We Can Be Who We Decide To Be: My Thoughts On 'The Left Hand'

Warning: Spoilers for The Left Hand, part one and two.

Well it finally happened--the two episodes that I've been waiting for for so long finally aired last night, and for the most part I absolutely adored them.

First of all, I must say that it was wonderful seeing Alexis and Eliza together again. Ever since season 4 of Angel, when Wesley and Faith pair up to capture Angelus--I've thought that these actors have amazing chemistry. Hell, I would have been happy if they'd just left and started their own "The Adventures of Faith and Wesley" show. Echo and Daniel Perrin are quite different characters, but again they seem to toe the line between enemy and ally, violence and sensuality. The scene where Perrin cuts the GPS strip from Echo's neck in the second hour is, in my opinion, possibly one of the most erotic scenes of the season--perhaps the show (Paul's dream sequence of Echo in the first season is the only other example I can think of. Despite my distaste for the Paul/Echo ship I have to admit that that was a hot scene). I guess, to me, there is something about being placed in such a vulnerable situation that is really sexy (and Eliza and Alexis with their shirts off don't hurt either).

Obviously the biggest surprise factor of the first episode is when we learn that Perrin is a doll. All the clues seemed to point to his wife being one, but in classic Whedon style our expectations were completely subverted. I actually loved this. The idea that Perrin was this pedigreed party boy that is being used for an evil agenda hits rather close to home *coughGeorgeBushcough* and I think that it was a believable move on the part of Rossum. Moreover, the Perrin arc plays on classic Whedon themes of determinism (or destiny) and free will.

I was a little bit confused as to why Madeleine was suddenly eager to speak out against the Dollhouse, since she seemed to view the experience as positive when she was last speaking to Paul. Upon second viewing of the episode I can only conclude that she decided to do this after she was shown pictures of herself murdering someone. Which, by the way, was anyone else annoyed when Paul was watching the security tapes of that scene? He seemed to have no problem watching Mellie get beat on (not even a flinch) but he suddenly lost his stomach when she is turned and able to kick some ass of her own. Yeah, I'm guessing that doesn't really appeal to his damsel fetish (which is mocked heavily in this episode with the call and response handler/active dialogue between Perrin and Cindy). Paul did redeem himself slightly for me in this episode though during his last conversation with Madeleine. He recognizes her right to make her own choices. I liked that, even though her choice to testify against the Dollhouse ultimately landed her back in one. And not the warm, cuddly LA one either.

The DC Dollhouse seems to be much more nefarious than the LA branch. Run by Ray Wise (of Twin Peaks fame), the DC Dollhouse has a rather cold, sterile feeling to it. There are no ponds and plants. The programmer is none other than Summer Glau--who sports a dead arm and some pretty strange mannerisms. It becomes clear that Bennett (Glau) harbors some kind of grudge against Caroline, who was apparently her best friend. I think this story could have used a little more fleshing out. When Echo and Perrin are captured and brought back to the house, we get this intense torture scene where Bennett is taunting Echo about being an empty shell. Wouldn't it be more effective to torture Caroline, if that is who she is really mad at? Maybe she just didn't have the file? At any rate, I would have liked to have understood the circumstances behind that subplot more fully. I am not a fan of Caroline (she rubs me the wrong way in the same way Paul does) but I find it hard to believe--based on what we know about her--that she'd leave her best friend to die. Is this a false memory? Perhaps implanted by Rossum?

The moments where Bennett's character really comes to life are in her scenes with Topher. I loved watching the flirtation between them, and I loved that Topher was reminded of Claire Saunders when he saw Bennett's arm--and then assumed that she must be an ex-active because she was beautiful. The conversation about her librarian-esque qualities that the two Tophers had (how amazing was Enver in this episode!?) was particularly awesome.

