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!
