. Sylar finally has the fight he wanted as his dad tries his hardest to cut that secret of immortality out of his brain, but Sylar is younger, stronger, and most importantly not crippled by lung cancer and an oxygen tank. He easily wins the fight, after getting dad’s ‘what I’d do differently’ speech: kill more, take more powers, not waste time, all the usual goals of an Evil Overlord! His dad begs for the healing power, and is denied, so he begs instead for death. “Oh you’ll die,” Sylar promises, slickly evil all over again. It’s just like dad said–Sylar could kill him or the cancer would. Sylar’s letting him die from cancer. He’s just small game, he tells his dad, throwing back at him an insult he put to his son earlier on. And so Sylar, newly motivated to evil and to not waste his time, walks jauntily out of the shack and goes along his merry way!

Claire gives Puppeteer his new IDs, and he gives her a creepy smile as he heads off. Probably to abuse some more women, but hey, that’s just an educated guess, what do I know? Claire heads home and sadly the comic book store will never get to teach her about heroism, because thanks to her real dad trying to fire the Hunter and ending up having to show off his flying ability to not die, her free pass is up and her house is getting raided. Rebel warns her of this just in time, however, and dear old Biological Dad shows up outside her window to help her escape. I find it questionable that the guy who’s looking in her room looks under the bed but not out the open window for her, but anyways.

And finally, we’re shown the next step in a somewhat clever twist–Hiro and Ando arrive at the address given to them to go save Matt Parkman. Looks like a nice little hotel complex, and a frustrated teenager gripes to them about having waited two full hours for a replacement. This seems strange because hey, isn’t Parkman in DC getting almost-but-sadly-not blown up? He is! The Matt Parkman they’re here to save? Oh yes, thatMatt Parkman would be his infant son.

Heroes: Exposed. Liveblogging!

My DVR is really annoying and having glitches and jumps all over the place here.

Anyways, why are they making Claire look so boring lately? Her hair seriously sucks. I realize Hayden P got a short haircut over the summer and it’s growing out, but by now, really, I think you can do something better than that awful ponytail and the terrible hairdo from when she was running around saving Alex.

And….what’s with Sylar’s hankering for a Big Jim hot dog?

Go Claire’s mom for being better at the game than Claire, and better than her husband thought she was! She proved that last half of the season in the Meredith-Puppetmaster scenarion, I’d say. Let’s see Mom and Mr. Muggles kick a little ass.

Wait wait wait. Peter doesn’t need skin contact to take powers? That means everytime he’s touched ANYONE AT ALL he’s been taking their powers. Since we saw from the opening of Volume 4 that he can’t control taking their powers when he touches them. UGH. Or but now he can, now that it’s convenient. Why couldn’t you just have had him take Parkman’s hand when he did that? At last they’re using the mental powers intelligently for once.

And Lyle’s existence as a plot point only being so ragingly obvious here was great. And go Mrs. Bennett being all bad-ass and subversive! See, Claire, you can learn something from your mother who raised you. Her mom’s quickly seeming like the most real person on this show.

I thought Sylar was given away as a baby. Now all these repressed memories of–WOAH. Okay, that kid is like…at least 5 if not older, and yet Sylar didn’t remember this until now? Seriously? Ticking clocks for the toy car. Watch out toy car, your head is SO coming off.

Haha, shockingly the geek boy is a hottie. Go you, Claire, it’s nice to see you acting like a teenager again. Also, he doesn’t look different enough to pass as a totally different person. Also, ouch, calling her special? Bad move, I would’ve thought. I do however like this guy SO MUCH BETTER THAN WEST. Is the dark-haired agent the much talked of Rachel Mills?

Haha! Matt yelling out Daphne at everything sounds like Michael on Lost yelling “Walt?!” all the time. And since when do external distractions work so effectively on disrupting Parkman’s ability? It makes sense, but HRG says it like we’ve seen it before when we haven’t.

And…this whole series of Sylar flashbacks are really NOT doing it for me. Interesting to see where Sylar gets the slice the head open thing, kind of, but…the musical choice is just really jarring, and trying to have the half-faded out image of adult Sylar in some shots is cliche. I still don’t buy Sylar forgetting all of this and never having suspicions of not being his adoptive parents child when he couldn’t remember the first 5 or so years of his life.

