Episode 9 – Spy in the House of Love – Your Thoughts
Go to the comments’ section below to discuss all the twists and turns in last night’s episode!
46 Responses 
Dollverse (c) 2007-2009 Kevin Beaumont. Dollhouse (c) 20th Century Fox.
Fantastic! Dominic, of all people, I couldn’t believe it!
And Mellie, bringing Paul a message from inside the Dollhouse, and then he has to just go back to kissing her like nothing happened! I know this sounds weird, but I am so sad that they can never have a real relationship, they were so fraking cute. Anyways, I loved it, and I’m still holding out hope for a second season. =]
Great episode!! Check out the Mellie/November and Ballard situation. Another tortured relationship a la Buffy/Angel? There’s so many great things that could be said about this episode, such as the use of actives to tell different stories from varying points in time within the same episode, but my favorite parts were the exploration of the further evolution of Echo and the revelation of the humanity of Olivia.
By the way, does anyone know what Echo said to Dominic in the room right before he pulled his gun? All I could understand was, “All I need was 20 more seconds for you to…” I couldn’t make out the rest.
I loved this episode. So many twists… I’m interested to see how the Boyd-echo relationship changes with the introduction of a new handler.
I’m not sure of the exact quote, but she said something along the lines of: “I needed one more sign to confirm my suspicions.” Dominic: “And what sign is that?” Echo: “20 seconds ago you unsnapped your holster.”
I turn the volume on my TV up waayyy too loud.
She basically she was waiting for one more sign to prove his guilt and that sign was the fact that he unsnapped his gun holster 20 seconds ago.
I thought it was a fantastic episode! I still think that Eliza has eyes that just break your heart when she’s expressing saddness or fear.
Dominic was the spy? whoa, did not see that one coming!!! I felt so sad for Adelle though.
Thanks for the help on the “20 seconds ago” line. That makes more sense now. I must’ve watched it 3 or 4 times and still didn’t hear it clearly.
This episode was so great! All those time shifts and show Adelle’s complex character, Dollhouse is becoming better and better. I really hope for a second season!
The structure of the story was great, I loved seeing the four dolls different imprints. And Adelle and Victor, OMG.
Wow… just…wow.
Excellent episode.
Lots of answers, lots of new questions and some great lines. loved it!
At the beginning, I was confused, cause Echo said: “She made a mistake, now she’s sad.” so, I was thinking that the spy was a girl, possibly Victor’s handler (who, BTW look so familiar..) It was really cool that Echo was thinking to, Topher (and I) were shocked that she wanted to help. Dominic was kinda scary at the end with his smile, but I still don’t understand why he wanted to kill Echo in “True Believer.”
Also loved how Echo loves Boyd as her handler, so I CANNOT wait TWO WEEKS to see more…
Haha…UCLA’s Boelter Hall is…the NSA!
So good! It’s great that we’re finally getting to see an non-uptight version of Adelle. It makes her character much more interesting to me and makes me curious what her personal endgame is with the dollhouse. Also-Topher must know that Adelle was the real ‘lonelyhearts’ client right??? Adelle could have communicated the fencing skills, british accent etc. and pretended it was a request of the client, however, he would have had to program Victor to meet the granny and then secretly drive to meet DeWitt at her house…otherwise, how would he know how to get there? Although, I do think Victor called Dewitt “Tanya” and not Adelle…so maybe topher thought granny was a front for someone else, but didn’t know the someone else was DeWitt? Maybe that location wasn’t her actual personal address?
“I do think Victor called Dewitt “Tanya” and not Adelle”
He called her Catherine.
Angela
The actress who played Victor’s handler was also Prado’s wife in Dexter and she played a police officer in The Dresden Files.
This episode was great!! a “non up-tight” version of adelle was already seen in episode 7 when she got druged, by the way I´m gonna tlak about ep7 and 8 here cause there were no comment page for them( why???)
