Weekly Round-up: 07/02/10

If you like to laugh then this week has been a good one. Between them, Chuck and HIMYM have brought many a tear to my eye. Also this week, new Lost comes around and confuses us with glimpses of that that never was, but more on that later.

As always, these roundups are not censored for spoilers so continue at your own peril.

How I Met Your Mother – Perfect Week

A return to form this week for HIMYM as we enjoy a Barney-centric episode. After learning that he may be fired Barney sets out to cheer himself up and achieve the holy-grail of sleeping with random women, “A Perfect Week”. Seven girls, seven days, no rejection.

As Barney is possibly the best character in the show, how could an episode based almost solely on him fail? A really good, funny episode, which has you cheering the manwhore on before the episode closes out.

Heroes – The Wall

Another week of stalling! Sigh! In this weeks episode Peter and Sylar spend the whole episode trapped in Sylar’s mind, literally trying to break down a wall to escape, in order for Sylar to stop/save Emma.

Meanwhile Samuel tries to turn Claire against her father by having Damien show her Noah’s memories of losing his first wife and child to a special and then Noah enacting his revenge against any specials that cross his path.

The wounded Lauren is handed over to Samuel by non-other than Emma and Samuel asks Eli to “deal with her.” I suspect that we may soon see Eli frozen solid by Tracy Strauss however.

In the best moment of this episode however, Samuel, fed up of dealing with Claire and Noah, buries them alive in one of the carnival trailers. Shortly after Peter and Sylar break free and we all cheer… *Yawn*

JUST GET ON WITH IT!

Sorry… The finale will air on Monday, hopefully if Heroes sees a fifth season it will be a 2 chapter split with a faster pace of story telling.  

Chuck – Vs. Nacho Sampler

Another fun episode of everyone’s favourite spy comedy as Chuck attempts to hook his very first asset. We see a return for the intersect as Manush, an MIT drop out, designs a new one for the Ring.

However, the more interesting aspect of this episode is that now both Morgan and Ellie are beginning to become suspicious of Chuck and Devon. This will clearly lead to one or both of them learning the truth before the end of the season, which leads us to ask, what will the CIA do about that? I can see Schwarz and Fedak making Morgan an operator, as Chuck gets better, to reintroduce that accident prone element to the missions.

Whatever the case, another good episode. Really enjoying the new dynamic between Jeff, Lester and Hannah. 

Lost – LAX

Well, for those of us who  thought Lost couldn’t get any weirder, we were wrong. This season replaces Flashbacks and Flashforwards with the only direction left, sideways. That’s right, producers Carlton and Cuse have decided that instead of making a decision about whether or not setting off the bomb at the end of last season worked, they’d just do both. One timeline, the bomb goes off and the plane never crashes, in the other timeline it doesn’t but the cast is transported back to 2007, still trapped on the island.

Many, many things are revealed to us in this double length episode, including what the Black Smoke really is. We meet a new leader of the Others and we see a return for many dead characters. Charlie, Boone, Artz and even Seth Norris (voiced by Heroes star Greg Grunberg.) all return for the flash sideways.

Anyway, I’ll probably spotlight this double length episode next week, so I’ll leave it there for now. 

Supernatural – The Song Remains the Same

This week sees Supernatural’s first return to a fully mythology-based episode since that fateful episode “Abandon All Hope”. And what an enjoyable return it was. Despite the fact that, as the title suggests, the episode is pretty much another plea by the angels to the Winchester boys to say “yes” it is done in a way that makes it fun and interesting.

The episode itself is Back to the Future meets Terminator as Angel Anna goes back in time to kill Sam’s mother before he can be born. The episode however ends with her being burnt alive my Michael. And finally, Dean and Michael come face to face and the Archangel lays it out for him that free will is an illusion and that, in the end, Sam and Dean will both say yes.

Interestingly the concept of free will is the basis of the Christian faith, the excuse that people use as to why people do bad things. If Michael does not believe in free will, is he really still working for the big guy upstairs?

Whatever the case the episode is great and Misha Collins is simply superb, even if he spends most of his time unconscious. Despite being mythology driven this episode, is light and fun and action packed. Love it. Next week will see an episode called My Bloody Valentine, a nod to Jensen Ackles summer film excursion.

Caprica – The Reins of a Waterfall

So, the Soldiers of the One (STO) have a plan for Zoe’s avatar and Lacy has agreed to bring the avatar (and in essence the first Cylon) to Geminon. Other than that Caprica didn’t really offer much in the way of explanation as to where it is heading. Being a fan of Ronald D. Moore’s past work, I hope it is heading somewhere exciting… it just isn’t evident where.

The episode closes with Joseph Adama, having not been able to visit his daughter’s virtual avatar (because Zoe let it out of the virtual box it was in) returns home and gives his brother Sam the order to murder Daniel Graystone’s wife.  

Clone Wars – Voyage of Temptation

This weeks Clone Wars was still lacking something, I’m not sure what though. But it did have some very nice sequences, the battles with the Assassin Droids were particularly exciting and the reveal that Obi Wan, like Anakin, had once fallen in love and offered to abandon the Jedi Order.

