Episode 1.9 transcript

Electricity sparking in the imprint room interposed with shots of Echo & Sierra walking across the platform.
Sierra: What's happening?
Echo: She made a mistake. Now she's sad.
Cut to imprint room view from outside. A gun fires, and a bloodstain appears on the glass.

12 HOURS EARLIER
A van is traveling along the highway. Boyd, sitting in a chair, and Echo in a dominatrix outfit on a side seat across from him.
Echo: Everyone thinks it's about the pain. It's not about the pain. It's about trust. (Boyd nods sceptically.) Handing yourself over fully and completely to another human being. There's nothing more beautiful than letting go like that.
Boyd: In my experience, that kind of trust always leads to pain.
Echo: Then maybe you need a session in my dungeon so I can show you otherwise.
Boyd: Thanks. I think I'll pass.
Echo: Don't be so vanilla. You can trust me. I've already shown that I trust you. I got in the van, didn't I?
Boyd: You sure that was a wise decision?
Echo: I have a good feeling about you, and I've got the whip.
They pull in to the garage. Elevator opens, Victor & handler emerge. Echo gets out of the van.
Echo: If you reconsider, I have an opening after my treatment.
They round the van and see Victor & handler.
Ramirez: Don't even start. They've got him on another Lonely Hearts engagement.
Boyd: What's that make, nine?
Ramirez: Ten. How pathetic is that old bag?
Victor: Ramirez pretends to be jaded, but she's got a secret stash of bodice-rippers in the van. I've seen it.
Ramirez: Not true.
Victor: She wants to be kidnapped by a pirate.
Echo: I know a guy...
Victor: If I weren't madly in love with Katherine, I'd shanghai you myself.
Ramirez: I'd take S&M Barbie over him any day. Come on. Your geriatric princess awaits.
Ramirez walks away with Victor. Echo turns and gives her a whip on her ankle.
Ramirez: Ow!
Echo: It's love. Show some respect.
Ramirez turns back and stalks off. Echo walks back to Boyd; he gestures for the whip and she hands it over.
Echo: Sometimes it is about the pain.

IMPRINT ROOM
Ivy: Hi, Echo. How are you?
Echo: Did I fall asleep?
Ivy: For a little while.
Echo: Shall I go now?
Ivy: If you like.
Topher imitates a buzzer & emerges from behind the equipment holding some piece of electronics.
Topher: (chuckles) Okay. (clears throat) Ivy, babe, the post-imprint script may seem inconsequential, but it's the first thing an Active hears after a memory wipe. It's got to be pleasant. Not so...
Dominic: (bursts in) Out of the chair, Echo.
Topher: (pointing) That.
Dominic: You're behind schedule.
Topher: Somebody's a grumpeteer today.
Dominic: What's the holdup?
Topher: You remember how Saunders' little drill ended with a bullet in my computer? And guess what that does? It slows down the schedule.
Dominic: Fix it. (to Echo) You need to get to your appointment with Dr. Saunders.
They walk off, and Adelle approaches from her office. Echo goes downstairs; Dominic goes over to her.
Dominic: Aside from Topher being Topher, everything's under control.
Adelle: And I'll expect you to keep it that way while I'm gone.
Dominic: Did Rossum tell you why they're calling you in?
Adelle: Considering our recent track record, I expect they want to pat me on the head & tell me I've been running a crackerjack operation. Maybe there'll be cake.
Dominic: Ma'am, none of those incidents were your fault.
Adelle: On the contrary, Mr Dominic. Everything that happens under this roof is my fault. And for the next 48 hours, it's yours.
Dominic nods.

MAIN FLOOR
Echo reaches the foot of the stairs.
Echo: Hello, November.
November: Hello, Echo. How are you today?
Echo: I'm going to Dr Saunders.
November: She's nice.
Staff member: November, it's time for your treatment.

SAUNDERS' OFFICE
Saunders: Take a deep breath for me, please.
Boyd enters.
Boyd: Any permanent damage?
Saunders: These exams are private.
Boyd: Her last engagement seemed unnecessarily rough.
Saunders: She was a dominatrix. I think that's the point.
Boyd: I prefer engagements that are't about some...
Saunders: Deep, dark, sexual need?
Boyd: You really think it has anything to do with need?
Saunders: Sometimes, Yes. Having a desire you're afraid or ashamed of expressing can be terribly debilitating. Look how many same-sex engagements we're called for, even today. And sadomasochism isn't anything like-
Boyd: I know. It's all about trust. But what if the client has the whip?
Saunders: We don't send the Actives to be submissives.
Boyd: Man, you got the pitch down. You should fill in for DeWitt.
Saunders: I believe the system is flawed, maybe irreparably, but maybe not for the same reasons you do. Echo, you're all done here. You can go now.

