Spoilers. Hyped by creator Joss Whedon and star Eliza Dushku as the turning-point of Dollhouse, intended to keep undecided audiences around 'till week six, "Man On The Street" came loaded with big expectations. For the most part, I'm pleased to report that this episode did a solid job of developing its core idea, while unleashing a steady stream of fun surprises. More happened in this hour than the entirety of the previous five episodes, and it's clear Whedon has a plan that Fox should let him unfold without burdening him with "network notes"...
The Dollhouse itself takes on greater meaning within its own universe, as the opening segment shows us a TV report about the mythical "Dollhouse" (an urban legend that's existed since the late-'80s), and continues to intersperse vox-populi throughout the story.It helps give us a sense that Agent Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) is chasing what amounts to a popular myth, turning him into the Fox Mulder of Whedon's creation. Ballard's character, stalking the sidelines before now, takes a more central and important role, too – helped by the stronger reintroduction of a fellow agent that thinks he's a joke (Mark Sheppard's Agent Tanaka), and sounding-board/love-interest Mellie (Miracle Laurie), his smitten neighbour across the hall whom Ballard finds he can openly discuss his Dollhouse case with.
Ostensibly, this episode concerns Ballard's discovery that internet entrepreneur Joel Mynor (Patton Oswalt) is a regular client of the Dollhouse, wiring money to them every year on the same date. Surprisingly, when Ballard intercepts Mynor at his home, he's amazed to find that Echo/Caroline (Dushku) is the "active" assigned to be Mynor's "wife" for the day. Inevitably, Echo escapes when her handler Boyd (Harry Lennix) intercepts, and the resulting scene between Ballard and Mynor was very good. When the smoke clears, the lonely IT magnate gives a surprisingly touching reason for why he uses the Dollhouse: to indulge a fantasy of showing his "wife" their new home together, as his real wife died before he got the chance.
At the Dollhouse, everyone's concerned about Sierra (Dichen Lachman), who reacts to physical contact with Victor (Enver Gjokaj) by screaming at him in horror. Boyd investigates why Sierra would have such a negative response to Victor, as it's previously been noted that Victor has sexual feelings for his fellow active. He quickly discovers a ruse by Sierra's handler Hearn (Kevin Kilner) to exploit Sierra in her pliant state. Hearn has been regularly ushering his charge to a blind spot of the Dollhouse facility to rape her. There was a clear tinge of pedophilia in this uncomfortable subplot, as the actives clearly resemble children in their default state, and it left the desired nasty taste in the mouth.
Rather interestingly, DeWitt (Olivia Williams) chooses to punish Hearn by giving him the option of eliminating Ballard's neighbour Mellie (whom the Dollhouse have under surveillance and know she's been hearing sensitive information from Ballard), and he accepts her proposal over a supposed "mind-wipe".
Only, that's not the full story. When Hearn arrives to murder Mellie and gets in a struggle with her, DeWitt calls Mellie's answer-machine and delivers a cryptic message that changes Mellie's mental state (Manchurian Candidate-style) and imbues her with the skill to kill Hearn in "self-defense", before she's returned to her natural state. So, Mellie is an "active", or at the very least an instrument of similar programming used by the Dollhouse to keep tabs on Ballard. I did have my suspicions that Mellie could be a plant, as she seemed to latch onto Ballard very quickly when introduced, but this was still a surprise. I guess I was thrown by the fact Victor is also circling Ballard, posing as a contact, so didn't properly consider someone else in Ballard's life would be a faker.
Really, the only downside to this episode was how little Echo mattered to the storyline. "Man On The Street" was dominated by Ballard, so Echo almost became supplemental to the plot, merely commenting on Sierra's story and dropped into Ballard's story twice (to amusingly shriek about "porn!" when she was discovered in Mynor's house, and to engage in a fight with him in a Chinese restaurant's kitchen.)However, this last scene did introduce another new piece of information that helped stir my interest further –- when, having narrowly beaten Ballard in an alleyway, Echo confides in him about there being twenty Dollhouse's around the world, how the fantasy-escort veneer is a cover for a more malign purpose, and advising he take a different approach if he genuinely intends to expose them. It seems that someone working at the L.A Dollhouse implanted Echo with this message, so Ballard has a friend on the inside. But, who is it? My guess? Ivy (Liza Lapira), the Chinese assistant who helps Topher (Fran Kranz) with the active's implants. She'd have the necessary skills. Or is that too obvious?
Overall, with its abundance of twists and developments, Joss Whedon manages to grab disheartened audiences by the collar and let them glimpse his master plan. Complaints about the Dollhouse being a silly high-tech escort service are dampened, Ballard becomes the compelling lead characters in some ways, the fights were imaginatively choreographed (love that kitchen punch-up), Whedon's ear for dialogue remains a joy ("I’m sure I’m in serious need of some moral spankitude, but guess who's not qualified to be my rabbi?"), and this episode generally felt more sinister and adult in attitude. I'm sure there will be plenty more episodes that have all the weight of a frothy Charlie's Angels-meets-Joe 90 escapade, but it's nice to feel there's a solid foundation underneath, and that Whedon has a direction and purpose.
"Man On The Street" may have suffered slightly from hyperbole as a marketing tactic, but I have no qualms about admitting this had me gripped, and left me excited about the show for the very first time.
20 March 2009
Fox, 9/8c
Writer: Joss Whedon
Director: David Solomon
Cast: Eliza Dushku (Echo), Tahmoh Penikett (Agent Ballard), Olivia Williams (DeWitt), Fran Kranz (Topher), Harry J. Lennix (Boyd), Enver Gjokaj (Lubov), Dichen Lachman (Sierra), Amy Acker (Dr. Claire Saunders), Miracle Laurie (Mellie), Patton Oswalt (Joel Mynor), Mark Sheppard (Agent Tanaka), Reed Diamond (Laurence Dominic), Kevin Kilner (Hearn), David Barry Gray (Bicks), Aisha Hinds (Loomis), Liza Lapira (Ivy), Patrick Stinson (Brett Locano) & Abby Cooper (Teen Girl)
