I accidentally slept through Terminator. Oh well, on to the Dollhouse liveblog!

The blogs tell me that if you didn’t like the first episode of Dollhouse, you should hold out for the second. I… was not a huge fan of the first, though the mythology was interesting, so I hope they’re right. I would really like this series to succeed.

21:02: Dollhouse raid? Dead guy? Haywire doll? Dead dolls? Well, at least they have a naked dude this time, and not just Eliza Dushku.
21:06: “A moderate risk to our active”? That is creepytastic.
21:07: And there is no way they were talking about white water rafting.
21:08: Something bad always happens when the nerd steps away from the computer.
21:09: And something bad always happens to the random extra whose face we get to know.
21:10: TAMOH PENIKETT. Okay, done.
21:12: I seem to recall something in the preview about Echo using the bow against a crazy Doll.
21:16: There’s no way this guy is the haywire Doll (surely the people who run the Dollhouse would know what he looked like), so is this just part of the fantasy he hired Echo for?

21:22: Our intrepid FBI man is set on Echo’s trail.
21:24: And there goes our extra. But really, a silencer? That far out in the woods?

I liked the Alec Baldwin Hulu ad more than this creepy Eliza Dushku tongue one.

21:27: Note to self: Do not default dolls with ninja skills.
21:28: Good God, poor Echo. And tomorrow she will just be like “My wrist hurts and my leg is cut but I don’t know why” then sort of meander off to do some yoga.
21:31: This would seem to be the real park ranger.
21:32: What an asshole, poisoning a canteen? That is just unsportsmanly.

Jesus, all these Watchmen ads. I want to see the midnight showing so bad, but that would involve sleeping at work. And possibly seeing it by myself.

21:34: This little trust trick is handy, and also explains how the Actives remember where they are and who the employees around them are after each wipe. Not in a scientific and believable way, but, you know, in a way.
21:37: I was just about to suggest Echo take a dive and float down the river, and there she goes!
21:39: Painfully transparent neighbor girl who quite possibly poisoned the lasagna!
21:41: OW.

21:44: What do you mean, “I don’t think he has one”? Was this some extra special Active who had a Rorschach face?
21:46: This is the time at which the company might rethink the auto ninja imprint policy. At least when they send Actives out in the field.
21:47: That would be the “don’t bring a bow and arrows to a gunfight” face.
21:48: Seriously guys, dramatic pauses get you shot. Unless both people take dramatic pauses and unless you’re the female protagonist, I guess.

Commercial break: “Bullets fly, a woman shot in the head… How she was saved BY HER HAIR.” Seriously, Evening News? What the hell kind of weave was this?

21:51: Echo, do us all a favor and just shoot the man.
21:52: This is where the slow-mo bullets come in I guess. Come on girl, couldn’t you have just shot him while his bow was lowered like a reasonable human being?
21:53: I am so glad she stabbed him instead of being saved by the timely appearance of her policeman friend.
21:54: Even if she does go give him a scared little girl hug afterwards.
21:56: You know, in case you thought this had nothing to do with Alpha, the show will spell it out for you.
21:58: That’s was a strangely cruel and disturbing exchange between a mean man and a child-minded and unfortunate woman.

So do they only have as many Actives as there are letters in the Greek alphabet? Is Sierra a Greek letter? I don’t know these things, I took Latin. (No, I did not catch on until “Alpha.”)

That said, I have to agree with the blogs: this episode is a vast improvement on the pilot episode. It showed a lot more of how the Dollhouse works and how the people within it interact. It also gave some cursory but promising insight into how the Actives themselves live, and the unique pitfalls of this particular new technology. Still not enough Agent Paul Ballard for my liking, but he’s got Echo’s number, so it won’t be long.

Still, what was up with that doting neighbor woman and her lasagna? I can’t help but want to link her with the earlier discussion of “eliminating” Ballard. POISONED LEFTOVERS. Watch your back, man.