The Left Hand, pt. 2
Dollhouse Episode Guide
In which Enver Gjokaj and Fran Kranz steal the show.
What Happened
At the DC Dollhouse, Perrin is scheduled to be reprogrammed so that he can go into the Senate hearing and exonerate Rossum. Echo is handed over to Bennett, the DC version of Topher. She recognizes Caroline and blames her for the injury that left Bennett's left arm paralyzed.
Sent in to get Perrin's brain-scan, Topher geeks cute over Bennett, who responds in turn. Bennett isn't about to let Caroline off the hook, however, and blames Echo when she and Perrin escape.
While Echo urges Perrin to expose Rossum, Bennett remotely activates an assassin program in Perrin and points him at Echo. She escapes, but Perrin kills his wife Cindy before Topher is able to undo Bennett's actions.
Later, Perrin walks into the Senate hearing and announces that Rossum was the victim of industrial espionage. Madeline, he claims, was a mental patient they used to trick him. And his enemies killed Perrin's wife when he got too close to the truth.
Seemingly unnoticed in all this, both Echo and Ballard have vanished...
The Good
Cindy is - when you think about it - a very interesting character. She was essentially a Doll, locked into a persona twenty-four-seven, but without the ignorance of her status. Does that make it better or worse? She has the illusion of control (she is the one with the gun) but the responsibility of seeing out Rossum's plan can't have allowed her to exercise that in any way. That's just twisted.
And speaking of twisted, how can I not give love out to Topher and Topher 2.0? Whoever thought of putting Topher's personality in anyone's body was a genius. Enver Gjokaj totally sells it, while the scene itself is so cute I'm practically in sugar shock.
The Bad
They don't earn Perrin's flip-flop in the Senate.
We last see Echo pleading with him to do the right thing, but then we go to a commercial break. When we come back, Perrin is completely on-script and tossing Madeline to the wolves.
One of two things has to happen during that break. Either Perrin was recaptured and reprogrammed in under an hour or two - yet somehow Echo got away. Or Perrin decided on his own that he would go along with Rossum's plan and exchange his free will for safety and power.
(Actually, that second scenario would have been a really interesting one to explore.)
I suppose that Bennett could have plotted the whole thing from the start and "killed" Cindy for Perrin as part of the original cover program because Cindy was sick and tired of playing the good wife. Bennett might have planted a flip-switch that would pull Perrin back in the second someone gave a code word or he walked into the hearing chamber.
Any way you slice it, that's a lot to yadda yadda yadda past. Not having that piece distracts me from the full impact of what Perrin does and says in that moment. Which is a shame, as that scene is kind of the whole point here.
The Cliche
Bennett is a sweet variation on the standard issue Cute Geek. Not as pliant as Early Willow; not as Spaced Out Genius as Late River. But she's still essentially a TV show trying to convince me that putting Summer Glau in a pair of glasses makes her a socially awkward outcast who is surprised when guys find her attractive.
What Did I Think?
The ideas in the this plot are very strong - the political machinations, seeing inside the DC Dollhouse, and the use of it all to propel Echo out on her own. There's just that one glitch at the end.
That said, the apple cart is successfully upended with Adelle flying into battle against her internal enemies and Echo and Ballard estranged from the Dollhouse - loose cannons on a very unstable map.
