Joss said we wouldn't find out until the end of season two at the earliest make a whole lot more sense.

except I thought that statement referred to Ballard, not Boyd.

So I'm rewatching E1 (is this still a spoilerfont?) and there's a scene with Claire that's well after she shot Bennet, and she's being all do-no-harm and caring about Topher, so maybe she *had* been a sleeper agent and they since removed that or reset her. She did seem to be super guilty, and if Bennet's death is what really sent him over the edge, and not the world-ending-responsibility, yeah. No. I'm so confused.

Also, I'm speculating that in light of Tony and Priya having their original selves back and all lovey-dovey, and in E1 Victor seems to be disinterested and Priya reminding herself that their thing is over, that Priya is still herself, but Victor got wiped and reset without his love for her... which makes no sense as theirs was the love that transcended space, time, bodies and personalities. Yeah, still confused.

Also trying to figure out where, in E1, the scene of Mr. Ambrose in Victor eating lobster in the kitchen fits into the timeline. Because it was an ultimatum of "if you take me out of this body, I'll see what side your on, and it's war". The whole new direction of permanent body upgrades. That would have had to have been before Victor's release and our introduction to Tony. And still, you know...

except I thought that statement referred to Ballard, not Boyd.

I can't find the exact cite, but the Wiki says:

Joss Whedon has stated that there is a reason that Boyd is in the Dollhouse and that later episodes/seasons will explore exactly why this morally strict ex-cop has agreed to work for such a morally shady corporation.

Which sounds like what I was thinking of, but I can't find where he said that.

I know (second-hand) most recently that there were comments made by Tahmoh at a convention and how he knew nothing about his own character to inform his acting choices and was frustrated by that, but I have a strong memory of an article or interview with possibly Joss saying that we wouldn't find out what Ballard's motivations for pursuing the dollhouse and what makes him tick until many moons/seasons later. It works for Boyd, though, very perfectly, so I could be misremembering, or it could have been said for both!

What?

Also, what? And again, what THAT was?

I'm sorry. Not all fit with what I thought I knew.

And also, there's a big, loving hug on this corner of the world for Topher. Poor boy.

And nice cameo by Eliza's boytoy, there.

Ah, thank you. I couldn't figure out why he looked familiar before.

I hate him. He's a shitty basketball player and a big ball of bitch on the court. I lost respect for Eliza when I found out she was dating him.

Seconding the Rick Fox hate. He skeeves me out, I'm ashamed he played for my school, and I'm disappointed in Eliza for dating him.

OK, on second viewing the only thing that makes no sense to me is the goodbye scene between Boyd and Saunders (that's the same scene that was in E1, right?). Was he triggering her, or was something in him hidden that got triggered when she did, or...? It doesn't make sense if he was never going to really leave, as it seems from the way things went down in the lab at the end.

I was thinking he changed his mind about leaving after he said goodbye.

I thought he left in order to lead in the troops. Which makes it even more confusing. And that she was punishing topher while also hindering resurrection of Caroline.