DOLLHOUSE: “The Left Hand”
Wesley and Faith are reunited for more torture! OK, not exactly. Photo credit: Spoiler TV/ Fox.
Read on for my recap and review of Dollhouse 2×06, “The Left Hand,” aired December 4th, 2009:
When we last left off, a Terminator was totally torturing Faith. Oh, wait, that’s not right. Bennett, played by the lovely and talented Summer Glau, was torturing our very own Echo/ Caroline, and in this episode we learn why … sort of. Senator Daniel Perrin turned out to be a doll, and his wife Cindy turned out to be his handler. The Washington D.C. Dollhouse folks kidnapped Echo, and are part of Rossum’s evil plan to rule the world. Now, this does NOT make Adelle happy, so she and Topher went to D.C. in this episode, to deal with those troublemakers. This allows Topher and Bennett to meet, and it is geek-love at first sight. But no one gets a happy ending, except for Rossum, as that corporation’s bad guys are way badder than everyone else’s bad guys, so they win … at least for now. But let’s get into the details of this uplifting story in the recap:
Back at the D.C. Dollhouse, Bennett is still torturing Echo/ Caroline, and is quite enjoying it. She takes some time to speechify: “What’s interesting to me is that you don’t call out to God. It isn’t a question of faith—it’s just the vernacular. Anyone in this much pain prays, or at least curses, but they take God from you too. You really are a shell.” Echo/ Caroline: “Why?” Bennett: “Now’s not the time for why. You’re like this void. This feeble simple world. Just pain. No reason, no end, no in between. You can’t even pass out. You shut everything out that stands between you and blinding searing pain.” Cue more torture. Bennett: “Of course I bluff. It won’t always be like this. When we get to the why, that’s when it gets really bad.” Damn, what did Caroline do to Bennett to anger her so? We’ll find out soon. Also, way creepy. Cue the la la la la las.
Cut to Daniel, strapped down on a table, begging Cindy: “Cindy, please don’t let them do this.” Cindy: “Do what Daniel? It’s already been done. Don’t you get that?” Daniel: “I don’t want to forget who I am.” She laughs, and explains: “Oh baby, you don’t want to remember who you were, even though that part’s always been there.” Daniel: “What are you talking about?” Cindy: “You already know. You were a nobody, before we found you—just a name. Everything you care about, everything you hold most dear, we gave you.” Daniel: “That’s not true!” Cindy: “Oh, you know it is. We took a spoiled, pampered, selfish child, and we made a man out of him. A man the people could trust.” Daniel: “Why?” Cindy: “Well we needed a senator. You had the pedigree.” Daniel: “No. You didn’t create me. I’m going to expose you, you know that.” Cindy: “You see? That righteous indignation—yeah, we gave that to you too. We spent three years building up your credibility. When you finally exonerate Rossum at the senate hearings today, no one will question you.” Daniel: “Why are you telling me this now?” Silly Daniel, this is much needed exposition. Also, it is not a proper story if the bad guy does not tell the good guy all the details of the nefarious scheme, thus allowing said good guy to escape with all the information. Cindy gives a different explanation: “Um, because it’s funny. And because you’re not going to remember it in 20 minutes anyway. Which is also why I think I can say: I can’t stand you. Having to be your wife, letting you touch me, pretending that it doesn’t disgust me, it doesn’t bore me, that has been really hard. It feels good to get that out.” Cold. Ice cold. Daniel is overwrought.
Meanwhile, Topher and Adelle are in a limousine, en route to the D.C. Dollhouse. Topher is loving the luxury of it all. He’s also wearing a ridiculous plaid jacket over a differently colored plaid shirt. I hate to say this of Topher, but he would not be out of place in those awful annoying Gap ads that are playing ad nauseum. Adelle explains that Topher’s assignment is to hack into the D.C. mainframe to acquire Daniel’s imprint. Topher then gets distracted and finds the alcohol, but Adelle forbids it. Hehe. Topher whines: “I don’t like going outside of my comfort zone.” Adelle: “There is no margin for error, so I would suggest that you expand your comfort zone immediately.” Scary Adelle—I love it! And she only gets scarier as the episode goes on.