Ep7: amazing, the fact that the funniest things on the series came from dewitt was very surprising, her characther gained a whole bigger perspective cause we saw her so childlike at first and so frail at last, it was moving…
ep 8: It seemed a little soon for an “awakening”, but since no one knows if they´ll be back for a second season…The way they closed the story in the ending, that they were programed to feel like that and thinking they were escaping and fooling the dollhouse, and it was actually something to give them a closure to their needs so they could return to their doll inocence completely again, it was genious
Ep9: another great one( since ep 4 the show is keeping an great standard). I suspected from the beggining that it would to obvious to be Yvy…It would seem unconvincing if they put dominic as trying to bring it down and save the dolls, I wouldn´t buy it, but he was clearly just keeping tags on her, government must be trying to control it and use for their own ends…Adelle and victor, I dont think of it like “very surprising” but It was great nevertheless…
The way they relate her rough job and her emotional needs and her self awareness of being delluding herself, her lonelyness and bitterness and the irony of calling “miss lonely hearts” to me that is the essence of good storytelling…
I just keep loving the show more and more
-Frank
and Sierra was quite good-looking in that disguise, wasn´t it? wow!!!!!!!
It´s hard to know how victor would love adelle without topher knowing it, but I don´t think he knew it, cause I don´t think he would have the guts to make that joke in the end…
This show cannot be cancelled, no way!!
Does Fox really considers Hulu viewings or just tv ratings??
I would play it everyday to save the show if it actually works…
If anyone wants a review, including my personal feeling of how Adeele’s a big-time hypocrite with how she used “Roger”, please visit jwnetwork.blogspot.com. There’s also past reviews and sokme other past posts from my other blogs.
About your “review”, which is more of a sinopse…It´s silly to say “she´s doing what she killed Hearn for”. one thing has nothing to do with the other. she was doing what pratically every client of dollhouse does. she programed him to want to love her and not used violence to have sex with him. She killed Hearn because what he did was against the rules of the dollhouse, when they are in the doll state they have to be pure or the dollhouse will not work properly( don´t ask me why).
By the way, Adelle is not an hipocrite, she rules the dollhouse and believes in her work, it´s not hipocrisy to use it. hipocridy would be, for instance, if Boyd who criticises what they do, decided to hire a doll, or Ballard…
think about things before writing them
I disagree. Adelle should not use an Active as a date or someone to have a romantic getaway with. What Hearn did is worse, and Actives are supposed help people, for whatever reason. Adelle’s decision to use Victor like that is still not good in my mind.
On that note, Ballard has become a knowing client, although inadvertently. I would hope that he pushes Mellie away instead of continuing to use her in the hopes that she leads him to the Dollhouse. Because if he keeps her around, then he’s just using her for his own needs, just like all the other clients.
I think you’re on to something, Heather. Paul is in really bad shape with his obsession with the Dollhouse. It’s been nine episodes, and we still don’t know why he started looking in the first place. If the obsession overcomes his soul, Mellie could get caught in the crossfire. He’s got to ask himself if it’s really worth it, and if it is, why is that so? Is Mellie’s well-being a price worth paying? Hopefully, the rest of the season will let us know.
But it wasn’t Dominic sending out messages to Ballard was it? That wouldn’t make sense if it was, i think next episode Paul will receive another message. Mellie delivering the messge though? Heartbreaking.
“Adelle’s decision to use Victor like that is still not good in my mind”…what show are you watching??? that was almost funny, Adelle is the boss of hte dollhouse, why would she thougt wrong to use an active for herself?? she puts her actives into a lot more dangerous situations, what´s the fuzz about this romantic engagement?? it was the most safe and healthy that they could have. Sierra and echo almost got shot in the episode, Victor only had sex…which one would you rather be in??? heheh
And of course the big question left open at the end of the show is – is Adelle a doll herself?
If the show keeps the quality ramping up as it has been, expect to see it return.
I love this show! Check out this article that looks at Dollhouse and Whedon!
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/04/13/fanboy_fight_joss_whedon_versus_j_j_abra
Excellent episode!
I think the show is getting better and better.
I love the spy scene of Sierra, very well done.
I wish it will have a second season.
Best episode yet!!!
Fantastic episode. It was eye opening in many ways; Adelle being the true “lonely hearts,” and also we see her cry for the first time; we finally understand the horrifying significance of the Attic; what really blew my mind (though I don’t quite know why) is when Echo said, “your chair changes people. I want to help.”
I love a show that makes me really care for the characters. I’m actually really concerned Paul is going to snap or something. That scene when Mellie came home really freaked me out, with the wall plastered with Dollhouse info and Paul getting all hysterical. Keep it together, man!
Mostly, I look forward to how, as Boyd put it in a previous episode, “It all leads back to Echo.”
Great episode! Hope more people are watching the show now!!!
The question that I got was if Claire is a doll herself… she doubted when asked about a life outside the dollhouse, and perhaps she doesn’t have any…
Amazing episode! Just three left
. Still hoping for a second season.
