It's episodes like this that make me hate FOX with a passion – tense, funny, character driven, action packed, and lots of mythology to digest. It was almost everything you could want from a show, and yet it's hard to celebrate its accomplishments when the outcome of cancellation is already known. At least I'll have fun rewatching this episode again when it comes out on the hopefully inevitable DVD.

The episode picks off where the last episode ended, with Perrin once again back at the DC branch of the Dollhouse, and with Echo being held hostage essentially by their Topher-esque technician Bennett (the wonderful Summer Glau). When Adelle and Topher make a surprise visit to reclaim their lost Active, will they also be able to get the goods on Perrin so that they can stop whatever it is the Rossum Corporation is planning on using him for.

Bennett

First up, I have to give it to Summer Glau, Fran Kranz, and Enver Gjokaj: those three stole the show. Summer Glau's Bennett is a nice departure from her usual action heroine roles in Firefly/Serenity and The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Bennett's a genius like Topher, but she has a dead arm and is slightly deranged and instable; watching Bennett converse with herself was eerie and yet fun to see. Kranz did a good job too playing Topher, though that's not an uncommon thing, as he's usually always consistent on the show. It was great seeing his awkwardness in dealing with Bennett – his beautiful and intellectual equal. The flirting back and forth and the uneasy moments between them were cute in a middle school crush sort of way that was strangely sweet. Gjokaj, meanwhile, was imprinted with Topher's identity, so there was basically two Tophers this episode that were constantly bickering and yammering. I was very impressed by how well Gjokaj managed to mimic the speech patterns, mannerisms, and facial ticks of Kranz's performance.

One of the most interesting reveals this episode was the fact that Bennett knew Echo when she was Caroline, and it even sounds like she partially worked on building Echo as an Active. In a flashback we see Bennett – her arm trapped under a fallen slab of rock – as Caroline leaves her to her fate, saying if she didn't run they'd both be caught. Were Caroline and Bennett both members of that activist team? What exactly happened in that building and how much is Caroline to blame? It's a question I'd love to see answered, as it's a very intriguing question, as it doesn't paint Caroline in the most positive light, which she has always seemed to be when referenced in the past.

It's a pity that more people aren't watching Dollhouse or either quit after only a few rough early episodes – this episode shows that Dollhouse has evolved a great deal and has become something truly unique amongst the mundane that is the bulk of network television. I can only hope that the remainder episodes of this season are as good as this installment.

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