MAIN FLOOR
As they are passing the staircase, Topher intercepts them.
Topher: Boyd.
They pause; Topher gestures significantly and Boyd leads him off away from Echo.
Topher: In about two minutes, I'm gonna make a call to DeWitt. If you were to do something, maybe get some air, maybe run, I wouldn't know that you had done that.
Boyd: I have no idea what you're talking about.
Topher: You don't? I found this in the chair. (shows chip to Boyd.)
Boyd: And?
Topher: This chip let someone access the primary imprint protocol, which means they could have altered my imprints. I make a cheerleader, they make a cheerleader that shoots people. Or an assassin that does cheers. Or any Active, any time, with a parameter we don’t know about. (gestures wildly)
Boyd: We have a spy?
Topher: Inside the dollhouse.
Boyd: And you think it’s me? You think I’m the spy?
Topher: Not in a bad way.
Boyd: If they find out that you talked to me before you called DeWitt, they’ll fry you.
Topher: Yeah, I didn’t really think that through.
Boyd: Thank you.
Topher smiles nervously and pats Boyd on the shoulder.
Topher: I’m boned anyway. I call DeWitt, she’s gonna take it out on Dominic, and who’s Dominic gonna take it out on? Now Echo’s drawing attention to us.
Echo waves at November, leaning over the balcony outside the imprint room.
Echo: Where do I know her from?
Boyd: Maybe you should go to art class. (To Topher) And maybe you should call DeWitt.
Topher nods and runs upstairs.

ART CLASS
Echo is trimming a bonsai tree with a pair of scissors. She pauses, and looks at Topher pacing nervously, then knocking on the glass. Dominic goes over.
Staff member: Echo, are you finished w/ you tree?
Echo gets up. Topher is talking to Dominic animatedly. Dominic gestures rudely at him, and runs downstairs, gesturing security staff over.
Dominic: Put the entire house on lockdown. No one comes or goes without my authorization. No land lines, no cell phones or network connections.
Security: Alright. We’ll notify them.
Dominic goes over to Sierra and takes her arm.
Dominic: You. Come on. You’re getting a treatment.
He leads her off. Echo watches them go upstairs. Topher paces nervously; she looks around.

IMPRINT ROOM
Sierra getting imprinted, Echo watching from outside.
Topher: (O.S.) That’s not happy.
Dominic: (O.S.) Is everything a joke to you? You allowed a security breach to develop on your turf.
Topher: You’re supposed to make sure everybody who works here is on our side!
Dominic: Who has access to the lab?
Topher: The shortlist? DeWitt, Boyd, Ramirez, Saunders, Ivy.
He collapses into his chair and pants heavily. Cut to Sierra walking out of the imprint room with Dominic, Echo ahead of them.
Sierra: When I was at the Agency, you know what I’d do to someone who exposed us like that? I’ld kill him.
They walk past Echo. She turns and goes over to Topher.
Echo: Everyone’s unhappy today.
Topher: (sighs, gets up) Somebody put her tiny little thinking cap on.
Echo: He was mean to you. Were you not your best?
Topher: (goes over to machine) If it hadn’t been for me, there’d still be a security breach. You’d think the security head would recognize that. Typical middle management hack. He’s mad at me for not discovering it before it happened. But I’m not a counterintelligence agent, so I can’t catch a spy. And you have no idea what I’m talking about.
Echo: I can help you.
Topher: Why would you want to?
Echo: Why wouldn’t I?
Topher: (beat) Did I just lose an argument to a doll? Okay, thanks, but you can’t help.
Echo: (beat) you make people different.
She sits in the imprint chair.
Echo: You can make me help.
Topher stares at her. She leans back in the chair and smiles at him.

Opening credits

IMPRINT- NOVEMBER
Melanie emerges from her imprint, Ivy waiting for her with her handler.
Ivy: Hello, Mellie. How do you feel?
Melanie: Jetlagged. (smiles) That’s the last time I take the redeye and an emergency exit row behind a crying baby.
Handler: So, we good to go?
Ivy: Hang on. Let me double-check the primary protocol just to be sure it took. Melanie gets up, wanders out to balcony- repeat of earlier scene from her perspective.
Topher: I call DeWitt, she’s gonna take it out on Dominic, and who’s Dominic gonna take it out on? Now Echo’s drawing attention to us.
Echo waves at Melanie. Handler walks out and joins Melanie.
Melanie: Where do I know her from?
Handler: Come on. The airport shuttle’s waiting to take you home.
They move off.