I'm not sure why Bennett lets Perrin and Echo escape, but once they do they ultimately end up back at Perrin's home. He is activated by Bennett and begins to attack Echo. Luckily the two Tophers (hehe) figure out how to turn this off, but not before Perrin has killed Cindy. Apparently he can't live with the guilt, because in the next scene we see him at the hearing, and he states that there is no Dollhouse. Meanwhile, Echo is shown walking the streets by herself.

I don't know about you, but I cannot wait for next week!

Dollhouse Officially Owns A Piece Of My Heart: A Review Of 'Belonging'

Spoilers for Belonging.

I didn't have time to review last week's episode, so I will just say here that I enjoyed it immensely. Probably even more than Vows and Instinct. The fourth episode of the second season, however, completely stole my heart. I literally wept like a baby while watching this episode, and that's saying something, since I am generally pretty heartless reserved in my emotional responses.

One of the key reasons I enjoyed this episode was that it finally answered the question of how Prya (Sierra) came to the Dollhouse. Ever since Needs, I have been partially reserving my judgment of certain characters who work for the Dollhouse (particularly Adelle), and a lot of that had to do with the fact that I did not know whether or not they had had a hand in forcing Prya into being an active. In Needs we clearly see that she has been placed there against her will. It turns out that Adelle and Topher did not know the true reasons behind Prya coming to the Dollhouse, and it makes me like them more. Topher, especially, has become one of my favorite characters.

The episode starts with Topher covered in blood, muttering to himself: "I was just trying to help her." Before we can really think about what's going on the scene changes to Prya selling art in Venice beach. She is a free-spirited bohemian kinda gal, and when the creepy Nolan tries to pick up on her, she resists. However, she does agree to let him give a showing of her paintings. It turns out that Nolan has hired a bunch of Dolls to stage an elaborate seduction. Things start to go wrong for him, however, when Victor (playing an Italian art critic of some sort) starts chatting up his would-be conquest. Nolan interjects himself into the scene, and things turn dark pretty quickly when he won't let her leave.

Meanwhile, in the present day, we see Sierra running into his arms. Back at the Dollhouse, however, it is obvious that something is bothering her -- and Echo notices. Sierra's paintings all seem to feature a dark shape -- a mess of black paint that tarnishes her otherwise whimsical and pastel scenes. Echo takes the painting to Topher, claiming that it is the "bad man." Topher starts investigating, and realizes that Prya had been drugged when she'd been admitted to the Dollhouse. When Adelle finds out, she has a "conversation" with Nolan about it, which includes some of her best lines to date: "Given that you're a raping scumbag one tick shy of a murderer I can't recall, do you take sugar?" Olivia Williams seriously rocks this role.

Unfortunately, Nolan is a powerful man. He basically insures that Adelle will lose her job if she does not comply with his wish to have Prya imprinted and sent to him permanently. Adelle caves to the pressure, telling Topher that they have no choice. Topher's reaction is heartbreaking. You can literally see the realization in his eyes when Adelle tells him that he was "chosen" for the job due to his complete lack of morals. As I've predicted, his character arc is proving to be my favorite. He has two faces. One that he shows the world -- the geeky, snarky, devil-may-care persona, and the private one -- the one that apparently does want to help people. He had always thought that he'd been helping Prya. When he found her she was a paranoid schizophrenic. He thought that he was ending her pain.

His moral dilemma (a first, according to Boyd) ends badly. He imprints Prya with her real personality, and sends her to Nolan so that she can confront him. The scene that follows is powerful, and difficult to watch. One of the most disturbing aspects of it is that it touches on the subject of rape fantasies: "You know, this is a scenario I never thought of. You resisting. The struggle is a turn-on."

Chills. Down. My. Spine.

One only wonders if the Dolls have been hired out for these kinds of fantasies before. The whole "informed consent" angle of the show's premise has been dicey territory for many feminist viewers. But one thing has always been apparent. When imprinted, the Dolls do not experience this rape "traumatically." That is, they are programmed to enjoy it. It begs the question -- if one doesn't experience the trauma of rape, is it still rape? I think it is. But I also think that the traumatic aspect adds a new level of horror.

