SailAweigh, I think you're right. I'd forgotten about that completely.

Like Sail, I just figured it was a pro bono job. So many bits and pieces of the unaired pilot have leaked out into the actual episodes that I forgot that the pro bono work hadn't yet; possibly the showrunners did too (or possibly it in fact had and we just haven't seen it yet because the order the eps are airing in has gone all wonky).

Even if it was pro bono, the Dollhouse is still pure undiluted evil. IIRC from the unaired pilot, the pro bono was all the doctor's idea and the PTB agreed to it only because she convinced them that it'd benefit them in the long run (the doctor seemed to care for the Actives themselves; the PTB didn't give a shit about anything except their own bottom line).

Another scene in this episode which I think slipped under the radar - Adelle is on the phone to somebody, presumably her boss, who's giving her orders. If she's got a boss, it's a bigger operation than we know.

JZ, the episode order is nearly unwonky now. The next episode was shot as episode 6, but is now 5. Then episode 6 airs, then -- I think -- it's back to the originally intended order. Some episodes were knowingly shot out of order, which is the point we're about to get to.

I really liked Victor in this episode. Much more than Paul. In fact, I was feeling mad at Paul's behaviour. The show has succeeded at getting me to separate my sympathies for the Actives and their bosses. I guess I should be behind Paul, but that part really isn't working. Even though I think the Dollhouse is evil incarnate, somehow his quest isn't grabbing me. And I like Tahmoh, so that's not my hurdle. He's just bitter and dead and I'm not sure why he has this little obsession.

Maybe if he started getting cozy with his next door neighbour.

I need to see that Paul has something on the Dollhouse besides the idea that it exists. The Caroline pictures came after he was already convinced, so where the hell did this absolute conviction come from?

He's just bitter and dead and I'm not sure why he has this little obsession.

I think this is why I can't warm up to him. Other than purely altruistic "this is wrong," (and very few people do things for purely altruistic reasons) why is he so hot on this? What's his stake in it, other than rubbing the other FBI guys' nose in it? I want a personal reason for his interest and I'm not seeing it. Did a sister/brother run away and he's always wondered? An old school friend disappear? He thinks the actives are all really cyclons and he wants to exterminate them? Give me something I can relate to. Make me sympathetic to him other than watching him flail around for nothing week after week.

Yeah, as I said on the podcast - I keep forgetting Paul is even in the show. If I didn't know he was the male lead from following the show online, I would have thought Victor or Boyd was. He seems to pop up and it's, like, "Hey! My name's Paul! I'm completely obsessed and crazy! Where's the pretty girl? SHOW ME THE PWETTY!".

I would have liked this episode more if the previews hadn't given away the whole wiping bit. The plot was fairly interesting, if, as mentioned, a bit laden with anvils.

Yeah, I was surprised they spoiled the remote wipe in the trailer. We reviewed this episode in November, before it got recut to include the "Echo" bits - some minor differences detailed here: [link]

Lots was eyerolly, but the turns were interesting. Agree I would have preferred to not have been spoiled for the remote wipe by the trailer.

I am so obsessed by the naming conventions, even though they made it clear last episode that we have no idea how many we're dealing with (and it seemed so from the extras in this one as well). Since they were all, "what happened to the last Sierra" I don't suppose we know anything about the numbers from the names.

But I love that Victor ended up being one and that I totally didn't catch that his name was one of the alphabet. I promise to be more alert the next time someone named Mike shows up. And I do think it's interesting that they didn't change his name for the role. Do you think maybe he met Paul previously, or during a null state somehow, and they had to keep his name for Paul during those assignments? Would Paul looking him back up unexpectedly explain any of the earlier scenes where he denied knowledge of the Dollhouse?

That is to say, do we have evidence in the past where Victor was not named, or didn't respond to his name, and claimed not to know? Where he could have been on another assignment or something and had Paul find him, thus confusion ensued?

I'm still kinda cranky about the jokiness of the sex/rape red herrings. Doesn't stop me from having a problem with it, just because you think it's funny, showrunners.

Also, it turns out Echo's a C64! You could play that data noise over the radio to wipe her! Or use a cassette deck!