Nothing is what it appears to be.
It seems pretty clear to me.
Because you're only seeing part of it.
I'm talking about
a clean slate.
You ever try and clean an actual slate?
You always see what was on it before.
Are you volunteering... I don't have
a choice, do I?
How did it get this far?
Caroline,
actions have consequences.
Oh, God, you're loving this, aren't you?
I'm sorry you don't understand what I'm offering here.
But what we do helps people.
If you become a part of that, it can help you.
Right.
You're just looking out for me.
Perhaps better than you have.
We can take care
of this mess.
After your five-year term,
you will be free to...
I don't deserve this.
I was just trying to make a difference,
trying to...
take my place in the world, you know,
like she always said, and now I'm...
I know.
Actions have consequences.
What if they didn't?
Happy birthday, man.
No way.
You cheated.
How did I cheat?
You did something
that will prove to have been cheating.
This isn't over.
Oh, my God, you are a sore loser.
Oh, I wouldn't know... I've never lost.
That's okay, the first time,
you're always just a little bit sore.
Oh, wow, that's funny,
coming from a cheater who is also
a little bitch.
You sure you didn't let me win?
Two out of three.
Nah. Huh?
Let's just dance.
You having a good time?
The best.
Listen, uh, I know
at the beginning of the weekend, we said no strings.
We also said no ropes, and look how long that lasted.
Yeah, I remember.
I remember it all.
I always will.
What, like I'd forget?
You think this is a normal weekend for me?
Maybe?
I had no idea you were a moron.
Look, it's... it's little, it's stupid,
but...
I want you to have it.
You're an amazing guy, Matt.
When you say it, I almost believe.
Thank you.
For everything.
It's getting late.
You're not getting out of another dance.
Of course not.
I'm just gonna go grab a drink.
Okay.
You ready for your treatment?
I think it's time.
Did you have a nice time?
I met a guy.
Dude, where's your friend?
It's time for her to go.
Had to get to her carriage
before it turned into a pumpkin.
What?
Stroke of midnight.
Midnight?
The end of the ball.
Dude, it... it's like 5:00.
Hey, you think you could take me
back to the party after my treatment?
I'll wait right here.
You're good people.
Right.
Maybe I shouldn't go back.
The last thing I want to be is clingy,
but you know when you just...
you meet someone and... you know?
If I'm wrong, I'll know.
I mean, Matt can't lie to save his life.
If he gives me that look, I'll walk away.
But I don't know, I think...
he feels it, too.
I think I found something real.
I'm glad.
This is gonna pinch a bit.
You have a nice time?
I met a guy.
I want you to have it.
You ready to be a sad second place, man?
No obligations.
Really?
No pressure.
It's just an experiment.
How much fun can we have in three days?
Hello, Echo.
How are you feeling?
Did I fall asleep?
For a little while.
Shall I go now?
If you like.
Everything go all right with the wipe?
Why don't you just ask Echo?
Oh, that's right.
Because she can't remember.
Of course, it went all right.
Imprint's gone.
The new moon has made her a virgin again.
Is there some reason it shouldn't have?
Something happen during the engagement?
I think she finally met the right guy.
You're so jaded,
and at such a middle age.
She had fun, right?
She thought so.
There's nothing good or bad,
but thinking makes it so, man friend.
We gave two people a perfect weekend together.
We're great humanitarians.
Who would spend their lives in jail
if anyone ever found this place.
We're also misunderstood...
which great humanitarians often are.
Look at Echo.
Not a care in the world.
She's living the dream.
Whose dream?
Who's next?
I don't understand.
You just have to do as I tell you.
They'll find out, you know.
And why should I care about that?
They'll laugh at me.
Everybody watches it.
It's all they talk about.
That's 'cause their brains are melting,
and that reality crap is the reason why.
I finished my homework.
Well, if you finished
your homework, you should get a present.
How about...
Knowledge.
I hate you.
You have that right.
Why are we stopping?
You know I could watch it, and you'd never know.
Yeah, well, I'd see it all over your face
even when you were sleeping.
Some kind of roadblock.
I got to go.
And I'll know.
Tyrant.
She's completely helpless.
I mean, she's 12 years old, just a kid.
How much are they demanding?
Five million.
