Dollhouse: Briar Rose

“I mean, don’t get me wrong- I heart my porn. But this…is cool!”

There are times, blogging several TV series at once, that things come close to being confused. This episode’s title reminds me of Grimm, while the fact that it is written by the excellent Jane Espenson reminds me of Buffy. But enough of lesser TV programmes. This episode of Dollhouse absolutely knocked me sideways! Before I say anything else… Alan Tudyk was great in Firefly. But here he is Sublime.

It’s typical of Dollhouse that really great ideas are used without them even being the main focus of the episode. Echo is imprinted with the personality of a disturbed and abused little girl, modified by Topher to reflect that little girl as a well-adjusted adult: the best possible outcome for her. Echo, equipped with this imprint, is able to act as the best possible counsellor to give the girl real hope and real chance. Unlike much of what we’ve seen so far, this is a genuinely good and heart-warming use of a doll. Such a pity that the moral basis of what the Dollhouse is doing is still just as dodgy.

Ballard is on fire! He finds the Dollhouse with such incredible speed that you wonder how the hell it took him so many episodes to do it! He knows where the building is, he has the original architect to guide him. What could possibly go wrong?! I mean, it’s not as though this Stephen Kepler dude could turn out to actually be A) Alpha, and B) completely doolally! Stephen Kepler may not be a real live person, but his dialogue is still amazing. I mean, look at that quote up there!

The ending is really quite exciting. Ballard finds Echo and has a big confrontation with DeWitt about ethics and that. Alpha scars Victor as he did to Doctor Saunders. And, of course, Alpha kidnaps Echo (after imprinting her with some weirdo) and buggers off with her. It’s all kicking off. Dollhouse is bloody great at the moment. I love it.