Dollhouse #9:Spy in the House of Love/Season 1/2009

Truth Seeker · 10th April 2009, 08:04 PM

Spy in the House of Love

When a traitor is discovered inside the Dollhouse Echo and Sierra are programmed to root out the spy. Meanwhile, Paul receives surprising news from Mellie.

mrtauntaun · 11th April 2009, 04:12 AM

This episode is my favorite so far. I could take or leave some of the other ones, but this one had me at the edge of my seat all night. Great tv. Before this ep, if the show got cancelled, I would have been ok with it; moved on. Now, I really need to know what's going on!

Remus Lupin · 11th April 2009, 04:58 AM

I agree, solid all around, with some genuine suprises -- Adele's off-hours pre-occupation, the nature of the mole, Mellie's return to Ballard. Wow. It was a lot to pack into one episode.

I also have to admit, I'm impressed that the show could actually make me have sympathy of Adele. I also don't think we've gotten to the bottom of the mole problem. Presumably they'll still have the capacity to influence the dolls somehow.

Nikosandros · 11th April 2009, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Remus Lupin

I agree, solid all around, with some genuine suprises -- Adele's off-hours pre-occupation, the nature of the mole, Mellie's return to Ballard. Wow. It was a lot to pack into one episode.

Indeed. A very tight episode.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Remus Lupin

I also don't think we've gotten to the bottom of the mole problem. Presumably they'll still have the capacity to influence the dolls somehow.

I actually believe that there is some other mole in the house. I think that the person who sent the two messages to Ballard isn't Dominic.

Shroomy · 11th April 2009, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikosandros

Indeed. A very tight episode.

I actually believe that there is some other mole in the house. I think that the person who sent the two messages to Ballard isn't Dominic.

I wonder if Alpha has been piggybacking off Dominic's NSA tech. Didn't Mellie/November tell Ballard that this would be the last transmission to him through the Dolls? I always assumed that Alpha sent the messages through Echo and November.

BTW, bets on whether or not Ballard becomes Echo's handler in the season finale?

Remus Lupin · 11th April 2009, 06:19 PM

My question is this: When Adele so very clearly hates her job, and hates herself for doing it, why doesn't she quit? Or is the dollhouse the kind of place you *CAN'T* quit?

Remus Lupin · 11th April 2009, 06:22 PM

Another thought: Shouldn't I have felt more sympathy for Mr. Dominic, now that I know he's one of the "good" guys? How has this show manipulated me into sympathizing with monsters and rooting against the ones trying to stop them?

Nikosandros · 11th April 2009, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Remus Lupin

Another thought: Shouldn't I have felt more sympathy for Mr. Dominic, now that I know he's one of the "good" guys? How has this show manipulated me into sympathizing with monsters and rooting against the ones trying to stop them?

I don't think that Dominic is a good guy at all... he's part of the conspiracy, only he's a puppet for a different master.

Nikosandros · 11th April 2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shroomy

I wonder if Alpha has been piggybacking off Dominic's NSA tech. Didn't Mellie/November tell Ballard that this would be the last transmission to him through the Dolls? I always assumed that Alpha sent the messages through Echo and November.

Seems like a good guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shroomy

BTW, bets on whether or not Ballard becomes Echo's handler in the season finale?

That would be quite surprising for me. Why should Ballard switch sides?

Mustrum_Ridcully · 11th April 2009, 09:34 PM

Ballard is in an uncomfortable situation now, to say the least. The woman he fell in love with and the woman he apparantly has a crush on are both dolls! And both have been used to send him messages!

Was Dominic really manipulating the doll programming, or did he have an accomplice?
And if he was, that basically means he has on one side worked with the NSA to contain the Dollhouse, and on the other hand he is manipulating/helping Ballard to dig deeper?

Adeles story is also interesting. And it seems she is another girl that can handle herself, with her fencing stuff. (Neat trick to create a action scene when there actually isn't any threat going on in the scene...)

Shroomy · 11th April 2009, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikosandros

Seems like a good guess.

That would be quite surprising for me. Why should Ballard switch sides?