And you'll pay it.
Thanks.
In Mexico, kidnapping is a thriving business,
which is part of why
we live here when my factories are there.
But if you pay, there's a better chance...
Have you contacted the police?
I was instructed not to.
They're useless, anyway.
I need this to go smoothly.
I need Davina to be okay.
Mr. Crestejo, you're a valued client.
We will of course
provide what you need.
But there is a risk factor involved.
I don't want Rambo.
I want a negotiator.
This goes like clockwork, you understand?
That's who I need.
Clockwork.
Well,
our Actives are not robots,
but I think we can make this work for you.
Mr. Dominic will discuss the security details with you,
and you can enter the rest into the confessional.
Please remember,
the Active won't know they came from here.
Any discussion of this place will only confuse them,
and possibly send them right back.
I know how important it is that not happen.
Yes.
Thank you.
I'm terribly sorry for all this.
We will help.
Ow!
Yeah, this feels very tight.
I think you fell on it with something heavy.
I don't remember.
Well, it's gonna be fine.
And your blood work
and internals are all shipshape.
I'll just ask one of the staff to work on that knee.
Would you like a massage?
They're relaxing.
Yes.
I'll set that up.
I don't remember
what fell on me.
Does that bother you?
Should it?
We'll look after you.
Does someone look after you?
Why don't you wait in the massage area, and
I'll call for someone to work on that knee.
She's not asleep.
Oh. What...? Just keep mapping the tissue.
Hey, Echo.
What are you doing here?
She hurts.
She does.
That's because
it's her first time,
and, uh, we have to do more extensive work on her.
Work?
We're making her better.
In a little while, she'll be strong
and happy,
and she'll forget all about this
and you...
will have a new friend living with you.
Her name is Sierra.
Sierra.
Mm-hmm.
Aren't you supposed
to be getting your physical with Dr. Saunders far
from here right now?
We're ready for your massage, Echo.
Something fell on me.
I bet it was something great.
Agent Ballard, you were assigned to case designate
Dollhouse over 14 months ago.
How would you describe your progress to date?
Slow.
I'm actually very impressed by what I see here.
You've physically threatened a senator,
disrupted a seven-year
human trafficking, investigation, been arrested
for trespassing on Prince Amoudi's yacht.
The only legal action you've successfully
followed through on is your divorce.
Paul, let me ask you.
After all this, do you think the Dollhouse really exists?
I know it does.
You've seen it then?
You could, like, take us on a tour?
Look, we all know
this assignment is a joke.
If it's a joke, then pull me off it.
Except you can't,
because someone bigger than you thinks it isn't a joke.
I'm a billionaire.
I can hire anybody for anything.
And I'm gonna go to an illegal organization
and have them build me, program me, what,
the perfect date?
Confessor, assassin, dominatrix, omelet chef?
I'm paying a million dollars for that?
I can get that.
I have everything I want.
Nobody has everything they want.
It's a survival pattern.
You get what you want, you want something else.
If you have everything, you want something else.
Something more extreme, something more specific.
Something perfect.
Put it like that, it doesn't sound so bad.
The only way to imprint
a human being with a new personality...
Which we've yet to prove possible.
...is to remove their own.
Completely.
We're talking about people walking around
who may as well have been murdered.
Which to me sounds pretty bad.
Is that why you interfered with the Russians?
The Borodin case?
They're the top of the heap in human trafficking.
If people are disappearing...
That is an ongoing investigation!
All right?
We have a chance to dry up
a major pipeline of girls being smuggled into this country,
and you do not jeopardize that
for a fairy tale!
You will stay out of everyone's way,
and you will stop pissing off
powerful public figures without any evidence!
You've been out of line, Paul.
You have to back off.
You need to keep away from the Borodin case.
Do you understand?
Are you able to back off?
That won't be a problem... sir.
Hello, Echo.
Would you sit down, please?
The situation is a kidnap and ransom,
12 year-old girl named Davina Crestejo.
The girl's supposed to be exchanged
for $5 million, which her father is willing to pay.
And we are going to help him do that.
Kidnapper's Latino,
probably Mexican,
refers to himself as "Mr. Sunshine. "
This is a high risk engagement so you'll have
both eyes and ears this time.
