Touché, Dollhouse. Just when I thought you really didn’t know what you were doing with yourself, you whip out an episode like “True Believer” and make me doubt my criticisms. Maybe you’re terribly clever, after all. And if nothing else, the familiar Mutant Enemy Productions screen at the end (“Grr, argh!”) at least makes me feel like I’m watching Buffy.

The show is still flawed, but this last episode made me believe something could really be done with it. When it comes to infiltrating a possibly dangerous cult, it actually makes sense to imprint a human-robot with the personality of a trusting blind girl (who, incidentally, has MAGICAL VIDEO CAMERA EYES oh hello Rhona Mitra in Doomsday) who won’t fall under suspicion as she infiltrates the cult. Since she can act as the FBI’s eyes and ears without being detected, she’s perfect.

This is a far cry from the midwifery, and even the art heist of last week. This is a situation where you really do need a highly specialized person and only an Active could do it. I don’t know how confident I am that they’ll be able to keep coming up with these scenarios, but hey. Even most hardcore Buffy fans admit that the first season isn’t really anything to write home about.

As to the actual plot: it’s fairly strong, although I’m not sure I understand if the creepy cult leader really believed in his own rhetoric. He’s more scary if he did, I think.

The B plot is all about Actives potentially having sexual feelings for each other. The only part of this issue that puzzles me is why it doesn’t seem to have been an issue before. It’s not clear how long the Dollhouse has been operating, but in all this time, how have the Actives never hooked up? You don’t need a “personality” to want to mate. It’s instinct, baby.

I guess I’m along for the ride now, however hesitantly. I want to see how this plays out. The chances of more than two season are pretty remote, but it’ll be fun while it lasts.

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