THE PLOT
Agent Paul Ballard is investigating the Dollhouse, but he has few leads. His colleagues consider the case a joke. His informant, Victor, tells him that he is certain the Dollhouse does not exist, and urges him to forget it. Then he receives a package in the mail. A photo of a girl, with a name written on the back: Caroline.
When Ballard has one of his few friends run the photo, it immediately raises flags with Adelle DeWitt. Her security chief, Laurence Dominic, urges her to simply dispose of Ballard, but Adelle considers killing him to be a "last resort." She has Echo imprinted, in order to find out what Ballard knows. But when Echo's behavior proves to be less than perfectly predictable, Adelle wonders if the FBI agent is the only person she needs to watch...
CHARACTERS
Echo: We see substantial evidence of Echo retaining things from previous imprints. She clearly recognizes the girl from her "pro bono" job when she goes into the hospital, and she reacts strongly to the name "Caroline." Though imprinted as an assassin, she is a shockingly ineffective one, likely because Caroline's basic makeup is not that of a killer.
Doll of the Week: When her sister disappeared without a trace, "Shauna" came to Los Angeles to search for her. The police had no answers for her, and as far as she could determine weren't even trying to follow up on any leads. Her search for her missing sister brought her into contact with unsavory types, mentions of the "Dollhouse," and finally brought her face-to-face with Paul Ballard... putting her in a perfect position to find out what Ballard knows.
The Handler: Langton displays no real emotional attachment to Echo in this pilot. If anything, he has more of a bond with Topher in this variant, as most of his scenes are opposite Topher. Langton also appears further removed from the loop here. Adelle passes on orders to Topher and Langton, but they are clearly underlings. There is no discussion, no sense that Langton and Topher even could discuss anything with her.
The Ice Queen: Adelle is much harder-edged here than in the broadcast pilot and series. She has no particular bond with or interest in Echo. As far as we can see, Echo is simply another doll to her. Laurence Dominic's harsh pragmatism about both Ballard and Echo? That was apparently given to Dominic in order to soften Adelle. In this pilot, Adelle is quite willing to kill Ballard, and it's indicated that she's willing to do the same to Echo if necessary. I prefer the series' Adelle, whose idealism is far more interesting, when contrasted against what she actually is involved in, than this more cold-blooded version. But it is interesting to see how just a slight change made such a big difference to the character. Olivia Williams is a splendid actress, of course, and remains outstanding here.
The Genius: Topher, Version 1... is annoying. From his pet names for Langton ("Man-Friend") and Claire ("The Phantom") to his self-consciously Whedonesque style of speaking ("Rules make me feel oogy"), this Topher just makes me want to reach into the screen and punch him in his chirpy little face. That said, Topher's sheer amorality in this pilot is effective. Confronted with the potential wrongness of what they're doing, Topher's response is an emphatic, "I don't care." Unlike in the broadcast pilot, there is no sign that this is anything other than the truth - a character approach that would have made his guilt in Omega and his breakdown in Epitaph One even more powerful than they ultimately proved to be.
The FBI Agent: It explains a lot that Ballard's first really good scene in the series, his thoughtful moment with Victor in which he talks about splitting the atom and making a bomb, was actually scripted and filmed as his introduction. The one-note Ballard of the first two broadcast episodes was filling time until his plot could reach the point at which Whedon had envisioned it beginning. It doesn't make it any less of a shame that Ballard spent two episodes as a painfully hackneyed cliche before finally becoming a character, but at least it explains it.
THOUGHTS
Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day (or once a day, if you're going by military time). While there are elements of Echo that would have been interesting to start with, on the whole I think this is one of those rare cases in which the network got it right.
In his commentary for Ghost, Whedon admitted one area in which the broadcast pilot was superior to the original. It was stronger, more powerful, to begin the series with Caroline. Just that glimpse of the real Caroline, smart and scared and defiant, made Echo into somebody real. Echo begins with the doll, its lengthy teaser just laying out the series' basic setup, complete with an expository monologue by Adelle. The teaser feels overpacked, with too much cutting between too many elements, and it's there only to lay out the concept.
Ghost managed to convey the same basic information, more tightly and less frenetically, and then even set up its standalone plot as an episode. The teaser for Ghost had my attention from that opening scene, with Caroline and Adelle. The teaser for Echo had me checking my watch - and probably would have done, even if it had been my introduction to the series.
It is interesting to see all the scenes of this pilot that were used, mostly to better effect, throughout the season. The Victor/Ballard scene, and the revelation about Victor, meant more coming a few episodes into the season, because it was one of the first things telling us that "nothing is as it appears." Here, the entire mini-arc of Victor acting as Ballard's informant is squeezed into less than ten minutes' total screentime. It's the same basic subplot, even with the same basic ending, but it doesn't work as well as those scenes being spread out over a longer period.
Lest I sound too negative, I should say that the episode's "plot," with Echo spying on Ballard, largely works. There are some good scenes between Ballard and "Shauna," and an effective twist late in the episode. But too much of this pilot is pure exposition, and there are several scenes that run far too long. Ghost captured my attention instantly. Had Echo remained the pilot, I would have been far less certain about remaining with the series.
An interesting look at what might have been. But I think Echo is best regarded as a curiosity piece, a rough draft of a concept that would be more effectively played in Whedon's second try.
Rating: 5/10.
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