And the agents watching the Bennetts fall for the classic mislead. You got your top people there, huh? Oh for the love of God, the guy falls on girl set-up, really? At least they didn’t go all the way to the make-outs and forget all about the life-threatening situation going on. Lady, really, you’re not gonna look in the pool? Aww, underwater kiss t save Claire’s life. And also from her bubbles of air giving them away. And at least she passed the flashlight over the water briefly. (I think the full-on underwater make out would negate the breathing benefit with the water intake, but uh…okay. I know, I know…logic, here, what?)

Hm. And I have to agree with Peter not being a terrorist here. Oh–gees, way to frak it up by not listening Peter…ahh, but Nathan finally gives in on his good guy urges. Still the wishy-washiest of all “bad guys”, but eh, this is more like him at least.

Shouldn’t they be surprised about Peter’s ability working differently and him not healing now? Haha, Petrelli men really need to stop falling for the hug trick!

Aw, no, don’t kill the sidekick, Sylar. I mean, I know it’s what he does, but…oh, hey, he’s not killing him! Good for him. Heh, create a fellow villain, and then leave him to simmer. Check back in a few years to see if he’s done baking!

Ohhh….I see your game, Hunter. Clever! Doesn’t look good for Parkman, though. Or DC.

That’s right, Claire. Your mom is totally incredible!

AND WHAT THE FRAK! Did ANYONE die in that damn explosions? Seriously?!! Look, as awesomely evil as the Puppet Master was, he should be dead!! UGH. Just when I was liking your episode this week a little bit, too. Dammit Heroes!

24: 6-7 PM; 7-8 PM. Liveblogging!

Really, 24? Really? Dubaku is sitting there out in an open, shared room and not highly guarded in a private room at the hospital? Really?

Juma is IN DC? Seriously?

Okay, and Jack, WTF? How about you TELL the FBI, who are now mole-free, not to move in on this Ryan guy you’re tracking down, rather than telling Chloe to take his name off of the list? How about that? I’m torn between this being a bad writing choice and this being Jack too used to doing things his way (aka the not-so-legal-or-above-board way). I like the immediate professional rivalry between Janis and Chloe, though.

Is there a tie station on the way into the White House that they stopped at so Jack could look nice?

And why the FRAK is Jack pulling a gun on Bill?!? Like Bill wouldn’t help him of his own accord? What the hell is going on here? If they want Jack to snap for a reason, give him a trigger, this is just a total 180 from the end of the last hour. Okay, yes, he did say he doesn’t want to bring Bill down with him, but that kind of all goes back to the part where there’s no need to do this like this.

And now they all say they noticed an unknown person in the room with DUBAKU and NO ONE said anything? Are you frakking kidding me?

Now the back and forth of the grey matter of torture and Jack’s methods, this I like. I feel like the forceful shoves of the plot to get us here were overdone, but the back and forth I like. And the President’s line about how Jack should have come to her is completely valid.

See now, Agent Walker? She’s doing some good work! Investigating, following, calling in back up, staying connected to her people. And now taking a damn big risk by jumping onto that boat! Walker’s the woman. I’d watch 24 if it started being about her, I’ll say it here and now.

Woah, woah, woah…is Tony actually still a bad guy? The contact on “Emerson’s crew” is “dead”? An answer only given after hesitation? I think Tony’s might actually still be a bad guy! Maybe trying to get out of it, hence giving Jack those leads, or maybe just wanting to die or something, but…I am newly unconvinced of Tony’s true allegiance. Something sketchy is going on here.

Oh! And another big score for Walker! Takes a risk and it pays off big time–not that we didn’t know from the previews, thanks network, that the target is the White House! And Walker has info about Dubaku that has been specifically kept from his son, which may be a boon to her very soon.

Although…I’m having trouble figuring out how this underwater assault is going to get them inside the White House.

And now 7-8!

Don’t you sass Aaron Pierce, young lady. He is so much more awesome than you are.

Run Walker, run! Annnd who didn’t see that guy getting shot in short order.

