Episode Discussion 1.11 "Briar Rose" Aired 5/1/09 (FOX-USA)

L

Lou

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Alan Tudyk guest stars as the Dollhouse designer, who finds himself the focus of Ballard's investigation. Meanwhile, Echo helps a young girl cope with her painful past; Adelle searches the attic for answers; and Alpha reveals himself.
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What fun it sounds like! I'll be back later, if I don't pass out cold. Stupid headaches.
 
Best ep since "Man on the Street"!!!
Some huge surprises!
I'm sick of using spoiler-tags, so I'll leave it at that. 😀

Hope your headaches get better!
 
Here are my feelings about this episode in a word:

GGGGGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

IT WAS FRAKKING INCREDIBLE! In my opinion, it put Man on the Street to SHAME...in fact, it rivaled Firefly's best! Jane Espenson, I knew we could count on you to write some quality TV. 😀

I NEED NEXT WEEK!
 
GREAT episode...but poor little Victor, thats gonna leave a scar

-Blaze-
 
I think this episode showed that Victor's actor is the most talented Doll of the cast. He disappears into his imprints, today's being Dominic, perfectly.

As for the episode, it was great! I did not see the Alpha twist coming. I did think either there was something up with Tudyk's character or he was doing a lousy acting job, but it all made sense in the end.

The sad part is, if the series kicked off with this level of quality, it wouldn't be bombing in the ratings right now...
 
C
charmingslayer
At first I thought he was acting like Topher cause his weird movements.
INCREDIBLE EPISODE!!!

That's all I have for now 😛 i'm so sad that this could possibly become a series finale 🙁
 
JESUUSSS ON A JALOPY!!!!!!!

ALPHA KILLED THE CREATOR AND SNUCK IN!!!!

THIS SHOW CANNOT GET CANCELLED.
 
Was NOT at all surprised about Alpha. Totally had it pegged. Wasn't expecting them knowing each other.

Last 10 minutes were the best in the entire season. The rest of it was pointless and unnecessary, now. 😉

Lou and I rock, also. ^_^
 
Buffyverse Fan said:
Another thing this episode has affirmed is that while Eliza may be the "star" and a beautiful talented actress, Echo is easily the least interesting character of the cast.
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I don't really agree with that, but what is very strange is that while Echo/Eliza is the star of the show, she is not the protagonist. Ballard is. We keep expecting Caroline to wake up and kick ass, but that's not going to happen. She's Briar Rose, waiting to get rescued by her prince. The wrong prince, this time.

Caroline is no Buffy or River... she's not a superhero just waiting to cut loose. She's just an environmental activist who got in trouble and needs to be rescued. That seems disappointing in a way...

But this episode is great. The best performance of Alan's career and a great writing job by Jane E.
 
AndrewCrossett said:
I don't really agree with that, but what is very strange is that while Echo/Eliza is the star of the show, she is not the protagonist. Ballard is. We keep expecting Caroline to wake up and kick ass, but that's not going to happen. She's Briar Rose, waiting to get rescued by her prince. The wrong prince, this time.

Caroline is no Buffy or River... she's not a superhero just waiting to cut loose. She's just an environmental activist who got in trouble and needs to be rescued. That seems disappointing in a way...

But this episode is great. The best performance of Alan's career and a great writing job by Jane E.
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Hey, I'm not bashing Echo, but which of the lead characters is she more interesting than? Environmental Activist Briar Rose does not really hold a candle to the ever-darkening hero Paul or the conflicted rogue former cop Boyd (in my book).
 
I wasn't surprised either about the Alpha twist. And the whole agoraphobic guy thing was so annoying. I got really annoyed at Mellie too : one I can't spell her name, two GOD she's so needy and emo, thank God she's just a programmed Doll, because as a full-on character, she would totally suck.

Was surprised about the end, though. Is Echo back to Caroline ? Or did he just program her to know him and love him ?
 