Cut back to Bennett, who has paused the torturing to give some water to Echo. She explains: “It takes a lot out of you. We take a lot out of you.” Bennett asks if she remembers Caroline, and it turns out that Echo does remember her real name. Bennett: “You know? That’s good. It helps. And you know we took your memories.” She is holding an imprint, and Echo asks: “Is Caroline in there?” Bennett: “Yes and no. This is one of my memories, of you. This is the last time I saw you. This is what you did to me. Not just to my arm, to me. I want you to feel this. There is something worse than pain.” She hooks Echo/ Caroline into the D.C. house’s version of an imprinting chair, and is apparently giving her that memory. This scene SO reminded me of The Princess Bride, when that creepy guy was torturing Wesley inside the hidden room inside the tree. You know, when Wesley becomes “mostly dead.” Every time he took away a certain amount of years of Wesley’s life, the creepy guy would explain what he just did to him in a monotone and soothing voice, and ask him simple questions, just like Bennett in this scene. Did that come to anyone else’s mind?
Cut to Adelle and Topher, who are meeting with the boss man at the D.C. Dollhouse, Howard Lipman. He is played by Ray Wise, who recently played the devil on the television series Reaper. Excellent casting choice. Howard: “You’re a little out of your jurisdiction, aren’t you?” Adelle: “You have my active, I’d like her back.” It’s all in Olivia Williams’ tone. I would give her what she wanted, no questions asked. Howard is not so bright, and replies: “Geez, lighten up. So serious.” Adelle is not pacified. Howard tries to explain: “I just can’t give her back to you. I have to get approval, and that may take time. You understand.” Adelle pretends to be OK with this, and plays nice. Howard tells Adelle and Topher to fly back to L.A., and that they’ll ship Echo back to them. Adelle agrees, but asks that Topher be permitted to examine Echo, in order “to ensure my asset is intact.” Howard: “Adelle, where’s the trust?” Adelle: “Protocols.” Howard wonders how the L.A. Dollhouse can cope without Topher, but Topher explains: “Oh, we’ve got our top guy covering for me. The only person I trust.”
Cut to that person, who is … wait for it … Topher himself, imprinted in Victor. Ha! Enver Gjokaj sounds exactly like Fran Kranz playing Topher. Like EXACTLY. He has the expressions and mannerisms down pat. Seriously, Enver can inhabit any character it seems—from a British lover-boy, to the evil Clive Ambrose, to the disturbed serial killer, to the adorable sorority girl. That man has range! For the sake of the recap, I am going to refer to him as Topher 2.0, or simply 2.0; and the original Topher as Topher 1.0, or simply 1.0, when the two are sharing scenes. Topher 2.0 is freaking out, as Topher 1.0 is wont to do, and Boyd tries to keep him calm. 2.0: “This, from the guy who had to dismember my last little outing?!” Ha! Boyd tries to explain the details of the plan, and how it is not too dangerous (yes, 2.0 is concerned about 1.0’s safety, of course). 2.0 explains: “I’m not up to this. I suffer from acute agoraphobia. Or, I plan to. Bennett Halverson is the chief programmer at the D.C. Dollhouse. She’s a genius. I think she’s a genius, so you know, double it. She’s just going to look at my 1.0 and his palms are going to sweat, and she’ll know.” Boyd gives up on this lost cause, and leaves. 2.0 rubs his hands, and moans: “It’s starting, they’re clammy.” Hehe.
