Recap: Dollhouse 103, "Stage Fright"

Previously on Dollhouse, there was some stuff we've seen before. And, oddly, some stuff we actually haven't, including Echo coming out of the Mental Hygienist's Chair saying, "I try to be my best", which was the line that an imaginary version of Echo said in "The Target" that seemed like it should have been a callback but that we had never heard before. Maybe this stuff was cut from the original version of the pilot? Odd to put it in the previouslies, then.

On with the show proper: We open, symbolically, on a girl in a cage. Music starts and she starts dancing, then steps out on the stage to sing. She's a pop star of the Beyonce mold, with a crew of dancers, a catwalk-type procession on the stage, and pyro going off in the background. (Something about the song makes me wonder if it's a Whedon original-- for all the pop trappings, there's something very musical theater about it.) There's a chorus, a breakdown, and she's starting into the second verse when one of her back up dancers catches on fire-- one of the stage fireworks had malfunctioned. (The very tasteless side of me wants to make a burning backup dancer joke with "pop, lock, and roll" as the punchline, but I try not to make fun of people who are actively on fire. That was my New Year's Resolution.) Security rushes the stage, spraying the dancer with a fire extinguisher and hustling the singer off the stage. The camera pans through the audience, who mostly look shocked, except for one creepy fan who looks... bemused, maybe?

In the Dollhouse, Sierra and Echo are running on treadmills. Sierra stops and is walking off when she gets dizzy and almost falls, but Echo catches her. In their blank Doll way, Echo says that Sierra is her friend and she didn't want her to get hurt. Sierra agrees that friends help each other out.

Meanwhile, Dr. Saunders is checking Boyd's wounds from last episode, saying that he shouldn't have taken the arrow out himself. Boyd says he'll remember that next time he's being bow-hunted. She thinks he needs a few more days to heal, but Boyd starts pressuring her to certify him to return to work. (And also to call him Boyd instead of Langdon, but Dr. Saunders demurs.) Dr. Saunders doesn't think a Doll cares who their handler is, but Boyd feels responsible for Echo and is convinced she's not safe.

Next, Agent Ballard's Russian mob informant is trying to break into Ballard's apartment, but he's interupted by his crush-harboring neighbor. The informant lies unconvincingly about being Ballard's friend, then leaves a message: to meet him at the location on a card he gives her.

In DeWitt's office, the client of the week is the pop star's British-sounding manager, who Adelle calls "Biz" and treats as an old friend-- or at least as a familiar enough client to earn a double-cheek kiss for a greeting. He outlines his schedule, and Adelle says it sounds exhausting, and offers to have the twins ready for him if he needs to relax. But Biz is after something different. He's worried that the string of accidents, including the flaming backup dancer, are actually attacks on his star client, Rayna. He wants her protected, but Rayna hates bodyguards, so he needs someone near her who she will trust. Adelle thinks they can swing it, but they need a plausible cover for introducing the Active into Rayna's life. Biz says they have an opening...

We cut to Echo, who is dressed in starving artist gear and competently belting a song about freedom a capella. Rayna likes her, but Biz acts reluctant about her attitude, which of course makes up Rayna's mind. She comes over and picks of the alto part for the last part of the song. Biz keeps up the reluctant act but Rayna wants her hired. Echo celebrates as we go into the credits.

When we come back, Dr. Saunders is in Topher's office, pestering him about sending Echo out on a high-risk engagement when she had specifically flagged her for romantic and altruistic gigs only. Topher points out that her last romantic engagement turned out to be high-risk, so maybe the one with Rayna will turn out romantic. He takes a moment to appreciate the possiblity, then launches into an explanation of the two elements of Echo's programming: persona and parameter. In this case, Echo's persona as a singer is totally unaware of her mission parameter to protect Rayna. Dr. Saunders thinks that sounds even less safe, but Topher shrugs it off: "Which do you want, someone who's paid to protect you or someone who wants to protect you? This is the magic of what we do."

Dr. Saunders changes tacks and says Boyd isn't up to physical danger yet either-- and here she uses his first name. Topher picks up on the name thing and asks if they're buddies now: "Of course you are! You both disapprove of everything. You're going to get married and have scowly babies." Heh. Finally, he tells her to relax, because they're sending in backup. With that, Sierra comes in and takes a seat in the Mental Hygienist's Chair.

(I get a partial answer to my song question as the credits scroll: the episode is written by Whedon clan members Jed and Maurisa, who helped write Dr. Horrible, so some theater-laced songwriting seems pretty likely.) (Edit from the future: Nope, the songs are by someone named Kimberly Cole.)

