Dollhouse’s inability to string two quality episodes together is beginning to be a serious problem. Perhaps because of this it was inevitable that this week’s was going to be a bummer. THough there are element’s of this weeks show that are interesting, generally it was an overly complex and tortured plot that didn’t seem to go anywhere.

A Senator who has used the Dollhouse’s services hires Echo out n infiltrate a religious cult that’s taken a refuge in his district. They need to bug Echo but for obvious reasons they don’t want a traditional microphone. So, they drill her eye out making her blind and install a tiny surveillance camera. The idea of this is just rediculous.Echo and all of the actives must make the Dollhouse so much money over time that it seems nuts to subject something so valuable to possible permanent blindness.

REgardless of the silly factor, Echo, observed by Boyd and a few dozen ATF agents, marches right to the gate of the compound and gains access. Though she’s subjected to lots of test by the David Coresh-like leader of the cult, it still feels like she’s accepted far too early. After a completely bungled extraction, the ATF (along with a furious Boys) are stymied by the well armed cult. So far the plot, while somewhat superficial, is pretty coherent. Sadly, this isn’t good enough. After some digging Boyd discovers that the whole set up and attack, though perhaps still worthwhile, is a set up by an ATF agent with a grudge against the cult leader. The agent is willing to sacrifice Echo to stop the cult leader and Boyd gets little help from Dollhouse HQ. A blow to the head by the cult leader kills Echo’s eye camera, but also miraculously grants he sight. Its incredibly lame. It goes without saying that Echo and Boyd escape the fiery, Waco-style assault on the compound much to the disappointment of the ATF agent who masterminded the debacle.

Agent Ballard’s seemingly pointless world also trudges along. THough he does get some more clues about Echo from what we assume is Alpha, he’s still separated from any actual action. Ballard’s witless investigate is more pointless than a ball bearing.

Its sad to see Dollhouse making so many wrong moves in what is clearly a talented group of writers and actors. Though the series may be dead already, it still has a lot of potential as quality SciFi. In order to get to that level though, its just going to have to better more often.