Audio off a wire,
and we'll tap you into his security vid
on the house and grounds.
Anything goes wrong,
or feels wrong,
you extract Echo immediately.
Her purpose is to facilitate the exchange,
nothing more.
No one is to be brought to justice.
We'll skip any ex-cop
heroics, if you don't mind.
Not a problem.
My only priority... Is Echo.
Good.
So,
who does she think she is?
Gabriel Crestejo?
I'm sorry, who are you?
You asked for me.
I'm here to help.
Our mutual friend referred me.
I'm sure he did.
I'm a little surprised, though, that he sent you.
I'm good with people.
I put them at their ease.
In my experience,
a beautiful woman never puts anyone at their ease.
Fatherly types do that.
They're warm and comforting,
make people feel safe.
A beautiful woman
distracts people, makes them nervous,
or jealous.
I can't afford that.
Not with what's at stake here.
I think our friend sent the wrong person.
Fatherly types.
Like Edward James Almos.
I hope there's no offense.
None taken, and I'm not leaving.
You can hire someone else,
give them my fee, but I'm the one
best qualified to save your daughter.
I've been doing this my whole life.
Just this.
You want people
to feel comforted?
We're past that.
These men are stone professionals.
They took her from your house.
Not on the way home from school, or in the park...
they came inside your house,
your seriously fortified house,
in order to tell you
that they could.
I've dealt with the others...
amateurs, men with a grudge,
or an urge.
You want a professional,
a man who knows the business.
Knows how high the stakes should or shouldn't go.
The percentage of successful negotiations goes way up.
And what's the percentage?
Not a hundred.
Is her room in here?
I'll show you.
We haven't touched anything.
Glasses, Topher?
She's nearsighted.
Is that supposed to make people take her seriously?
Like the librarian thing
is gonna hide the fact that she's...
Am I speaking Urdu?
She's nearsighted, Boyd.
You can mess up her eyesight?
I can mess up the neural connections to her eyesight.
Make her brain process the information it gets
any way I want.
As, for example, blurry.
But why would you?
Why handicap her in a job like this?
You see someone running
incredibly fast,
the first thing you gotta ask is,
are they running to something,
or are they running from something?
And the answer is always both.
So these personality imprints...
they come from scans of real people.
Now, I can create amalgams
of those personalities, pieces from here or there,
but it's not a greatest hits; it's a whole person.
Achievement is balanced by fault,
by... a lack.
Can't have one without the other.
Everyone who excels
is overcompensating.
Running from something.
Hiding from something.
The past?
Sometimes.
So what's in the past that you gave Echo?
That's her business, Boyd.
She's right for the job.
She's spent her life profiling
and negotiating with kidnappers.
That's the person they needed, so that's who Echo is.
The expert.
Who's nearsighted.
She also has asthma.
What took you so long?
Is this Mr. Sunshine?
Where is Gabriel?
He's right here.
My name is Eleanor Penn.
And I'll be handling the transaction.
I told him no cops!
Put Gabriel on,
I'm gonna cut his little girl
so he can hear.
He can hear.
I am not a cop.
I'm not FBI.
And I have no interest in justice.
I'm here only to facilitate a private transaction
and make sure no one is hurt during it.
No, you're a federale... you think I'm stupid?
I think you knew Gabriel wouldn't call the authorities
if you took Davina. Which was not stupid.
But Gabriel can't do this alone.
He's afraid, and angry,
and he knows those emotions are of no use right now.
So you'll deal with me.
And everybody will get what they want.
You may call me Miss Penn.
I may?
I call you Miss?
I think I call you Ellie,
since we're becoming such good friends.
I will not answer to Ellie.
You may call me Miss Penn.
Oh,
so you're the schoolteacher now, huh?
What, you gonna rap my knuckles if I'm bad?
It's unlikely.
You telling me how it's gonna be?!
Al diablo contigo y to nombre!
I have the girl, okay?
I make all the rules.
You want $5 million?
That's right.
Let's make it eight.
What?
8 million.
That's two million apiece.
Call back in 40 minutes
and let Davina talk to her father.
There's no way you're just gonna
give me an extra three mil...
You have the money.
It would have been polite to ask.
They have to get used to doing it my way.
Right now, they're getting very used to it.
