I keep waiting for there to be some Ballard/Caroline backstory, but there doesn't seem to be one. He really does seem to be obsessed because he's obsessed. And the relationship with his neighbor really came out of no where. These things do bother me.

BTW, I do know that there are far more actors than Cate Blanchet who could pull of such a roll. (Toni Collette has been getting positive reviews for her United States of Tara for HER multiple personalities.) She's just my example of someone who could pull it off without breaking a sweat. Most actors would really have to work at creating such a role, but only the character actors would be able to pull it off. It's more apparent with Eliza Dushku because she's apparently been just been playing variations of her own personality. A Doll/Active is a dream role for a character actor... and Eliza just isn't one.