True Believer

General Impressions: Boyd is very protective of Echo. He is Echo's Giles.

For me this episode was a glimpse of our everyday Dollhouse's - religious cults. Cults are an extreme example, but still more common worldly. The cult was the opposite of Dollhouse, though they were similar.

No one wanted to be saved from the cult, and the cult's leader didn't care about his sheep. Adelle does care. This episode hints that Adelle even admires some of her sheep.

Also there was something about that ATF guy mirroring Ballard's obsessiveness. ATF guy set up the situation so he could get rid of Jonas Sparrow - his obsessiveness, his "I don't do things unofficially" unofficial approach. Ballard who takes notice of Mellie for the first time in this episode, gets into obsessive mode immediately when she sees Echo on tv.

Dominic makes it finally clear that he doesn't like Echo.

This episode had the first mention of Miss Lonelyhearts. And Victor's and Sierra's love story starts here.

I also think that Eliza did a really wonderful job as the blind girl.

This episode also marks the end for the familiar plot elements from Monk, CSI and other similar shows. But groundwork had to be laid anyway. Man of the Street would not have had the effect if these 5 episodes wouldn't have laid the ground for the revelations of MOTS to be so amazing.

Echo's Journey to Enlightenment: Echo didn't have actually a lot of personal moments here. This episode was mostly about symbolic similarities, with ATF guy mirroring Ballard and religious cults mirroring Dollhouse. So does the tale of Esther, a true believer and a blind girl who was "blind, but now she can see" work more as a symbolic thingy. Echo was bind, but now she sees. And when Saunders asks "can you see?", she looks at Dominic and she sees perfectly. Echo has awakened.

By now, Echo has already gone through the two trials of Alpha - Target and Gray Hour - she has become and embodiment of "friends help each other" in Stage Fright and she allowed a ghost from the past to finally find peace. She has made a choice to be not broken anymore, and she has shown a tendency to help people. She now works inside the Dollhouse system, helping friends and eliminating threats.

Foreshadowing: Miss Lonelyhearts, Echo's "I can see perfectly" when looking at Dominic

Grading: Well, I don't know. I kinda liked the episode with Boyd being so protective of Echo, coming like an angel to save her. And also it's the start of Victor/Sierra romance which is just one of the most beautiful love stories ever. It's however not that inspiring itself. Sort of B minusy.