L
LaneMeyer
I think it's someone else entirely that he put into Echo. Someone Alpha knew, or the person they put into Alpha knew.
It was an ok episode with a great ending, leaving me with the feeling that I need to watch next episode right now. You think I'm crazy to think of it as just an ok episode? Remember my post after last weeks episode? High expectations and all that. I'm sure I'll enjoy it (as the rest of the show) much more on second viewing. That Alan was gonna be Alpha has been suggested since the first episode so not that big of a surprise. I'm a bit ashamed that I didn't see the twist with the dead guy though. For a while I was thinking that Alans character was who he seemed to be but after designing the Dollhouse he for some reason became the first doll. Hence the name Alpha. But no, he had just stolen the identity. Yes, I think too much. :tongue: I'm glad Alan is Alpha though, since now we'll probably see a lot more of him in the next episode. But we can't have just one/two more episode. 🙁 There's so much more we need to know.
 
F
Five
I do remember your post after last week's episode ! =D ;)
Five said:
I wasn't surprised either about the Alpha twist. And the whole agoraphobic guy thing was so annoying. I got really annoyed at Mellie too : one I can't spell her name, two GOD she's so needy and emo, thank God she's just a programmed Doll, because as a full-on character, she would totally suck.

Was surprised about the end, though. Is Echo back to Caroline ? Or did he just program her to know him and love him ?
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He just programed her to love him or put some previous personality in her. Since in the promos we see Caroline...and it aint Echo.
 
Can't wait 'til next week.
This reminds me why you shouldn't watch shows like this when they airs. Hate the waiting thing...

Mostly curious what kind of connection Alpha and Echo has.
It was hinted already in the first episode that there is something between them. But we still doesn't know much about it.

Loved Victor as Dominic, thought he captured it in a great way. Especially in the beginning before he was drugged.

Gotta wonder why Alpha waited for Ballard to get into the Dollhouse though.
He seemed to do quite well by himself. The distraction that Ballard caused helped a bit I guess... so maybe that was the plan.
Or I have missed something as usual. 🙂

/SK
 
Wow, awesome episode! Alan's performance was superb and it was good to see some humour too. I really loved the scene when Paul was trying to get Alan out of the car! /me hugs Jane Espenson

One thing I wondered about too is why did Alpha need Paul for all this?
 
Buffyverse Fan said:
Hey, I'm not bashing Echo, but which of the lead characters is she more interesting than? Environmental Activist Briar Rose does not really hold a candle to the ever-darkening hero Paul or the conflicted rogue former cop Boyd (in my book).
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I find her more interesting than Paul. It may just be a case of too little screen time, but he strikes me as kind of a one-note character... the obsessed loner FBI guy that everyone thinks is crazy. He should have an "I want to believe" poster on his wall.
 
wickedtiger86
wickedtiger86
Haha. I thought the same thing. Plus Mulder is better.
Y
yellowcrayon
I hate Paul. I'm not a Caroline fan, either, but Echo is much better than Paul. ;)
B
Blondie Bear
Hey! I have an "I Want to Believe" poster!
Whoa! great episode, I loved Alan's acting "carrots,medicinal carrots!" hehehe and even though I was kind of expecting the Alpha twist the bit with Echo was like O.O!!! who is she!?!?! and what are they going to do with Ballard?!
Can't wait for next week!
 
I didn't really like this episode, but the last 10 minutes were enjoyable.
Nice to see the relationship between Boyd and Echo being highlighted again. I like Boyd. He was at one time my favorite character, but has been very under-used in the last few episodes.
The Alpha reveal was fairly obvious, but still a lot of fun to see happen. Poor Victor. 🙁
Seems I was wrong about Doctor Saunders being a big bad. Shame. That would have been fun. Unless she's Echoes new imprint, and scarred Saunders has been someone else. Now I'm stretching. 😀 I just want to see bad Amy, I like bad Amy. 🙂
 
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