Dollhouse S02 E02 – Knife Murderer

Previously: Echo went undercover and got married. Claire finally confronted Topher.
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Instinct

Stephanie: We open in the imprinting room with Paul approaching and then curiously fondling the chair. He walks around it a bit before sitting down and making a constipated face.

Sweeney: Watching TV I often find myself wondering at the frequency with which the direction was clearly, “Now look real constipated!” This has to be on purpose. I refuse to believe this constipated face epidemic is pure coincidence.

Marines: Plus, the only reason to sit in the nefarious, mind wiping chair is because you are constipated and you need to sit ASAP because of discomfort. I guess. I’m trying to figure out why he’s sitting in the nefarious, mind wiping chair.

Stephanie: We can always count on Dollhouse to get these mega-deep, philosophical talks going.

Topher appears and jokingly asks if Paul’s ready for his treatment. Paul says that he’s just tired from his new handler duties. Mmmhmm. They switch over to vaguely talking about Echo’s current assignment. We don’t find out what she’s doing, but it’s definitely something impressive because of how smug Topher’s being. What we do learn is that Topher was able to make code for the brain that altered Echo’s physical body. He explains that this means he could possibly program the cure for cancer, or more importantly, invent telekinesis. Paul asks if he could use the chair to do the same for him, and Topher responds no because he can only program blank slates. It’s a weird exchange that’s obviously only there to fill in any new watcher.

Topher tells Paul to let Echo know everyone is proud of her as he leaves. That leads us over to Echo in bed with a man. She gets up and sneaks over to a room with a baby, who she then proceeds to breastfeed. Weird.

Sweeney: WEIRD WEIRD WEIRD. I already super dislike it because my brain is overwhelmed by this whole idea.

Stephanie: LA-LA-LA-LA-LA

Echo is back in bed when the baby starts crying. She turns over to where daddy should be, but his side is empty. She gets up to do all the work herself. Such is the plight of women.

The next morning Echo places her baby in a bassinet (laugh as I make a sad effort to identify baby things) so she can make coffee. She calls out to daddy (Nate) and gets no response. He suddenly appears from his office like a creeper and locks the door behind him. He gives Echo an awkward good morning kiss while she tells him her plans to take the baby to the park. The baby cries and Echo passes him over to Nate, who holds him out like he’s covered in dirty baby cooties, which he probably is. Babies are sticky. After 3 full seconds of baby holding, Nate places him back down and rushes off to work. He tells Echo not to wait up for him. Echo watches his car drive away and notices the Dollhouse stalker van outside.

At the park, Echo has girl-chat with Sierra, who apparently has been imprinted just to be her friend? The Dollhouse must be having a slow week. (S: “Somebody’s friend” is a popular imprint for Sierra. She must be a really good friend.) (M: The Dollhouse must figure they owe Sierra a solid considering that one time she was raped by her handler…) She complains about how weird Nate has been with the baby even though he was the one who pressed for the baby having. She loves the baby so much, but she can’t tell if Nate even likes him. Echo confesses that she thinks Nate might be having an affair because he’s never home and he’s always taking top secret phone calls. Either that, or he’s doing illegal stuff because of the stalker van sitting outside their house every day. Sierra does her supportive BFF thing and says that lack of sleep is making Echo extra crazy and all she needs is good wine and good rest. Don’t we all? (S: YES. Sierra’s such an awesome friend. She knows the truly important things in life.) Echo agrees and says she’ll stop obsessing.

Segue to Echo obsessing and breaking into Nate’s office to search through his files.

That night, Nate comes home to a dark house and starts calling out to see if anyone is home like a person who has no concern for his possibly sleeping family. (“M: HELLO? IT’S NIGHTTIME AND DARK AND QUIET IN THIS HOUSE!” Asshole.) (FOR REAL. This made me way more annoyed than it probably should have.) He notices the door to his office is open and eventually finds Echo waiting for him in the dark kitchen, surrounded by photos of him with another woman. She accuses him of having an affair and demands to know who the woman is. He tells her that he knew her before he knew Echo and that she died. He apologizes for keeping secrets and calls everything a terrible mistake. He offers to take the baby for the night so that Echo can sleep and assures her that everything will be better in the morning.

Later, Echo is disturbed from her sleep by Nate talking on the phone. He tells whoever’s on the other line that it is isn’t working and to get rid of her and he’ll get rid of the baby. We all know it’s the Dollhouse though, so this scene is not exactly high in suspense.