Next week will see the conclusion of the Mandalore Trilogy, with the Obi Wan revealing his love for the Duchess of Mandalore, I suspect that the episode will conclude with her death, ending Mandalore’s attitude of neutrality and bringing them and their allied planets into the Clone Wars.

Coming Soon…

Monday will see the finale of Heroes: Redemption and not really before time if you ask me. Plus more Lost to throw fuel on the fire of confusion. This has been My Two Cents… Watch out for a Lost spotlight later this week.

Spotlight: Dollhouse - “Epitaph Two – The Return”

So, we arrive at the second and final instalment of the Epitaph series. Last time I used ten posts to break down the Epitaph and really look at it in detail and speculate where the show was going. This time, however, the Epitaph has nowhere else to go. This is the Dollhouse tombstone, it’s final, blood thirsty hurrah! Lets take a look at it.

So, the episode opens with Mag, Zone and young Caroline being attacked by “Butchers” which are imprinted people who have gone crazy in the wake of the apocalypse. Interesting the date reads 2020, a year after we first meet Mag and Zone. Was this to allow for further Epitaphs to be slotted in before we reached this final one?

Zone has no qualms with shooting the “Butchers”, I guess it is a kill or be killed kind of world. The girls jump in the jeep and the trio drive away. Quickly Caroline and Zone perform a small recap for those of us who didn’t buy season 1 on dvd, which closes out with Caroline saying “We are lost, we are not gone.” a hint to how Jed, Maurissa and Andrew plan to end this episode.

As they get close to Safe Haven they ditch the jeep and that is when a group of soldiers from Neuropolis ambush them, throwing bags over their heads and taking them captive. Neuropolis is Tuscon, the base of operations for the old Rossum corporation. Mag, Zone and Caroline are escorted to a cell below the main building. This is effectively a wardrobe, the people in the cell are meat suits waiting for Harding or Ambrose to decide to put them on.

“Where are we?” Mag asks. “Neuropolis, city of minds.” Caroline explains. “And you didn’t think to mention that Safe Haven was parked right next door to the frikkin’ Death Star?!” Zone bellows. “It had to be, this is where we got the vaccine.” Caroline explains.

Upstairs a very large Mr. Harding is guzzling his way through a huge feast, while smoking a large cigar. Ambrose (played by Eliza’s big brother) enters, bringing with him a selection of suits for Mr. Harding to try on.

“What is it? I’m eating.” Harding snaps. “Of course you are.” Ambrose smiles sarcastically. “You’d be just as fat if we hadn’t run out of shellfish”  What I find interesting here is that Harding and Ambrose are clearly just out for themselves, fulfilling their own wishes, but, despite having the technology to imprint people to do whatever they want, they did not plan for a sustainable future to fulfil their desires.

“We’re having a hard time finding acceptable replacement bodies in all the chaos out there. We have to start taking better care of ourselves.” Harding inspects the suits, interestingly they are all naked, clearly the size of your junk still matters in the post-apocalyptic world. “Where did this body come from?” Harding says, fear in his eyes as he comes face to face with Paul Ballard. “Was he with anyone?” Harding asks. “Just some girl.” Ambrose replies.

Quickly Echo and Ballard kick some ass. Echo comes up against Harding. “Still living the dream?” She asks. “It is a little bit tarnished.” He replies. “You ever think, if you didn’t cut Rossum off at the head, the tech might have never gotten out of control?” Echo points her gun at Harding. “Ah, you know I’m backed up, why do you bother any more?” “Ask me again sometime.” Echo replies, splattering his brains all over the wall.

While Echo oversees the release of the Actuals Ballard goes in search of Topher, who has at some point, presumably, been captured by Harding. Interestingly, Topher seems less damaged than he did in Epitaph One, despite the fact that he’s been being tortured on a daily basis while under Harding’s care.

“I’ve been working.” Topher declares. “One bullet a day, don't want to waste. One person down a day until I solve the problem. Erase the world all at once.” It seems Harding wanted to wipe the whole world, start from scratch. Interestingly in Topher’s babble he utters the words “Chain reaction, new problem.” I wonder if this is relevant to the way the episode ends, I guess we’ll never know. (I’ll explain this comment at the end.)

“So close to solving both problems, they would have no idea.” Topher babbles. “Close to what? Wiping everyone?” Echo asks. ”The opposite.” It seems Topher believes he can reverse the wipes. He believes he can “Bring back the world” I have to say I hate that as a conclusion to the show. After all, the second season was all about attempting to prevent the inevitable and I understand why the Whedons want to end the show in this way, because it gives the fans a conclusion but it doesn’t feel like we had to work for it. I know, I know, that is the way it had to be but I still don’t like it.

Back in Safe Haven we finally learn who has survived the apocalypse. Adelle DeWitt is in the garden digging up strawberries for T, Priya’s son. So Priya did survive, despite not being present in the final flashback of Epitaph One. And Caroline didn’t shoot Adelle, but there is no sign of Antony. When the others arrive back, Adelle is overjoyed to know that they have Topher.

