Dollhouse: Q&A – Spoiler Alert!

The lastest Dollhouse news: the ARG (Alternative Reality Game) appears to have started! Visit AdelleDewitt.com. The username and password (adelle/wipe) was revealed by Kimi Lassek, who appears to have gone missing… Playing the game? Share your updates in our forum.

And now for the promised Q & A…

“I’m actually curious about the Dollhouse as far as who runs it. Is it a private organization? If so, how in the heck is any of this legal?”

It is a private organization, but a secret one. Federal Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) is heading the investigation into “Dollhouse,” but pretty much everyone else considers it a myth.

KEENE: It’s a myth, okay? It’s an urban legend: young people having their personalities replaced so they can be the perfect date, it’s alligators in the sewers!

“Is this the near future? (Kind of like Dark Angel?)”

No specific date is mentioned, but it does appear to be near future or perhaps even present day. With the obvious exception of the Dollhouse itself, there are no technological advances that are apparent.

“So, the Dolls willingly gave up five years of their lives…but how long have they already been dolls?”

This question is not answered in the pilot, but here is what we do know: the Dollhouse has been around long enough to have a doll, referred to as Alpha, go mad. It has been long enough that they recognize Echo’s recent interactions with the other dolls as “out of the norm.”

This question was posed in the discussion at Whedonesque: “what if not all the dolls are volunteers?”

Ah, yes, this is clearly something that the series will explore.

BOYD: Dr. Saunder’s is working the radical theory that those people are still people.

TOPHER: People who volunteered for this.

BOYD: Or so we’re told…

TOPHER: You’re not allowed to have conspiracy theories when you’re in the employ of the conspiracy. These folks elected to give up five years of their lives, after which they will be blissfully ignorant and very wealthy.

BOYD: What about during? What about the things you program them to do? Even if they did sign up, they didn’t know what they were signing up for.

Another interesting question: since their minds are clearly wiped of the memory of having made the deal in the first place, what reason does the Dollhouse have to abide by the 5-year rule if their Actives have no idea how much time has passed and no memory of the deal they made? Is there some way the Actives have to ensure this? Perhaps someone on the outside who knows what’s going on and can call the Dollhouse on it after the five years have passed?

We’ll leave you with a quote from Topher, who is not an Active:

TOPHER: Nonsense. We walk the wire, Friend-man. We live in the Dollhouse. Which makes us dolls, and the people playing with us, little children. Children break their toys, Boyd.

Stay tuned for info on J.J. Abram’s new pilot Fringe

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