Noticing that Sierra is troubled, Echo takes a picture Sierra drew in art class to Topher. She tells Topher that Sierra is bothered by "the bad man." Topher's first impulse is to ignore the silly wiped girl. But he's sufficiently intrigued to talk to Langton, and then to look into Dr. Saunders' files. When he discovers that Sierra has drawn similar pictures after each engagement with Nolan Kinnard (Vincent Ventresca), her recurring client. Topher investigates further - and is shocked to discover that Sierra is not a willing Active, but instead was drugged by her "suitor" to be made into a fantasy object after she refused his advances.
Adelle tries to cut Nolan off. But the client goes over her head, and Rossum orders Adelle to imprint Sierra and deliver her to Nolan - permanently. When Adelle conveys the order to Topher, he balks, leading to consequences no one is expecting!
CHARACTERS
Echo: Continues to be protective of Sierra. She is the one who notices that something is bothering her, and she brings that to Topher's attention. She is keeping herself "awake," writing reminders for herself on the inside of her glass "coffin lid" (a good bit to freeze frame, by the way). When Langton confronts her, she tells him that "something bad" is coming, and that "everyone has to wake up."
The Ice Queen: I had wondered, when I watched Needs, if Adelle already knew about Sierra's situation. It seemed to fly in the face of her idealism regarding her work. Still, Adelle is also a ruthless pragmatist, and might accept such a thing as "a necessary evil." Which seems to be what she resigns herself to, when her superior (Keith Carradine, in what I'm guessing will be the first of multiple appearances) puts her options into stark relief.
The Genius: As much as this is Sierra's episode, it is also Topher's. He's always been fairly blase about the Actives' situation, but that was based on the presumption that they were all volunteers. We have seen hints that he has a moral line before. As far back as Ghost, we saw the sarcasm fade into something human when confronted with some of the more terrible things people can do. Sierra's situation clearly crosses Topher's moral line. Even when Adelle orders him to go through with the procedure, Topher does not do so blindly. That said, his plan is poorly thought through, and heaps yet more guilt onto a man who is unaccustomed to even feeling remorse and yet now is carrying far too much of it.
The Security Chief: I've been lamenting the lack of material for Langton this season. In fact, it has seemed very much that after the first handful of episodes of the series, Langton has receded further and further into the background while Ballard got all the good character material. This episode brings him back into focus. We already knew he had a law enforcement background. Now it seems that this background is probably a bit less than spotless. He certainly knows a lot about covering up a crime, and is very cold-blooded about doing so. He is also aware of Echo's evolution, though he's keeping it to himself... for now.
THOUGHTS
Season One's Needs introduced something in Sierra's backstory that demanded being revisited. Sierra represented the lie in Rossum's sales pitch, an example of someone who did not willingly become an Active but was forced into it by a man with too much money and power and too few moral scruples. I would have been very annoyed if that never was touched on again.
This episode returns to Sierra's situation, and expands upon it. The teaser shows us a lot more detail of the events leading up to Sierra's wipe. These scenes manage the impossible feat of making Nolan even more disturbing and despicable than he was already. Vincent Ventresca does an excellent job at creating the kind of person the audience is guaranteed to hate, without actually going over-the-top into pantomime villainy. Keith Carradine gives us another, colder villain, one who seems likely to be more formidable. If nothing else, he's the first person to actually leave Adelle cowed after a confrontation. Usually, it's the other way around.
The episode is well-directed by Jonathan Frakes, and has a very well-structured, well-paced script by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon - who actually seem to be the writers with the strongest overall feel for this show, even more (far more, in fact) than Joss Whedon himself! The script does a good job with the Claire issue, as well. In her absence, the spectre of Claire seems to almost be acting as Topher's conscience. When Topher finds his moral sense outraged, his first response isn't that this is wrong, but rather that "Dr. Saunders never would have" sanctioned such a thing. She's also still needling him from afar, as her notes associate Sierra's "bad man" not with Nolan, but with Topher himself.
An excellent episode, one which delivers on the seeds planted in Needs, while at the same time layering in elements for the future.
Rating: 9/10.
Previous Episode: Belle Chose
Next Episode: The Public Eye
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