Huh. The imagery of Jack being a rapid dog behind bars is especially striking in this scene with Bill. And good for you, Bill. Stand by who you are and what you believe.

Hm. Looks like the White House has become Helm’s Deep, with the weakness of a single water grate. And yet another extra about to die within moments! Tough life, that of a serviceman. Or policeman. Or anyone in 24…

Ahhh, laser grid! Helm’s Deep could’ve used one of these. The plan is getting a little more respectable. Although as my roommate is pointing out, what, there are no cameras in the White House that people are going to see these guys on? Really?

Ooo, nice move Walker! Get right to the point with this guy, excellent intuition! And Walker’s decent in a fight, too. And now, haha, how convenient that Jack’s not in his cage. And now sh*t is getting real. Oh no, Bill! Don’t you dare kill Bill, no!

Phew, no dead Bill. And his not being shot right away does make sense. And now we’ve got a situation echoing earlier in the day with Matobo. Hopefully the air vents are reasonably secure on this thing.

What? Just like that they fall back? Um, no! You get proof, Hobis! You’re fired Hobis. Epic National Security Fail!

So with the President maybe but not confirmed as even captured (never mind no dead), the ONLY person who can tell them to go in and get this taken care of is VP, and he’s not available? Um, WHAT? This “red tape” is seriously questionable. So is the teams pulling back with no confirmation she was even captured, moreso that part, in fact.

Face it, Juma. You’re done here.

Mm-hm. So Hodges and this shipment is the next big arc of the day–Juma and his little hostage crisis are just here to tide us over. And now, while I again say don’t sass Aaron Pierce young lady!, she’s smart to not want to be left alone.

The VP has a vacillating accent–it sounded Australian at first, now it’s sort of Southern. I’m doubtful this guy is actually Southern in real life here. And in a long tradition of VPs being stupid, here we go again! Or is he evil, too? HAH! Okay, his smackdown of the assistant Derek there was awesome!

Oh no, Aaron Pierce! I knew his end someday would have to be noble sacrifice in the line of duty, but…still! …oh phew, he’s alive still. But dammit, message not gotten out!

Hm. Now who’s going to die to save the First Daughter? Or is she actually going to die here? ….woah, sh*t. Eyes. Oh my god.

…and now I feel like I’ve watched the whole hour already. Stupid previews. I’m not watching you anymore.

Dollhouse, Episode 1×03: Stage Fright

On to Episode 3! Here we have a little fun, find out Eliza Dushku can sing, and the male fans get more short skirts and exposed toned abs than they could hope for in one week.

Boyd is getting patched up and released for duty again, although Dr. Saunders still wants him to take it easy. The two chat a little and become friendly enough to be on a first name basis. Echo is being nice to new girl Sierra while in mind-wiped state, helping her keep her balance when she wavers after getting off a treadmill. Sierra thanks her. “That’s what friends do,” Echo says pleasantly.

Security-type guy (or perhaps another Handler, I’m not sure) Laurence Dominic, the one who made the remarks at the end of last episode to Echo, is talking with lady in charge Adelle DeWitt, and the Attic is definitely not a throwaway term. Sounds like its the place where bad Actives get sent–so basically, let’s call it Dollhouse’s version of boxing a line of Cylons, shall we? Lovely.

Wise-cracking cocky Topher has Echo out on an assignment to help guard a pop starlet who’s as blatantly a Britney Spears ripoff as Britney Spears herself is, but in a subtle way–she’s going to be hired as a backup singer, the starlet (Rayna) knows nothing of what’s going on, and the idea is that she’ll protect Rayna from a crazy murdering fan because she’s her friend, not because she’s her bodyguard. (Rayna dislikes bodyguards. And mints. And taking sound advice.) So Echo is in place as the new girl, and Sierra is later on put in place as Rayna’s “Number One Fan” and the winner of some contest that gets her up on stage.

Rayna’s talented, but spoiled, and sick of fame–it turns out she’s been communicating with her stalker fan, and they’ve made an arrangement where he gets to kill her and she gets to die. Say what?! Yup. It’s kinda like that. New backup singer/best buddy thinks this isn’t such a cool idea, and foils the assassination attempt when the stalker tries to sniper Rayna on stage. Infuriated, he kidnaps the “Number One Fan,” threatening to kill her instead if Rayna won’t show up.