Meanwhile, Bennett gets the call that Topher Brink is coming to her lab, and is super-excited. Like teen-girl-with-a-crush excited. She gives Echo a shot of something (a tranquilizer, as we learn later) and smoothes her hair and adjusts her glasses on a chain. She redefines adorable in this scene, but the cuteness quotient only increases when Topher arrives. The two geniuses greet each other, but Topher doesn’t know she’s Bennett. He looks around the room and remarks on the differences between the houses. He is clearly nervous about meeting Bennett. Bennett tries to make conversation by noting that the L.A. house probably has palm trees and the like, but Topher notes that as the L.A. Dollhouse is many stories underground, there is “not a lot of photosynthesis.” Hee. Bennet runs with this: “No, no, you’re very pale. White. Pinkish-white. Your skin. Your skin is like a pig.” I lost it at this point. And my laughter continued throughout the episode. Topher tries to interrupt this awkward babble: “Bennett Halv …?” Bennett doesn’t stop: “Because it’s pink. People assume that pigs are bad, but I love them … like them.” Oh, pigs are totally a metaphor for Topher. Sweet. She tells him that she’s the person who he’s looking for. Topher is shocked and they shake hands. Topher: “For realsies? You’re Bennett? Not Bennett Jr.?” Topher realizes the truth, and exclaims, “You stud!” He high-fives her. At the risk of major repetition, they are adorable. Topher, being Topher, then very untactfully asks about her arm. She says that it’s dead and that the nerves are severed. Topher then asks about Echo and Bennett tells him: “You won’t get her. She interfered with a Rossum directive. It is unlikely that Mr. Lipman will let her go.” Topher knows Adelle, so he doesn’t really let this bother him. Bennett lies, and says that Echo is still unconscious from the device. Topher then thinks to ask if it was ok to mention the arm. Bennett: “Honestly, it’s refreshing.” They are so made for each other.
Cut back to Adelle and Howard. He tries to convince her to let Echo go, and learn how to compromise: “You got no cards, Adelle, and you don’t know how to bluff.” She seemingly comes on to him, pretty strongly, and tells him, “I think you and I could achieve a mutually beneficial compromise.” Howard: “Well, compromise can be fun.” Adelle falling all over Howard made me uncomfortable at first, but then she grabbed him where it hurts and I had restored faith in our ice queen. Adelle [while literally grabbing him by the balls]: “If you don’t return my active, I will send someone to cut these off. You will be killed horribly, over a long period, and never found. Now look me in my eyes, Howard, and tell me if I’ve learned how to bluff. [He collapses, and she takes a swig of whiskey.] Compromise.” Hee. That scene pretty much speaks for itself. If anyone ever wondered why Adelle was in charge, it should be clear now.
Back in the lab, Topher realizes that Echo has been tranqed. Bennett shrugs it off and blames it on a handler, and then brings up his new tech: “How do you work it, the Disruptor?” Topher: “How did you know it was called that?” Bennett: “What else would you call it?” OK, how did people read that exchange? Was Bennett lying, or is this evidence that they are kindred spirits? Topher explains his little device, and she recommends routing the signal another way: “Not like a bomb, more like a taser.” Topher is inspired by this to try it on Bennett. Sigh. Bennett catches him: “Did you just try to tase me?” Hee. Topher: “No no no. That would result in … you’d be unconscious. Why would I want that?” Hehe. Bennett: “And it only works on actives. [Pause.] I’m concerned that you just tried to tase me.” Again, it is just all in the delivery. Topher tries half-assedly to explain, but Bennett says, “This conversation is becoming vague.” Such a Buffyesque line. In fact, it probably was a Buffy line. Topher reveals that he did think that she might be a doll, programmed to be a doctor like Whiskey. Bennett: “That’s idiotic. Actives are beautiful.” Topher says in a very “Duh!” tone: “Yeah.” Bennett is flummoxed, and adds: “And it’s not my evil plan. It’s not evil.” Topher: “I’m just here for Echo. My last ethical quandary was … unhelpful. Let mommy and daddy do the squabbling.” Oh, Topher. This conversation is interrupted when Bennett gets the call from a defeated Howard. When she gets off the phone, she tells Topher: “You got the girl. Let me check on … is it Echo?” Oh, you are tricksy, Bennett. He asks to use the phone, and she offers him wasabi peas. Seriously? Too adorable.
Topher 1.0 calls Topher 2.0, and watching the two Tophers interact is faaahhhhbulous! 1.0: “Dude, Halverson’s fine!” 2.0: “What? Wait, who? What?” 1.0: “Bennett!” 2.0: “She’s what? Like distinguished?” 1.0: “Like young and fine. I poo you not.” 2.0: “Are we into her?” 1.0: “We may be fierce on the subject.” Ha! 2.0: “Oh, God! I wish I was there! What’s she like?” 1.0: “Totally shy. Librarian energy through the roof.” 2.0: “Glasses?” 1.0: “Glasses on a chain!” 2.0: “For the win!” 1.0: “Dude, she has a dead arm.” 2.0: “Like, dead, like in a sling, with a glove?” 1.0: “Imagine John Cassavettes from The Fury as a hot chick.” 2.0: “Which you know I often have! [Pause] Dude, she’s probably an active.” 1.0: “You’re so untrusting.” Ha! Oh, Tophers.
