BooRadley

This episode left me confused. And nervous.

There were great some great parts. I really enjoyed the storyline w/ the dead wife. It was hard not to feel bad for the guy, even though it still didn't justify what he was doing. Plus Echo's "Porn!" reaction was funny! And I love how sweet Victor and Sierra act.

But there were some things that bugged me. Mellie and Paul being "neighborly"? (But that's 'cause I'm a Paul/Echo shipper). And why did it take so long for the guy supposedly sent to kill Mellie to do the job? I mean, he could've just shot or wacked her with a blunt object to begin with. But nooo. This defenseless girl manages to fight him off just long enough for Dewitt to call and convert her into a Doll. How convenient.

And why not just kill Ballard if they want to protect the Dollhouse? These people obviously have no scruples about murdering people. Is it because Dewitt is the one who is secretly working on the inside to bring down the organization?

I was hoping that Echo/Caroline herself had somehow managed to realize what was going on because the imprinting wasn't working as well as the Dollhouse hoped. That would mean she is still a person with at least a semblance of autonomy and self-determination. But no. Someone else just happened to imprint her so that she can run and tell Ballard the truth about the Dollhouse. She continues to just be another body someone else is using for their own ends. But then what about those little signs we've noticed that Echo does remember what's happened during her missions? Is that a result of this mystery saboteur messing with her imprinting? Or is it just Caroline's brain fighting off the imprints?

I'm willing to wait and see how things play out, but I'm nervous that other people won't be as patient and will be turned off by the complex storyline. And I really, really hope Joss can't make it work so it doesn't turn into a convoluted mess. And the "there are lots of Dollhouses thing but there's someone on the inside trying to bring it down" sounded a bit Alias-y to me. Are Echo and Paul Joss' version of Sydney and Vaughn?

**SuperGirl**

If I can remember correctly, I think Dewitt told him to leave a mess with her death, or something. So, it was clear that she didn't want him to just shoot her, so that's probably why.

Little_Stewie

Well, right now we simply know nothing about Ballard, to be honest. For all we know he might be a doll himself.....maybe one who has forgotten he actually is one, and that the DollHouse is trying to recover. Everything is possible. Yet I agree that some things about this episode were unnecessarily complicated (like Mellie's 'death scene') but that's drama. It's TV after all......

MaxxFisher

Plus I think she gave him "permission" to rape her too. At least that's what I got from the "leave a mess" & "you're lucky, this one will struggle" comments.

And I don't think at this point they could kill Paul. He's investigating the Dollhouse, he says he just found the best lead he's had in years and then BAM, he's killed? I think, even with the Dollhouse influence in the FBI, at least some agents would take up his cause and look into his death and the Dollhouse. The best thing to do would be to scare him off or send him on a wild goose chase. Plus, maybe he was supposed to be killed, but the person that corruped the imprint made her hold back

My 2 cents

Little_Stewie

What did the 'Smoking Man' say about killing Fox Mulder? "Kill this man and you will create a martyr". It's much easier for the DollHouse to keep Ballard alive yet make sure that he follows the wrong leads. And given they use Victor and Mellie, I say they have a pretty good chance of doing so, IMO.

**SuperGirl**

Yeah, they want him to look bad with the FBI. If he's killed, that'll definitely raise some eyebrows and turn some heads. Especially to that woman who's been helping him out.

DanceWithLife

I have to say I absolutely ADORED this episode. In my opinion, the best of the season so far.

It brought forth a lot of questions, but also provided us with a few answers.

I like the twist about Mellie, though I sort of did see that one coming.

Sierra and Victor continue to be very sweet in their innocence. When Victor was wondering what it was that he did wrong, I felt very bad for him.

And honestly, Eliza Dushku was phenomenal in this episode. I definitely think it was her best one in terms of acting.

Now I really do want to know who is helping Ballard, through Echo, on the inside. I have a few theories, but I'm loving how this is unfolding!

And last but not least, I am loving Boyd and Claire's continued devotion to the dolls' well-being. It is one of my favorite parts of the show so far.

Johnnie

I like how the information was given at the end of the episode to Paul... They sure had quite the fight scene... As Topher said... I think it's time for their second date.

I wonder what Paul thought when the first time he came face to face with him she was in a wife role for a client, and the next she was kicking butt with another imprint... must make trying to help her difficult when she has that imprint.

I would think if Echo was supposed to kill Paul that the higher-ups would be discussing why it didn't happen, and somehow finding the message in the programming if it wasn't put in by Topher... though Boyd obviously wasn't around for that mission to know what was going on.

I don't think it was that convenient for a number of reasons.

1) She told him "I need her killed and it can't be clean." Which would probably rule out shooting her or making it look like a professional hit.

2) The apartment had cameras in it, so she would know around the right time to call to activate her as she would be able to watch what was going on.

MaxxFisher

Let's say she was supposed to kill him and the corrupted imprint stopped it from happening, the cop that showed up and got shot is the perfect excuse for why it didn't happen. And even if the cop hadn't shown up and Ballard was supposed to die, I imagine she would have come up with a good excuse then too.

Little_Stewie

In that second scene between Paul and Echo......when she spilled that inside info......was I the only one who was nostalgically reminded of Faith? She looked a lot like Faith in that scene, IMO. Nothing wrong with that, IMO.

change my luck

This episode was so good, the best so far. I knew something was off from mellie, so awsome to discover the start of what she really is. Also on that note Paul/Mellie do absolutely nothing for me, I was tempted to fast forward through there scenes cause I didn't like them heh.

Echo/Paul They owned the ep for me. Their fight was so amazing and at the end what she told them, I cant wait to find out more about that. I hope they meet again, that will be just as amazing as this meeting. I thought Eliza looked so sexy in that scene as well.

I get that what they do at the Dollhouse is horrible and a violation and the people who buy them quite possibly have no morals at all for wanting to use a human being that way but the guy in tonights ep, I did feel bad for him and I did kind of understand how he would want to relive what the experience would have been like if his wife had survived, the ending with him and Echo was just really beautiful with the music over the top. Very nice.

Sierra's handler, I felt a bit sick. I'm so glad Boyd kicked his arse, what a freak and I love how Adelle dealt with him, making himthink he was getting off easy in a way only to have an active kick his arse.

I was also glad to see a little bit of Boyd/Claire and Topher/Claire in the episode.

crash landing

Whoa is all I've got to say right now, along with Frak

**SuperGirl**

I completely forgot, didn't Adele say in the episode that the dolls do not have sex with their clients? If I remember correctly, in Echo's flashbacks she had sex with the motorcyle guy, and the psycho in the tent in 1.02?

Little_Stewie

I don't remember Adele saying that.....

Wild Pikachu

Ah, now I get it. This is Joss Whedon's take on Alias. Well, he's certainly capable of pulling it off.

Very interesting episode...the intrigue got racheted up very nicely. Also a nice change of pace in that it wasn't centered around a single engagement like the previous episodes have been. There was a danger of it becoming a "mission of the week" kind of show.

Being unspoiled, I totally didn't see Mellie's transformation coming. It was very well done.