Because he's obsessed with saving "Caroline" and discovering the secret of the Dollhouse, and what better way to save "his girls" and get revenge on them then from the inside. Plus, this kind of stuff has precedent in Joss Whedon shows...see Angel Season 5.

LightPhoenix · 12th April 2009, 02:00 AM

Much more fulfilling than last week. I'd say this is my favorite episode so far. I think it's because it was focused on characters that are "real," so to speak.

I should have called the spy being Dominick. Ah well. At least I was right about Ivy (good to know her name) being way too obvious.

I think this was one storyline that actually worked better with the longer windup. It wouldn't have been nearly as effective if this was towards the beginning of the show's run.

Also, channeling T:SCC (who love parallels)... I really like the parallels between Dominick and several of the dolls. The easy one: Dominick is a sleeper agent; November is a sleeper agent. Dominick was real and Adele couldn't really trust him; Viktor was fake and Adele really could trust him. Dominick seemed like he wanted to stay with the Dollhouse but was working against it; Echo seems like she'd want to escape the Dollhouse (Alpha-style!) but was helping it. I couldn't really draw one for Sierra.

I know I rag on Dollhouse a lot, so I want to talk about something I think they've done well all season. They seem to be playing a little lose with the structure of the episodes, and while the episodes themselves aren't always great, the altered structure really helps make things a little more interesting. This episode, for example, wouldn't have been as good (IMO) if it were straightforward. Last week's episode used that structure to good effect to make a point via the doctor.

DonTadow · 12th April 2009, 03:33 PM

Sadl another show canceled by Fox. And, from what I understand they are not showing the true season finale, but showing the episode before it as the season finale and hoping to sell the series on dvd with the actual season finale.

Crothian · 12th April 2009, 06:03 PM

While it does seem likely I haven't heard anything official on if the show is truely canceled.

Remus Lupin · 12th April 2009, 10:55 PM

And apparently the latest from the rumor-mill is that Dollhouse will now be cancelled, and the original season finale will not be aired.

Andre · 13th April 2009, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Remus Lupin

And apparently the latest from the rumor-mill is that Dollhouse will now be cancelled, and the original season finale will not be aired.

A quick Google search suggests both rumors are incorrect. Per Entertainment Weekly, the decision on renewal will not be reached until May. As for the missing episode, I couldn't follow the minimal info available, but the studio claims that the extra episode is not the original season finale, is not an episode they ever agreed to purchase, and is an episode that sends the story off in a different direction.

Not sure what to believe about all of this, but I'll wait for an official announcement before assuming Fox has cancelled the show.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/...o-air-12-.html

fba827 · 13th April 2009, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shroomy

Didn't Mellie/November tell Ballard that this would be the last transmission to him through the Dolls?

Actually there was a little more to that. November said something like "This will be the last transmission to him through the this body or others _if the sender is captured_" (something like that)
There was that last clause in there, I distinctly remember it for being a "well, that was a setup for something to happen to the sender"

But, thinking back, when Echo first gave a message to Ballard, I think she may have said the exact same sentence at the end.

satori01 · 13th April 2009, 03:12 PM

It is ironic that the show gets canned just when it was really starting to pick up.

This is on Joss for:
1) Making a project w/ Dusku as the star when she is under contract to Fox.
2) Creating a show with a slow build up.

While I can not say the show was a dud, speaking for myself, I did give it a much longer grace period because it was a Whedon show.

Remus Lupin · 13th April 2009, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikosandros

I don't think that Dominic is a good guy at all... he's part of the conspiracy, only he's a puppet for a different master.

Well, I did put "good" in scare quotes for precisely that reason. Nevertheless, to the degree that he was involved in brining down the dollhouse, I do think he qualified in the broad sense as on the "good" side of the issue.

Of course, the first part of the season did such a good job of building him up as an SOB, that it's no surprise I suppose when he gets his comeuppance it's cause for some cheer.

Though I have to say I like Reed Diamond, and I hope we haven't seen the end of him.

Arnwyn · 17th April 2009, 06:02 PM

Great episode, and much better than many of the previous.

Mellie/November is all that.