So speculation here but anyone else getting the feeling that Alpha imprints Caroline in the blond woman so that he can kill Caroline and rid Echo of the only threat to her becoming his perfect-composite-princess. And that Echo isn't going to play along with his plan because she's ornery.

ETA: an "n't" ;)

[ edited by Emmie on 2009-05-02 05:25 ]

Emmie | May 02, 05:15 CET

I get the feeling that Alpha will try to get Echo to kill "Caroline" as a symbolic death, but my question is "What will he do with the cartridges?"

If Alpha truly wanted to be rid of Caroline, all he would have to do is destroy the files that contain her memories. I'm nervous about what might be happening next week.

How much did Whedon plan on resolving in case the show doesn't return for a second season? I'm teetering between hopeful the show ends on a cliffhanger should we get a season two and hopeful it ends with a strong resolution should we not.

But after tonight's ep, mostly my brain just hurts.

CrazyKidBen | May 02, 05:20 CET

If Alpha truly wanted to be rid of Caroline, all he would have to do is destroy the files that contain her memories.

Except it's not really a symbolic death, but a real death in a sense. If Echo rejects and in fact destroys Caroline, then she truly cuts ties with her past self in a way and can be fully reinvented. Echo isn't truly a blank slate in Alpha's eyes until her past identity is rejected by her (internal) rather than just wiped away (external). She has to will "Caroline" to be dead for it to be true.

Emmie | May 02, 05:24 CET

Actually, me thinks Alpha is bored and is seeking out an equal to keep him on his toes....and I don't think he has his sights on Echo.

Gosh, I've so missed these discussions! Thank you, Joss.

Madhatter | May 02, 05:41 CET

Madhatter, I think he has his sights on Echo in the sense of making her his 43-personality-composite match. I do think he has his sights on Echo though - (from Ausiello interview)Alan admits to the obsession his character has for Echo in the Ausiello interview.

Emmie | May 02, 05:51 CET

I like the idea of a symbolic death. Anyone think that the former Echo was his partner in crime and he is attached to the new Echo as well?

luv4whedon | May 02, 06:14 CET

Bonnie and Clyde, meet Alpha and Echo!

Emmie | May 02, 06:22 CET

I am sooooooooooo psyched for this. AND it's a Tim Minear episode!? I am SOLD!

It took me a while to get really jazzed about this show, but I'm really enjoying it now. I hope FOX is cool and picks this up for a second season...

Dan Corson | May 02, 06:31 CET

I am hypothesising that the "You're not real!" guy was original alpha personality, imprinted on a doll so he could kill them.

curlymynci | May 02, 10:32 CET

Meh. I made screencaps, so folks could analyze. But where can I upload them? flickr won't order them alphabetically, which make them useless ...

[ edited by PowerToThePeople on 2009-05-02 13:42 ]

Udo Schmitz | May 02, 13:33 CET

I don't know what's going to happen but I can't wait to find out. At last this is the show I knew it could be.

RazorBlade | May 02, 14:40 CET

An emerging area of interest is the parallel between Paul's obsession with Caroline and Alpha's obsession with Echo. For most of the season we've felt that Paul's focus on Caroline was a good thing because he was going to save her, but now Alpha's emerging obsession with Echo is beginning to show the results of obsession taken to an extreme.

Class Jossian shades of gray.

SteveP | May 02, 14:59 CET

An interesting end-of-season twist would be for the 'Big Bad' to actually be a 'Big Good.' If the Dollhouse org is evil, then someone trying to destroy it (Alpha) is good... right? (see also: Angel taking down W&H from the inside.)

SteveP | May 02, 15:08 CET

Im the only one taking hope from the fact that it says "Season Finale" and not series?

jighooligan101 | May 02, 16:16 CET

They always refer to the finale as the season finale. They don't actually announce a decision until the upfronts presentation (May 18th for FOX). Same is true for Terminator.

gossi | May 02, 16:18 CET

I like Adelle's line at the end about Alpha being a genius.

