An episode of television that answers and asks so many questions; I'm with Caroline and Crystal; my head hurts. I want to note, before I begin, that naming characters is tricky in an episode like this. Mostly, I'll use the name of who is the one talking. For instance, Alpha might have been a doll in the past, but it's also the name of the thing he's become. So, he'll fairly well be addressed as such. But, for Eliza in particular; we'll take it as it goes. Also, this isn't just a review; it's my thoughts and feelings on the entire episode, so it's mostly chronological. The end will be more about my overall feelings on the episode.
Let's start with Dr. Saunders; further proof that the Dolls have a form of personality. She has a memory of being a doll, of what Alpha did to her, of what he took away. This is demonstrated in the way she attacks Victor. The self loathing pushes her, as we've seen before. And regarding her and Victor's scars; with cosmetic surgery options now, they couldn't fix that?
Alpha asked if she always wanted to be a doctor; chilling. Was he trying to make sure she knew, to remind her? Was he just toying with her; amused and disgusted somehow, at what they've done to her? I’m curious how they explained the situation to her. What exactly did she think happened the night Alpha attacked her? How long has she suspected she is a doll? Was it only when she heard Topher talk about Whiskey, or had she known before that? Her empathy with the actives suggests it's been much longer than that. And just as Echo demonstrated minor jealous, just before Alpha attacked Whiskey, does part of her resent that she's not the number one doll anymore?
On a minor casting note, I loved seeing Ashley Johnson (Growing Pains, What Women Want) playing Caroline. It was interesting, to have our first real taste of Caroline, without Eliza playing her. Ashley did a good job of keeping any affectation to a minimum. Unlike when Victor was imprinted with Dominic's personality, there's no attempt to mimic here. And that's telling. We really have only seen Caroline in very minor form, so far. We have little to no understanding of her mannerisms or vocal trends. To have Ashley just mimic Eliza wouldn't have made sense. Caroline, for all intents and purposes, hasn't existed for us yet. Ashley also did a good job of keeping it simple, which saves Eliza from having to mimic her later on (I categorically refuse to believe there will not be a later on).
Quick fan note here: From a strictly Whedonverse geek perspective, getting to see Tudyk acting with both Dushku and Acker is extremely cool. It's like a Buffy/Angel/Firefly/Dollhouse crossover! If we could've somehow tossed NPH in there; wow, I think I might've had an aneurism.
Alpha: Yeah, let's do that instead.
Joss knows how to use his actors to their best advantage. I believe that, wholeheartedly. Alan is definitely someone whose strengths he's aware of. He brilliantly adapted Wash to be the ultimate Tudyk sweetheart character. But with Alpha, he outdid himself. The random funny goofy lines, mixed in with the scary psycho babble (not I didn't say psychobabble). It's the perfect vehicle for Tudyk; allowing him to be intense and creepy, with occasionally well-built moments of comedy, was well conceived.
Tudyk also is great at the 'rolling my eyes' bit. I love when Crystal/Echo asks for the bathroom. Just the frustration at dealing with this insipid creature, Alan makes it palpable.
Joss also knows how to play to the character's personalities, which is why he's one of my most beloved writers. Ballard playing Tanaka to clear the feds from the front of the Dollhouse; that was bloody brilliant! Mark Shappard is such a great actor, but he seems to be always the one getting the wool pulled over his eyes. I guess he just plays the skeptic jerk too well (see the Leverage episode; The Second David Job). But the plan was well put together. The delay caused by the feds, gives time for Alpha to make a clean get away. But then; how do you get rid of them? Simple; have the guy everyone thinks is nuts, imply to the guy who also hates him, that he called in the bomb threat to get the cavalry. Even if he wondered, for just a split second, if Ballard was telling the truth; no way would he give him the satisfaction of checking it out.
Some random thoughts:
If Alpha is who sent Echo and November to Ballard; then who we have inside the Dollhouse, that we thought was a good guy, is actually a fricking psycho. There's a disturbing concept. Because in the future; he'll still be the most likely person trying to bring the Dollhouse down. So that makes him a good and a bad guy, in a deliciously schizophrenic way.
I find it odd that Alpha seems to hate Caroline for what she gave up, but he's very empathetic to her sadness when she arrives.
Why didn't Caroline tell Alpha what brought her to the Dollhouse? Just so we (the audience) wouldn't know?