At rehearsal, Rayna is being picky with her dancers, and Echo practices with the other backup singers while a girl from wardrobe is hemming her pants. The singers chatter about the increased security and how the police are getting all her fan mail now. The wardrobe girl tells Echo to put on the sparkly tube top that is apparently her costume, which involves her getting over her discomfort with going kit off. Echo asks if it's always this crazy, and for an answer Rayna starts pitching a fit over someone daring to eat a mint in her presence. Biz shuts down rehearsal and herds Rayna to the car to take her to the venue. On the way out, Rayna asks Echo to join her.

At a party on a rooftop, Ballard is meeting his informant. The informant insists that he's a dead end and no one he works with knows anything about the Dollhouse-- a fact that he ascribes to the Dollhouse being a myth. Ballard starts to say that he's heard all this before, but the informant rides over him, explaining his theory that Ballard has been put on the mythical Dollhouse case as on-the-job retirement, to keep him safely out of the way. Ballard says that the technology exists, (apparently there were trials involving making a chimpanzee tango) and, humans being what they are, that means someone out there is using it to destroy, manipulate and control other people. The informant agrees that people mostly suck, but he still doesn't think there's a Dollhouse. As he walks off, he says he wishes it were true: he could have his current troubles wiped and be reincarnated as Doris Day. Apparently he's just into the Russian mob scene until he finally breaks into costarring in '60s romantic comedies with Rock Hudson-- the classic LA model/actress/waitress with a time-traveling Mafia twist.

At the venue, Echo comes up to Biz and tells him that she just happened to notice that the freight elevator wasn't guarded. In the monitoring van, Boyd is talking to Topher, who warns him he won't like Sierra's handler and teases him about his stage nerves. Topher asks about Rayna, and Boyd describes her as vapid, shallow, and narcissistic. Topher notes that she seemed so down-to-earth with Katie Couric, and sighs that you can't trust anyone. As an illustration, we find that he's been mindwiping Ballard's informant, who is really a Doll named Victor. (I guess this is what Adelle was talking about last week when she said "approriate measures" were already being taken.)

It's showtime at the venue, and the creepy fan is coming in on crutches. Rayna is getting ready to go on stage, and Biz introduces Sierra as Audra, an Australian in pigtails and glasses who won an online fan contest. Sierra gushes a bit but Rayna blows by her. Echo asks if they adoration is wierd, and Rayna replies that the really wierd thing is that she doesn't even notice it anymore. The creepy fan sneaks into what looks like the light booth (although no one is using it during the performance) and breaks his crutch into pieces, from which he assembles a gun. Fancy.

At the afterparty, the creepy fan has made it past the rope and is hilariously sipping on a very girly-looking drink. Sierra is waiting for Rayna at her table, and Rayna is about to pitch a fit about it when Biz calms her down. Sierra gushes fannishly some more, and Rayna tries to get her to calm down and be herself, but Sierra has some difficulty with that. A greasy guy strides purposely towards the girls' table, reaching into his jacket, and Echo jumps up and throws him over a railing. Turns out he was just paparazzi, but security hauls him out anyway.

Victor is calling Ballard from a pay phone, saying he's heard something about people being kept in the basement of an abandoned hotel. He doesn't think it's connected to Dollhouse, but he's passing it on anyway out of pity. Ballard takes the tip, kicks in a door and checks the place out. There are some mattresses on the floor. He starts to fiddle with a window when some guys who say they're from the Russian mob family sneak up behind him with a two-by-four. (Side note: They've said the name of the Russian mob family in every episode so far, and I still can't make it out or come up with a passable phonetic spelling. It sound something like "Borodeens", which doesn't sound particulalry Russian or threatening to me. Enunciate, mobsters!)

They fight. Ballard grabs the board and clocks his attacker with it. He's doing pretty well for himself until someone shoots him in the gut and he sinks to his knees. The alleged Russian moves in to shoot him execution-style, but Ballard grabs the gun and forces the next shot into the ground. He then uses the alleged Russian would-be executioner as a shield while another henchman empties his clip at him. He punches that guy out and sweeps the original two-by-four holder who was recovering behind him. Using the board to choke the last guy, he asks him about Dollhouse. The formerly board-holding, allegedly Russian, would-be assassin (What I wouldn't give for henchmen with names!) says he has no idea what he's talking about. "Nobody ever does," Ballard says wryly, and manages to pull out his phone to call 911 before he losees consciousness.

