SPOILERS BELOW FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAS AIRED TO DATE
I suppose one of the most difficult balances to strike when writing a serial is the one between stories that advance the masterplot and stories that generally don’t. In theory, a stand-alone episode should give the audience an opportunity to get to know the characters a little better, laying the groundwork for the pathos that arises out of seeing them battle their larger demons at season’s end.
This week’s stand-alone Dollhouse entry didn’t really do that though, because Echo embodied the personality of a recently dead friend of Adelle DeWitt’s. This wealthy lady apparently visited the Dollhouse at regular intervals over the last few years to basically create a backup copy of herself, meant to be deployed in the event of her death. Paranoid and generally unloved by her family, she suspects murder from the moment Topher implants her in Echo’s body.
The notion of a person preserving her own life through the Dollhouse is brilliant, but why did it have to be couched within a silly murder mystery? I’m reminded of Patton Oswald’s software baron resurrecting his wife every year. Why not show the flip side of this scenario, and explore the ways such a use of a doll could be unsatisfying for all involved? For that matter, is Echo really the dead woman returned to life? Do the contents of our mind comprise all that we are? Or maybe the woman does think she’s been murdered, only to discover that no one felt strongly enough about her to go to the trouble. Maybe her death wasn’t as dramatic as she always assumed it would be. That might have been a good story to explore.
How would it feel to attend your own funeral and witness your own corpse lying in a coffin? In the universe of Battlestar Galactica, you freak the hell out and debate the very nature of your existence. In the universe of Dollhouse, you snicker quietly about the mourning losers listening to your eulogy. But I guess that’s how you have to act when there’s a mystery to solve! There’s no time for sober introspection.
When Dollhouse misfires (so far), this is generally how it does it: good idea, weak execution. Then again, you can almost hear the FOX execs saying, “All the sci-fi and philosophical stuff is okay, but give us an episode where Echo has to solve a murder!” So…there you go. And it was hardly terrible. If nothing else, Eliza Dushku gave one of her most convincing performances of the series so far. Credit director David Solomon (a reliable veteran of Joss Whedon shows) with that. I didn’t believe the son would make the connection between the young woman in his mother’s house and the Dollhouse however. That was writing at its most lazy and convenient.
Actually, this wasn’t a completely stand-alone episode, because we got a little advancement of the Paul-November (aka Mellie) plotline. After a night of reluctant, wild sex with Mellie, Paul responds to her questions about his pursuit of Dollhouse clients with the devastating line of the night: “I found one.” I continue to believe that regardless of billing, Paul is the center of the show. When we follow his character, we invariably get good stuff — like looking up November’s fingerprints, and having the computer find multiple matches before realizing it has said too much and clearing the search results. Suddenly Paul’s former FBI colleague is a believer (which means she’s probably doomed).
The third storyline of the week had Topher imprinting Sierra with the personality of a female Topher so he could have a fun evening talking about “science fiction errors” and playing laser tag and video games. When Boyd does his usual “Do you really think this is a good idea” shtick, Adelle declares that it’s important not to get too lonely — which she should know, of course, having previously been one of her own clients with Victor.
If nothing else, this will certainly be the last stand-alone episode we get this season (and possibly ever, if the show doesn’t get renewed). Then again, the “lost” episode 13 will supposedly be of this variety, but FOX has no plans to air it. I find myself wondering whose side Boyd is on. He seems contemptuous of everything the DH does and stands for, but doesn’t care enough to do anything about it. This is something I’d like to see explored more: why do the DH employees work there in the first place? How do they put their ethical reservations aside in order to do their jobs?
So … better subplots than main plot this week, but I expect the next two weeks will be gangbusters.
Rating: 
Comment away, but please no spoilers for future episodes.
