Top Five Imprints: Sierra (Dollhouse)

In sussing out my top five imprints for Sierra, I realized how few of her imprints have actual names.  While we see Sierra get imprinted about as often as Victor, the show only tends to show brief glimpses – coming back from a romantic engagement, for example, or doing some work in-house.  I don’t think I’d ever really noticed that before.  It means that Dichen Lachman still makes a good impact, even with characters we barely see.

Audra

This is Sierra’s first major imprinted role.  There mainly as back-up in case Echo needs it (I’m guessing she has some subliminal parameters that kick in with fight skills if things go south?), Sierra is delightfully fun as Audra, the “number one fan” of the pop star Echo is protecting.  Audra is sweet, bubbly, and pitch-perfect as a nervous super-fan meeting her idol.

Taffy

When Echo’s safecracker imprint is disrupted mid-engagement, the Dollhouse tries to bring it home by giving Sierra the same imprint and having her talk Echo through the heist over the phone (I know, right?)  It’s the first time we see two people playing the same character, and Lachman carries it off well.  Her Taffy is bursting with confidence and cool under pressure, and she’s not above letting things get down to the wire while she waits for her payout to arrive.

Topher’s Friend

I love this character, the unnamed geeky friend Topher creates to hang out with him on his birthday.  To be honest, I’m not quite sure if this imprint is specifically designed to be a woman, or if Topher uses the same imprint every year and just sticks it into whatever Active he can get.  Lachman’s vibe in the role isn’t definitively female; I’ll just say “they.”  Anyway, I love this whole side plot, with Topher and his friend playing video games/laser tag and listing all their favorite Classic Sci-Fi Errors, and I also like that they’re not designed in such a way that Topher always wins.  If anything, they have the edge.  I like that Topher did that.

Naughty Posh Woman

Brief but very fun.  We only get a minute or two of this imprint, what looks to be a British society lady from the 1950s.  We learn that she’s “not comfortable with Orientals” (good thing she doesn’t have a mirror,) and she has very clear ideas about how she should be punished when she’s been bad.

Noir Woman

Another glimpse from a romantic engagement, sort of – that’s what she’s designed for, but the client actually has ulterior motives.  I get a kick out of this imprint, which is straight out of a noir satire.  The line “I’ve been done wrong ten ways to Sunday and it’s Tuesday” tells you pretty much everything you need to know.  So short, but so good!

Relationship Spotlight: Sierra & Victor (Dollhouse)

 

Even though it has a rocky start and a rushed, break-glass-in-case-of-emergency ending, I love Dollhouse.  With terrific Whedon characters, intriguing mythos, adventurous storytelling, and thoughtful thematic work, it’s an ambitious series with a lot to like.  Since this is my first Dollhouse-related post, though, I have to go straight to my favorite aspect of the show:  the relationship between Victor and Sierra.

 

Honestly, it’s pairings like this that remind me what a sap I can be.  At first glance, you wouldn’t think much of them – they’re both brain-wiped victims, mindless blank slates to be imprinted with personalities at the behest of the rich and powerful.  They’re farmed out regularly, equipped with whatever skillful, quirks, or kinks needed for their engagement, and then re-wiped before being dropped back into the Dollhouse.  Their own identities are in storage, and their non-engaged everyday personalities are vacant, childlike, and mutedly content.

 

So why Sierra and Victor?  Because their love cuts through all of that.  Even they’re only vaguely aware of it themselves and entirely unable to articulate it (when asked to describe how Sierra makes him feel, all Victor can say is, “Better,) a quiet, innocent romance begins to grow between them.  Those who run the Dollhouse don’t get it.  They call it “grouping,” think it’s a problematic malfunction.  They try to fix it – the dolls are scrubbed (wiped more deeply to stamp out any ghosts in the cerebral machine,) and staff are instructed to monitor their behavior, but it doesn’t do any good.

 

Adele considers these hints of independent thought and feelings to be dangerous, an incursion that could spread to other dolls and pollute the livestock.  She’s right to be concerned; as Victor and Sierra grow closer, their feelings for each other (especially Victor’s for Sierra) continue to come through even when they’re imprinted.  When they’re both imprinted, their new personalities fall for each other all over again, but they don’t even need to see one another for the imprinted personalities to know they’re in love.  Since the Dollhouse is made to cater to its clients’ deepest desires and needs, it’s not exactly ideal to send a doll on a romantic engagement when they love someone else.

 

Not to mention, I just love how they are with each other.  It’s so gentle and sweet, the way they look at one another, the way they hold hands like they invented it.  I kind of like that, given the blank-slate nature of their doll personalities, the show can’t simply resort to make-out sessions or smoldering tension.  It doesn’t ignore the physical side (the situation first comes to Topher’s attention when he notices Victor in the shower with an erection, a development that surprises Victor at least as much as everyone else,) but it needs to get creative and find other ways to show their affections and burgeoning relationship.  I appreciate that.  Although Victor in his doll state is utterly powerless, he tries to protect Sierra any way he can by his limited means.  Sierra is slower to be very demonstrative with her feelings, but when she does, she starts to look out for him as well.  A heart would have to be a great deal colder and harder than mine not to be entirely won over by these two.