Two notes: First, nice work, Ballard! Badassness and wry sarcasm are both new character notes for you, and I personally prefer them to pure dogged obsession. If you're going to go around Muldering the Dollhouse, you should at least also get his sense of humor. Second, I used "allegedly" up there a lot because I'm not sure where these guys came from. First guess is that they're Toy Soldiers, since Victor gave Ballard the tip, but Adelle pushed back hard against Dominic's plan to kill Ballard last week and we didn't see her change her mind. Alternately, Victor could have slipped Ballard a real tip about the Russian mob, and it pissed them off to have him poking around. Again, since it seems likely that Ballard would die as a result of that plan, I'm not sure who gave the order. Maybe Dominic was making his own arrangements and keeping his hands clean by using the mob.

In the van, Boyd is browsing Rayna fansites looking for clues as Sierra's handler comes back from an extended coffee break. Sierra's handler points out that investigating isn't their job. Boyd, interestingly, asks what happened to the previous Sierra, and the handler says, "She got the job done." Looks like the Dolls' phonetic alphabet handles can be inherited.

Backstage, Echo is hanging out with Rayna in her changing room. Rayna is effervescent-- she says she's ready, that she feels alive. As Echo is getting a drink, she notices a pile of stalkerish fan mail, and since she knows the police are collecting it all, she asks Rayna about it. Rayna tries to play it off, but Echo realizes she's been communicating with the stalker. Rayna's temper flares when Echo calls her on it, but showtime is called and she has to go on stage. Echo finds more stalkery notes, specifically saying that tonight would be her last show, hidden under the masses of orchids ("the symbol of pure affection"), and she realizes the Rayna knows the stalker is going to kill her. She chases after her to beg her not to do it, but Rayna says Echo doesn't understand, and she just wants to be free. This line is delivered from the actual cage that she's going to appear on stage in, in case anyone was missing the metaphor. The cage is hauled up onto stage and we go to commercial.

When we get back, the show has started but Echo's not on stage-- she's running around backstage looking for Biz. The creepy fan is assembling the rest of the gun. (Maybe he needed two trips to smuggle a sniper rifle inside a crutch?) On stage, Rayna's finishes a song saying "make your move" and talks to the audience a bit. She's clearly expecting the shot, but it doesn't come, so she introduces Sierra as her number one fan. Sierra cutely dorks "What up, Los Angeles?" into the mike as Echo finds Biz and tells him to shut down the show. Security doesn't believe her, so she knees the guy in the crotch, runs on stage, grabs a spotlight and starts scanning the crowd. She finds the creepy fan, who squeezes off a couple of shots as Echo tackles Rayna.

Cut to an ambulance, where the EMTs are chattering about a gunshot wound to the abdomen, but it's Ballard on the gurney. They're intubating him and he codes.

Backstage, Rayna is mad at Echo for saving her, which is kind of confusing to Echo. She says the fans don't want to see her die, and Rayna lays down some of that sweet, sweet dramatic irony when she asks, "What, did they grow you in a lab? They'd love to watch me die." She has a point, there. Echo says Rayna's seriously messed up. Rayna goes on a rant about how she's a product of everyone's expectations: she has to be happy, and grateful, and have precisely moderated rations of rebellion to hide the fact that she's a factory product. "I don't exist. I'm not a real person. I'm everybody's fantasy, and God help me if I try to stop."

The speech breaks out the thematic sledgehammer to make the point that her problems are the same as a Doll's, and that they're both metaphors for how we shape others into being what we want them to be. I thought this line was nice, though: "God put this voice in me, and forgot to make it mine."

Echo says that if she's not happy with her life, she should change it. Rayna says people won't let her, and Echo pushes back: "The last thing I thought you'd be was weak." Rayna fires her, and she storms out.

Outside, Sierra talks her way past security, and the creepy fan grabs her to take us into the act break.

When we come back, the fan is talking to Rayna and Biz via webcam. He's upset that Rayna called Sierra her number one fan. Brandishing a gun, he says wants to meet Rayna in person, or he'll shoot Sierra.

The message makes Biz realize that Rayna's been in contact with the fan, and he slaps her. That makes Echo throw him against a wall. He insists that he made Rayna a star because she wanted it, and Echo gives us a slightly less sledgehammery thematic statement: "Getting everything you want might not be the best thing for a person." Biz makes Echo realize that getting fired hasn't changed her mission parameters, and she still wants to help Rayna.

In DeWitt's office, Dominic is reporting that Sierra has been kidnapped, which turns out to have been planned as a way of diverting the stalker's attention from Rayna.

