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.

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

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?