Things get twisty, because Echo, as is pointed in the post-engagement chat by Adelle and Boyd, thinks outside the box and the supposed mission parameters when it’s called for. In this case, her mission of protecting Rayna gets complicated, because Rayna’s biggest enemy is in fact herself. So in a showdown on the catwalk, Echo has the bond and gagged Rayna whom she knocked out after getting pissed off that she wouldn’t save herself OR her big fan, the stalker, and Sierra all in one place. She gives Rayna a taste of what dying might be like by shoving her off the catwalk–but she’s attached the starlet to a stretch of rope, so while she dangles, she does not drop. She takes out the stalker as well, and in the end saves the day all around–Sierra is safe, Rayna’s not semi-suicidal, and the stalker is out of the picture. Hooray! She proves she’s the bestest friend to not one, but two young women.

Meanwhile, in the world of Agent Ballard, things are also taking an interesting turn. His source of information, Lubov the mobster-type, says he’s got nothing, and we find out why: Lubov is another Active! Dun dun duh! Lubov is in fact an active named Victor and we see him around the Dollhouse in this episode, getting his mind wiped and socializing. This is an interesting little twist for a few reasons. There’s the obvious, of course–Dollhouse knows about Ballard, we can assume, and they are intentionally misleading him. But also in the background of all this, the actor Enver Gjokaj was reportedly cast as another active originally, but then his role was remade as they went on and they removed him from being one of the Dolls. And now, low and behold, the rumors were a red herring! Like Communism! Well-played, sirs. This makes me wonder about Ballard’s nice girl neighbor, Mellie, played by Miracle Laurie, who was also rumored to be a Doll before the show went on air, but was similarly said to have had her role remade into something else.

Right, back to Ballard! Victor/Lubov comes through a few days later with a lead he sounds only slightly confident in that leads Ballard to a sketchy ‘meeting’ in the basement of an abandoned hotel of some kind (am I the only one who was hoping for a revisit to the set of the Hyperion here?), and things go very sour when guns are fired, Ballard takes a bullet, but dispatches with his would-be killers. They seemed to be confused about who he was and why he was there as well, so it may have been a set up all around. Ballard makes a 911 call and is later shown in the hospital, being visited by his concerned neighbor, whom we’ve been shown has an unrequited longing for handsome Paul Ballard and his striking jaw line.

So, more intriguing plots are moving along. And what’s the latest with Echo and her memories? This one’s less clear, but as Echo and Sierra are meandering around the Dollhouse, Dominic and Boyd are watching them from above while chatting. Sierra sees Echo and smiles, changing her path to intersect with her friend. As they draw closer and Sierra seems about to greet her or some such, Echo glances up, sees the Handlers, and subtlely shakes her head at Sierra. They pass one another with no greeting or recognition.

Very interesting indeed. Does Sierra remember, or have some sense of, what Echo did to save her life? Does Echo remember Dominic’s threatening statement to her not long before? What exactly caused her to realize that a greeting or recognition between the two Actives might cause a problem with their Handlers?

The intrigue is mounting, and the plot is thickening. I’ve been told that word is this show really hits its stride around episode 6 or 7, so I’m eager to see what develops at that point. Until then, I’m glad to see it’s continuing to improve!

Dollhouse, Episode 1×02 “Target”

This show is getting much better.

After a somewhat lackluster start, the second and third episodes of Dollhouse stepped up the game, thanks to a number of factors.
1) We all expected the usual semi-lighthearted veneer and witty banter that we’re used to from Whedon. So the pilot was a little jarring when it lacked those things. Now we see what’s going on: this ain’t your usual Whedon.
2) While the first episode set up the general universe we’re working with, the rules of the Dollhouse, and the characters we’ll be following, it didn’t do much as far as intrigue to last a season or longer apart from the very beginning and the very end. But in these episodes, we got some serious backstory tidbits and promises of future tension. Awesome!

