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Date Posted: 07:39:05 02/15/09 Sun
Author: Cactus Watcher
Subject: Random Thoughts On Dollhouse (spoilers)

I think some of the biggest questions about the story are 'Who is running Dollhouse,' and 'Is there a purpose to it other than to make lots money?' What's going on there is both illegal and many cases dangerous. How do they recruit 'actives' and how do they advertise their services to those rich enough to afford them?

We know that Caroline/Echo joined of her own free will. Although it is not clear how much of what was going to happen she understood. She needed a way to get away from her past good intentions gone very wrong and the Dollhouse promised that, promised it convincingly enough that she was willing to give up herself to make this 'escape.' She was promised that her stay would last only five years, after which she could go her own way, presumably with a final mind wipe. But in her desperation to escape whatever it was, did she have the luxury of choice and the luxury of asking for proof she'd let be go after the time was up? Was the only choice this or some other form of suicide? What about the others? Were they all volunteers or were some of them people that others wanted to disappear?

The question of clients is important because the Dollhouse obviously takes vast sums of money to exist and it's clearly neither a government operation nor a charity. In the first clip of Echo we see, she is for all intents and purposes a prostitute, a rich guy's birthday present to himself, a woman who'd be exactly what he'd want for a couple of days, then disappear and never bother him again. Not that he wasn't fond of her when he was with her. How could he not be? But as she leaves he's only a tad wistful, neither sad nor sorry it was ending.

So far the clients know that what they are purchasing is the time of a made up personality. Which means that a fair number of people share the secrets of how to contact the Dollhouse, and what it is exactly that they do. The ending to the kidnapping can be seen as much a way to please and restore the good graces of the original client as it is to cover the tracks of the Dollhouse. One displeased client could end everything.

The Dollhouse is a dangerous game, so far involving what can only be called slavery, obvious prostitution and murder. Did Caroline understand this when she agreed to become part of it, and did she have a choice?

Looking at show from a totally different perspective, it is stuffed with about as much meta as you can get. You have actors and actresses playing people playing roles that they move on from and forget at the whims of their employers and of the customers (the ultimate audiences of) their performances. On both levels the actors affect people, leaving impresions of themselves without actually revealing who they might be. The show is certainly going to be anthology style, with only the FBI agent and the Dollhouse itself remaing constant, at least for the time being. It's the kind of work a lot of actors relish, something new all the time. Being able to play sinner and saint with no real connection between literally all in the same week.

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