DOLLHOUSE "Getting Closer"

This show is so confusing, which has to be the reason it's nearing it's end.

In this episode, DeWitt has Paul kidnap Bennett in order to illicit her help in reconstruction Caroline's damaged wedge. Paul is back with a reconstructed memory, where his feelings for Echo/Caroline are missing. While kidnapping Bennett, Paul rescues Mellie, who's been wiped again by Rossum. Dr. Saunders has been staying with Boyd all this time, but comes back only to kill Bennett in front of Topher, it seems to keep her from finishing the reconstruction of Caroline's file. Dominick comes out of the attic in tact, when in a previous episode, they make it very clear that this is not something that anyone can do. Echo was able to do it because she's special and she had to help Victor and Sierra so they wouldn't die.

There are several things that cause pause and problems for me in this show. One; why is Dewitt helping them when, from the flashbacks, we can see that Caroline was the bane of her existence and she's the one who sent Caroline up to the head office in the first place.

Two; The selective memory that Bennett had about what Caroline did to her. We clearly see from, again the flashbacks, that Caroline allowed herself to be caught in order to save Bennett. But this is enough to want her to suffer and be in pain. Yes, she lost the use of her arm, but Caroline did tell her to get out. Tried to abort the mission. Didn't want to hurt innocent lives. The dynamic there is strange.

Three; Topher has been working at this facility for, God knows how long, and all of a sudden he has a conscience about what he's been doing... For Years!

Four; i always thought that there was something strange about Boyd's involvement in the Dollhouse. First he seems to be conflicted about what they do at the Dollhouse, then he's resigned to running the security side of things once Dominick has been placed in the attic, only to find out he's one of the two heads of Rossum.

Five; I've always disliked the idea that the Dolls in the House were pretty much used as sex slaves without their knowledge. It's like prostitution on a very high scale.

If the show had been about using one girl with an extraordinary mind to go on police missions, undercover, maybe like a mind melding, bionic, Alias types show, I may have responded better. But the ongoing sex for rich people turned me off early on. I was surprised it was picked up for a second season.

I seriously hope that they pull this all together to make sense, because it seems all over the map. More interesting than its humble beginnings at this point, but still strange. And although I'm a television addict, I would hate to think that I've wasted time watching something that ends with no real closure or no real message.

But hey, it's happened before.


FOX
Friday, Jan. 8, 2010
9:00 PM PST