Nate Jordan (Kristoffer Polaha) is a man who has been unable to connect emotionally with his infant son, Jack, after his wife died giving birth to the boy. In desperation, he has turned to the Dollhouse to provide a mother to bond with the boy, as a last resort before putting him up for adoption.
Echo has been imprinted to act as Jack's mother, and Nate's wife. But Nate doesn't do much to play along with the illusion. He continues to be distant with the baby, and all but flinches when she so much as speaks to him. His behavior leads Echo's imprint to be suspicious of a possible affair - and when she overhears him calling the whole thing off, saying he'll "get rid of her... get rid of the baby," she believes she is overhearing a plot to kill her.
Soon, Echo is on the run from Nate. When Ballard and the Dollhouse operatives attempt to intercept her, she believes that they are working with him, possibly as paid assassins!
CHARACTERS
Echo: She apparently doesn't remember past imprints while imprinted, at least not unless something causes a glitch. "Echo" only returns after Topher performs the wipe - which is when Echo's full memories start to return. She confesses to Ballard that she not only remembers all of her imprints, she feels everything the imprints felt. She wonders why the Dollhouse has made it all feel so real. But the pain of these disparate lives is still not enough for her to take Ballard up on his offer to have Topher truly wipe her. She's "awake now," and she doesn't want to "be asleep" again.
Doll of the Week: Emily is a young wife and mother. She loves her husband, and is concerned at his growing distance from her. She is truly devoted to her young son, and when she believes both she and the boy are in danger, she doesn't hesitate to flee.
The (Ex-) FBI Agent: Ballard is acting as Echo's Handler now, but it isn't a role he's comfortable with. The teaser sees him walking around the chair before sitting in it, trying to picture what happens to Echo so very regularly. He is shaken a bit by seeing November again, when she is brought in for an exam, and he doesn't know what to say when the woman she is now - the woman she was before - tells him about what led her to the Dollhouse, and how much better off she is now that she's "not sad" anymore.
THOUGHTS
For the second episode running, we get a very predictable "A" plot. It's a stronger standalone story than Vows offered. It hangs together fairly well, and all of Echo's actions are reasonable given what she has observed. Eliza Dushku gives one of her stronger performances, and is convincingly desperate and emotional when she is fighting for what she believes is her baby. Her final scene, opposite Ballard, is also quite effective, even if it's basically a retread of the tag from Vows.
An irony of this engagement going bad, compared with certain previous ones, is that Echo doesn't "glitch" on the job. The client gives her every reason to be suspicious, and then gives her every reason to run. Even Laurence Dominic would have been hard-pressed to blame this particular "failure" on Echo.
Speaking of Dominic, I'm going out on a limb and guessing that he was Senator Perrin (Alexis Denisof)'s NSA contact. The one Perrin complained had suddenly "gone to ground." If I'm right, it's a very tidy way of linking Season Two's new running arc, with Perrin, to the events of Season One. The material with Perrin has the potential to become quite interesting, though right now the character and his subplot are clearly just there to lay ground for future events.
Ultimately, this was an "OK" episode. It was a diverting enough time-filler, and more engaging than the series' weakest episodes have been. The "A" plot was better than the season premiere's. It's just too bad there was nothing going on in the background that was half as interesting as the Claire/Topher material from Vows. Speaking of Claire, I'm very disappointed that there was no follow-up concerning her flight. I'd assume an Active successfully fleeing the Dollhouse would be a top priority across the board, but Adelle doesn't even seem to have noticed. Throughout the Dollhouse, everything is pretty much "business as usual."
A lot like this episode, come to think of it.
Rating: 5/10.
Previous Episode: Vows
Next Episode: Belle Chose
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