Haunted

General Impressions: Hmm... funny how our memories can be rather selective. I remembered this episode as somekinda Murder She Wrote tribute with all that 80's soap opera the lives of rich people angle. And I was like „oh.“ I kinda somehow managed to separate all the small touching moments of Topher and Ballard and Echo's Murder She Wrote into different episodes in my head. So yeah, surprised to realize that one of the best moments were in this episode. And I didn't actually mind the
Murder She Wrote story this time. I kinda enjoyed this time.

Ballard was really braked with this episode. Mellie just going with her low self-esteem "it doesn't have to mean anything" speech and then Ballard's eyes... a decision, rough sex, and a sad aknowledgement that he too is a Dollhouse client.

I remember how painful it felt when Boyd couldn't be Echo's handler anymore. This really rubs it in.

And Topher's birthday. So sad. So lonely.

Adelle: "Loneliness detaches. Sometimes the people who need reaching out the most are the ones least capable of it."

Echo's Journey to Enlightenment: This episode doesn't really provide any writing material for this section since Echo had no personal moments in this episode. All the Dollhousey goodness was being done with the other characters. I guess this episode happened when it wasn't exactly clear that how they were going to be allowed to do the show. With the show that Dollhouse now has become and end, this episode does seem a bit out of place. Very out of place. But in that alternative universe where Dollhouse seasons lasted 24 episodes and it had 5 seasons, and each season had a bunch of stand-alones... I guess it would have fitted there. But in this "Dollhouse the Miniseries" dimension it's kinda out of tune with the rest of the episodes. However the Dollhousey goodness was great. The revelation that it was Topher's birthday made it all so tragic and Ballard's shower scene... heartbraking.

Foreshadowing: Oh yeah, rich people would definitely use the bodies of worthless lower castes to have everlasting life. And Adelle's "I'm not planning on presiding over the end of Western civilization" seems so ironic now.

Grading: Eh, it's a B-C thingy. Kinda like Stage Fright.

Can't wait for tonight's episodes.