Belonging

Dollhouse Episode Review

In which we learn about Sierra. And Topher.

What Happened

Flashback time: Priya (now our Sierra) was an artist selling her work as a beach vendor when she attracted the attention of a rich sleazebag named Nolan. He arranged a showing of her art as a way of impressing her and arranged to have some dolls like Echo and Victor there to talk him up as a way of really really creeping her out.

When Priya told Nolan to get lost, he used his knowledge of psychiatric pharmaceuticals to drive her insane. Then, he lied to Adelle and asked her to turn Priya into a Doll as a way of getting her under his control. He's been regularly renting her out ever since then.

Now, Topher - of all people - figures this out, but when he tells Adelle and she tries to pull the plug on Nolan's sick scheme, Nolan goes over her head. Rossum flunky Mr. Harding orders Adelle to program Sierra for Nolan and hand her over permanently.

Adelle bends, but Topher balks and he gives Priya her original personality back. Aware of everything that happened, she confronts Nolan and winds up stabbing him to death in self defense. Boyd covers for them, and Adelle buys the cover story that Nolan left the country before Sierra arrived. (Or at least she pretends to.) When Topher talks to Priya about rejoining the Dollhouse, she seems to intuit her connection with Victor and agrees.

In between covering Topher's butt, Boyd notices that Echo is acting more and more independently. Echo insists that a storm is coming and they all need to wake up to be ready for it. Deciding not to tell anyone, Boyd slips Echo an all-access keycard - just in case.

What We Learned

• You move because there is wind.
• Echo is like a ninja.
• Taking charge is good.
• Everyone likes to take a little something home from the office once in a while.
• Everyone here was chosen because their morals were compromised in some way.
• It was Topher's first moral dilemma. And it didn't go well.

Best Lines

Boyd: "You lost me at 'brain.'"

What Did I Think?

The story synopsis is pretty basic. I can't even begin to describe how much I loved the performances in this one, particularly Dichen Lachman and Fran Kranz.