Or they think she's messing with them.
I am.
But you'll give them the money.
You have to get used to doing things my way, too.
The last time a family's head
of security let
their daughter get kidnapped,
she was recovered in three days.
His body never was.
Speak out of turn again
and I will scold you.
How'd you know there was four of them?
You said, "2 million apiece. "
Guy didn't blink.
You heard him not blink?
Four's
the median number in these cases.
Three guys with ambition, one with information.
What more can you tell me about them?
I'll tell you when it's useful for you to know it.
They better put her on.
They will.
In 38 minutes.
You're the boss, Ellie.
Miss Penn.
What, you don't believe me?
This immigration guy, he's patting me down,
he's feeling me up,
he's starting to get very personal, right?
I tell him he should
buy me a drink, tell me I'm pretty,
he wants to grope me like that.
Oh, you're a talker, new guy.
It's Lubov. Uh, Velnik asked me to come,
give Mr. Borodin my respects.
I like a talker.
Immigration, he doesn't
even crack a smile.
Then out comes the rubber glove.
I'm serious.
Loomis,
I got a name for you.
Hello.
You got $8 million for us?
That's right.
If it's that easy,
I think we gonna make it an even ten.
What-What are you doing?
You hang up on me again, I chop her up right now!
And I'll use her for bait!
Is Davina ready to talk to her father?
You got one minute.
Papi?
I'm scared. Mija...
Mija, I'm right here.
Papi, I'm sorry.
No, no, no, mija, it's not like that.
You just do as the men say, I'm gonna bring you home.
It's okay, it's gonna be okay.
I'm scared.
All they want is money.
They yell at me.
Except the one with the mask,
he doesn't talk.
It's dark in the room,
but I can hear the... Davina,
I'm a friend of your father's.
I need to know
if they're hutting you.
Not much.
Did they feed you? But they push me around.
A little.
And they wouldn't let me use the bathroom at first,
but then they did.
It's the small kind...
Your father wants
to tell you something.
I, uh...
I, uh, I want you to be strong, Davina.
Remember that I love you
and I will never let anything happen to you.
I love you, Papi.
Please put the man
back on.
The money tomorrow.
I call you at noon to tell you where.
Maybe. And she'll be there.
There are only two ways for this to go...
either everybody gets what they want, or nobody does.
We will not pay if she's not there.
You told me you're good with people.
I misspoke. I'm good at people.
She was trying to tell me something!
And I needed her not to.
Suppose they figured out what she was telling you
before you did?
Do you think this would endear her to them?
But if we could find her before they do something...
And what, rush in with tear gas?
These people don't handle surprises well.
They get their money or they dig a hole.
You have to trust
that I have done this many, many times.
I have to trust that... right.
Yesterday, you weren't a nurse or a clown in the circus.
What?
You're the best,
the best one they could send.
Why is that?
What makes you so good at this?
I don't have any hobbies.
No, no, no.
You have to do better than that.
You have to make me believe,
believe like you believe.
Who are you?
You want my résumé?
I studied psychology,
forensic science,
profiling from former instructors at Quantico.
Been licensed seven years.
Handled over 12 negotiations.
Why, why, why?
What made you
do all those amazing things?
Did something terrible happen in your childhood?
Did horrible men come and snatch you away?
Yes.
You were kidnapped.
When I was nine.
How long did that... Three months.
And they did things to you.
Unprofessional things.
Is this helping you in some way?
You don't remember?
Maybe it's all made up.
There was one.
He got rid
of the others after they were paid and...
All the terrible memories
these men put in your head.
Why would they do that?
Sometimes the bad things just happen
and no one
can protect you from them.
I'm okay.
I'm fine, I'm okay.
I'm sorry.
Forget it.
I'd like to get some sleep.
We've got a long day tomorrow.
I'll have Maria make you up a bed.
Don't move.
Hey, make sure the ladies at my table
have what they need, huh?
The champagne never stops flowing.
The good stuff.
For the first few bottles, the good stuff.
After that, the house is fine.
You're about to make a very bad mistake.
Dollhouse.
What?
Dollhouse.
Say it.
Dollhouse.
Say it again.
Your brains are...
Okay, dollhouse.
Doll freaking house.
I'll keep saying it... it's fun to say.
