23. Sierra
Appeared in: Dollhouse Okay, lets admit it: some of us were never the biggest fans of Dollhouse. It had an interesting premise, but the series never really struck a chord. Maybe we were just drained after the end of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. Maybe Tru Calling, Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku's other sci-fi show, turned us off of the idea of her headlining an hour-long drama. Or maybe we just wanted a Faith spin-off, something that had been rumoured throughout the finak years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (along with Spike and Giles spin-offs). After all, Dushku was at her best when she was Faith. Either way, Dollhouse never had the same cultural impact as Buffy, Angel, Firefly, or even Dr. Horrible, but it still had some solid characters. The character of Sierra was one of the 'dolls" on the show - programmable individuals which could be assigned any number of personalities or skills. While in their "doll" state they are waiting to be activated (they're also referred to as "actives' once activated), and it's this doll state that makes Sierra an interesting character, though for disturbing reasons. Sierra is introduced as an active that is often paired up with Dushku's character of Echo on missions, but later on we learn that she has been raped by her handler while in her doll state. The horror of this, and how she reacts to it, having flashbacks while active and crying while sleeping, is no doubt all to real for actual survivors of abuse, but it also shines a light on human nature and evil: given the opportunity to have a living, breathing human doll and their mercy, there's no doubt any number of people would take advantage and use such a person to act out sexual desires. Sierra becomes even more important in the show's mythology when it is revealed that she has links to another doll prior to their time in the dollhouse, Victor. At that point, we are reminded of just how powerful even faded memories can be.