Echo tracks down Rayna, who is practicing dance moves in front of a mirror. Echo asks how she can help, but Rayna just wants her to leave. They argue about whether Rayna should do something to help save Sierra. Interestingly, Echo says that Rayna thinks she can't feel anything, but that she will feel something if she helps save Sierra, which is an echo (Sigh. No pun intended, and "echo" was always my favorite phrase for pointing out literary callbacks. Guess I'll have to branch out.) of something Adelle said in the first conversation we see with Echo!Caroline: "What we do helps people. If you become a part of that, it could help you, too." Since she thinks it will help Rayna, Echo insists that she helps Sierra. Rayna is in the process of asking how Echo can insist on anything when Echo nails her from behind with a steel chair. Apparently Topher imprinter her with a professional wrestler. As she drags the unconsious body off, she repeats what she told Sierra: "Friends help each other."

When we return from the commercial break, the Toy Soldiers are doing what they do best: sweeping the scene after something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. In this case they're storming the kidnapper's house, only to find that Echo has called him up offered to trade him Rayna for Sierra at the theater.

At the Dollhouse, Dominic is chewing Topher out for Echo's actions, which he sees as a programming failure. Topher says sometimes parameters play out differently than he anticpates, but that, of the two people in the room, one is a genius and one is a security guard in an expensive suit. When he hears that Echo kidnapped the girl she's supposed to protect and is delivering her to the guy who wants to kill her, though, he admits that sounds kind of bad.

At the theater, Echo and the stalker are working out the negotiations for the prisoner exchange up in the catwalks. Echo says she's just giving Rayna what she wants by letting the stalker decide her fate. She tears Rayna's gag off and her screams let Boyd find them. He lines up a shot on the stalker and asks the office for permission to shoot, but DeWitt tells him to hold.

Rayna says she doesn't want the crazy fan to decide her fate, on the grounds that he is crazy. The crazy fan, being crazy, decides he could just kill everybody, and starts to put his plan into action when Echo shoves Rayna off the catwalk-- which is not as counterproductive as it sounds, because she'd tied her to the railing. (I hope in some sort of harness and not, as it kind of looks like, by the wrists. It will be hard to dance with two dislocated shoulders.)

Echo and the fan fight. Echo takes the gun and pistol whips the fan. (A favorite move on the show so far.) She then pulls Rayna back onto the catwalk as she protests that she wants to live.

As Echo and Sierra walk out, Sierra says it was the most exciting and fulfilling day of her life. Their handlers walk in, and Sierra's handler grouses that Echo might rub off on his Doll, which makes Echo mad, and then confused as Sierra obligingly goes along with him for her "treatment". Then Boyd asks if she's ready for her treatment and she agrees, but asks if she can kick Sierra's handler's ass first. Boyd is tempted.

In DeWitt's office, (Which really needs a handy nickname. The Fortress of Dollitude?) Dominic is telling DeWitt that Echo is unstable and unpredictable, and he wants to retire her to the Attic. DeWitt points out that she performed the assignment better than they could have imagined, by confronting the person who really wanted Rayna dead. In the Dollhouse proper, Boyd and Dr. Saunders are talking about the same thing while watching a mindwiped Echo paint. Boyd says Echo is special, and Claire says special isn't always good around here: Alpha was special once, too.

We close out with a montage of Rayna singing that freedom song from Echo's audition. The crush-harboring neighbor (whose name is apparently Mellie) finds Ballard in the hospital looking despondent. In the Dollhouse, Sierra is walking towards Echo as her handler talks to some Toy Soldiers. They make eye contact and Sierra starts to approach her, but Echo shakes her head. Sierra acknowledges it and wanders off in another direction. Whoa. They raised more questions in those two facial expressions than last week's huge sledgehammery "shoulder to the wheel" hand gesture callback. Nice work.

So, that was pretty fun. The starting assignment was a fun setting had a pretty good reason for wanting a Doll instead of just finding someone real. The plot went somewhere unexpected, and it demonstrated what makes Echo special. Plus, we had the Victor reveal, which I thought was cool, and some better stuff from Ballard than we'd seen before. The thematic statements were dropped like anvils, but I still had fun.

I thought one of the main problems we were having at first was a lack of sympathetic characters-- after all, everyone except Ballard is either a victim of the Dollhouse or complicit in its exploitation. Echo will presumably develop over time, but we're starting at zero. With Boyd and Ballard both winning some character points in the last two weeks, I'm more optimistic. I'm enjoying Topher's scenes even though you can't really morally approve of him: he's snarky and he exhibits authentic geeky joy in a really cool invention. Also, maybe it's just the force of the actress, who is doing a bang-up job on scraps of material, but I suspect hidden depths in Adelle and I hope we get to see them soon. Still not a huge fan of Dr. Saunders, though.