Dollhouse, dollhouse, dollhouse, dollhouse.
You see the Borodins, you say it some more.
You think you want to mess with the Borodins?
No, but they supply girls,
some of them very high-end,
to fine, upstanding clients.
There's one client I'm interested in.
Find out who's connected
to the Dollhouse, the Borodins won't be touched,
and you'll never see me again.
I haven't seen you yet.
You will.
Wash your hands.
And your shoes.
You look better than on the phone, chica.
It's still Miss Penn.
Me disculpo.
The money.
Please.
This is not your first time.
Let's go.
Come on, let's go, let's go.
Davina!
Davina, mi hija, it's okay.
Papi's here.
Okay... now you show.
We take that on the boat.
Your daughter steps off.
You don't move towards her
until we are away.
Whoa... whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa.
Hey, Boyd, what's going on?
We're good so far.
No, no, Echo's not good.
Something's not good, and Echo knows it.
This is maybe your first time.
It's just a condition... we're not making trouble.
Are you trying to blow this?
Don't let them on the boat.
You said that's the way it is.
They're not gonna give her back.
He's not gonna give her back.
No, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
She gets off first. Get the hell back.
You give me my daughter!
We need an ambulance.
The client is shot.
Extract the Active.
Do it now.
Is it bigger than your thumb?
Echo. Is it... is it bigger than your thumb?
Miss Penn, look at me.
You can't fight a ghost.
You ready for your treatment?
You can't fight a ghost.
It's so dark.
Of course it's dark.
It's better.
You don't see, you don't make a sound.
You forget his face.
Whose face?
He's all thumbs.
What happened on the dock?
What went wrong?
He doesn't give them back.
Who, the man in the mask?
He's old now.
He's the same age.
I am proportionately similar
to a girl, a small girl.
The older man.
You know him.
He's the one that took you.
They never found him.
He said he was a ghost.
You can't fight a ghost...
but he was heavy,
the weight of him.
Ghosts aren't heavy.
Ghosts are sheets with holes cut out.
He took you away.
And now...
It's unprofessional.
He's taken Davina.
She's proportionately similar to a girl.
He won't touch her until he's taken care of the others.
The other two men?
They'll be dividing the money
and make sure there's no tracers, no dye pack.
They'll get excited.
They won't see him coming.
Six hours.
Before he kills them?
And takes her away.
On the boat?
It's been seen.
They were planning to beach it anyway.
It's a Houlberd, 30-footer.
It's got a decent range.
And it was riding high. They haven't
bothered to fuel it... good.
Let's place them anywhere from here...
to here.
Still a lot of choices.
I'm missing something.
The man an the phone... what did he say?
The mask.
Only one man wore a mask.
Because she knows him.
He doesn't just have information.
He's in her life.
We find him, we find the ghost.
How does she know him?
Something the other one said.
We need to do my treatment now, and we need to do it fast.
Miss Penn...
Come on, Langton.
A client's in critical, weapon's discharged.
You think I'm gonna let you hold her hand
while Topher scrubs her? Two minutes.
You have any idea of the crap that's raining down on us?
Handler intervention triggers an immediate debriefing
- to make sure that we weren't exposed. - We're close.
As soon as I finish my treatment,
we'll find her.
He won't do this again.
I need to talk to DeWitt.
You need to tell me everything
that went down today.
It wasn't a glitch.
The imprint was rock solid.
There was a weird spike last night,
but what happened at the dock happened to Eleanor Penn.
Or the people we made her out of.
I need you to do this quickly.
I live to serve.
Barging in here isn't going
to help your situation, Mr. Langton.
Echo can find the Crestejo girl.
I'm sorry.
He's faster than you'd think.
You cannot wipe her right now.
I can do any damn thing I see fit.
Echo botched the engagement.
She jeopardized
this entire operation.
of an abused girl,
and you put her face to face with her abuser.
She recognized one of her kidnappers.
And she can find him again. She's the only one who can.
Ma'am, we need to distance ourselves from this.
We don't know if the client's going to live.
This is becoming news.
I'm sorry, Mr. Langton,
but this is complicated.
No, it isn't.
Echo's in pain, but she's
the right girl for the job, and she knows the territory.
