originally conceived for a woman in her 40s or 50s, but Whedon had worked with Acker on Angel and he decided she would be the best actress for the part; therefore Whedon adapted the character, despite initial reservations about casting too many Buffy and Angel alumni. Flashbacks in "Epitaph One" show that Dr. Saunders became romantically involved with Boyd Langton - a scene later shown in "Getting Closer" - and following the technological apocalypse and Topher's breakdown, acts as the Dollhouse's programmer. In the 2019 framing narrative for "Epitaph One" however, Dr. Saunders' persona has apparently faded away, leaving Whiskey with faint traces of Saunders' personality. Ivy Topher's assistant (Liza Lapira). While she is highly skilled and sees herself as his apprentice, Topher treats her more as a gofer, assigning her menial tasks such as fetching him snacks. She was framed by the NSA as the mole in the Dollhouse to hide Dominic, though her innocence is quickly found by an imprinted Echo. Sophie Alvarez Sophie Alvarez (Angel Desai) is a handler shown in two episodes. In "Omega" she is shown to have been the handler of Whiskey and in "Needs" she is attacked by Echo, who is trying to break into a gun cabinet. Laurence Dominic Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond), head of security at the Dollhouse during most of the first season, takes his job very seriously, but doesn't think very highly of the Dolls themselves, viewing them more as robots than humans. He attempts to kill Echo, and also suggests she be retired as an Active, and put into "the Attic". Later, while intoxicated, he attempts to apologize to Echo for his actions. Dominic is revealed to be an NSA agent spying on the Dollhouse and (after having his memories extracted by Topher) is sent to the Attic. Later on, in the episode "The Attic", when Echo breaks through her looping nightmare, she re-encounters Dominic, who has conquered his own nightmare and is fighting a psychic assassin known as Arcane. Being convinced to join Echo, he frees Priya and Anthony, and ultimately traps Arcane, who is in fact Clyde; a founder of Rossum. After he explains the motives behind and the purpose of the Attic, Echo, Priya and Anthony leave while Clyde and Dominic decide to stay behind to free those trapped in the attic from their eternal nightmare. However, during the next episode, Dominic frees himself from