To Live In A House That Is Haunted: Dollhouse, Episode Ten Review

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Haunted, as well as a brief mention of the setting in Epitaph One.

I thought this was a solid episode, but it was definitely not my favorite so far. Then again, perhaps I've been spoiled by Spy in the House of Love. For those in doubt of Eliza's acting capabilities, let it be said that she did a fantastic job of portraying Margaret -- an older woman -- in this week's episode, Haunted. As we find out at the beginning of the episode, Margaret dies mysteriously while riding her horse. We then cut to a scene of Echo waking up in the imprint chair at the Dollhouse. We almost expect the familiar lines (you know what they are, but I'll say them anyway) "Did I fall asleep?" to come tumbling out without emotion, her eyes vacant.

But her eyes aren't vacant. And she doesn't (thank the heavens) say those familiar words. She's isn't wiped -- she's Margaret, and Margaret was a close friend of Adelle. And yes, considering that this aspect of the plot was given away in the previews last week, this isn't much of a shock. But I was delighted at how different Eliza was in this role as opposed to the ones she'd played in the earlier "story of the week" episodes. There's something about the way she carries herself in the role of Margaret that makes it believable -- not to mention funny. Her remarks about her new body especially: "I'm pointing skyward!" Of course underneath it all there is a not-so-small amount of pathos. We know from the get go that this dead woman will, in the end, go back to being dead again.

Which brings us to one of the interesting questions this episode raises regarding the possibility of "immortality" by imprinting a deceased persons memories onto new bodies. If memories are what shape who we are (rather than DNA) then this would indeed be more effective than cloning. What does this mean for the future of the Dollhouse and its purpose? Could this foreshadow the episode "Epitaph One," which set in the future? It's been stated that Dushku and the regular cast will have little or no part in the mysterious thirteenth episode, but if this technology exists -- ie: imprinting dead people's personalities onto new bodies -- perhaps we will see our characters again. Echo could very well be imprinted onto Felicia Day.

That would be interesting.

Not surprisingly, Boyd is the one who brings up the ethical implications of this technology. Which, by the way -- there was definitely not enough Boyd in this episode! Please, please, please let him have a bigger part in the next two, Joss? I'm loving his character more and more. I mean, yes, he is complicit in the evils that go on at the Dollhouse, but at least he takes moral responsibility: "We're pimps and killers...but in a philanthropic way." I feel bad for him now that he can't help Echo. Which reminds me...where was her new handler in this episode? It's a bit odd that we were introduced to him without any follow up.

God knows she could have used some help on this mission. We find out (after some misdirection) that Margaret was killed by her son (who seems to have some oedipal issues; and no, I'm not talking about the hilarious attempted kiss -- but rather his raving about how Margaret's new husband had the privilege of his "mother's bed" as he was trying to kill her again ... that was kinda weird.) Of course everything is resolved rather unrealistically at the end, though the scene between "Margaret" and her ex-husband was very poignant. Contrary to our initial assumptions, it is clear that he was very much in love with his wife.

Meanwhile, Topher has imprinted Sierra as the ultimate nerdy girl for himself -- but it appears that the engagement is platonic. It's all fun and games (literally) until we see Sierra giving him a birthday cake. I know it shouldn't come as a surprise, considering Topher is pretty much socially handicapped, but that was sad. The poor guy doesn't even have a friend to hang out with on his birthday?

The most disturbing aspect of this episode was Paul Ballard. This is a man so obsessed with doing right that he does some incredibly immoral things in order to attain that goal. We can only assume that he hasn't told Mellie the truth about herself because he's hoping he can use her to get into the Dollhouse. It's upsetting that he doesn't consider her as important as Caroline when it comes to "saving." I have to say, I really disliked him in this episode. The scene where Mellie says something to the effect of "You can take from me without giving anything back," sent goosebumps up my arms. How sad is that? How could she have so little respect for herself? As for Paul, his facial expression was downright scary. Then came the angry, loveless sex, and the grim morning after.

The last scene of the episode, in which Margaret is wiped from Echo, was sad, but it was also the typical reset of the earlier episodes. I had hoped that we would have less of these, but overall I still enjoyed Haunted.