Senator Wesley Estate. Wesley is in his office speaking to his wife, Cindy, about his disappointing press conference on the Rossum Corporation. He’s certain that Rossum is involved in all sorts of shady medical procedures and experiments but all they have is anecdotal evidence and no witnesses. He had a source at the NSA, but now he’s gone (Dominic?). If I didn’t know Alexis Denisof was American, I’d say his attempt at the accent here is terrible. But nope, that’s totally his accent and it sounds so wrong.

Sweeney: AGREED. SAME THOUGHT. Can’t he just be British? Senators don’t need to be natural-born US citizens!

Mari: It even changes the timbre of his voice a smidge? I think what I’m getting at is that he sounds a bit more high pitched and whiney. OMG IS THAT WHAT AMERICANS SOUND LIKE TO EVERYONE? D: 

Steph: Alexis Denisof should just pretend to be British all the time. Even when he’s not acting.

Cindy looks through the Rossum financials and says that he could prove money laundering. Wesley isn’t interested in that, but he’s turned on by his wife’s helpful suggestions. He begins to disrobe her but sexy time is interrupted by the doorbell. Cindy goes to answer it and gets very quiet. Wesley goes to search for her and she pops up saying no one was there, but whoever it was left a file.

Elsewhere, Adelle pays a visit to Mellie! Except she’s Madeline now and she’s mega rich, living in a tacky, yet luxurious apartment. I think I would absolutely sign up for the Dollhouse if I got to live the fab life after my time was up. I could pay my student loans! (S: WORTH IT FOR THIS ALONE.) I could afford to comfortably exist in New York! Anyway, they make chit chat as Madeline serves Adelle tea and I marvel at how gorgeous Miracle Laurie is.

Mari: Absolutely stunning. At least once an episode this show amazes me with all of the beauty of its actors.

Steph: They definitely have one of the best looking casts ever. I think it has a lot to do with all the different types of beauty represented rather than the usual CW pretty of many other shows.

Madeline says she hasn’t worked at all since her contract ended (siiiiigh) and Adelle is all, “let’s talk about boys, girl!” but Madeline wants to know why she’s really there. Adelle is concerned that she hasn’t been in for her diagnostic, but Madeline thinks she’s really concerned about her flipping out and spilling the beans on the Dollhouse. She also finds it very curious that she was let out of her contract years early. Adelle can’t tell her why and concern-threatens that she won’t take no for an answer on the diagnostic.

Meanwhile, Echo tries to make a run for it with baby Jack but she’s stopped by Nate and his spatula. She nervously tells him that she’s going to the park. Nate took the day off and learned to cook breakfast so he thinks she should stay. Plus, he took the car to the shop and left the baby seat inside. Echo looks two seconds from vomiting everywhere as Nate starts to take the baby away while encouraging her to go get some rest. Echo takes the baby back and says she has to feed him and runs upstairs. Nate tells her to have her nap when she’s done and makes murder eyes.

Upstairs, Echo makes a call to BFF Sierra. She tells her that she has to come get her before Nate murders her face off. Some time later, Echo watches from a window while Sierra arrives, but the Dollhouse stalker van is right behind her. Her handler intercepts before she can make it inside.

Sweeney: This smacks of contrivance because I find it almost impossible to believe that the Dollhouse would be this sloppy in their handling of the situation.

Mari: Totally. Where was Sierra? Does she get to live this whole side existence when she isn’t actively being The Friend? Doubtful.

Stephanie: I didn’t even think about where Sierra was before she came over. Did they give her a house and everything just for this friend role? What?

Echo dashes around the house looking for a way out but there are handlers entering through all the doors. Paul comes in from the front and heads upstairs. He hears Echo and the baby inside a room and enters to find the sounds are coming from a baby monitor. She set that up real quick. Echo has already escaped outside through the window using a very convenient ladder. Is that a ladder? I rewatched this bit multiple times and still can’t tell what she used. Let’s go with ladder. She drives off with the baby.

Dollhouse. Nate is super pissed that they let a Doll run off with his kid. Adelle promises that Echo won’t harm the baby because she fully believes that she’s Jack’s mother. She reminds him that he paid lots and lots of money for a mother to bond with the baby since he couldn’t do it himself. Nate regrets the whole thing and Adelle comforts him with tea (there’s a lot of tea on this show) and by telling him that a child that doesn’t feel love will grow up to be a sociopath. Besides, getting kidnapped is not the worst thing that could have happened since he was going to put the baby up for adoption. She assures him that they know where Echo and the baby are.

Echo makes her way to a bank but the stalker van is already there. The van follows when she turns and heads in the opposite direction down the street. She finds some police officers and tells them there are people trying to take her baby, but when they look behind her, the van is gone. The cops tell her she’s safe now and she gets into the police car.

