Dollhouse 2x02 Review: I Feel, Therefore I Am

“Instinct”
Written by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters
Directed by Marita Grabiak
 
The Story
Topher is super smug because he tweaked Echo’s brain so hard that he tricked her body into thinking she’s a new mom, lactation and all. She’s all about being a mom, and Sierra has been programmed to be her supportive friend. However, Echo quickly becomes paranoid because her “husband” seems emotionally distant from her and the baby. She’s convince he wants to kill her and/or take the baby, so she tries to flee. He and Paul catch up with her in the police station, and she gets hauled back to the Dollhouse. Also, it’s time for Madeline’s checkup to make sure there haven’t been any negative effects of leaving the Dollhouse. She’s still there when Echo gets hauled in, screaming and flailing because she wants her baby. Madeline is mildly disturbed, but only mildly, and she and Paul briefly discuss how her life is better without the grief for her daughter. After being wiped, Echo goes straight back to the client’s house so she can be with the baby again. While she’s holding the baby and a knife, she and the client discuss parenthood and how it’s kind of messed up that the Dollhouse would make her love this baby and then take him away from her. She continues this conversation later with Paul. Elsewhere, Senator Perrin is learning more and more about the Dollhouse and getting increasingly determined to stop it.
 
I remember when this episode aired a lot of people were rather miffed at the idea that Echo’s maternal instinct could override everything else, ‘cause feminism or something. That doesn't bug me, but I'm not sure I buy the supposed science behind it. I think Echo's resilience against getting wiped plus the whole lactation deal is why she ran off to go get baby Jack. If it were any other doll, her breasts would just feel really uncomfortable until the physical changes were reversed. So on the whole, I don't think that plotline was especially weaker or stronger than the average engagement plotline. The stuff with Alexis Denisof's character is fascinating, though. He's like a politician version of S1 Paul. The idealist who wants to put an end to the Dollhouse. We'll see if his level of power will make him more successful.
 
Things I Liked

• The transition from Mommy Echo telling Friend Sierra she’s going to stop being paranoid to Mommy Echo breaking into fake husband’s office and snooping.
• “Emily” freaking out when they take Jack away is extremely convincing. Good work, Eliza.
• Echo wanting to get to her baby but not understanding how cars work at first
• “I’m telling you! I remember wiping her, and then my face exploded!”

 
Things I Didn’t

• I want to ship Paul/Madeline, but Madeline isn’t nearly as endearing as Mellie
• Okay, yeah, Topher’s a bit condescending to people who aren’t as smart as him. That could be a reason he has trouble making friends.

 
The Characters
Oh, okay, Madeline’s daughter died from cancer, not something she did. So nevermind about my ominous theory from season one, then. I think maybe the reason Madeline doesn’t seem as interesting or fun as Mellie is that by taking away her pain, the Dollhouse kind of hollowed her out. We need pain and suffering so that happiness and all the other positive emotions have meaning. Aha! And that’s exactly the point Echo makes at the end of the episode. I never really realized it before, but Madaline is supposed to be a foil for Echo. Nice. Echo wants to feel everything. Identity comes from emotion much more than from thought for her. Adelle prides herself on how genuine the actives are, but that’s the most selfish concept in the world. Making fake people who believe they’re real, and then disposing of them. In the real world, we have to take responsibility for the emotional fallout of our actions, but the Dollhouse is entirely based around cheating that.
 
Overall Rating
4/5