Dollhouse 2x06 Review: You Are Who You Choose to Be

“The Left Hand”
Written by Tracy Bellomo
Directed by Wendey Stanzler
 
The Story
Bennett continues torturing Echo with the mind-wipe thing. She gives Echo her own memory of being abandoned by Caroline while her arm was pinned under a boulder, and she also makes Echo’s left arm useless. Adelle and Topher go to D.C. to steal the brain map of Senator Perrin so they can find out what Rossum wants him for. Topher imprints Victor to be a second Topher, and they work together, being twice as much fun as just one Topher. They manage to wake Perrin up before he gets mind-wiped, and he and Echo escape together. Bennett’s people go after them, including Mrs. Perrin. They make it to Perrin’s childhood...estate, where they change clothes and try to figure out where to go next. Bennett sends a sleeper active signal to Perrin, so he goes all Terminator on Echo and the Dollhouse operatives who show up. Before the Tophers can deactivate it, he strangles Mrs. Perrin to death. He can’t handle the responsibility of being her killer, even if it wasn’t something he was conscious of doing, so he lets them wipe him and use him in the congressional hearing. He weaves a fabulous lie about how Rossum is the victim of a bunch of other greedy companies, and Madeline Costley is a crazy woman who’s been tricked by them. Madeline ends up in the D.C. Dollhouse at Bennett’s mercy, and Echo is alone in doll state in an unfamiliar city.
 
More arc stuff! I love it. The writing is amazing in this one. Awesome dialogue and a roller-coaster of a plot. Victor!Topher is the best role Enver has had a chance to play, I super ship Topher/Bennett even though she’s a bit of an evil mad scientist, and Rossum just gets scarier and more powerful every episode. S2 is on a roll.
 
Things I Liked

• Oh hey, a third Fresh off the Boat actor!
• Victor!Topher, particularly because he refers to the actual topher as 1.0
• Bennett checking her hair before meeting Topher
• Bennett and Topher being extremely awkward in their enthusiasm for each other’s work and their interest in each other’s cuteness
• The Topher/Bennett music
• Adelle’s strategy for manipulating the D.C. boss
• Topher thinking Bennett’s a doll (because she’s so pretty, and her arm doesn’t work)
•  Bennett’s expression when she realizes Topher thought she was a doll because she’s gorgeous
• Topher and Victor!Topher basically having internal monologue about the hotness of Bennett
• The conspiratorial smile Adelle gives Topher
• Topher saying Bennett’s brain map is beautiful, and her taking it the same way most women would take “you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
• Topher’s awkward hologram compared to Perrin’s gorgeous detailed brain map
• “I think your senator is filibustering.”

 
Things I Didn’t

• Cindy Perrin. She’s horrible. She’s spent three years with this man, and she doesn’t care about him even a little bit.
• Okay, Bennett might be adorable with Topher, but she’s terrifying in all other contexts
• Does Ivy still work there, or did she get promoted to the Topher spot at another Dollhouse? Because if she’s still there, wouldn’t she be annoyed that Topher imprinted Victor as him instead of trusting her to run things on that end? I’m gonna stop thinking about this now before I poke too many holes in the logic behind having Enver Gjokaj show off his acting skills in yet another mind-blowing performance

 
The Characters
In “Belonging,” Topher had the moral dilemma of helping someone or following orders in a situation with massive consequences behind either choice. In this one, he has to choose between loyalty to his very powerful new crush and to Echo, who needs his help. He chooses Echo! Things are looking promising for Topher’s moral alignment. I think he started out as True Neutral and now he’s leaning towards Chaotic Good.
 
Echo’s getting better and better at overcoming her programming. Her being out in the world without a current imprint should be really interesting. And it’s fascinating that she’s developed enough autonomy to be afraid of Caroline. I wonder if that’s how amnesia patients feel if they’ve lived without their old memories long enough to feel relatively comfortable with who they are. Remembering could change everything.
 
Overall Rating
5/5