Police station. Echo describes her situation to a detective lady/law enforcement person of some sort. Echo says that her husband was never like this. It’s like he’s been replaced by a stranger. Detective Lady says that she’s glad Echo came to her and lays out the next steps to keep her safe. I don’t like scenes like this because we all already know what’s going on, so watching Echo try to work it out herself is super boring.

Sweeney: It also makes me squirm a little any time shows present grossly underreported crimes (i.e., domestic violence, rape) painted as Boy Who Cried Wolf scenarios. False reporting is an anomaly, but media has a disconcerting way of exacerbating perceptions about its pervasiveness.

Stephanie: Echo panics when she spots Paul coming in. Detective Lady leaves to see what’s happening. Echo watches the discussion between Detective Lady, Paul, Nate, and the police chief until they all turn around at the same time to look at her. It’s very Invasion of the Body Snatchers, except that would be a lot more interesting than the plot currently unfolding. Echo once again starts to make a run for it and ends up in a shuffle for the baby carrier that looks super dangerous for the poor kid. Nate wins the shuffle and Echo goes berserk, kicking and screaming while Paul restrains her. The music swells with emotion and they drag her away. I think this is supposed to make me feel things, but I’m pretty much team heartless cow for this story. Sorry. But not really.

Back at the Dollhouse, Madeline has her diagnostic, which involves her saying words and counting while she sits in the imprinting chair. After a few more questions, Topher delivers the good news that her brain is in tip top shape– no phantom files or other weird things that sound like it would be scary to have inside your head. He asks her to repeat the words she repeated before, and this is the part of the test I’d have failed because I would have forgotten already. Topher offers Madeline some brain updates. I would have said, “make me way more smart and witty and also less anxious. And maybe throw in some speed reading abilities. And can you make me less hungry all the time? And how about…” but she passes. Madeline makes to leave just as Paul comes in with a frantic Echo. Topher and Paul struggle to push Echo into the chair, but she breaks free and makes a run for it, knocking Madeline aside and into a lamp.

Echo doesn’t get very far before a couple of staff members grab and sedate her, much to Topher’s dismay since he can’t wipe her if she’s knocked out. They carry her limp body back to the chair to be wiped when she’s awake. Paul follows and spots Madeline. He very rudely asks, “what are you doing here?” and instead of being like, “dude, what’s your problem?” she nicely tells him about her diagnostic. Paul points out that she’s bleeding, and Madeline says that she recognizes Paul. He’s confused for a moment before she clarifies that she remembers him from the day she was released. Paul brings her away to have her bleeding head fixed.

Some doctor who is not Dr. Saunders fixes Madeline up and leaves. Now alone, they have a moment to discuss the realness of programmed feelings. Paul says that no baby was really taken, and insists that none of it is real, almost like he’s trying to convince himself. Madeline points out that the emotions and pain Echo feels are real and asks if she was ever like that. This sends Paul into a flash back of that time he made us sad by breaking up with sweet Mellie even though she made him pasta for every meal. He lies that he has no idea because he’s new. Madeline can smell the Echo obsession coming off of him so she takes his hand and reminds him that Echo will forget the pain, just like she did. She confesses that she had a daughter who died of cancer. Adelle found her and helped make the pain go away. Paul asks if she’s happy now and she responds, “I’m not sad.”

Sweeney: This was also inexplicably weird.

Mari: I can’t quite put my finger on it either. They are usually pretty good at showing us arguments for and against the Dollhouse all over the spectrum. Showing us Madeline all rich, footloose and student debt free was good. This little dialogue? Not so much. It felt off.

Stephanie: Back in the imprinting room, Echo begs Topher to help her. He promises that he’ll make everything go away and she calms down enough to be lowered for her wiping. We flash through all of Echo’s family memories and she rises again. Topher greets her and she responds in the usual, “did I fall asleep?” but adds in a bonus whack to the face, knocking him unconscious.

Mari: Because they keep letting Echo go on missions and no one has learned that she’s special yet.

Stephanie: Senator Wesley Estate. Wesley’s wire tap transcripts reveal that things with Rossum are worse than unethical medical practices. They’re involved in human trafficking, prostitution, and murder by using programmed people. Cindy says that’s not possible and Wesley responds that he’s known since his mother got sick, but cuts off before he gets into talking about whatever Rossum did to her. Cindy’s worried that this Rossum thing has gone from a stepping stone in Wesley’s career to something more dangerous. She doesn’t want Wesley to back off though. She wants to find proof. Wesley has something better than proof: a name. What name? Who knows because we have to go back to Echo’s dumb plot.

