What begins as a battle between the two women eventually becomes a fight against the Rossum Corporation when Adelle's authority in the Dollhouse is usurped by Rossum through Matthew Harding (Keith Carradine) as he takes over the Dollhouse for several months, attempting to secure the remote mind-wiping tech being developed by Topher Brink (Fran Kranz), the L.A. Dollhouse's resident genius. While Adelle eventually turns over the tech to Rossum to secure her place as head of the L.A. Dollhouse, she soon realizes that they intend to use the tech to control not only politicians, but also random innocent people and perhaps, the entire world.
This plot clearly comes to light with the introduction of the character of Senator Daniel Perrin (Aliexis Denisof), former party-loving wildchild turned straight-arrow politician deadset on bringing down the Dollhouse. When he turns out to be an Active himself, Rossum's deep-reaching plot reveals itself more and more. Adelle, Echo and Topher have to travel to the D.C. Dollhouse to try to figure out Rossum's endgame and it is here that we meet Bennett Halverson (Summer Glau), a scientist Topher has always admired. Soon, Topher is in love and we discover that Bennett and Caroline (Echo's former self) were best friends and both involved in trying to bring down Rossum, but the results didn't turn out as expected. As the season and series draw to a close, we realize that what we saw in Epitaph One from Season One was merely a glimpse into a horrible future and that nothing they do can truly stop Rossum's plan. Eventually, the ragtag remains of the L.A. Dollhouse will band together and in the year 2020, will reunite to finally put an end to Rossum's reign. They'll be joined by internet darling Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible and The Guild) and Zach Ward (A Christmas Story - "he has yellow eyes!") in a final assault to reverse the remote mind-wipe tech and restore everyone's memories once and for all. Lives will be lost and some forever changed, but the ending works well enough for the series, even if the last four episodes were a bit rushed.
Woven throughout the season were several really outstanding episodes, although I thoroughly enjoyed every one. Sierra's (Dichen Lachman) origin story is a chilling one as she is an aspiring artist named Priya Tsetsang who catches the eye of a neurophysicist and high-ranking Rossum official, Dr. Nolan Kinnard (Vincent Ventresca). When Priya rejects Kinnard's advances, he shoots her full of psychotropic drugs that mimic schizophrenia and causes her to be commited, then eventually sent to the Dollhouse for "treatment." He then proceeds to buy time with her, essentially raping her and forcing her to "happily" be with him over and over. He finally insists that Adelle turn her over to him permanently and she does, under duress, but Topher sends her back with her original personality. Chaos ensues. The episode is fantastic and shows a side of Topher we don't often see, a moral one.
Another stellar episode involves a serial killer who is rendered brain dead during an auto accident and Topher is forced to imprint Victor (Enver Gjokaj) with his memories in an attempt to rescue several victims who may still be alive. In the fray and the accidental testing of the remote mind-wipe tech, Echo becomes imprinted as the serial killer and Victor becomes imprinted with Echo's current personality, a flirtatious college co-ed. Victor's outing at a bar is simply hilarious. Enver Gjokaj also really spreads his acting wings this season when Topher is forced to go cross-country to the D.C Dollhouse and has to imprint Victor with his own personality to keep the L.A. Dollhouse running smoothly. Again, really funny stuff.
Overall, lots more happens, including a frightening trip to The Attic for Echo and a few others where she bumps into the former head of security, Dominic (Reed Diamond). Naturally, Alpha (Alan Tudyk) turns up again several times, sometimes to do harm and sometimes to do good. He's a tricky character, that one. Dr. Claire Saunders (Amy Acker) also re-emerges after a hiatus from the Dollhouse, but what is she really up to?
Any fan of Dollhouse has already picked this season up, but if not, now is the time to do it. There are a handful of good special features, although not as much as I would have expected. There is commentary on three episodes, plus a retrospective with Joss Whedon, outtakes and deleted scenes and my favorite, a roundtable discussion with Joss and the cast members. Here, they talk about what happened when they were cancelled and all of the ups and downs of the season and series. It's great stuff for fans.
While those who missed Season One will be lost, if you've followed the series, Dollhouse: The Complete Second Season is a must to complete the short-run but fantastic series.
