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This time Echo (Eliza Dushku) is helping out the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) infiltrate a compound of religious fanatics lead by a former arms and human trafficker. This time, she's programmed as a blind believer -- blind because her eyes are now cameras feeding video to the ATF.

As the episode opens, a group of the believers stops by a local convenience store to pick up some supplies. A mechanic who has issues with the group tries to start a fight, and during the fracas, someone writes on the back of the shopping list the words "save me."

This opens a small window for the ATF to put in an operative to rescue the person being held against their will. Turns out Senator Boxbaum (Sam Hennings) is a client of the Dollhouse and he needs someone who won't be uncovered so easily to do the job. Enter Echo.

Echo undergoes ocular surgery to implant video technology, which transmits video signals to the ATF, but renders her blind. The technology is dangerous, having caused seizures and death in the past. In addition to the video tech, Echo is programmed with the personality of Esther, a girl who went blind when she was 9 years old and believes that God did this to make her a better person.

Although skeptical at first, the leader, Jonas Sparrow (Brian Bloom) can't disprove her story or her blindness and so the group accepts her into the fold.

Watching the video -- sans audio -- doesn't help the ATF uncover the person who sent the message, but it does reveal that the compound hinds an entire armory of weapons. This is enough to get a judge to O.K. the ATF going in to serve a warrant.

Langdon (Harry Lennix) believes that this action is pre-mature. But Agent Lilly, who leads the mission, won't be swayed. He's been after Sparrow for a long time.

Suspicious of Lilly's fanaticism, Langdon checks out the convenience store where the "save me" note was left. Turns out, no one checked the security camera logs ... with good reason. Lilly, under disguise, wrote the note.

Now the whole compound is in grave danger. At first Jonas thinks Esther (Echo) brought the ATF on them. When he hits her, she miraculously gets her sight back. This miracle prompts Jonas to "force" another miracle based on the biblical tale of the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:14-29), in which three men are not burned when thrust into a bonfire furnace.

Jonas gathers the flock in a temple and then has his right-hand believer, Seth (David Alpay), set fire to the place. As everyone starts coughing, Echo urges them to leave. But Jonas tries to stop them. He believes her miraculous return of sight is a sign from God and that they will not burn, just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not burn in the Bible.

Echo knocks him out with a giant candlestick and gets everyone, save one, to leave. This believer, Lilya (Angus Sutherland -- Donald Sutherland youngest and half-brother to Kiefer), still believes and spits in Echo's face. So she punches him in the face and Seth caries him out.

Echo is alone with an unconscious Jonas when in walks an ATF guy. Oops. Wrong. It's Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond), who has it in for Echo and really wants her put in "the Attic." He knocks her out saying, "Our troubles end here."

But, later, as Echo is coming to, Langdon arrives and saves her.

Meanwhile, back in the Dollhouse, Lubov (Enver Gjokaj) is having a very un-doll-like reaction to Sierra (Dichen Lachman). Topher Brink (Fran Kranz) uncomfortably discovers that Lubov has a "man reaction" while in the shower and runs panicked to Dr. Claire Saunders (Amy Acker).

Dr. Saunders first believes that this is due to repeated imprints of the same personality - a romantic one. However, with a bit of research watching past video of the shower, it turns out that Lubov only reacts this way when Sierra is around.

Another parallel thread in the story follows Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) who enlists a friend in the force with higher clearance to do a facial recognition search for "Caroline." It turns up nothing, but then he sees her in news coverage of the Waco-esque happening at Jonas' compound.

By the time he gets there, everyone from the compound is gone and Agent Lilly isn't going to say where they are.

Back at the Dollhouse, Echo has just finished receiving her "treatment." As she leaves, Dr. Saunders asks her how her sight is. Echo looks over the balcony at the fellow dolls doing yoga, and then she sees Dominic and her expression changes. "I see perfectly," she says.

What Worked

I am repeatedly delighted by Dushku's range. She was very believable as a blind woman of faith. Also, Lennix is able to portray strength and compassion quite well.

I loved the scene between Topher and Dr. Saunders. He was so uncomfortable talking about "man reactions" and Dr. Saunders was so clinically removed. The contrast between the two was very entertaining.

What Didn't Work

Sometimes Echo seems less like her imprint and more like Echo. Is this on purpose to show that her imprints are as solid as they think they are? Or is it just bad writing? Or maybe Dushku is struggling to interpret the script. I'm not sure what the cause is, but it sometimes interrupts the flow of the story.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"True Believer" was written by Tim Minear and directed by Allan Kroeker. "Dollhouse" airs on FOX, Fridays at 9 p.m. ET.