A Spy in the House of Love

A Spy in the House of Love is the ninth episode of Dollhouse. It was written by Andrew Chambliss and directed by David Solomon. The episode aired on April 10, 2009.

Synopsis

When a traitor is discovered inside the Dollhouse, Echo and Sierra are programmed as spy hunters to uncover the culprit. Meanwhile, Ballard receives surprising news from Mellie, and Adelle harbors a secret.

Engagements

Engagements

Active	Client	Alias	Personality	Mission
Echo	Unknown	Unknown	Dominatrix	Fulfill a client's sexual needs
Echo	In House/Herself	Unknown	Spy Hunter (Detective)	Investigate mole from within the Dollhouse
November	In House	Mellie	Paul Ballard's neighbour	Sleeper Active; Discover what Paul Ballard knows of the Dollhouse
Sierra	In House/Laurence Dominic	Unknown	Spy Hunter (Field Agent)	Investigate mole from NSA Headquarters
Victor	Adelle DeWitt/Miss Lonely Hearts	Roger	Suave Englishman	Emotional support for and sex with Adelle.

Continuity

Echo's evolution

• In her doll state Echo becomes aware of what "treatments" do and offers her help to Topher.
• During her fight with Dominic, an imprinted Echo remembers his previous attempt to kill her.

Episode connections

Past episodes

• Topher is still fixing his equipment which has been running at degraded performance since Echo shot at it in "Needs."
• Topher discovers the NSA chip while repairing his equipment. The chip was previously used to alter Echo's imprint in "Man on the Street" and is similarly used on November in this episode.
• November is sent back to spy on Paul due to his discovery and disposal of their camera in "Needs."
• Paul mentions the Dollhouse is underground which he learned from Echo's message in "Needs."
• Victor is sent for a repeat engagement to one Miss Lonely Hearts who, unbeknownst to the Dollhouse staff, is Adelle. This repeat engagement had been mentioned in "True Believer" and Adelle almost gave herself away as Miss Lonely Hearts in "Echoes."
• Echo remembers Dominic's previous attempt to kill her in "True Believer."

Future episodes

• Echo questions Saunders' excessive dedication to the Dollhouse, remarking how she never leaves and doesn't seem to have any friends. She will be revealed as a former Active with a permanent imprint in "Omega" and will put two and two together for why her personality is as it is in "Vows."
• Despite asking Topher to shelve the Roger imprint in this episode, Adelle will use it one last time in "Stop-Loss."

Cast

Main cast

• Eliza Dushku as Echo
• Harry Lennix as Boyd Langton
• Tahmoh Penikett as Paul Ballard
• Fran Kranz as Topher Brink
• Enver Gjokaj as Victor/Roger
• Dichen Lachman as Sierra
• and Olivia Williams as Adelle DeWitt

Recurring roles

• Amy Acker as Claire Saunders
• Reed Diamond as Laurence Dominic
• Miracle Laurie as November/Mellie
• Liza Lapira as Ivy

Guest starring

• Valerie Cruz as Selena Ramirez
• Tim Chiou as Nikoden

Background information

Production

The working title of this episode was "Four Engagements."

Reception

Critics

"Dollhouse is in such a difficult position. Trying to impress a network looking to make money from advertising with a show about how the world is full of big controlling corrupt organisations trying to manipulate people."

―The TV Critic Review

"Dramatically packed and emotionally charged, "Spy In The House Of Love" remains another shining example of the potential "Dollhouse" carries - this series could very well be the next big hit for the genre."

―Airlock Alpha Recap

"“A Spy In The House Of Love” (..)offered many reasons why Dollhouse deserves a second season, not all of them having to do with Eliza Dushku strutting around in dominatrix gear. (...) After last week’s revelation-a-thon (...) the writers have decided to hit the gas and the result is another one of the most exhilarating hours of the season."

―A.V. Club Recap

"If anything, this is the episode that feels like it could cure my lumbago, pay my mortgage and cook me a Spanish omelet, it was that good."

―Alan Sepinwall Recap

Ratings

"A Spy in the House of Love" reached 3.503 million viewers, a 2.2/4 Rating/Share, a 1.4/4 Rating/Share in the 18-49 demographic and a 1.6/5 Rating/Share in the 25-54 demographic. The episode was watched by 2.891 million viewers Live, 3.505 million viewers Live+SD and 4.399 million viewers Live+7. The episode averaged a 1.08 Rating in the 18-49 demographic Live, a 1.39 Live+SD and a 1.87 Live+7. Overall "A Spy in the House of Love" had 1.503 million DVR viewers. 34.2% of all viewings of "A Spy in the House of Love" happened via DVR, that's the sixth greatest percentage of DVR viewing for broadcast TV shows of that week.

The half-hour breakdown showed 3.63 million viewers and 1.4/5 Rating/Share in the demo between 9:01 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., and 3.49 million viewers and a 1.3/4 between 9:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

The quarter-hour breakdown:

Time Period	Rating/Share	Rating/Share (18-49)
9:01 PM-9:15 PM	2.3/4	1.4/5
9:15 PM-9:30 PM	2.2/4	1.4/4
9:30 PM-9:45 PM	2.1/4	1.3/4
9:45 PM-10:00 PM	2.2/4	1.4/4

Deleted scenes

• November as Mellie gets dressed and driven to her apartment in the Dollhouse's van. All the while she won't stop talking about Paul and their relationship to her clearly uninterested handler.
• While dressing for his engagement, Victor as Roger comments on the suit he is about to put on.

Goofs

• During her escape from the NSA, Sierra pulls off her wig, and throws it on the floor. In the long shot down the corridor showing the pursuing guards, the wig has disappeared.
• Victor's tie magically changes from green in the Dollhouse garage to purple while in the van.

International titles

• French: "Trahison en sous sol" (Betrayal in the underground)
• Italian: "La spia" (The spy)

Promotional Photos

Trivia

• Paul Ballard's t-shirt appears to say 日本 (or Japan) on the back and appears to say 東京 (or Tokyo) on the front shoulder.
• When "Ms. Sato" is entering the NSA building, the information displayed on the security screen when her stolen id card is swiped lists her name as A. Saito. The name plate on her office door in a later scene lists it as Sato, matching the credits above.
  • Toshiko Sato is the name of a field agent in Torchwood whose backstory involves her stealing classified information from the Ministry of Defence in a similar manner.
  • Other information listed on the screen is that her ID # is 34882, her eye color is hazel, she's 5'8", and she weighs 110 pounds.

    

• When Boyd enters Dr. Saunder's office at the beginning of the episode, she quickly runs across the room to close a webpage on her computer. It was a fictional website meetcute.biz, assumedly a dating service. This may indicate the doctor attempting to develop some kind of life outside of the Dollhouse.
• Echo in her Dominatrix outfit received huge publicity and became an internet sensation. The scene is widely credited with winning Dollhouse its' second season. According to an interview she gave to FOX TV the dominatrix outfit was Eliza Dushku's idea and the one she chose the skimpiest of 5 available.
• Ivy's Flamingo brooch in this episode is similar to that of the character Badger from the series Firefly.

External Links

• "A Spy in the House of Love" at the Official Dollhouse Wiki
• "A Spy in the House of Love" at tv.com
• "A Spy in the House of Love" at IMDb