Echo is a fictional character portrayed by

Eliza Dushku Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Faith in the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) and its spin-off series ''Angel'' (2000–2003). She als ...

in the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

series ''

Dollhouse A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy home made in miniature. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. English-speakers in North America ...

'', created by

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...

. Within the series' narrative, Echo is an "Active" or a "doll", one of a group of men and women who can be programmed with memories and skills to engage in particular assignments; in their default state, Actives are innocent, childlike and suggestible. Before having her memories wiped, Echo's name was Caroline Farrell. The central character of ''Dollhouse'', the series focuses on Echo as she begins to develop self-awareness. By the series' conclusion, Echo develops a fully formed

self The self is an individual as the object of that individual’s own reflective consciousness. Since the ''self'' is a reference by a subject to the same subject, this reference is necessarily subjective. The sense of having a self—or ''selfhood ...

, personality, and the aggregate skills and abilities of all her many personalities, which she uses in her struggle against the evil Rossum Corporation which owns the Dollhouses and plots world domination.

Character

Before the Dollhouse

Caroline Farrell was a student at a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

university which hosted a research lab for the Rossum Corporation.

In the Dollhouse

Farrell signs on with Dollhouse, an organization that "wipes" the minds of its employees and reprograms them to fit the requests of their clients. The reprogrammed employees are known as "Actives". Farrell's Active self is given the name "Echo". As the series progresses, Echo begins to become progressively more inquisitive and self-aware of her status as an Active.

Conception

''Dollhouse'' was created during a lunch between Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku where they discussed her career and her recent development deal with

. Inspired by Dushku's life as an actress, Whedon came up with the premise of people who were hired out to be everybody's fantasy. Whedon and Dushku had long been friends since working together on ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'', in which Dushku portrayed

Faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

, and he would occasionally intervene in her life to offer career advice. At one time, the two had considered producing a ''Faith'' spin-off project together. Whedon commented that he got "frustrated with all these crappy horror movies she was making. Like '' Wrong Turn'' and '' Soul Survivors'' and whatnot" which he says "broke my heart." Over lunch, Whedon told Dushku that he feels she possesses "something that no other actor I've worked with has" and from there, the concept of ''Dollhouse'' and Echo began to develop. Whedon propositioned Dushku, "I know the perfect show to write for you. ... I've known you for 10 years, and I have no idea who rwhat you are, so ... let's just video it." Echo's story was very much inspired by Dushku's own career; Dushku had in Whedon's words, spent her whole life "trying to take control of her career" and feeling, in Dushku's words "like everyone wants you to be a different person". Consequently, Dushku believes there is something of herself in Echo, in Caroline, and in every engagement identity Echo assumes. Whedon has described Echo as being "absolutely the essence of strength boiled down" and commenting "She's at her strongest when she's at her least powerful. She has an extraordinary tenacity." Dushku has described the character as "fierce" "hot", but also "so complex" and "tripped out" due to being "in a world where there are people who can click a button and succeed in making you be what they want you to be".

References

{{Dollhouse Science fiction television characters Fictional characters from Los Angeles Fictional slaves Fictional prostitutes Characters created by Joss Whedon Television characters introduced in 2009

Character

Before the Dollhouse

In the Dollhouse

Conception

See also

References