Spoilers. Isn't it strange that the best episodes of Dollhouse haven't totally focused on its lead character, Echo (Eliza Dushku)? "Needs" is very much an ensemble piece, really -- and, for a show built around Joss Whedon's muse Dushku to show her versatility as an actress, I wasn't expecting that. Well, okay, maybe a bit...
There's a brilliant foundation to "Needs": Echo, Sierra (Didchen Lachman), Victor (Enver Gjokaj) and November/Mellie (Miracle Laurie) all wake up in their sleeping pods, imbued with their true identities, but minus their memories. The episode follows their attempt to escape from their bizarre environment; trying to make sense of the docile occupants and figure out what's going on, as their memories slowly start to bleed through. It's a classic prison break storyline, with a squeeze of Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers and The Prisoner. We see the quartet grow to trust each other and explore their underground facility/prison, while trying to maintain pokerfaces around authority figures like DeWitt (Olivia Williams), Topher (Fran Kranz) and various handlers.But, it's not that simple. In a neat twist, it's revealed that the actives have been intentionally given their real identities back, in a risky effort to prevent more of the recent "glitches" from happening again. Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker) believes the problems they've been having with dolls are because some have unresolved issues and need closure. By allowing the four most troublesome actives to succeed in a daring escape bid as "themselves", and remind them why they agreed to become actives in the first place, DeWitt hopes to tighten her mind-control even further.
"Needs" confirms my own suspicions that active are willing participant, most trying to escape a traumatic past. We learn that Sierra was raped by a rich businessman (making her sexual assault by her handler even more distressing) and actually put into the Dollhouse by him1, smitten Victor finds closure by successfully wooing Sierra during their escape, Mellie discovers the grave of her dead baby (undoubtedly the most heartfelt moment), and Echo's need to lead her fellow captives to freedom is satisfied when DeWitt allows a mass escape. In a haunting end, the four dolls fall asleep at the moment their desires are fulfilled, or a terrible truth remembered, to be collected by operatives and returned to their prison from a memory-scrub.Overall, "Needs" was entertaining at every turn, with a handful of solid twists, and nicely fleshed-out of the main characters. And I remain impressed by Didchen Lachman as Sierra; her backstory is far more interesting than Echo's, and the actress is more nuanced in her performances than Dushku tends to be.
3 April 2009
Fox, 9/8c
Writer: Tracy Bellomo
Director: Felix Enriquez Alcala
Cast: Eliza Dushku (Echo), Didchen Lachman (Sierra), Enver Gjokaj (Victor), Tahmoh Penikett (Ballard), Fran Kranz (Topher Brink), Harry J. Lennix (Boyd), Olivia Williams (Adelle), Reed Diamond (Mr. Dominic), Amy Acker (Dr Saunders), Miracle Laurie (Mellie/November), Roy Vongtama (Attendant), Chase Kim (Male Active), Emma Bell (Tango), Vincent Ventresca (Nolan), Syler Stone (Jimmy), Teddy Sears (Mike), Angel Desai (Sophie) & Joe Wandell (Adams)
1. I'm not sure how this works, as we're led to believe people must sign contracts to join the Dollhouse. So did Sierra willingly sign? Was she pressured to sign? I hope this is better explained at some stage, because it felt odd that Sierra could have been put into the Dollhouse by a rapist.