Echo finds an open car, sits on the passenger side, and asks it to go. It’s a cute moment. She spots the keys and starts the car. That seems to be enough for her to work out the rest of the driving thing.

Adelle storms into her office, with Topher and Paul behind her. Topher explains that he doesn’t know what happened. One minute Echo was wiped and the next minute his face exploded. To be fair, that’s pretty much what happened. Adelle checks for Echo’s location via GPS, but that’s unnecessary because Paul already knows that she’s going back for the baby. Adelle asks if this is another composite event, but Paul interrupts saying that maybe because she was changed on a glandular level, her body became stronger than her brain. Topher realizes that the maternal instinct was too strong to wipe. Oh god. This is stupid. Am I the only one who finds this plot super silly or am I just in a really bad mood while watching this? (S: Nope – it’s super stupid.) (M: I’m just going to always roll my eyes at “maternal instincts” anyway.) As per usual, Topher is impressed by his own brilliance. Echo may not even remember the baby’s name, but she’ll do anything to get him back. Adelle orders Paul to go after her.

Nate is back home with the baby, changing his diaper and generally being more fatherly and caring. I guess having your kid nearly kidnapped will do that to you. He leaves Jack to prep some baby formula in the kitchen, all while stormy lightning weather flashes outside, which is very convenient for him because there are apparently no lights in his house. At all. The lightning flashes again, illuminating Echo, who’s just sort of standing out in the storm because her maternal instincts have turned her into Jason Voorhees? I don’t even know.

The lightning flashes again and she’s gone. All at once the phone rings, Nate drops the baby formula everywhere, and the baby starts to cry. After seeing a woman standing outside like a slasher murderer, you’d think the thing he would handle first is checking on his kid, but he decides to answer the phone. It’s Adelle. She warns Nate that Echo is coming for the baby and he needs to get out of the house. He doesn’t take this as seriously as he should until the power goes out, cutting off the call, and somehow making the house even darker than it already was. He rushes upstairs to Jack, but he’s gone. Nate runs around his crazy lightning filled house, eventually finding Echo with the baby and a very large kitchen knife. She greets him with a “mommy’s home.” What is even happening right now?

Sweeney: I don’t know, but I want it to stop.

Mari: I just… the whole maternal instinct thing translating to knife murderer right now. I can’t even.

Stephanie: After a not-break, Echo accuses Nate of taking her baby while slowly approaching him with her big, scary knife. Nate tries to keep her calm by apologizing. During all of this she keeps putting the huge ass knife near the baby’s head. Come on, girl. Echo doesn’t want to give Jack back because she loves him and believes he’s hers. Nate tells her that she’s not really his mom and he’s afraid she’ll hurt the baby. This makes Echo more agitated and she swipes at him with the knife and then immediately regrets doing so. She’s starting to become confused about who she is. Nate apologizes again and blames himself for Echo’s love for Jack. He explains that his wife died during child birth and he blamed Jack for it. He needed someone to love Jack because he couldn’t. Echo asks if she can be Jack’s mom and he says no because his wife is a part of Jack, not her. He begs her not to hurt the baby and she relents, handing Jack back over to Nate as Paul finally arrives. She drops the knife and Nate lets out of sigh of relief. Well, that’s one way to bond with the baby.

Mari: The Dollhouse should’ve sent Echo to try and murder the kid from the start, I guess.

Stephanie: Paul follows Echo to the Park of Baby Feels. He asks if she’s okay, but she’s not really. She’s sad because she had a baby and now she doesn’t. Not only does Echo remember everyone she’s been, she still carries feelings from all of those experiences. None of it is pretend for her. She wonders why they make everything feel so real. Paul says that maybe it’s too much to have Echo help him bring the Dollhouse down. He offers to tell Topher what’s happening with her so that she can get a proper wiping and won’t feel sad anymore. Echo doesn’t want that though because feeling nothing would be worse. She’s awake now and she doesn’t want to go back to sleep. Paul joins Echo on the park bench and they sit in silence.

If it wasn’t already obvious, I did not enjoy this episode. It tried to explore instinct, which is cool, and threw in a new layer to Echo’s evolving character with all the feelings that won’t quit, which is also cool, but the way it’s executed here is boring. I’ve probably said this a million times now, but Echo’s assignments are usually the weakest part of the show, and this episode was 95% Echo being a mom and I just don’t care.

Sweeney: I don’t usually share the general gripe about Echo’s assignments – I’ve liked quite a few that everyone else hated – but this one was just too fucking ridiculous. Too much cracked out “science” and general sloppiness to move the story along. Super mega dislike.

 Mari: 3/3 recappers agree.

Next time: Topher brain maps a serial killed in S02 E03 – Belle Chose.