Dollhouse Season 1 Episode 4: Gray Hour

It's time for another exciting episode of Dollhouse this time written by Sarah Fain & Elizabeth Craft. We starts off with Echo being a mid-wife out in the mountains helping to give birth. Topher wipes it all from  her mind and she reenters the dollhouse.

Sierra sits down with Echo and is clearly just a doll while Echo starts asking questions. She is not the same as everyone else. We also see for the first time that Victor is a doll as well. Topher tells Boyd about how worried he is. Echo, Sierra and Victor keep sitting together and at the same table. It seems that something is going on with all of the dolls not just Echo.

DeWitt is ordered to take care of Ballard. He is proving too dangerous. Echo is sent on a dangerous mission, or so we are told but it seems like she is just for some fun at a bachelor party. Until she goes up stairs and is seen running bloody. The bank manager offers her 10 thousand dollars to sign a paper and forget everything. She knocks him out and calls the men who were hurting her. She tells them she is in. It seems it was all a set up.

Echo is in charge of this crew. She has strict orders not to kill anyone. They blow a hole in the wall. They have to move fast now. They make it into a vault full of stolen pieces of art, expensive pieces of art.

Ballard makes it home, still hurting from the other episode. He hears someone behind him, it turns out to be Victor. He is asking him for help. He says he didn't set Ballard up, he was set up and he is about to die unless Ballard can help him out and get him into witness protection. Ballard agrees to help him as long as it is the last time the two of them never see each other again.

Echo and her crew are locked in the safe with no way out while Topher trains his new assistant.  He sees that something is wrong with Echo's stats. It seems that someone wiped her over the phone. She is back to being a doll. This is not good. Boyd catches the art  expert who trapped the rest of the crew in the safe.

DeWitt and Topher listen to the phone call Echo and Boyd had when she started acting weird. He tells her that it was a remote wipe. He tells them that without the comfort of the dollhouse she is going to collapse into a coma or go crazy and start killing people. Without help things are going to go bad for her. Whoever wiped Echo is at least as smart as Topher if not smarter.

DeWitt has Sierra imprinted with the same personality as Echo so that she can use her to help them. Topher calls and tells Boyd what happens and he calls DeWitt. She tells him if things go south Echo isn't safe. Protecting the Dollhouse comes first. Boyd makes his way inside to help. Echo starts to remember her real personality. She is starting to pull an Alpha.

This episode is very important, not just because of what is happening to Echo but because of the remote wipe. It sets the stage for what happens in the future. Everything that happens down the road has its roots in this episode.

Sierra walks Echo through what to do. It seems to be going well until the alarm goes off. DeWitt sends Sierra off for her treatment. The door opens and the guards order them to come out. Echo is told to fire at them but she instead knocks her partner over and runs. The guy in there who liked her told her to run while the smoke was blinding everyone so she can escape without being seen. Boyd goes in looking for her and finds her. She brought the guy who helped her out with her. Saving him from jail or death. Boyd gets them both out of there.

Victor tells Ballard that he needs to go. Ballard instead sets him up. He is now on the watch list and can't go anywhere. Echo is back to the dollhouse and everything seems to be back to normal. Topher seems to think that Echo is fine and there was no long term damage. Topher gets a promotion and finds out that Alpha is still alive.