Blog 14 - Dollhouse Episode 2

I decided to rewatch the second episode of Dollhouse, "The Target." I really enjoyed this episode because it starts to open up the problems with Dollhouse and the flaws within their system whether it be technology, their employers, or the dolls themselves.


There are a couple scenes that I find particularly important. The first is the scene when Langdon discovers about Alpha, a killer doll that used to be part of Dollhouse. He is told by Topher that Alpha was part of an experiment where they imprinted survival skills into the doll, but as a result, the survival skills were used to kill many other members of Dollhouse.


The second scene is when Echo is with Richard, and he tells her while he is trying to kill her that she has to "prove [she's] not just an echo."


The third scene I found important was when Langdon is talking to Topher about the doll he is assigned to. Topher asks "So, what do you think of your new girl?" In which Langdon replies "She's not a girl. She's not even a person. Just an empty hat, until you stuff a rabbit in it."


These three scenes all relate to the fact that the dolls in Dollhouse are merely empty carcasses waiting for memories to fill them up. The dolls have no mind, personality, or traits of their own: they are what they are programmed to be. And, if they are lacking the imprints to have survival skills, like the dolls inside the headquarters that had wiped memories who were killed by Alpha, they are completely useless. This leads to conclude that people are entitled to their own memories. Without them, you lose who you are, your life skills, and your meaning to the world. If you are only a copy, an echo of someone else, you really aren't anyone at all.