The episode was written by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon and directed by Jonathan Frakes, his sole credit in the series.

This episode delves into the past of the character Priya Tsetsang/Sierra, showing how she was forced to become a doll, and can be seen as a prelude to the ethical dilemma of permanent imprinting first explored in "Epitaph One".

The episode starts with a blurry shot of Topher panicked and covered in blood, repeating over and over, "I was just trying to help her."

Nolan (first seen in "Needs" as Sierra's abusive client) talks to Priya about her artwork, and encourages her to make him a piece.

Confronted by Nolan at his front door, Priya rejects his increasingly threatening advances and leaves.

He takes a photo of Sierra with Priya's Polaroid camera, and leaves the picture in a drawer alongside multitudes of others from prior engagements.

Echo senses something is wrong, and ultimately takes the painting to Topher, telling him Sierra is being affected by a bad man.

He comes to the conclusion that Priya was made to look like she was a paranoid schizophrenic by the psychological drugs that were in her system.

DeWitt summons Nolan and threatens to banish him from the Dollhouse's services; he responds by demanding Sierra forever, saying that if she fails to deliver, he will use his Rossum connections to have her fired.

In the Dollhouse, Boyd continues to supervise Echo and notices her pulling a leaf off a plant.

However, as the pod closes, it is revealed that Echo has etched phrases into the inside of the glass in order to help her remember.

Topher goes to a mental health facility (run by Nolan) to take Priya to the Dollhouse.

Nolan tries to rationalize gaslighting her by drugging her into insanity and helping to force her into the Dollhouse against her will so that he could sexually assault her repeatedly by claiming that in all of her imprints she enjoyed every second they had together.

But Priya mocks him, calling him out for his brainwashing and saying she doesn't remember any such time when she liked him, and is actually in love with a person she has never met.

However, Priya knocks him down, making him drop his knife, and grabs it before he can reach it; enraged, she kills him with multiple stab wounds.

Boyd instructs Sierra to pack a suitcase of Nolan's belongings as if he had run away, while he and Topher dispose of the body.

"[2] "Belonging" was viewed by 2.1 million viewers when first broadcast in the United States, with a 0.8/3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.