Ooh, a Firefly joke! Nice.
What did they do with Wendy's wedge after she was killed?
I also adore Alpha berating Crystal for her idiocy, and then saying, "Don't listen to him."
Alpha's attraction to Echo; does it speak to what could happen to Victor in the wrong circumstances, with his attraction to Sierra? Opens up a lot of options for just how a sexually ambiguous personality handles attraction.
Some of the handlers are such idiots. Blevin's cautioning Alpha not to get frisky with Echo; why would he talk to him like a normal person? He's barely more than a toddler dude!
Having Sierra and November imprinted seemed rather silly and unnecessary, if we didn't use them. Was it just to mess with Ballard?
Alpha: They're all screaming. The little one's not.
Who's the little one?
I love how Caroline, in Wendy's body, talks. "I think this one wet itself." Wow, the body swapping could melt your brain and cause incontinence.
I also like how Caroline, in Wendy's body, looks even messier than Caroline talking over the contract with Dewitt.
Topher's reactions in this episode were also interesting, and confusing at the same time. When Ballard asked who Alpha was after, the first day, why does he mention Saunders’ cursorily? He's clearly referring to the original Dr. Saunders, not Whiskey. But then why does he not mention Whiskey? He's ordered to give Ballard any help he needs, so why does he withhold this? I realize that it's not really a motivating factor in Alpha's behavior, beyond how it reflects on his feelings for Echo. But then again, unless anyone knows what Alpha said right before he attacked her, they can't know why he did it.
And just before Alpha attacked Whiskey, Echo does look disappointed that Whiskey is getting a treatment. Is she a little jealous? Has Alpha sensed this?
Alpha's position is that the mind abandoned the body, when Caroline allowed herself to become a doll. But he also says "Just a body; their all pretty much the same." It's such a criss cross of logic, it's no wonder Echo rejects it. His idea of breaking Echo free by killing Caroline, on the surface it's wonderfully cathartic, but overall highly flawed.
The very fact that Alpha tried to attack Blevin's before the imprint dump, proves that Ballard was right about his original personality being part of his actions. Why they think it’s irrelevant; is just hubris on Dewitt and Topher's part, particularly given his history for face slashing. Did they really not research this part of his past themselves?!
Caroline: You're in a lair, OK, an evil lair. And you're sitting in some messed up dentist chair, letting a guy who talks to himself, attach wires to your head. Which, incidentally, is my head.
Joss knows when to be direct and to the point. Sometimes, the best joke, is explaining the idiocy of a behavior.
Also, I love the set design on the 'lair'. Just a touch of Bride of Frankenstein, without overkill. And Crystal and Alpha/Bobbie making out while Wendy's getting her mind stripped; beautiful shot. This show has such great cinematography.
Now is when things get really interesting.
When Echo stands up after the imprint dump (just a touch of Faith there) her posture becomes very precise, her actions measured. You begin to see how, with the absence of most of their original minds, the Dolls do become another personality. Echo is someone, but only partly. With her imprint history downloaded, and all the full personalities (not just the retained fragments) which built Echo into her current form, we begin to see how a new personality is created to replace Caroline's. It gives a very interesting perspective on the long term affects of being a doll.
Echo's first words: I get it.
Echo's been building to a self realization anyway (though they probably did delay it by giving them some measure of closure in Needs), and Alpha's actions have finally clarified things in her mind. She gets more than just what he's done, what he wants, and what he wants for her. She gets her place in the equation. She's a placeholder, the light on the porch, as she explains to Caroline. But unlike Alpha, she has no desire to take over for Caroline. She knows she's incomplete, and amalgam and she knows that's not a way to live.
Dewitt: He never actually killed anybody.
Boyd: Not until he came here.
I love the look Dewitt gives Boyd at this point. Ballard and Boyd's dynamic is going to be seriously tricky for Dewitt. They think alike. And something tells me that Boyd, agreeing to take this job, was possibly under duress similar to Ballard's. Hiring Ballard would seem, to Dewitt, making an ally of an enemy. It might just be her undoing.
To reference an earlier point (and once again demonstrate that Joss thinks like a chess player);
If we assume Alpha did send Echo and November to Ballard, to tell him to back off of the Dollhouse... here's where he really screwed the pooch.
Echo: Every imprint this Active has ever had, is alive and awake in her head right now.
