Briar Rose (1 May 2009)

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.

Director:

Dwight H. Little

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator), Jane Espenson,

Stars:

Eliza Dushku, Harry Lennix, Fran Kranz

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Eliza Dushku	...	Echo / Susan
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	...	Susan (as Hannah Leigh Dworkin)
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)

Storyline

Echo is imprinted with the mind of a teacher to help out an emotionally disturbed 11-year-old girl deal with her traumatic past, which seems to parallel Echo's. Meanwhile, Ballard escalates his quest to find the Dollhouse which leads him to a shut-in, named Stephen Kepler, whom was the architect of the L.A. branch building of the Dollhouse who reluctantly gives him information about its location. When an unidentified dead body is found in Arizona, Sierra is imprinted as an FBI forensic specialist to investigate when the MO has the likings of the mysterious Alpha. Back in the deep bowels of the Dollhouse, Adelle goes to "the Attic" where she has the comatose Dominic imprinted into Victor to interrogate him for information about who is behind Ballard's quest to find the Dollhouse. When Ballard finally discovers the location of the Dollhouse and breaks in to look for Echo, he is caught by Boyd who takes him to Adelle for questioning just when Sierra phones from Arizon to inform them that...

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

48 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Early in the episode, Topher uses the term "frakked." This is a made-up curse word, used frequently in Battlestar Galactica. Co-star Tahmoh Penikett played "Captain Karl 'Helo' Agathon" in 64 episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Writer Jane Espenson also wrote for Battlestar Galatica.

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Quotes

Paul Ballard: You really justify this? What you do to these people... you can live with this?
Boyd Langton: You're the one who came in here and assaulted one of our residents.
Adelle DeWitt: Yes, there's indignation enough for everyone to have seconds.

User Reviews

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 !