Also, to help the comment two below me, Echo said she needed him to confirm it, and she knew this because 20 seconds previously he unclipped his gun.
Loved this episode, the show is really taking off now. I hope they bring it back for a second season!
Every week this epsiode just becomes more and more amazing and every week I keep getting more depressed at the articles online that tell me it has little chance of surviving. It’s UNBELIEVABLE!! I don’t understand how they can cancel something that is easily becoming the best show on television. I was going to put more adjectives in front of show in that last sentence but there are just way too many to describe this show.
If you go to hulu and just watch the ads during Dollhouse over and over again, do you think that would help to keep the show on? Or is that just a really dumb question?
It´s a good question, I can´t see the adds on my country, there´s a message onscreen about not loading but I still have to wait 30 seconds…does that help too? I want to know, I would be watching over and over to help the show too!
Ricardo-
I wondered about Adelle being a doll as well with that line that she had near the end. But I don’t think she can be, because she was affected by the drug a few weeks ago like the other non-dolls, rather than like a doll.
I was actually uncomfortable at first with her using Victor in an personal engagement just because all of the sexual engagements that the actives do kind of give me theheeby jeebies. But I think in the end it does make it more interesting show and her a stronger character. We already have Boyd and Dr. Saunders questioning the morality of the dollhouse, but Adelle doesn’t. she kind of reminds me of Lila from Angel… and I have a lot of the same questions about her.
-erin
The best moment was when Victor tells Topher, “Easy now, I think she likes you.” and he gets this “really??” look. haha. That was amazing.
Boyd reminds me of Giles. Will the new handler be like Wesley when he first came to Buffy? I think it’s too hard for Boyd to just let Echo go and the way she was looking at him instead of her handler when they imprinted her??
I don’t think Adelle is a hypocrite, but she must not be comfortable with her use of a doll because a) she hides it and b) she talks about the “old lady” using Victor in such a disdainful way. I think she sees it as unprofessional to sleep with Dolls, even as actives on a mission and she’s embarrassed that she needs Victor. She is very much like Lila.
Also, could Dominic being “in the attic” be something like a Faith in a coma situation? The contents of his brain are neatly packed inside a medal box and I don’t think that’s going away anytime soon.
I love Dollhouse, would Fox give us another season if we asked really nicely?
I’ve gotten to where I go to Fox.com every day, click on the newest DH episode, and just let it play while I’m out doing other stuff.
Is that cheating?
Yeah, definately best emisode so far. I got that warm fuzzy feeling allready in the intro, and the episode really lived upp to my severely raised expectations. Joss, if you read this, this is why we worship the ground you walk on.
And yeas, I have been wondering if any of the “non-dolls” in the dollhouse are actually dolls… I mean, next time we see Dominic, he will be one…..
I knew it was him! I had spent weeks trying to snuff out the spy. Finally narrowed it down to Dominic and the lab assistant(because of her thankless go-for job) and I was right. Loved this episode! He deserves to be put in the attic!
If anyone would like to see the actress who plays Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) in another outstanding performance, watch Miss Austen Regrets. I am a fan of Jane Austen, and Olivia Williams plays her exactly as I imagine Miss Austen must have been – intelligent, witty, independent, and yet not a man-hater, recluse, or spinster. She is a superb actress, and it has been fun watching her in Dollhouse. Miss Austen Regrets.
Thenks for the tip Michelle! I think Olivia is amazing, the best actress of the series, and plays a very dificult and complex character. She has to be very tough and cold, but seem very lonely and sad, she also was unbelievably funny in ep 7…now she showed an emotive side of her characther that added more levels of depth to Adelle…I also love the way she pronounces the words…
I can’t fault Adelle for turning out to be the real Ms. Lonely Hearts, because I would probably have done the same thing. It’s not, as somebody brought it up, like what Hearn did to Sierra while in the Dollhouse–which was rightly punished (albeit in an unexpected yet totally awesome way). The fact that she basically…ah…”retires” (for lack of a better word) the particular engagement points towards her acceptance that she can’t continue living in that fantasy, no matter how much it helps her cope with the stresses of her job–specifically, the secrecy part.
Also, when she mentioned her old job, did anyone else think of Terrance Zdunich/Darren Bousman/Darren Smith’s “Repo! The Genetic Opera”? XD I couldn’t resist giggling.