The other thing that points to Adele for me is that the fight with Echo kept Ballard out of the house so that the gross handler could be killed in Ballard's apartment by Melly, who was controlled by Adele.

I'll agree that it seemed a little broad, but also the wife/gf's reaction was what it was all about. Honestly, it reminded me of HBO's "Real Sex" street interviews though, where real people do say unexpectedly candid things about their sex lives into cameras.

That's true - Dr. Saunders is a cool option as well. It doesn't answer a question for me though that Adele tampering does - who was watching Echo on that engagement? Was it a coincidence that Boyd wasn't watching her, or was it deliberate? And if he wasn't, who was? It seems like a pretty big risk to leave her out…

@wookiee - I don't understand. You don't think Joss' feminist critiques are nuanced? Zoe and Inara aren't nuanced? Buffy's issues with sacrifice, with control, and with fate aren't nuanced? I love your posts (here and all around the Club) so I'd love to hear more about that. I was surprised!

@Cheese: I always dig your posts, but I have to say that the documentary/news crew catching a Dollhouse higher up would have blown it for me. I like the idea of seeing these people outside the Dollhouse too, but in that venue it would have ruined the contextualization for me.

Aw, shucks. T'weren't nothin'. :)

Oh man
"Every man who fought for his country should have the right to an Ida Lupino."

Oh, you're totally right, RPA! I was all, "man, Patton is such a great actor! Why haven't I seen him before!" But I had seen a movie with great acting by him in it. Now I need to watch Ratatouille again.

I think that's exactly it - Ballard is less of a threat if he a) thinks someone inside is helping him and b) is no longer in the FBI. It means he won't push as hard, or have the resources. Adele *must* have "corrupted" Echo's file - now Ballard is on a goose chase to find out what the Dollhouse is, and she gets a…

Oh hell yes on Six Feet Under. Arrested Development's finale was pretty great, too.

The last episode of The Wire was surprisingly successful, against odds. I know, I know.

Clicking through is a reward for the adventurous.

Yup
http://www.sadtrombone.com/

Actually, maybe the ZV Club can answer a longstanding question for me - do you guys know if Soft Cell's "Sex Dwarf" is a reference to "The Sinful Dwarf?" It seems like it should be, but there's not an explicit connection per se.

Torvald!

Well, but Horace let them stay in the DI expressly so they could look for their people. And Jin was still doing his grid square-by-grid square search for their people when he came across Kate, Jack and Hurley.

Yummsh, you have my eternal respect for pulling out the "Chinese Firedrill" quote. Namaste.

If you were Sayid, would you eat that sandwich? I wouldn't.

A Tough Grader
Man, you are rough on House, Zack. Are these grades relative to prior seasons, or to all of TV? I have to say that I think that the show mostly got a lot more fun for me with New Coke. I liked House well enough when Classic Coke could have crises of faith (religious or humanist or whatever) and be…

…didn't Tampa Bay play in the World Series last year? Hardly rickety.