Cut to Senator Perrin, who wakes up and nudges Echo awake. Echo is remembering Bennett, crushed under a pillar, asking Caroline not to leave her. Current day Echo holds her arm, like it’s dead. Bennett watches on a monitor, then turns off the monitor, and proceeds to frakin’ knock her head into the glass. Uh oh. What does Bennett have planned?
Topher finds the bleeding Bennett, who asks where Echo is. Topher gets nervous, as he’s used to Echo causing trouble. She tells Topher that Echo took Perrin. Sigh.
Cut to Daniel and Echo wandering in the streets. Then we see a flashback/ memory of Caroline and Bennett back at a scene of destruction. Bennett is trapped under a pillar and begs Caroline for help. Caroline’s response? “Sorry sister. If I stay, we both get nabbed.” We begin to see why Caroline so pissed off Bennett. I still want to know more however. I have a theory that Carole got really emotionally messed up after her boyfriend died in the university lab, during their half-cocked plan to free the lab animals. Thus, she began to use whatever means necessary to fight Rossum, and made a lot of bad and illegal choices. Hence, Adelle cornering her into joining the Dollhouse, and hence, her choice to leave her “best friend” to die. My idea is that Bennett already worked for Rossum or an affiliate, before becoming Caroline’s friend, and Caroline targeted her for just that reason. But back to the present. Daniel says that someone put the knowledge of the way out in his head. Yeah they did. Echo tells him about the GPS tag the each has in their neck—well she does some cavewoman pointing, but he figures out the words. They go inside a café bathroom, and Echo states: “We have to cut.” She pulls out a knife, and gives it to Daniel. He holds it to her neck and my thought was: Wesley is finally getting revenge for Faith torturing him! He can’t do it though, so she says that she’ll show him.
Cut to Cindy and Madeline at the Senate hearing, waiting for Daniel to show up. Howard calls Cindy and fills her in on what has happened.
Meanwhile, back in the bathroom, it is Daniel’s turn to cut Echo. Ick! Cindy and her team arrive at the café, but it is too late. Daniel and Echo hide nearby and watch the Dollhouse folks.
Cut to Howard and Adelle. Howard: “Perrin has to be at that Senate hearing in four hours, or Rossum will have our heads.” Adelle: “To be clear, this little project was your idea, not mine.” Howard: “Well, I’ll remind you of that when we’re bunk buddies in the attic.” Ha! Also, please don’t let Adelle go to the Attic. Bennett and Topher enter the office, and you guessed it, they are adorable. The two have concocted a plan to use the Disruptor to redirect the blah blah loop to target a particular active’s brain. Howard and Adelle are as confused as I am, so Topher replies: “Oh, I do the English part—that’s new.” Ha! In order to enact their plan, Topher pointedly says that all he needs is Perrin’s brain map. Adelle smiles. Of course, that won’t last for long.
Back in the lab, Bennett shows Topher Daniel’s brain. Topher: “Wow. It may be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Bennett is very happy to hear the praise. Topher continues: “This is more than just an alteration. This is an imprint married to an existing consciousness. It’s amazing you didn’t end up with a schizophrenic.” Bennett: “I have a theory: the human brain can hold multiple imprints and still function.” Topher: “A composite?” Bennett: “Not a composite. Something new. The original Daniel Perrin is all there, I just made him better.” Topher is impressed, and then embarrassed when Bennett examines Echo/ Bree’s not-so-genius-hooker brain. There is much leaning and adoring looks are exchanged. Then they split up to work on different projects.
Topher pulls out his phone and texts something to Topher 2.0. Then he gets to work on sending Perrrin’s map to 2.0. Bennett claims that she is giving the actives memories to compensate for the searing pain. Instead, she makes Daniel an assassin. Dun dun dun. Meanwhile, Topher 2.0 gets Daniel’s brain map.
