User Reviews

The good; Ivy's back, hooray! A small moment but I love how Echo tells Victor he needs to say goodbye to Sierra and he does so like a kids TV character. Also a nice touch that he feels the need to sleep in a pod once released.

The bad; Nothing bad, just a bit lacklustre. You wonder that the supersoldiers can't come up with a better way to recruit Victor than beating him up and kidnapping him, couldn't they just invite him for a beer or something? Check out the scene where Echo knocks Victor out. He waits a second then let's go of his rifle to allow her to pick it up.

Best line; Adele; "I want Roger. I want to roger Roger" and Echo; (threateningly) "Remember, I have a serial killer in my head" Adele; (not backing down an inch) "One that's petirifed of women if I recall"

Packing heat; Echo chooses a S&W 9mm, Boyd has his revolver and Victor a SIG. Echo also picks up a SIG and everyone uses M4 carbines Echo;10 Boyd; 10 Dominic; 9 Sierra; 5 Victor; 5 Ballard; 11 November; 1

Echo kissage; 4

Total number personalitites; lord knows how many personalities Ivy and Topher downloaded into Echo for her mission, I'll put at least 5? Echo; 41 Sierra; 13 Victor; 11 November; 3

Total LA dolls; .

9-Echo, Sierra, November, Victor, Mike, Tango, Alpha, Whiskey, Kilo Addy is a bit British; see best line

Subverting the Hollywood cliché; When Victor is asked to join the big bad military conspiracy his response is "Where do I sign up?"

Bondage; Victor plasticuffed, Echo and Sierra hooded but not cuffed. Victor, Sierra and Echo all bound in the attic at the end Sierra tied up; 2 Ballard; 2 Echo; 4 Victor; 2

Knocked out; Victor KO'd by commandos and Echo and Rossum as are Echo and Sierra Echo; 7 November; 1 Sierra; 2 Victor; 3 Topher; 3 Ballard; 1

Kills; amazingly given all the gunplay the Dolls don't kill anyone Sierra; 3 kills Echo; 3 November;1 Know the face? 15-Whedon alumni-Mark Shepherd-2 (Dollhouse/Firefly), Amy Acker-2 (Dollhouse/Angel), walking action figure-2 (Buffy/Dollhouse), Eliza Dushku-3 (Buffy/Angel/Dollhouse), Jim Piddock-2 (Angel/Dollhouse), Gregg Henry-2 (Dollhouse/Firefly), Alan Tudyk-2 (Dollhouse/Firefly), Felicia Day-2(Dollhouse/Buffy), Alexis Denisoff-3 (Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse), Kristoffer Pohala-2 (Dollhouse/Angel), Stacey Scowley-2 (Buffy/Dollhouse) Clyde Katulas-2 (Buffy/Dollhouse), Maurissa Tanchon-2(Dollhouse/Dr Horrible), Summer Glau-3(Angel/Firefly/Dollhouse) Glenn Morshower-2(Buffy/Dollhouse)

Whedon clichés; It's those strawberries again, just like Firefly. Secret military organisations with underground headquarters Maimed characters. Rich and powerful famillies who cover up the evil deeds of their wayward sons. Top security installations which aren't secure at all. Loving self-sacrificing mothers who risk all for their children. Corporate politics literally played with deadly seriousness. Monty Python quoting villains. Offices full of zombies. Strawberries.

Breaking the programming; Victor and Sierra's love is now evident whether they're imprinted or not.

Kinky dinky;

The only personality Ivy doesn't download into Echo is the 'Naughty pirate wench'. Which I think is something of a shame personally. GI Jane Echo is also pretty hot. Naked Adele. The last scene a delight for cling film/mummification fetishists . Again, I'm not kidding either.

Capt subtext;

Very obvious jealousy from Adele over Victor. When she takes the shower with the actives does this represent her throwing her lot in with them? The ending rather suggests the opposite.

Questions and observations; So the Dollhouse can cure PTSD (shellshock)? Once again, if Rossum can cure schizophrenia and battle trauma you can see their potential for good in the world and how Adele became attracted to the post in the first place. Victor's real name is Anthony Ceccoli and to judge by his accent he's from New York. He was a commando with the 75th Ranger regiment and served in Afghanistan. His pal transferred to the 160th Specialist Aviation Regiment, the Nightstalkers. Once again we have Lady Gaga just as we had in the first ep, someone must be a fan. Note Victor's suite is 'at the Hyperion' which you understand better if you're an Angel fan. Echo tells Adele that the time for playing both sides is over and she must choose. No needles, hooray! Adele hitting the sauce pretty hard nowadays, we hardly see her without a glass in her hand. Do we ever meet Judith, Adele's secretary? What happened to the commandos? Can Echo just call upon them whenever she needs? Are she and Victor now linked via their 'neural radio'? Presumably Rossum use Topher's gizmo from 'The Public Eye' to knock the Dolls out.

Marks out of 10; 7/10, I had it in my mind to give this 3 out of 10 as I initially considered it a weak ep but actually upon rewatching it's a lot better than I remember .

As a Victor-centric episode, "Stop-Loss" had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it comes nowhere near Sierra's centric earlier in the season, "Belonging". It begins well, with Victor's last engagement and release from his Dollhouse contract, his discomfort in adjusting to a new world after 5 years (which, for him, felt like 5 seconds), and his abduction by a mysterious group of....ninjas? But then Echo's rescue operation takes over, and frankly it's quite ridiculous: I don't care how many army skills she already has and how many more they upload into her brain, an entire bunker full of supposed super-soldiers who exercise perfect group-think should not be so easy to defeat. And as fit as Eliza Dushku is, the amount of stunt doubling in her fight scenes is beginning to reach later-day Steven Seagal levels! Also, this episode missed a perfect opportunity to launch Adelle's redemption (since we already know, from "Epitaph One", that she ultimately changed sides). At least we're finally ready to explore the hugely hyped Attic next time! *** out of 4.