Fortunately (for my sanity, not for hers) Prya fights back, and she ends up stabbing Nolan (repeatedly). One of my favorite shots of the entire episode is when she stands, bloodied, in front of the bird painting -- a dark figure in front of the pastel lines. She has become the dark shape that she has feared.

Topher finds her, and Boyd soon shows up as well. Boyd orders Topher to cut the body up, so that they can disintegrate it in acid. The level of expertise that Boyd shows for this line of work is deeply unnerving, and one can't help but think of Shepherd Book from Firefly. There is definitely a past there that we don't know about. I pray that we do get to find out about it in future episodes.

After they clean the mess, they take Prya back to the Dollhouse. She asks Topher if the dolls are happy, something he admits he does not know. When she sees Victor, she declares that she is in love with him. When she asks Topher if that feeling is real, he says that it is, and that Victor loves her back. The sight of Victor sitting exactly where he said he would wait for her earlier in the episode made me weepy. They are just the cutest couple you could possibly ask for, and knowing Joss Whedon, it's all going to go horribly wrong.

Catching Up With Dollhouse (And Why To Keep Watching)

Spoilers Ahead!

In case anybody didn't know (and let's face it, there are probably many people out there who didn't), season two of Dollhouse has started! And what a way to start! Vows may just be my favorite episode yet. And no, it's not just because Alexis Denisof was in it -- though that certainly does not hurt! Heh. The second episode of season two, Instinct -- while not as strong an episode as Vows -- is still a lot more engaging than most of the episodes in season one, despite a few hard to swallow plot points.

What really made Vows special, for me, were the scenes between Topher and Claire/Whiskey. Topher is a character that I initially didn't like, but during the last few episodes of season one he started to evolve -- at least in my opinion. First, there was the altruistic engagement that he programed Echo to go on involving an abused little girl. Then there was his disturbed behavior during the scene where Victor was downloaded with Mr. Dominic's personality. Finally, there was his aura of sadness in the last episode after being confronted by Claire. There is a sense that he is starting to question the morality of what he is doing. I never thought that he was a bad person, in the way that say, Warren on BtVS was. He is so caught up in the science of the Dollhouse that he doesn't think about its negative impact on people's lives. He is morally infantile. In the unaired 13th episode, however, we see him crushed under the weight of guilt. He has literally been driven insane by the consequences of the science he helped create.

In Vows, we see a progression toward that madness. Now that Claire knows she is "a fake," she has started making life a living hell for Topher -- messing with his imprint machines and putting rats in his cupboards. We can see him starting to crack. The most memorable scene is when Claire tries to seduce him, stating "This is the end game. You create someone to hate you, so you can convince them to love you." After refusing her advances, Topher reveals that he didn't program her to hate him -- she chose to do that herself. She then breaks down, and he asks her why she doesn't want to know who she used to be. She says "Because I don't want to die." This is clearly a mind-boggling moment for Topher, as he has probably never viewed his imprints as actual people. After all, if they are real people, then he is essentially murdering them every time he wipes them.

These are the kind of philosophical themes that make me love Joss Whedon's shows. In Dollhouse, specifically, there seems to be a recurring theme of nature vs. nurture -- of whether or not we are a product of our memories/experiences or if we have an innate personality, or soul. In Instinct, Adelle brings up the fact that babies need to feel loved, stating that otherwise they may grow up to be "sociopaths." The engagement of this episode is a bit far-fetched. Echo becomes a mother who has been changed on a glandular level (she is able to breastfeed) in order to take care of a widower's baby. Eliza gives an amazing performance, but I can't help wondering why the guy didn't just hire a nanny. Aside from that, though, it was an enjoyable episode. We get to see Madelene again, and she has an interesting conversation with Paul Ballard about losing her daughter.

