"Dollhouse" Briar Rose (2009)

Director:

Dwight H. Little

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
Jane Espenson (written by)

TV Series:

"Dollhouse" (2009)

Original Air Date:

1 May 2009 (Season 1, Episode 11)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Echo helps a troubled youth. Ballard finally locates the Dollhouse. He locates someone who designed the Dollhouse, now he's closer than ever to rescuing Caroline.

Plot Keywords:

Memory | Identity | FBI | Moral Ambiguity | True Love

Cast

Eliza Dushku	...	Echo
Harry Lennix	...	Boyd Langton
Fran Kranz	...	Topher Brink
Tahmoh Penikett	...	Paul Ballard
Enver Gjokaj	...	Victor / Laurence Dominic
Dichen Lachman	...	Sierra
Olivia Williams	...	Adelle DeWitt
Amy Acker	...	Dr. Claire Saunders
Hannah Leigh Dworkin	...	Susan
Aisha Hinds	...	Loomis
Liza Lapira	...	Ivy
Miracle Laurie	...	Mellie / November
Judith Moreland	...	Renee
Alan Tudyk	...	Stephen Kepler / Alpha
Tj Burnett	...	Little Boy (as TJ Burnett)

Runtime:

48 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mutant Enemy

Trivia:

Early in the episode, Topher uses the term "frakked." This is a made-up curse word, used frequently in "Battlestar Galactica" (2004). Co-star Tahmoh Penikett played "Captain Karl 'Helo' Agathon" in 64 episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

Quotes:

Stephen Kepler: This is like one of those buddy cop movies where you're the hard-nosed FBI agent and I'm the guy who hates buddy cop movies!

What every Dollhouse episodes should have been, but the rush part

If all episodes were like this one, Dollhouse would be a great show. However episodes like True Believer and Haunted proved that recycled stories and stereotyped characters don't appeal a modern or mature audience. This one focused on the major arc, was really serious and managed to convince us how dangerous technology can be. The chair scene at the beginning was really scary and it was interesting to see how every characters reacted. Moreover flashbacks and fairytale were mixed to reveal how hard it can be to actually change things when you disagree with someone or think what people do is wrong. It was also nice to see all dolls involved, like in Spy in the House of Love.

However it wasn't flawless and a few things disappointed me. For example Paul didn't plan his actions and rushed things like if he knew the end of season was near. It would have been so much more interesting if he planned things like Michael Scofield solved the puzzle in Prison Break during all season 1 episodes. Instead we got breadcrumbs and fillers. More important he managed to succeed anyway, in some way, and that doesn't really make sense.

Otherwise if you gave up on the show I strongly recommend you to change your mind because Briar Rose is a good episode. Last but not least one episode remains so the best is yet to come. I can't wait to see what happens next !