Dollhouse Recap: The Target

I’m not sure how long Dollhouse will last.Some folks are saying it won’t make it past the 4th episode, while others think the show has a shot at the long haul.What I do know, regardless of length of time of the series, is that Dollhouse has created one of the biggest television badasses in some time: Boyd Langton.In “The Target,” we get a flashback storyline of how Langton comes to work at the Dollhouse.The story opens with mass chaos at the Dollhouse.Dead bodies are everywhere, and armed security guards, led by Morris, search for the invaders.The guards enter a room with more dead Actives, and we see Echo.She turns and says, “They won’t wake up.”She’s acting like a child. There is nothing there. She has seen ‘Alpha’, the killer, rip through the building, but it doesn’t phase her. Soon after, we see Langton being interviewed at the Dollhouse.Because of the the Alpha breach, DeWitt tells Langton they’re bringing in better Handlers than previously.Langton wants to see Echo’s previous Handler, Samuelsson, and we quickly see that Langton knows his stuff.This guy has been through some serious crap.Later, Langton meets Topher and questions Topher about Alpha.Apparently, Alpha took on multiple personalities that should have been erased from the files. Langton motions to a group of Actives doing yoga.He asks if the dead Actives put up a fight against Alpha, and Topher tells him no.Actives without blueprints can’t do much of anything.Langton doesn’t like this.We get the feeling that he doesn’t like much about the Dollhouse, but yet he doesn’t leave.Why?It’s treatment time for Echo, and Langton has to be there.It’s a bonding experience.He has to read a script to Echo so she’ll always trust him.Langton doesn’t like it, and he wants to leave.Again, he doesn’t agree with any of this.Yet he goes through with it.A while later, we see Echo and Langton back at the Dollhouse after a job.She’s going on and on about the guy she just met.She wants Langton to take her to the guy after her treatment, because she’s in love with him.Langton tells her he’ll do it, but you can see the regret in his face.This is the same thing that happened last week.Throughout the episode, we see FBI Agent Ballard.He’s repeatedly chastised by his fellow agents.No one but Ballard believes the Dollhouse exists, but he doesn’t let that bother him.He’s in search for Echo, and he’s determined to find her.The question is, Why Echo?Why, out of the dozens (or more) of Actives, does he care about Echo?Why is he limiting his search for the Dollhouse to one Active?Wouldn’t he be better served to pursue leads for as many Actives as possible?Richard O’Connell has come to the Dollhouse for a girl.But not just any girl. He wants the perfect woman.He has all the money in the world, but every woman has turned out to be a disappointment.He meets with Adelle DeWitt, and DeWitt says that Echo is perfect for him.But she also says that his ‘engagement’ (date) has been flagged as risky, and the company needs a fee for the risk.