Sierra

Sierra

Portrayed by Dichen Lachman, Sierra is a character of Dollhouse. She is an Active of the Dollhouse, one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with identities, personalities, skills, and memories in order to be sent into the world on engagements. Between missions they live in the Dollhouse with no memory of their pasts or knowledge of their futures. The current Sierra is at least the second doll to bear that name; her predecessor is known only as a doll who "got the job done," according to her handler Joe Hearn.

Character development

Background

In "Needs", Sierra's real name, Priya, is revealed by Nolan, the man who forced her to the Dollhouse to begin with. He arranged her tenure there because she had refused his sexual advances; as a man of obvious wealth and power, he is unused to such refusal, and uniquely able to punish and control Priya. Nolan is a client of the Dollhouse, and continues to purchase from them what he could not win from Priya.

Dollhouse

Sierra first appeared in "Ghost" when Echo curiously wandered into the programing area and saw Sierra undergoing "tissue mapping", in obvious pain from the ordeal. Topher Brink quickly shooed Echo away, informing her that it was just Sierra's first time "Treatment," and therefore a little difficult, but Echo would soon have a new friend to play with. Sure enough, the two dolls met again twice over the course the episode: once in the Dollhouse, and then again when Sierra took out the kidnappers in a clean-up operation. The physics of the imprint process would normally dictate that they would not remember either encounter from one imprint to the next, or even recognize each other during the kidnapping engagement. However, later events suggest that their relationship survives in some form after each wipe.

In "Stage Fright" it becomes apparent that Sierra and Echo start showing signs of a friendship in this episode. Echo claimed Sierra as a friend in their inactive state when she caught the stumbling Sierra, declaring that friends protect each other. Even more interestingly, this friendship seems to be leaking through to their imprinted personalities. Although Adelle DeWitt rationalized Echo's bizarre method of protecting Rayna from her own self-destructive impulses, it is a video of a captive Audra (Sierra's imprinted personality) that spurred Echo into action, ultimately rescuing both Rayna and Audra from Rayna's deranged fan. Showing that their budding friendship has survived yet another wipe, Sierra smiled at Echo and began to approach her in their doll state at the end of the episode.

Beyond a capacity for friendship, Sierra began to show another level of awareness in her inactive state in this episode. She heeded Echo's warning not come close when her handler and other dark-suited Dollhouse operatives were watching, exhibiting self-preservation instincts. Her handler also mentioned to Boyd that she is not the first Sierra, and that the one before her "got the job done."

The friendship which began in the previous episode is continued in "Gray Hour", in addition to Echo, in her mind wiped state, Sierra seemed to also be bonding with Victor. Echo ushered her over to sit with her and Victor, after she was "uncertain where to sit" where she has a conversation with Echo and Victor regarding what each of them think it means to be their best. While in the personae of Taffy however, Sierra and Echo showed no sign of their connection.

In "Man on the Street" it is suspected that fellow doll Victor was raping Sierra when she screamed in fear and panic when he touched her on the shoulder. This put a deep strain on the developing friendship and put Victor's fate in the Dollhouse in danger when evidence from the previous episode (Victor developing "attractions" to Sierra) and the fact she said he would pretend that they were married and liked to play games (play house). Echo even mentioned that she heard Sierra crying when she was put to bed - a clue which might have led Boyd to discover the truth. Boyd proved Victor was innocent when he performed his own investigation into the matter and discovered Sierra's handler had raped her multiple times in a camera blind spot behind the sleeping area doors. After this, the Dollhouse disposed of her handler and Topher did what he could to erase the trauma. Sierra's friendship with Victor quickly recovered, and he was happy to accept her offer to join her in looking at a book.

In "Echoes" however, Sierra flashes back to Hearn raping her under the influence of a memory-releasing drug. In "Needs", to prevent further glitching, the Dollhouse lets Sierra's real personality (Priya) confront Nolan with Victor by her side, discovering he had put her in the Dollhouse. She and Victor kissed one another before being taken back to the Dollhouse.

Engagements

Episode	Client	Alias	Personality	Engagement
1x01 "Ghost"	In-House	Unknown	Agent	Killing Davina Crestejo's kidnappers.
1x03 "Stage Fright"	Bill 'Biz' Zarella	Audra	Fan	Protecting Rayna Russell in extreme danger.
1x04 "Gray Hour"	In-House	Taffy	Safecracker	Help Echo escape.
1x07 "Echoes"	Rossum Corporation	Dr. Gawas	CDC doctor	Preventing a drug outbreak at Freemont College
1x08 "Needs"	In-House	Priya	Real personality	Find closure for Sierra's old life.
1x09 "A Spy in the House of Love"	In-House	Unknown	Spy-hunter (field agent)	Infiltrate NSA headquarters and discover the mole within the Dollhouse.
1x10 "Haunted"	In-House	Unknown	Friend	Fill the lonely spot in Topher's heart for his birthday.
1x11 "Briar Rose"	In-House	Unknown	Forensics expert	Examine a body killed by Alpha