Sierra: Damsel in the Dollhouse Part 2

Continuing from last week, let's again look at Sierra (portrayed by Dichen Lachman) and how nearly every element of her backstory and Dollhouse's plot puts her in terrible situation after terrible situation.

2. Victor and Sierra: Two Star-Crossed Lovers

In the first few episodes of Dollhouse, Sierra takes on many roles as an Active, from a obsessive fan-girl to a no-nonsense safecracker. However, her most interesting role is her development of an actual personality, despite being in the supposedly blank Doll state. In this way, Sierra's development mirrors her Active Echo's. But while Echo's new personality will empower her to escape and defeat the Dollhouse, Sierra's form of rebellion is her "impossible" love with Victor.

In a much later episode, it is revealed that before Sierra was part of the Dollhouse, she was an up-and-coming artist named Priya. We'll discuss the very suspicious circumstances under which Priya became Sierra later, but for now it's important to note that on one of her last nights as a free woman, she met and fell for the man she would later know as Victor.

A common motif of Dollhouse is that new personalities can be created intentionally and unintentionally. This holds true for Sierra, whose personality will develop into someone completely different from the original Priya.