Dollhouse – Gray Hour

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Well this is finally the week I get to say it.  “If you stopped watching Dollhouse you are an idiot”.  Ok ok, I was even starting to think I was going to give up after last week, but this week, bam, the show I thought I was going to see when I hit the record season on my DVR.

The official synopsis from the Fox website:  “Echo’s stint as a midwife doesn’t prove as laborious as when she becomes an expert safe-cracker in order to perform a dangerous art heist. Yet a more than an invaluable piece of art is stolen from her on the engagement, forcing Sierra to take on a familiar persona.  Agent Ballard gives Lubov an ultimatum, and Adelle confides shocking information to Topher. ”

This really was a good episode, but starting at the beginning can someone fill me in about the midwife scene?  First of all why the heck would someone hire an “active” as a midwife at like a million zillion dollars an hour, and second, what did this have to do with the episode?  Quite confusing to me.  After this though the episode picks up steam that is does not lose throughout the show.  Remember when all I was doing was bitching about how the weekly story line stunk?  Well, Echo is now taking on the roll of expert-safe-cracker, and all around super cool thief type, so no more complaining from me.  That is until someone wipes her remotely, and now she is a blank slate once again.  She is now in shambles and inside the safe with a team of thieves that already had one of their own double cross them.    This was a great way to create tension with the remote wipe as it really played into the weekly plot line, but also has large ramifications on the overall storyline with Alpha, if that is indeed who did the wiping.

So now the Dollhouse must imprint the same exact personality onto someone else, Sierra, so that she can help Echo out of the situation that she is in.  I really hate to say it, but I am not at all enamored with Dichen Lachman as Sierra.  Good story line twist though and I love how they pay her (Sierra) the money she wants, but it does not even matter as they wipe her and just have their money back.   Good episode and I enjoyed that we learned a bit more information about what the heck is going on at the Dollhouse.

Some interesting things

-  We got a bit more in depth with Topher.  We learned he fears that others are gunning for his job, and that funny scene cements the Topher personality, which was a nice touch.  As things are ramping up at the Dollhouse in relation to Alpha, Topher is given a bit more security clearance.  It is necessary since he is one of the only technical people to help with Alpha since the Dollhouse can not seem to kill him outright.
-  I love the fact of Echo, Sierra, and Lubov eating lunch together.  A nice tease for something big that is going to happen around these characters.
-  We find out that the Dollhouse will kill an active it they in any way jeopardize the Dollhouse, I am sure this will come into play in later episodes
-  The Dollhouse will cater to any activity, even if it is criminal…cool

Do you know what else we left behind this episode? The soft core porn shots of naked bodies (edited for network television), mutilated and not.  With less time focusing on that, maybe Joss was actually able to give us a goodstory.  Word around town is that as we get further along into these episodes, Joss gets more and more leeway in the creative process.  That is a good thing.

4 Comments

1. 

   Elena

   March 8, 2009 at 10:10 pm

   I think the midwife thing plays into the whole “being wiped is like being born” thing. Also, since the people talked about meeting at a frat party, they obviously come from money. My thought was that maybe they were wanted criminals (obviously for something white-collar) who could afford the fee but couldn’t afford being caught. But kind of random that they didn’t explain why someone would pay that for a midwife, but at the same time unnecessary for why that was included.

   Otherwise, as usual, agree with your assessment. I am actually excited about next week’s episode, for the first time.

   Reply
2. 

   Jody

   March 9, 2009 at 12:47 am

   I must admit I too was ready to hang it up on this show. I really like Eliza and admit its because of Buffy and was a bit disappointed. This weeks episode changed my mind and I found it well done and keeps me willing & looking forward to next week.

   Reply
3. 

   Damon

   March 9, 2009 at 4:34 pm

   @Elena yeah actually I could see the playing into the being wiped, if that was the case though it was overdone. I like the thought more of them being criminals on the run or maybe somewhere so remote that they wanted to have someone around all the time. I do not think though being just coming from money cuts it, Joss said in an interview its like low millions to hire her as an active, thats some crazy loot for a midwife. @Jody, you know I never watched Buffy (shame on me) so I went into this show with a bit of a different attitude.

   Reply
4. 

   Elena

   March 9, 2009 at 10:23 pm

   part of the overdoing it may have just been to get a good contrast within the episode (presumably for people just picking up with this one) of how different her personas can be. and yes, it couldn’t have just been that they had money and were eccentric. no one is THAT eccentric. but it’s possibly more interesting that we get to fill in the backstory on our own for the assignments that are only shown for “color.”

   Reply