She can find Davina before that man lays a finger on her.
You wipe her, you've lost all of that.
We do not have a client!
We have a mission!
We prefer to call them engagements.
You have not been here
as long as some of the others,
so I will overlook the error.
I've been here long enough to know that you like
to tell yourself what we do helps people.
Let Echo help this girl.
Where are my glasses?
I know how to find her.
It was the first call.
The kidnapper said, "You're the schoolteacher now. "
He stressed you're,
like there's already a teacher in the mix.
The one in the mask.
Check her school.
See who's missing.
He's been close to her.
He's probably not Latino.
Ms. Penn, I'm Lawrence Dominic.
Security contractor.
Yes, ma'am. I have a chopper standing by.
I'll need a radio contact while we're en route.
That'll be Mr. Langton. He's staying here.
She needs backup. Not from you.
I'm her handler.
Miss DeWitt will decide what you are.
James Shepherd, Caucasian male, 33.
Out sick 12 consecutive days.
Has a sister with an isolated house
six miles from the dock.
I'm going to need a clean and quiet touchdown with zero chance
they'll see or heaeaour approach.
With respect, the last time you went head to head
with these people, you folded.
My man's fully...
Your man gives me ten minutes,
or Davina will die.
How is she?
See the blue areas?
That's fear.
It all looks blue.
That's where I'm going with this.
Uh, the persona we developed?
Bunch of different people. Yeah.
And one of them was abused by the guy she ran into.
I know. Yeah, I looked her up.
She killed herself.
Last year.
She never got away from him.
What are we playing at?
It's the woman. What?
From the drop?
Damn it!
Who else? You see anyone else?
I'm alone.
Please open the door.
Don't do it, man.
Listen to me.
Who knows where we are?
Everyone's going to know very soon, Mr. Shepherd.
You left a wide trail,
but that's not your problem.
He is.
Hell you on about?
Soon as that money's counted,
he's going to kill both of you.
You think we fall for that crap?
Turn us on each other?
You tell us how long till they come, you talk.
Or I find something to stuff that mouth up.
I think I'm a little old for you.
The man that shot Mr. Crestejo is dead.
You will be identified
as the ringleader.
You two haven't killed anyone.
You can let me leave with Davina,
and get out of the country
very rich men.
The girl's not here.
She's in the fridge.
You unplugged it
and pulled out the shelves.
You had to rope it shut, of course,
'cause these days, they don't lock.
We were gonna tell people where she was.
You were gonna die.
'Cause there's something this man wants
even more than eight million dollars.
Shut your mouth!
Hey!
Lady seems to know a lot.
I know everything.
All the girls he kept,
till he was through with them.
Till he got bored,
or just broke them down.
I even know
about the one he dumped in the river
before he was sure she was dead.
It's over.
You can't hurt me anymore.
You can't fight a ghost.
We're going now.
We'll be okay. Here.
Go now.
I told you to wait.
There were shots.
We made a call.
We were coming out.
Is she injured?
Are you hurt?
Then get over it.
The money's here.
I want it bagged, and our presence
swept in three minutes.
You're okay.
You're okay, okay?
You're free.
It's a solid win, ma'am.
The client's stabilized.
We have the payment, plus the eight million.
And both Actives performed admirably.
It nearly came crashing down on us.
It was contained.
Yeah.
Yes.
Now tell me how we're going to contain this.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, get that thing out of my face.
It's for the video yearbook. Say hi to your mom.
Okay. Hi, Mom! Are we done?
Is there someone you'd like to say good-bye to?
Ditra and Meg, life without you
will be meaningless and bleak, my dormies.
Oh, and the girls of Sigma Tau, sisters forever.
Let's hope those venereal diseases make you all sterile,
you snobby-ass pack of hos.
Oh, that's definitely going in.
So, what are you planning on doing after graduation?
Yeah, I probably should have thought about that.
I'd like to take my place in the world,
like Mrs. Dundee taught us.
Global Recovery, Doctors Without Borders.
The world is in need of some serious saving.
And I want to travel.
Travel around the world as I save it.
In a private jet that I pilot and design.
Okay, go ahead and laugh, yearbook monkey.
I know: I'm such a cliche.
What can I say?
I want to do everything.
Is that too much to ask?