Episode 11 - Getting Closer
28 March 2012
Synopsis: Caroline’s imprint is missing and so Topher needs Bennett’s help to reconstruct her personality from a damaged backup. They abduct Madeline along with Bennett and bring them to L.A. Dr Saunders returns having been living with Boyd. Ambrose comes to relieve Adelle of her duties so Boyd kills him but gets shot in the process. Adelle releases all the actives and Echo tells Sierra and Victor to leave. Saunders kills Bennett but Topher completes the imprint anyway and loads it into Echo just as the Dollhouse is attacked by Rossum security.
In flashback we see Caroline first discover the Dollhouse. She cosies up to Bennett to get access to Rossum’s headquarters and they become friends. During a break in Bennett’s arm is crushed and Caroline leaves her to try and protect her. Adelle and Lawrence capture her and send her up to meet Clyde and the other Rossum founder, Boyd.
The Good: Its broken record time as another episode packed with goodness is too deeply flawed by the time constraints put on it.
You can see the storyteller in Joss Whedon hasn’t stopped doing all the right things. I have long complained that we don’t know enough about Boyd. Particularly why he is so fond of Echo and was willing to bring down the Dollhouse despite the risks that meant he was taking on. Well of course that lack of characterisation now pays off big time as we discover that he is the mysterious Rossum founder. It is quite the twist but would have meant so much more in season four or five.
Presumably though he programmed Dr Saunders to murder Bennett in order to stop Caroline from being resurrected and able to identify him. Now he stands over Echo as she is about to wake up with Caroline’s memory which is quite the hook for the next episode.
The flashbacks fill in some more blanks about Caroline and how she discovered the Dollhouse. It also fleshed out Bennett’s personality, allowing us to like her just before she was killed. The scene where Caroline dyed her hair was particularly effective. Not only for the nice imagery of Bennett being put in the chair and having to trust her. But also because it was simple and effective at showing the real growing bond between then. Bennett was so deeply moved by the interest Caroline showed in her that the bitterness at being abandoned had lasted for years.
It was another episode in the humanising of Topher arc. His deep affection for Bennett carried the comedy nicely and it was a strong performance from him. I think his acting is excellent, here imbuing Topher with an entirely believable needy, camp, happy expression when he finally gets the girl. He then thinks of someone else’s needs and sends Ivy out into the world to protect her. He also raises the issue of how his technology might bring about the apocalypse and his horror at that thought. Something which we know will get far worse in the future (113 – Epitaph One).
Speaking of Epitaph One, we get an entire scene from that episode here as Boyd packs up to leave Dr Saunders. The show is hurtling along to get things in place for the final episode. Certainly the pace of this episode was really fast but it was engaging and entertaining throughout.
The Bad: As I have said over and over that pace costs you something. Here we learn that Paul has lost his freshest mental pathways and thus his “connection” to Echo. It’s an understandable development but to a layman’s ears it sounds like pseudo-science and a very convenient plot development. On a more practical level we only had one episode focussed on Echo and Paul’s romance and so this hardly feels like the tragedy which on paper it could be.
The abduction of Madeline and Bennett must be the hundredth security breach this season which doesn’t help plausibility. But also gathering Lawrence Dominic, Dr Saunders and Madeline in the Dollhouse gives this episode a “getting the band back together” feeling which also adds to the contrivance.
The big plot hole seems to be Saunders “just” shooting Bennett. If her job was to prevent Caroline from returning then why not smash up her imprint too? Again it feels convenient, achieving a dramatic result but without the logical behaviour to back it up.
The Unknown: It’s now worth questioning whether the event of Epitaph One will actually happen as we saw them. There was a scene where Mr Ambrose came to talk to Adelle in Victor’s body to explain the new direction of the Dollhouse. That scene would have taken place a long time ago now and we didn’t see it. Perhaps it was supposed to have, but it felt a very consequential scene and to not show it was a shame.
The questions surrounding Boyd are immense. But here’s a few: why does he like Caroline\Echo so much? Why did he chose to come work alongside her in the Dollhouse? What does he hope to achieve with Rossum? Who else knows his true identity?
Best Moment: Several to chose from including the big twist. But I will go for Caroline washing Bennett’s hair. TV shows have a unique ability to showcase character development in one scene like that.
Epilogue: Another brisk walk through several exciting developments which could have used much longer to develop. The show just doesn’t have the time to hook your emotions the way it needs to.
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