I missed the second episode, and it sounds like it was more interesting than the first. Oh well. I'll try it again this week, but right now I'm feeling manipulated. None of the characters speak to me yet.

I'm liking it but not loving it, and it definitely is treading a mighty fine line (IMO) that it needs to stay on one side of or I'm out.

I agree that Harry Lennix is the best thing in the show so far, and that Eliza seems to be having serious range issues. Definitely getting a Warren vibe from Topher. I wish they'd gone more for the "geek enjoying his high-tech toys while la-la-la-ing the dicier implications of his work" type, a la Marshall on ALIAS (or the type of character Seth Green played in ENEMY OF THE STATE) instead of the smarmy creep angle. That said, the actor's doing a great job because I HATE Topher (although his asking for a gun in the flashback made me laugh a lot). I think that's what I'm supposed to be feeling (I hope). I'll stick with it a few more at least (and we'll see how many more there are).

Definitely getting a Warren vibe from Topher

Thank you! That's definitely it. But that aside, I kind of like Topher. A little. I mean, I'm not entirely won over, but I'm not totally turned off either.

I guess I'm handwaving a lot and enjoying the show on a surface "shiny!" level. I'ma wait a while before I make any decisions on its deeper issues.

But I totally got chills at the shoulder thump. Well played.

Vanity Fair very politely point out they may slightly dislike the show: [link]

Alas. "Inappropriate Content Blocked by NH/SWIMSUIT 0 1" Too many swimsuits in Vanity Fair?

I wish they'd gone more for the "geek enjoying his high-tech toys while la-la-la-ing the dicier implications of his work" type, a la Marshall on ALIAS (or the type of character Seth Green played in ENEMY OF THE STATE) instead of the smarmy creep angle. That said, the actor's doing a great job because I HATE Topher (although his asking for a gun in the flashback made me laugh a lot). I think that's what I'm supposed to be feeling (I hope).

See, I feel the opposite. I don't hate Topher. I think he falls more on the Marshall side than the smarmy creep side. I kind of like him, although I'm finding him a little hard to read. At times, he seems desensitized to what he's doing, and sometimes he seems kind of world-weary about it.

But I totally got chills at the shoulder thump. Well played.

I wonder if Echo is the only one malfunctioning right now.

So much stuff occurred to me upon watching the episode a second time.

Can Alpha mind wipe people? He's got Ninja Skills. Did he program Archer Boy? Was Lasagne Girl offering Paul a poisoned dish, in parallel with the A plot?

And yeah, I'm still with the liking Topher. He seemed distressed about what happened with Alpha, and in particular, that Alpha was his work.

I note that the fact his work resulted in multiple deaths failed to convince him to find another career.

I note that the fact his work resulted in multiple deaths failed to convince him to find another career.

I suspect the severance program at the Dollhouse may be of a permanent nature.

Yeah, he appears to be the only person who can do the science, which makes him indispensable. If he leaves, the operation shuts down, and I don't think Ms. DeWitt would be happy with that.

He seems very young, though, which makes me wonder how long the operation has been around. If Alpha really was Patient Zero, and they're up to Sierra by now...I still don't know what the timeline would be. It needs to have existed long enough for it to gain notoriety and for Agent Helo to have been obsessed over it.