Dollhouse Episode Review
In which there is a point to Senator Perrin. Who knew?
What Happened
Senator Perrin makes a nuisance of himself by producing Madeline (the Doll formerly known as November) at a press conference. She is willing to testify to the fact that the Dollhouse exists and how they used her for two years.
Told to stay out of it, Adelle suspects she's being hung out to dry. She sends Echo to discredit Perrin (sex tape, anyone?) and Ballard to retrieve Madeline.
Unfortunately, Topher's Doll Shut Down Device does not take out Perrin's wife Cindy - who they suspect as a sleeper. It takes down Perrin himself.
Freaked, Perrin and Echo make a run for it, followed by Cindy, a handler from the DC House. She captures them both and takes them to Washington for processing.
Madeline, meanwhile, confronts Ballard over his love affair with Mellie and convinces him to let her go forward with the testimony.
The Good
Alexis Denisof's performance as Perrin processed that he was a Doll. Everyone else we've seen under the influence was oblivious to the effects. Even Echo doesn't really have the awareness - yet - to review a lifetime of memories and question which were real and which were Memorex.
The Bad
Could have punched up Ballard's disgust over the fact that November's wiring was still in Madeline's head. He just sort of muttered his one-liner and stalked off without any fanfare. This is a pretty big thing for him.
The Cliche
Well, they made such a show of "proving" Cindy was a sleeper Doll that I was pretty sure that wasn't the real answer. It was too early in the episode to know the whole story and it was their first plan and first plans never go right.
What Did I Think?
The reveal of Perrin and this new use for the technology was effective.
I mean, who doesn't think they'd like to be a better version of themselves? We'd screw it up, of course, inevitably "correcting" the wrong things, but it is very easy to imagine people trying.
And it's really a delicious bit of political satire when you think about it.