MELANIE/BALLARD’S APARTMENT
Shot of van driving.
Melanie walks down the hall to her apartment and gets out her key. Ballard throws open his door, gun ready.
Ballard: Mellie? I heard something in-
Melanie: In the hallway, where your neighbors walk to their apartments?
Ballard: I didn’t know you were coming back so soon.
Melanie: Surprise.
Ballard: It’s not safe to talk out here.
He picks up her luggage and indicates his apartment door. She goes in first, and he looks around warily before following, bolting the door shut.
Melanie: Wow, I guess the neighborhood went to crap while I was gone.
Ballard: Not the neighborhood. My apartment. The Dollhouse had it bugged, video and audio. Took a while for me to figure it out, but I found a transmitter in the ventilation. I should search your apartment.
Melanie: I’m surprised you didn’t.
Ballard: Well, I was gonna let myself in, but…
Melanie: No. No, it’s okay. You should check it out. I’m just going to stay here where I’m safe from the (she sees his wall of Dollhouse notes) -Dollhouse. (Beat) I guess you didn’t miss me that much.
Ballard: (walks over to wall) (excitedly) The Dollhouse is way bigger than I ever thought it was. Every time I look deeper, I find more clients, larger amounts of money, and a web of financial and political connections all over the world, to corporations, the government, even inside the FBI.
Melanie: I take it you haven’t gotten your badge back?
Ballard: But that’s just scratching the surface. I discovered something else. I think the Dollhouse is underground.
Melanie: Didn’t we know that? Super secret underground organization?
Ballard: Not underground like a secret. “Underground” like it’s somewhere beneath Los Angeles. (pause, as he looks at the bemused Melanie) Yeah, you didn’t come back to listen to this.
Melanie: I came back to see you.
Ballard: I’m sorry. It’s just… (beat) You should go back to your mother’s.
Melanie: I can’t. And aside from the obvious, like she lives in Iowa and likes to set me up with losers I dated in high school, I realized that I was running away from my life.
Ballard: I’m giving you an out. You can walk out that door.
Melanie: Pretty sure I can’t even unlock it.
Ballard: Hey, I’m serious. I can’t sleep. The only thing I think about is finding this place, and sometimes I don’t even know why I’m after it anymore.
Melanie: That’s why you need someone to help you stay grounded?
Ballard: How you gonna do that?
Melanie kisses him.
Melanie: Let’s start with getting you in the shower.
They move into the bedroom, kissing as they go. Suddenly she draws back.
Ballard: Too much? Too fast? (laughs) Do I smell that bad?
Melanie: I have a message for you from inside the Dollhouse
Ballard: That’s not funny.
Melanie: My name is November
Ballard: Mellie. Your name is Mellie.
Melanie: We know this must be hard for you to hear.
Ballard: If you’re pissed because I’m still investigating the Dollhouse…
Melanie: This body belongs to a doll.
Ballard: …just tell me. Don’t do this.
Melanie: I’m sorry we had to deliver the news to you like this, in this body, but the Dollhouse has likely discovered we’re been placing messages in their imprints, and this is the only way we can get the message to you.
Ballard: They did this to you.
Melanie: They did this long before you met me. They’ve been using this body to spy on you for months. The only reason Mellie exists is because of you.
Ballard: Aren’t I special?
Melanie: Now that you’ve removed their surveillance, they’re going to rely on her more. Don’t tell her anything about the investigation. It will get back to the Dollhouse.
Ballard: That’s why you… she came back.
Melanie: Now you understand how dangerous their technology is.
Ballard: I slept with her. I should have known.
Melanie: You can’t tell Mellie about this. If the Dollhouse knows you know, they will kill you. And they’ll make Mellie do it.
Ballard: Mellie couldn’t.
Melanie: She’s not a regular doll. She’s a sleeper. With the flip of a switch, the Dollhouse can turn her into a killer. If our person inside has been captured, this is the last time you’ll hear from us through a doll.
Ballard: Wait. You can’t tear apart my life and not give me anything. Where’s the Dollhouse located?
Melanie: You need to investigate why it exists.
Ballard: Is it underground? Am I on the right track?
Melanie: The Dollhouse deals in fantasy, but that is not their purpose. Investigate their purpose. We will find other ways to contact you.
Ballard: Who? Who sent you?
Melanie: I’m not imprinted with info you’re not supposed to have.
Ballard: Tell me who!
Melanie: Remember, you can’t tell her. You must maintain the illusion.
Ballard: Wait!
She snaps back, and looks questioningly at him.
Melanie: Paul, what’s wrong?
Ballard: Nothing.
Melanie: (smiles) Then why aren’t you kissing me?
He reluctantly lets her kiss him, frowning.