Notice how she refers to herself in the third person? Sounds a lot like the personality builds that contacted Ballard, doesn't it? So, he not only gave her all her imprints (including the ones he altered), he gave her a true awareness of who and what she is, of what the Dollhouse is, of what all of this is about. He gave her perspective that allowed her to compartmentalize the imprints and maintain control and logic. He basically gave her the tools she needed to wake up, not as Omega, but as Echo.
Echo: New, superior people, with a little German thrown in. What could possibly go wrong?
There's some great dialog. It's like watching a nihilist argue with a solipsist!
Boyd: There's always a girl.
More evidence that Boyd's history drove him to the Dollhouse; much like Echo. Perhaps, on some subconscious level, that's why they're still connected.
Alpha: You're weak. Ow.
Echo: Are you OK?
Caroline: Uh, yeah; I kick ass.
Again, with the funny. Is there anything cooler than a nutso Tudyk, daring to call Eliza Dushku weak, and having her follow it up with a serious bitch slap and a punch to the nads? Priceless.
Echo: I have 38 brains, and not one of them thinks that you can sign a contract to be a slave. Especially now that we have a black president.
Jossy goodness in every syllable. It's an interesting new point, as well, that Joss is intentionally allowing us to pick at. Can you, ethically, sign yourself into slavery? Can you, ethically, sign a contract allowing you to become the master of another?
Topher: What's this? Background singer? Background singer, ninja girl? I don't know why Alpha would imprint her as a background singer; unless he was starting an evil band.
For Topher being a genius, his method of figuring out what imprint Alpha used was kind of a dense move. Let's look at the logic trail here. Alpha wants Echo. He needs to imprint her with a personality that will insure she wants to go with him. So why not be looking at imprints that would have a relationship with one of the imprints in his head? In fact, given the violence and instability of that engagement with Whiskey, that should've been one of the first imprints he was looking at.
Alpha: Now, do what I say, or I will blow your brain out. (No comment, just laughing again)
Echo: Whiskey. You cut up that poor girl because of me.
This just further proves the point that Echo is an entity unto herself. She is aware of her past now, every moment, even as a mindless doll wandering through her spa-like environment. The insight of the other personalities allows her to see why he attacked Whiskey. It allows her to see his obsession, and dissect it. It allows her to realize just who and what he is, and what he wants.
Echo: She won't know. She's me. And we're both coming to getcha.
Alpha, for just a moment, looks truly scared here, and it's all about fear of the unknown. Alpha really didn't get to know how good Echo was. He doesn't know how dangerous she is. But, in that moment, he starts to see. And that's why, even holding the gun, he runs. Well, that and the fact that he clearly doesn't really want to kill her. He still hates Caroline, wants to destroy her, but not Echo. He can't see that it's Echo who's rejected him and ascendency. In his mind, it seems that Caroline is the one rejecting it. He wants to punish her, and not Echo. His mind is so fractured; he can't even deal with the fractures in hers. Hmm, might not have boded well for a long term relationship anyway. :)
And Ballard saves the girl. Hell, he saves two girls! Well aren't you just the man? :)
And more questions arise. Why exactly does Saunders think that Topher built her to hate him? Did the original Saunders hate him? Did he hate himself for his failure in the process, which allowed Alpha to hurt her? Is there possibly more to their relationship than meets the eye? After all, if she's a doll, anyone could be.
At the end; Echo almost seems to be going through the post wipe script intentionally, for Topher's benefit. It's as if she hopes he'll find comfort in the repetition. But when it doesn't work, she reaches out. She proves they aren't blank or empty. Echo, with her new self awareness, is in there somewhere. Maybe she's not as clear as she was, but she's not gone.
In Needs, Caroline directed them to talk about the things they could remember, to keep their true selves in their minds. Echo says Caroline's name in the same way; to make sure she doesn't forget.
Omega is an episode which proves what this show is capable of. A dynamic story that keeps us guess (even if we might sometimes guess) correctly. A story that engages us, characters that draw us in and a mythology we can enjoy and explore together. Dollhouse is the kind of show that makes you want to talk about it, and Omega is an episode which begs for conversation. Simplicity where need, complexity where appropriate, and a good giggle every now and again.
And so, in conclusion, I offer this. My perspective on what makes this show not only good, but good for a network to keep around. Maybe, if you can listen to the passion in my voice, the two-dimensional words can’t so easily be ignored.
© CleverTitania.com 2009