So far, I'd say the second season is strong, and I love where it seems to be heading. There are so many stories that I want to see unravel. I want to know what's going to happen with Senator Perrin. Will he be able to penetrate the Dollhouse? What is going to happen to Whiskey? How did Sierra get into the Dollhouse in the first place? These things, I've heard, will be addressed in the rest of the season, if it survives. I sincerely hope it does!

Don't forget to tune in tonight at 9/8 central on FOX for the third episode. You can see some preview clips here. If you can't watch the episode live, then check it out on hulu, Fox.com, itunes, or amazon.

And make sure to check out this awesome fansite, whyiwatch.com

Attention, Dollhouse Fans!

Dollhouse may be in trouble, due to low ratings. If we want to save our show, we need to ACT NOW.

The official promotion for season 2 has been virtually non-existent. I know some fans who hadn't even realized that it already started! There have been so few commercials, and the ones that DO air didn't even have the correct date!

So, it is left in our hands to get the word out about this show.

blank_dolls has a post with some awesome buttons and icons that say the date of the show. You should go check em out, they are really cute! It is a great way to get the word out and show your support! I'm using one here. Isn't it pretty?

Get your buttons and icons here.

House, Interrupted.

I'll admit it: I've been waiting -- like a huge geek-- all summer for this episode. And for the most part I was not disappointed.

While the story of this episode is not particularly original, I thought that Hugh Laurie did an outstanding job. It is not often on House that he is able to portray any kind of poignant character development, but in Broken he gets more of the good stuff to work with, even while having less to work with (none of the other usual cast members are in this episode, save a brief appearance by Wilson.)

Apparently the writers had to completely break House down in order to build him back up again. While at Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital, we see him go through a painful detox (all in a montage, by the way -- which, yeah, a bit of a cop out. But at least it was a montage with Radiohead!) When House is done detoxing and decides to leave, the head psychiatrist -- Dr. Nolan -- tells him that he is not ready, and that if he does leave, said Dr. Nolan will not write him a recommendation to practice medicine. House sees this as blackmail (I think there was an inappropriate pun in there too) and decides to act out against the various psychiatrists and ward attendants.

The first hour of the two-hour episode is classic House, as far as his behavior. One remark, to a suicidal girl in the ward, bordered on cruelty: "So how disappointed were you when you woke up in the ER and you were still alive...and a loser."

However, somewhere along the way he begins to actually show some character growth, which I actually found extremely refreshing! I am not sure if they are going to keep building on this. My one complaint about House, as a series, is that the writers are not exceptionally talented at crafting complicated characters. A lot of what makes House great is Hugh Laurie. And yes, the character is extremely interesting -- perhaps due to his very archetypal nature. However, the writers never allow him to progress beyond a certain point.

As I stated already, the story here -- while clearly well executed -- is not very original. You may guess from the title of this review that I found a lot of similarities between this episode and Girl, Interrupted. In that film, Winona Ryder's character refuses to take her medication. Finally, after a tragedy takes place involving one of her fellow ward-mates, she decides that she wants to get better -- even though this new compliance earns her grief from some of the other patients that she has befriended. The exact same formula is played out in this episode. After House inadvertently causes one of the fellow patients to jump off of a building (he thought that he could fly) he sort of snaps. After this event he is compliant, and even goes on anti-depressants.

What I really enjoyed about this episode was the relationship between House and Dr. Nolan, and I hope that we see more of it in the future. I also really loved the mini-romance between House and Lydia (played by Franka Potente, of Run Lola Run fame.) There was something extremely sweet and innocent about their relationship, which is something I did not think House was capable of. This is leaving aside, of course, the fact that she is married. And since she is married, she inevitably leaves at the end of the episode -- dooming any further relationship. It is lovely while it lasts, though, and it is nice to see that House is capable of romantic emotions. Whether or not this experience is going to influence his relationship with Cuddy is yet to be seen. I think it would be a tricky balance to achieve, because House would not be as interesting if he were too "mushy."

All in all, I thought it was a good episode, and I am excited to see what happens next.