Dollhouse: The Target

The problem with the early episodes of this show is this: the writers are too intent on setting up the verse and the arc at the expense of any given individual episode. It's like someone told Joss one time too many that the biggest problem with the second episode of Buffy was that Angel seems to be in the sunlight in the tomb scene. I get it; keeping characters consistent is important. But that's no excuse for letting individual episodes suffer.

Now if it seems odd for me to lecture someone like Whedon, who after all has made several awesome TV shows whereas I am a college student whose greatest accomplishment to date has been learning how to play and sing "Money" at the same time, let me just put on my Stephen Colbert voice for a moment and remind you that Joss has also had shows cancelled, whereas I have not.

Anyway, episode 2 opens with a flashback to three months ago. It's Alpha's big composite event, Doctor Saunders looks like a jigsaw puzzle, etc. Echo is in the shower - does this jar with what we see at the end of the season? Must remember to check. Anyway, roll credits.

This week, the Dollhouse is selling the truth. "Everything you want, everything you need, she will be, honestly and completely." Adelle tells the client to return her safe and sound. Yeah, right. Flash cut to epic outdoorsy stuff - because every couch potato who's going to watch the show and care about the ongoing arc is exactly the same sort of person who routinely goes kayaking and mountain climbing.

Back to Topher and Boyd, generally bitching at each other but not actually being overtly annoying.

Paul arrives at the scene of the previous episode, because it's still an entire frickin month before he actually gets to intersect the plot in any meaningful way. This is what we call a guest star, not a regular. Nothing against Paul, or his actor, but he's not moving the plot, and in these early episodes the audience needs moving plots.

Meanwhile, Echo's client decides he's going to kill her for funsies. Does the Dollhouse screen its clients at all? Given what Alpha manages to pull in the next season, the answer is "um, no."

There's a flashback where we learn that Langton showed up after Alpha's incident, and that he came "highly recommended." Also, that Alpha can kill a man in 8 seconds with a series of highly precise cuts. Fun!

There's some stuff with Lubov, because he's got to be in this episode too, and then Ballard gets a photo of "Caroline," the woman we know as Echo. Also, nobody else in the FBI believes in the Dollhouse.

The hunter gets in a few shots with the crossbow, but Echo doesn't do the intelligent thing and take the arrows.

In another flashback, Boyd shuts down Smug Topher with just a couple of words about Alpha. Two minutes on the job and he already knows which buttons to push.

More running, more really sketchy stunt double shots. Finally Echo drinks something she shouldn't, because, hey, taking a trick that didn't work in Doctor Who can be reused here.

In yet another flashback, Echo tells Boyd he's tall - oh, Boyd, I know how you feel - and then we do the Big Imprinting Thing for the first time. Topher says "All right, Brando, let's see what you've got." And then Boyd does some fantastic acting, pretending that they haven't done this dance before.

Echo, under the effects of the drug, has a flashback to the massacre at the Dollhouse, only "Alpha" is holding a knife instead of some scissors - again, must check "Omega" once we get there.

Seriously, what is it with the flashbacks in the second episode? Since when has that ever spelled sucess?

The next flashback - Boyd really not getting into the handler role after Echo's gotten hired out to a fat dude - really does work once you've seen the whole show. So yay for that.

Also, Boyd becomes the first person to get shot in the side. He won't be the last - Adelle, Echo and Boyd again. Also he has two guns, which is awesome, but this never comes up again.

So Echo and her psychotic date have their big old fight scene, because it's not a Whedon show if a girl's not beating a bigger guy up.

There's one last scene where Dominic taunts Echo a bit. What a charmer.

Compared to the previous one, this episode's got its share of strengths and weaknesses. For one thing, Echo doesn't have a big glaring psychological flaw in her imprint this time. On the other hand, the flashbacks really don't help the story that much.

The point of the early episodes of a show is to give the audience a taste of what's to come. The thing is, Whedon's shows evolve. Trying to sell a standalone episode as a template even for the end of the season is a silly thing to do.

Still, there's plenty of worse crap on TV.