EPISODE REVIEW: Dollhouse: “The Left Hand (Part 2)” (Season 2, Episode 6)

No real need for any preamble, let’s just jump to it, shall we?

PLAY BY PLAY

Echo and Senator Perrin are captives of the DC Dollhouse (Ask about opening a franchise in your town!). Adel and Topher have gone east to visit the DC ‘House and see about recovering Echo. Topher is extremely uncomfortable, geekish, nervous, agoraphobic, and just generally a hyper frenetic pain in the ass. Adel explains that they need access to the DC House mainframe, and he needs to get that by hook or by crook, or all is lost. Topher, looking scared, agrees.

The get in and meet the dude in charge of the DC ‘house, who reminds me a lot of Beau Bridges, despite looking and acting nothing like him. I think it’s the voice. After some attempts at civility, which Adel ignores, he informs her that he won’t be able to give Echo back until the company is satisfied. She asks if Topher can inspect her - company policy - and The Man Who Would Be Beau Bridges agrees, reluctantly. Topher ambles off. Meanwhile, back in LA, Topher has uploaded himself in to Victor, and Victor is handling operations there.

Meanwhile, we’re introduced to Bennett Tolverson, played by the always sketchy-and-interesting Summer Glau. Honestly, she’s like a hot chick equivalent of Bruce Dern at this point. Bennett has a useless left arm, and is being very mean to Echo, whom she already knows somehow. (“Caroline. You always promised me you’d come back someday.”) She tortures her. This goes on and on. She says she wants her to feel something, and implants her own - Bennett’s own - memories of being trapped under a fallen pillar, with her arm crushed under it, while Echo leaves. Topher is announced, so Bennett knocks out Echo, and goes to meet him.

Topher is immediately smitten by Bennett, and frankly, who wouldn’t be? They talk shop for a bit, then he asks to see Echo, whom he’s told is still out cold from his Disruptor, but he quickly confirms that she’s simply drugged. Bennett blames this on the handlers, and explains how the Disruptor can be made unidirectional rather than Omnidirectional. He tries it out on her, and she’s annoyed that he thought she might be a doll. She’s more annoyed after he explains the “Whiskey” situation, but Bennett quickly realizes this is because he thinks she’s beautiful. (“She’s like John Cassavetes in ‘The Fury’ if he was a hot chick!”)

He gains access to the computer and informs Victor. Meanwhile, Bennett allows Echo and Perrin to escape, then injures herself to make it look like they busted out. Echo is in her intermediate doll state - not quite a doll, not quite a person - and the Senator is, well, the senator. They cut out their GPS chips. They modify the Disruptor to shut ‘em down long distance, but Bennett actually programs Perrin to kill Echo, which he then tries to do, but Echo’s a feminist, so she kicks him in the gollywobbles and runs off. She tells him to fight his programming, he can overcome it, while she somehow manages to overcome the dead-arm programming Bennett had given her.

Back in ground control, Topher realizes what’s up and Bennett justifies it by saying that Echo has a weird quality that makes people