The parallels of the Dollhouse and the cult were handled pretty well. They maybe didn't need to quite point them out SO bluntly, but it's probably good that they did to get it out of the way. That's always a fine line to walk; do you not say anything and hope the audience picks up on the subtext, or do you say something to let the audience know that it's deliberate, and we're all in on the joke? I think they could have gone for a bit more subtlety, but then again, so does Adelle DeWitt. I can live with that.
Frankly, Dushku is not a great blind actor. Not many sighted actors are, to be honest. In fairness, she only would have had a few days, and the week of filming to hone her skills, for only about half her scenes that week. That's not a lot of prep time for something like that. I can forgive them on those accounts. Trying to pretend you don't have something you've always had, and actually still have, can be difficult, to say the least.
I really liked spending so much time with Topher and Dr. Saunders this week, on their own little B-story that had absolutely zero to do with the main story, aside from more allegory at the end with keeping minions pure and empty. It was good to just add some characterisation to these people, whom we know very little about, and work for a very sketchy, quite skeevy organisation. I like Topher, in a way. Sure, he's a creep, but you would almost have to be to do the work he does. Yet, something about him amuses me. The scenes with him and Acker are probably the most Whedonesque scenes thus far in the show.
Part of me is wondering if the video of Echo at college...is that from her real life, or an artifact left over by an imprint? Is the girl on that video just another personality hired out for the week, and some people at college caught her on tape? I lean more towards it being the real girl, but I wouldn't put it past the Whedonites to go the other route with it.
And now it's your turn.
J
