The promotional ads for Dollhouse have been promising some big action this week. Whedon said interviews that episode six is the one where the plot all begins to come together. Its about time. Dollhouse has generally been a disappointment even to those that bought the special edition DVD of Dr Horrible. This episode seemed to be the best so far.

The so far useless Ballard seems to actually be making some progress in his case.  Helped along with tips sent in by Alpha he’s getting closer to Echo. He’s even begun to find a money trail, leading to an internet mogul Joel Mynor, played by the ever awesome Patton Oswalt.

Back at the Dollhouse, Sierra has a very strange reaction when the other active Victor (the one with the inappropriate boner) touches her. Victor and Sierra seem to have had sex, which throws the whole balance of the passive actives off. This odd sexual undercurrent to the actives had better make some sense, because otherwise it just seems silly.

Ballard arrives at Mr Mynor’s house just as Echo comes calling and he comes face to face with Echo for the first time. After Echo escapes and Mr Minor’s bodyguards get subduded by Ballard (who can’t even be stopped by a tazer) he interrogate Mr Mynor. Mynor turns the tables on Ballard and exposes his own fantasy about being heroic. Not surprisingly, Whedon gives Patton a wide berth as Mynor and it pays off big time. He’s just great on camera and its one of the most memorable scenes in the series so far.

After some internal Dollhouse investigation, it appears as though Victor and Sierra have been having sex with the implication that it might not be consensual. After some twists, its clear that Sierra isn’t being abused by Victor, but by one of the sleazier handlers. The handler now caught, is given a chance to keep himself out of “the attic”. He’s charged with killing agent Ballard’s neighbor/new girlfriend.

I should mention that throughout the episode there are vignettes of a faux news story about the urban legend of the Dollhouse. Its a forced bit of theater to drive home the subtexts of the story. Namely, human trafficking, the fantasy life versus reality and the morality of changing identity. Its pretty hollow but it gives voice to some views that should be considered when trying to follow Whedon’s morality play.

After the close call with agent Ballard, the Dollhouse decides to send in Echo. After leaving his new neighbor girlfriend to get some egg rolls, Echo attacks. Programed to be a super kung fu bad ass, Echo and Ballard fight until Echo finally gets the upper hand. Suddenly, Echo’s secondary layer of programing begins and she communicates with Ballard openly about the Dollhouse. There is someone inside who wants to feed Ballard info, and that person has set up Echo as a messenger. Either this is a ploy, or it adds yet another layer of subterfuge.

As Ballard realizes that his new girl is in danger he races back to the apartment. Sure enough the sleazy rapist Handler is beating her up and trying to kill her. Just as he begins to choke her out, a call arrives and the mousy neighbor springs to life. She too is an active. She kills the handler and then reverts to the mousy neighbor imprint again.

Now inspired by Echo’s messages, Ballard quits the FBI to go lone wolf in his investigation. He is completely boxed in, but he doesn’t know it yet. His new active/girlfriend will continue to shadow him and the Dollhouse is sure he’s not finished yet.

It was interesting to have Ballard catch a fleeting glimpse of his white wale in this episode. For the first time, Ballard was actually relevant. Also interesting to have yet another force, aside from Alpha and Ballard, trying to bring down the Dollhouse; this time from within. Dollhouse didn’t lie when it promised a good episode. It delivered this time. We should all hope that the show gains some consistent footing from here on.