Dollhouse Season 2 : Vows

The naysayers should have long been converted, but to be specific it should have been clear around A Say in the House of Love, even after Man on the Street and Needs, that Dollhouse was the the boldest piece of network television on air(along with Lost of course). This was the episode where Dollhouse truly showed it could more then match it's conceptual ambitions. Later eps like the two partner Brier Rose and Omega, underscored this and then came along Epitaph One which raised the bar even higher. So there was a lot riding on this second season premiere, to see if Whedon would compromise his vision, or if he would go full on with what had been developed to date.

Well it should be said first off that Vows is the best season premier under Whedon's producer/director eye since the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Anne, and so it goes without saying that it's vastly superior to the C Grade ep Ghost which officially opened the Dollhouse season earlier this year (as well it was the worst episode of television Whedon has ever directed). But it should also be said that Whedon and company weren't going to dive deep down in the rabbit hole of Epitaph One just yet, just part way with regards to that eps revelations of character. Vows is at once a standalone Dollhouse episode, in theory the type which was so botched and lacking in originality for the first 5 episodes of Season 1, but Whedon has improved his game since, so what we get is a well developed idea involving Echo evolving within the field due to her circumstances(and Eliza Dusku matching it). The client here turns out to be Ballard himself using the Dollhouse as a necessary evil in order to take down a top arms kingpin played by fellow BSG alum Jamie Bamber. Bamber bringing genuine menace and a human side in the face of betrayal despite what could have been a one note role (see most of the first haft of last season for examples of "the evil male client"). In a sequence that lives up to Epitaph One aesthetic break off, we witness Echo 's imprint on her wedding night making passionate love while Ballard listens in, sexually and emotional shaken by the whole incident. It's one of the series most striking set pieces to date, with out of focus framing and tight close ups, sharp inter-cutting between both Ballard and Echo, a poignant musical accompaniment, conveying the degrees to which Ballard has become emotionally involved with Echo/Caroline.

Taking this even further is the post credits scene with Topher where we begin with him waking from his bed, then the camera follows him out of the barren room and halls out into the bright reds of the Dollhouse proper. This scene underlines how Topher has no life outside of his work here, his involvement with the rest of the human race mostly consists of programing them to be who he/client/Rossum wants them to be. It's a striking moment that lives up to Topher's unexpectedly moving scenes from Epitaph One where we witnessed a man's sanity having collapsed under the crushing guilt of what he had done. The smirking jerk still exists, but he's been given depth now (one of the few letdowns from Season 1 was how they gave Dewitt and Dominic greater complexity and empathy but just disdain for this character). With these two eps I can see Topher becoming one of the great Whedon sociopaths, up there with Spike, Lindsey and Jane.

The most important development in the episode however (and it ties in nicely with Topher and Boyd) is with the character of Dr Saunder's/Whiskey, and it should be mentioned that Amy Acker continues to show that's she's one of the most criminally unappreciated actors around (no actor perhaps except Garrieet Dillahunt in Deadwood has manged to convey two separate characters so convincingly like Acker did as Fred/Illeria in Angel), here Acker plays as women who's own grasp of self is falling apart, she wants to an individual, and not an active and yet on some level she yearns for that simplicity, on another level she's disgusted that Tohper whom she despises was responsible for creating her personality. In the episodes key scene Whiskey puts the moves on Topher to prove a point about her individuality, however ends up feeling worse cause she isn't really herself just filling a body with another person's personality. The whole scene takes place in Topher computer backroom with both characters have an involving if sad discussion about the nature of human indentity and what it means to evolve from your initial programing. We see two characters who have felt self loathing for so long yet haven't really shared it, they come together even in their dislike of the other.

Whedon has started off his season on a striking high note with these scenes, but also of note is the introduction of Alexis Denisoff as a crusading senator (and Boyd's dress down of his origins), Boyd's interest in Whiskey and his concern over Ballard; Ballards conversation with Dewitt (honestly I love it when these characters discuss moral fine points), a nice touch with Sierra and Victor joining together with both dolls drawn to each other despite attempts to keep them apart and yes again Echo and Ballard. Be it the great moment when Ballard called up Echo's memory's from the great fight scene in Man on the Street, which in turn led to a pretty decent action sequence. But best of all was where both characters make a pact to help Echo get back to her identity as Caroline. In this powerful closing sequence we witness what's promising to be one of Joss Whedon's most moving love stories (and one that's cirtainly filled when some interesting grey areas for Ballard), two people choosing to stand against a wall of corporate indifference and greed, to help her rediscover her singular identity.