In “Target,” Echo is turned into an adventure-loving outdoors girl on a weekend date with a guy who seems to be pretty nice, just really into his outdoor activities. The warning signs aren’t clear until of course it’s too late–his comments about every other girl he’s taken into the wilderness with him being a disappointment who couldn’t keep up, his willingness to pay extra for the high risk engagement, his remarkable expertise with a bow and arrow, and his ease with life-threatening situations. Why is this? Oh right, because he’s a psycho taking his pointers from General Zaroff and wants to hunt him some human!

While Echo starts fighting for her life rather than enjoying post-coital bliss, we get some background on her Handler, Boyd, and some more history of the Dollhouse. Tidbit #1: Alpha, a former Active (if you hadn’t noticed yet, the Actives are named according to the NATO phonetic alphabet), went kinda nuts a few months and killed a whole lot of people. Somehow he accessed ALL of his imprints at once, and started slicing and dicing with terrifying efficiency, aiming for maximum pain as well as quick deaths. He killed Echo’s former Handler, gave Dr. Saunders her fetching facial scars, and also killed a slew of other Actives…but curiously left Echo alive in the midst of all this. Echo, naturally, had her memory wiped and was given a new Handler, Boyd the former cop. We see the imprinting process of the Handler and Active as well–they are set up so that the Active will always trust his/her Handler no matter what, as soon as they see them. There are certain key phrases such as “Everything is going to be okay” and “Do you trust me?” These come up later, hence the importance in hearing them now.

So Echo’s on the run from Psycho Hunter, and Boyd and his driver are attacked by a “ranger” who shoots the driver. Boyd takes him out and ties him up inside his van to get information out of him. The “ranger” was hired over the phone to keep anyone from interfering with what’s going on in the woods right now. Boyd takes off, leaving the ranger, intent on finding his girl. Echo isn’t doing too bad as she finds a ranger station, but that’s quickly followed by finding the real ranger dead in a closet and drinking from a contaminated flask of water. Psycho Hunter contacts her via the walkie in the hut and lets her know the water won’t kill her, just get her dizzy. This is where it gets interesting (I know, NOW it gets interesting, what? More interesting then, fine!). Echo starts hallucinating and seeing former versions of herself, one of whom we recognize as her actual personality, Caroline. Through this, fording a river while doped up, and finding Boyd, Echo decides she mad as hell and she’s not gonna take it anymore. Boyd takes an arrow through the abdomen, so it’s up to her–this time she’s the one telling Boyd everything will be okay and asking if he trusts her. He does.

Taking a gun and taunting her would-be killer over the walkie, she gets a few shots off before they end up wrestling in the dirt. Psycho ends up on top and starts choking the life out of her, but inspired by another hallucination, she grabs an arrow that’s on the ground near her and stabs that jackass in the neck. Oh snap!

Back in the Dollhouse after all of this, we hear about how this man’s entire background was thoroughly fabricated, so much so that they didn’t catch on at all when they did their check on him. What’s more the “ranger” that Boyd tied up? He’s dead. Killed with the same efficient slashes we now know Alpha was fond of using. Dun dun duh! Echo is wiped already wiped when one of the security types tell her that if it were up to him he’d put her “in the Attic or in the ground.” ‘Attic’ sure sounds specific, and we find out in the next episode that it is. As he turns around and walks off, Echo gives her shoulder a hard tap with her fist, echoing (see what I did there?) a gesture made by the Psycho Hunter earlier, in his pre-Psycho moments, when he told Echo about how it means keeping your shoulder to the ground, a statement made often by his own father. Now seen here with the supposedly tabula rasa’d Echo. Dun dun duh! Again!

So now we’ve got Alpha the Renegade Active (who, it seems we can safely assume, was the naked man at the end of the pilot) (in one of a handful of side scenes, we see Agent Ballard has received the photo of Caroline, and she doesn’t exist in any database anywhere). We’ve got Echo, already showing an ability to retain memories and information. We’ve got Alpha’s focus on Echo for reasons unknown, and someone (who may or may not also be Alpha) fabricating backgrounds with extreme expertise. The majority of the Dollhouse has been told that Alpha was killed, but it’s obvious now that this isn’t true. Now this is getting interesting!

Episode 3 recap coming today as well! Promise!