Dollhouse S02E01

Vows

It's been nearly five months since Alpha's escape, and Echo is back to work, seemingly wiped of all 36 personalities Alpha imprinted her with. Ballard must deal with his growing feelings for Echo as he uses the Dollhouse for his own ends, hiring Echo on a long-term engagement as the 'wife' of major arms dealer Martin Klar (Jamie Bamber), who Ballard could never capture during his days in the FBI. The engagement becomes complicated when Echo, struck by Klar in a jealous rage after he discovers her "cheating" on him with Ballard, begins to glitch, losing not only her current imprint but recalling past ones. Ballard saves the day by invoking the assassin imprint he encountered in "Man on the Street," allowing both of them to fight their way out. DeWitt invites Paul to become Echo's handler, pointing out that he noticed Echo's glitching before her current handler did, and when he finds out that Echo has reached self-awareness even in her blank state, he agrees. Subplots include Claire Saunders' inability to handle the knowledge that she was once the number one Active, Whiskey, before being repurposed by Topher, taking her rage out on him before fleeing the Dollhouse permanently, and the introduction of Senator Daniel Perrin (Alexis Denisof), who begins a public investigation of the Rossum Corporation.