Cut to Daniel and Echo at his childhood home. Daniel: “They didn’t create me, only parts of me. How can I ever untangle it?” He flashes back to his first meeting with Cindy, at a party at that very location. She is convincing him to become a politician. He warns her that he has a less than perfect past, but she assures him: “But everybody’s got a past. It’s the future that the voters care about. You show them that, all will be forgiven.” Yeah, right. That exactly describes voters’ attitudes. In present time, Daniel wonders whether that memory really happened. Then he notes: “It doesn’t matter. She was right. They made me into something better. […] Even if I could, I don’t know if I want to be the man I was before.” Echo: “I understand. […] I’m afraid of Caroline. If she comes back, where will I go? I don’t want to fall asleep, even for a little while.” Daniel: “You’re awake now, and so am I. That’s what they didn’t expect. They were going to use me as cover, but they didn’t get a chance to reprogram me. They created someone who can bring them down, and that’s what I’m going to do. There’s time. We can make it to the hearings and expose them.” Echo: “We can be who we are.” Daniel: “We can be who we decide to be.” Fascinating. We are entering deep philosophical territory. This is very similar to a sentiment shared by Whiskey, in “Vows,” when she bares her soul to Topher. This crisis of identity must become common for the dolls when they gain awareness, and can help explain why the widespread use of the Dollhouse tech leads to such violence and chaos. But back to the action. Suddenly, Daniel gets a headache, and collapses, due to the machinations of Bennett and Topher.
However, back at the D.C. Dollhouse, Topher realizes that nothing happened to Echo, and starts to realizes that something is wrong. Back at the senator’s home, Daniel goes into assassin-mode. Uh oh. He chokes Echo, but she kicks him and runs away. He chases her. Well, it’s not an episode of Dollhouse if Echo doesn’t run for her life from some man trying to kill her. She tries to convince Daniel to fight his programming, but to no avail. He continues to chase after her.
Cut to Topher 1.0 and Topher 2.0 on the phone. 2.0: “I’m looking at a triggered sleeper. […] Get our new girlfriend to switch him off.” Bennett to Topher 1.0: “You hacked into our system. You stole Perrin’s brain map.” Topher: “You tried to kill Echo!” Bennett: “So we’re even?” Ha! I heart Bennett. Topher: “Not even. Not even close. Shut him down, now!” Bennett: “Do you know who Echo really is?” Topher: “She’s a friend.” Bennett: “A friend? That shell? I was her friend. I was her best friend. This is what I got for it. This is my gift from Caroline. [Referring to her arm.]” Topher doesn’t really buy this, as he still subscribes to the whole brain-wiping theory, and points out that this is Echo, not Caroline. Bennett: “They are the same. Caroline has power over people. And however well you wiped her, she clearly still does.” Topher: “She has no power over …” Bennett: “When was the last time you described a doll as your friend? I know about Alpha and Ballard. You’re saying she doesn’t have some power?” Bennett definitely makes a fair point. Topher: “I’m saying shut her down.” Bennett: “It’s for the best.” Topher smacks her, and knocks her out. Did he really have to hit her? First, it is rather unbelievable that this would be Topher’s reaction. I would find it more likely that he would do something sneaky like trick her or drug her. Second, after he hits her, he quips: “You were almost perfect.” Hmmm. This is quite disturbing. The woman that you are falling for turns out to betray you, so you knock her out? I know that she is creepy and evil and all, and Topher probably doesn’t have the upper body strength to permanently damage her, but still. This violence against women thing on the part of the “good guys” makes them unsympathetic. I like a good television smack down as much as the next girl, but does violence always have to be the way to solve problems? On a lighter note, Topher 1.0 calls Topher 2.0, and they squabble. 1.0 wants 2.0 to shut up. 2.0: “I wouldn’t hold your breath on the shutting up.” 1.0: “No, I wouldn’t.”