IMPRINT: SIERRA
Dominic: My men have been trying to reach DeWitt. She’s still not picking up. (points at Sierra) Is she gonna be able to pull it off?
Topher: I threw my best secret agent parts into the build.
Dominic: The GPS on DeWitt’s cell transmitter isn’t registering, either. If anything happened to DeWitt…
Topher: Hey, think happy thoughts.
Dominic grabs him.
Topher: That’s not happy.
Dominic: Is everything a joke to you?
Topher: (Annoyed) Notice I’m not laughing.
Sierra: Need me to take care of this?
Dominic: You allowed a security breach to develop on your turf.
Topher: Not my department, Mr Head Of Security!
Dominic: You leave these doors wide open, computers on, chair running.
Topher: It’s your job to make sure everybody who works here is on our side!
Dominic: Who has access to the lab?
Topher: The shortlist? DeWitt, Boyd, Ramirez, Saunders, Ivy, any number of handlers or attendants, and the occasional doll that wanders up here, then there’s that janitorial staff (snark).
Dominic pushes him into the chair, cut to Echo watching them.
Topher: What’s gonna happen when the boss lady comes back?
Dominic: Her wrath is gonna rain down on me. And then I’m coming after you. (To Sierra) Let’s go.
Sierra: When I was at the Agency, you know what I’d do to someone who exposed us like that? I’ld kill him.
They walk past Echo.

DEWITT’S OFFICE
Sierra: Who’s our target?
Dominic: We found NSA tech in our equipment. DeWitt’s known they’ve been sniffing around the Dollhouse for years. Getting access to their files is our best shot at finding this spy.
Sierra: Tall order.
Dominic: If you don’t think you can pull it off…
Sierra: (chuckles) I didn’t say that. I just want you to appreciate how awesome I’m gonna be when I deliver.
Dominic: Topher broke their RSA encryption, but only for the internal network.
Sierra: Which means you need me to get inside their building.
Dominic: Yeah.
Sierra: Where can a girl get changed around here?
Shot of Sierra getting ready, doing up her hair.

TRAIN
Sierra walks along the corridor, sits down next to identically-dressed lady.
Sierra: Excuse me. Can I borrow a pen?
NSA lady moves to get one from her purse.
Sierra: Never mind.
Lady looks up, is confused. Sierra stabs her with a pen-like object.
Sierra: Found one.
She stares at Sierra for a moment, then is knocked out. Sierra opens her purse and takes out a card, transferring it to her own identical purse, then takes out a phone and takes a photo of her eye, then stands up and goes off.

NSA
Sierra’s card is scanned in, and she is waved through.
Guard: Thank you.
Sierra: Thank you.
Sierra walks down a hallway & enters an elevator. Another man is leaving the elevator.
NSA man: Don’t worry. It’s taken care of.
He looks back at her as she enters the elevator, and its doors close.
Cut to Sierra walking down another hallway and stopping at a door. She scans her card, opens up the phone and takes out a lense where the camera was, slips it into her eye and scans her eye. Door unlocks. Another hallway, and she enters a room with a guard. She scans the card again.
Guard: Enter your private key. You know the drill. Twenty minutes. Nothing goes in, nothing goes out. Your card will unlock the files you’re cleared to see.
She enters the room, scans her card again. A drawer slides out; she opens a folder and takes out a single plastic and peels at the seal; she smiles. As she walks out of the room, sensors beep.
Guard: Excuse me ma’am, I’m gonna have to ask you to step over here.
Sierra: Did I leave something in there?
Guard: Hold out your arms.
As he scans her, she suddenly punches him, then exits quickly and returns to her office. In the elevator, she pulls out the plastic sheet from her skirt & peels at it again.
Sierra: Mossad doesn’t even double-tag.
Woman on PA: Security alert. Code J. All employees are to return to designated SCIF areas for level one security sweep.
Security alert. Code J. etc
Scans, enters her office and types at the computer, then pulls out an electrode from below her desk and attaches it to a tag on the file. As the information appears, she quickly reads it, then detaches it again as a guard enters the office.
Guard: Sorry, Ms Sato. We’re moving everyone from designated SCIF areas to the central lobby.
Sierra: (rolling up plastic) Just give me a second.
Guard: All right.
She exits her office, as the PA system continues to blare the security alert. She follows other employees for a while, then moves off down another corridor, takes out a handphone and dials.
Sierra: I need a roof extraction, north end of the building.
She enters a stairwell and starts going up, but guards spot her and come after her.
Guard: There! There! Get her. This way.
She dashes back down, and runs down the hallway, pulling off her wig.
Sierra: (on handphone) Correction. Extraction on the south end.
Guard: Surrender yourself!
Gunshots pepper the wall, narrowly missing her..
Guards: Move!
Sierra runs up another set of stairs, and calls again.
Man on handphone: The chopper’s coming to you.
Sierra arrives at the door leading to the roof.
Sierra: Hurry. I have the name, but they’re closing in.