But, it seems odd in the context of this show. I mean, are we to understand from her comment that intelligence is innate in the body rather than something that can be imprinted? Is it like they can imprint someone up to a certain intellectual capacity but not go beyond what they could "naturally" accomplish? I guess this is sort of a larger question: what does it mean for Alpha to be a genius? His original, pre-imprint intelligence? His body's capability? The nature of the imprints that they put in him?

Septimus | May 02, 21:33 CET

Alpha has, according to Alan, 43 personalities. If you could choose among the skill sets and memories of 43 people, even if they were just normal, and you were just normal, you'd be extraordinary. "Composite event" in the mythology of the show seems to mean that you become simultaneously bugfuck crazy and in charge of all that.

dreamlogic | May 02, 22:28 CET

If this has a happy ending for anyone I'll be sorely disappointed.

doublemeat | May 03, 05:13 CET

If this has a happy ending for anyone I'll be sorely disappointed.

Lucky for you this is a Joss Whedon show.

jenlight | May 03, 09:17 CET

Septimus - My take on the intelligence question is that Alpha's composite event made him a genius. Paul would have to be imprinted multiple times to have personalities to draw from in order to have a composite - so all they have to do to not let him become a genius is wipe him and put him in the attic with Dominic...

boykit | May 03, 09:46 CET

Alpha is a bit like Sylar. He's off collecting imprints. Gotta imprint them all!

gossi | May 03, 10:24 CET

Ah, see, I was assuming that Paul's comment was in the context of a discussion about making him a doll, since then it would make sense for him to say "Alpha escaped so I can escape." And still, Adelle's comment seems to imply that there is something inherently different about Alpha than about Paul (his genius), so I don't think it can just be that Alpha had the composite event and therefore he's a genius.

Characters are often saying things that seem to reveal a misunderstanding of how the Dollhouse technology really works. Now, when it's Adelle (as in this case) I think that it must be me who does not understand it, but really it is mind-warpingly confusing to try to think about it correctly. (An example from the last episode would be Paul looking at November and saying that she would kill him; he doesn't understand that the body he is looking at is neither Mellie nor the programmed assassin/sleeper agent.)

[ edited by Septimus on 2009-05-03 14:56 ]

Septimus | May 03, 14:12 CET

regarding intelligence: a lot of intelligence is the configuration of your brain to react in a certain way to an event. for example, when you study for an exam, it isn't so much about innate ability as you reorganising things in your head to be able to solve those problems faster, and remembering details.

i think that a composite event could conceivably cause someone to have those trained pathways for almost any event. not just a single field, but every personality they're imprinted with. so they'd know a lot of art history and philosophy, but also how to shoot like a sniper and fight like a ninja.

i agree about paul though. the blank november wouldn't have a kill switch, because that was just part of the mellie imprint.

jazza | May 03, 17:07 CET

Was it? She wasn't imprinted with Mellie in "Echoes" and they still seemed to assume the kill switch would work (granted the drug makes everything fuzzier). She might actually be a special type of active, with the kill switch on a deeper level than any surface imprint.

Rachelkachel | May 03, 17:20 CET

Oh gosh, FOX better renew this show because the thoughts of where it will go next are endless. Dancing on pins and needles again! Wait a sec....(shoves an angel off the pin) All good now:).

Madhatter | May 03, 17:25 CET

good point rachel. maybe it's like a low level imprint that stays in even when she's in her doll state.
still, i think paul wouldn't have understood that.

jazza | May 03, 17:37 CET

Se,, I absolutely agree that having a composite event could make one be a genius with a host of incredible skills and yadda yadda yadda.

But, when Paul says he'll escape like Alpha did and Adelle says, essentially, "you're no Alpha," that suggests to me that there was something about Alpha BEFORE the composite event that MADE him composite or able to composite or whatever. Otherwise, her comment makes no sense; anyone could have a composite event. And, if not just anyone can have a composite event (if there's something special about Alpha and Echo - which may or may not be the same thing as there being something special about Alpha-that-was and Caroline), then it suggests that Adelle (who seems to know this) knows that mindwiping is not as straightforward and clear process as others seem to think.

It's just intriguing to me that Adelle seems to recognize that there are innate aspects of a person that are not subject to wiping/imprinting.

Septimus | May 03, 20:33 CET