Meanwhile, Daniel continues to chase Echo, and they make their way into a greenhouse. Wesley finally gets his revenge for the Faith torture. He hits her a bit, then she sprays him in the eyes with something, and he falls back though a window. Go Echo! When Daniel gets up, he runs into a Dollhouse employee there to retrieve him, and breaks said employee’s neck. Ouch. Cindy encounters Echo, and asks where Daniel is. Echo: “He’s gone. Something else is here.” Cindy snarks, “Oh God, doll-speak,” and knocks Echo out. Ha! I kind of love Cindy a little bit, despite her evilness. Cindy then starts calling for Daniel, and lying about being in love with him, trying to convince him to come with her. Daniel: “Like before? And ever after?” Cindy: “That’s right.” Cindy is feeling pretty superior and cocky, but then she catches sight of the dead man and gets scared. Guess no one filled her in on the whole sleeper-assassin thing. Daniel attacks Cindy, and Echo interrupts and tries to get Daniel to stop.
Meanwhile, the Tophers are trying to fix things, and getting close. Topher 2.0: “Who’s your backdoor man?” Topher 1.0: “We’ll just pretend you didn’t say that.” Hee.
Back at the senator’s residence, it seems like Daniel killed Cindy (though she could still be alive, since this is TV), and immediately after gets switched back to normal by the Tophers’ machinations. Too little too late. This is a Whedon show, so of course Daniel had to kill his beloved.
Cut to soon thereafter, and the senator arrives at the Senate hearing. He is a bit disheveled and apologizes to the committee for being late. However, he explains that it was on account of his wife being dead, which causes audible gasps. He says that he was looking for a conspiracy, but found something worse: Rossum was a target of a consortium of companies. He explains: “They put me on Rossum’s trail, and when I discovered the real truth, they put a bomb in my car, the car Cindy took to stop by the family compound.” He, or his programmer, has clearly watched The Godfather II recently. He says that there is no Dollhouse, and that Madeline spent the last three years at a mental institution: “There is no Dollhouse. There are no sex slaves, no underground fortresses.” He claims to have documentation of everything: “There is abuse here. Not the lurid pulp fantasy they drilled into this unstable mind [referring to Madeline], but something more insidious. Something that has cost this country more than millions, and has cost me … everything.” He puts the mic down and hurries out, sparing barely a glance for poor broken-hearted Madeline. Then some men supposedly from the FBI ask to speak with Madeline. Uh oh. That can’t be good. So did Bennett fill him with this protocol before he escaped to the Dollhouse? Between when Cindy died and when he arrived at the Senate hearing? Or, perhaps, did the ambition that they put into Daniel cause him to come up with this on his own, as a way of self-preservation? What do you guys think?
Back at the L.A. Dollhouse, Boyd and Adelle make their way to the imprint room. Echo is gone. Both Tophers are now in the same room, and 2.0 doesn’t want to be wiped. 2.0: “Seriously, just a few more days. I could help analyzing Perrin’s brain map.” 1.0 is clearly annoyed with his counterpart: “It wouldn’t be a second opinion. It would be the same opinion, twice.” Adelle: “There’s more to analyze? I thought we now knew the senator’s function: to inoculate Rossum against further scrutiny.” Boyd: “It’s more than that. He’s talking about new regulations, that inevitably he would oversee. Rossum would be creating its own laws.” Topher 1.0 doesn’t miss the chance to be patronizing: “Good throw, Boyd, but still doesn’t win you the giant stuffed panda.” 2.0 cuts in: “Let’s just say that’s an awful lot of ambition for a junior senator.” Hmmm. 1.0 is annoyed: “I was going to say that.” 2.0 then gets wiped, and leaves an unknowing Victor. I miss him, but 1.0 clearly does not. At least I can go back to just a simple Topher in the recap. Boyd: “So what are you saying? They’re manufacturing a president?” Topher: “It’s happened before.” Adelle: “Delightful. Well before the fascists take over, we need to find Echo. She’s lost in the world in doll state, utterly helpless. I want every resource engaged in her recovery.” Boyd: “And Madeline?” Adelle: “I’m afraid there’s nothing more we can do.” Sigh. More Madeline. I would entertain hopes that Paul might save her, but given his obsession with Echo, that seems quite unlikely.
We then cut to poor Madeline. She is at the D.C. Dollhouse, under the questionable care of Bennett. Bennett relates to this second casualty of Caroline’s, and notes: “She’s out there. They’re all out there, and we’re left behind … alone. No one should be alone.”
Cut to Echo, who is wandering the streets alone, accompanied by piano music. Grrr Argh. No! I don’t want the episode to end!
So, what did you think? Reactions? Questions? Theories? Comment below.
