Who was sending messages to Ballard?

****MAJOR SPOILERS****

If you have not watched the entire series, do not read! just go watch it and enjoy!


First of all, one of the things I love most about this show, is the amazing character development of both Adele DeWitt and Topher Brink over the course of the show. It speaks to the goodness that is inherent in most humans. Adele starts off as the cold-hearted ice princess from hell who has no moral compass whatsoever, and Topher is just an unguided young man, exploring his own genius without regard for consequence. My, how they change.

I have seen many conjectures on the board about who was contacting Agent Ballard via Echo and November; including Langton, Dominic, Dr. Saunders, Ivy, and Topher. I have another idea about it.

Starting in episode 6, Man In The Street, the real story arc begins. Until this point, we have had a couple of overt hints at the real plot--(Alpha is mentioned, and Victor being a doll is revealed)--, and a bunch of bread crumbs that are nearly impossible to know about until you see how it all plays out, I.E. the different episode-of-the-week imprints given to Echo in the first five episodes..they end up being an important part of her skill set once she fully becomes self-aware.

In this same episode(6), a handler is discovered to be abusing Sierra in a major way. When Adele finds out, she is PISSED. In her conversation with Dominic and Langton she tells Langton that she NEEDED to give him the bonus for discovering who the culprit was. And then she tells Dominic while discussing what happened and who will be held responsible, "Your concern is touching, but my bags are not packed", also,

"As for the intrepid agent, tell Topher to prep Echo. I think they are ready for a second date". The resulting 'date' is the first time Ballard is contacted by a doll with a secret message.

I think this is the point where she <Adele> finally realized that what she was doing was totally wrong, and decided secretly to try to bring down the Dollhouse, and SHE was the one sending the covert messages. She sends Mellie on a kill mission for the bad rapist handler. Then after reviewing the tapes of the kill, she ends up saying, "I played a very bad hand [of cards] very well. There is a distinction" She then instructs Dominic to contact the other houses about what happened, and says it can't happen again. Anywhere.

I really think she realized it was a bad hand of cards she had been playing with all along, and decided to do something about it.

Later, in episode 9, A Spy in the House of Love, when Mellie is corrupted and delivers a message to Ballard, people have speculated about how few would have had access to the chair, to alter the imprint, in the small time frame when it could have happened. Adele was there, preparing for her engagement as Mrs. Lonely Hearts. On her second engagement as MLH shown later in the series, she has obviously become self-aware <to the viewer> that the whole idea behind the Dollhouse is flawed and irreparable, she is disgusted with herself, for lack of a better term, and cancels the engagements permanently.

Replies appreciated, I may well have missed something. There is a lot going on in this show.




~~~We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode! ~~~