Once dinner is over the main cast sit down and explain to us what the plan is. “Butchers, Dumbshows, anybody who has been wiped or imprinted will go back to their original identities.” Unfortunately this includes the Actives like Echo who would need to remain as she is to prevent a reoccurrence of the Tech.

“What Topher needs to make the pulse work…” Ballard explains. “… is in the Dollhouse.” DeWitt finishes.

“Awwwww Come on!” Zone complains. “We just left that party, that party was on fire.” However the gang needs someone to lead them back to the Dollhouse and Zone and Mag are their first choice.  

The perimeter alarm sounds and everyone grabs a gun and heads outside. A giant armoured truck pulls up filled with “Tech Heads” lead by non-other than Anthony/Victor. “I got your message, how can we help?”

Priya however, is less than happy that Echo invited them. She doesn’t want to go back to the Dollhouse, she wants to take care of her son, to keep him away from the Tech, which means keeping him away from his father too.

And so they all jump aboard Victor’s truck and head back to L.A. Victor and his band of Tech Heads have a portable device that allows them to imprint themselves with new skill sets from usb hard drives, however, they must remove one set to imprint another, unlike Echo. It is interesting that Anthony and Priya would become separated, divided by their views on Technology. It is a shame that we don't get to see how that happens, only the aftermath of Anthony’s decision to leave Priya and his son.

“The garden, looks like it came a long way since I last saw it.” Anthony says as a kind of peace offering. “Three summers ago, we’ve had some time to get it right.” So, it’s been three years since the two last saw each other and there is clearly some resentment in Priya’s voice. “I wanted him brought up away from all the crap in the back of this truck!” Priya snaps. “We both did, that’s why we agreed to keep him away from me.” Anthony replies. “We agreed to keep him away from the Tech.” Priya retorts.

In the back of the truck Paul and Echo discuss the future. How that after the pulse they will have to remain underground for a year and then after that they will need to go after Harding and Ambrose. Paul however, keeps trying to steer the conversation around to Echo’s attitude of keeping him at arms length. “I’ve been knocking ten years, you still wont let me in.” He remarks. “I’ve let you in a few times.” Echo replies cheekily. “You’ve got a hundred people living inside your head and you’re the loneliest person I know.”

I like the idea that the show still has somewhere to go after this Epitaph, the destruction of Harding and Ambrose, that feeling that the story still goes on. This whole sequence in the truck reminds me a lot of the camper van trip in Buffy as the gang flee the city, hoping to escape the hell god Glory.

So it doesn’t take long before the Actives, Tech Heads and Actuals arrive in L.A. As soon as they pull up outside the entrance to the House they are set upon by Butchers and a massive firefight ensues. Unfortunately the rock underscore the fight is set to is completely wrong for the sequence and it distracted me a lot from the action. Normally I don't notice the music that much, but this felt all out of place.

As they run for the service tunnels Mag’s legs get shot out from under her and Paul comes to her aid. “Hey, hey, it’s ok you’re going to be…” He stops talking as one of the Butchers puts a bullet through his skull. I’m not sure how I feel about Paul’s death, I like the fact that it is kind of senseless, but it also leads us to a rather soppy ending (which I’ll get to later). However, we don't have time to dwell on it. Zone drags Mag onto his shoulders and he and Echo head into the tunnel.

“That’s all of us.” Echo snaps at Anthony. “What about..?” He starts. “THAT’s ALL OF US.” she repeats.  But the surprises aren’t over, as Echo and Anthony repel into the House, they discover that someone has restored it to it’s original splendour, even complete with a whole new batch of Dolls.

“Aw, hell!” Echo snaps. “No, you’ll have to keep digging if that’s where you want to end up.” A sinister voice replies from behind her. “Alpha…” Echo responds, before hugging the deranged lunatic. So now I guess we know what “We have Alpha to thank for that.” means. Alpha turned good guy and helped secure the vaccine and now he has restored the Dollhouse. “Where’s big bad Ballard?” Alpha asks. “We lost him.” Echo replies simply.

Even as Topher sets to work on designing the pulse, Victor’s Tech Heads turn on the group. Seems they are power mad, they want the full upgrade package the chair can offer and they are willing to kill for it.

“What’s going on Rome?” Anthony asks, walking in on the collection of kidnappers and hostages. “Upgrades Vic.” The chief Tech Head responds. “We tweaked ourselves to fight the war. It’s ending.” Victor explains. “With all the prints on this computer, we’ll rule the wasteland, why wouldn’t you want that?” “Because, we’re not freakshows.” Alpha replies, wandering in from the hall. “If we’re going to rebuild the world, I want to do it myself.” Anthony replies, tearing his chain of usb drives from about his neck and dropping it to the ground.

However the Tech Heads aren’t about to give up. Unfortunately they never stood a chance against Alpha, Echo and Anthony. With them disarmed and locked up the attention is back on Topher.

“He’s tired.” Adelle explains to Alpha. “He’s much worse when he’s tired.” Topher’s eyes light up at this. “Bed time.” He smiles and runs off to his pod that he had taken to living in in flashback 8. “He didn’t come back for the Tech.” Adelle smiles, looking at the man she loves as sits amongst his possessions. “He came back for an idea.” I don’t know if it was how the character was written but Topher, although no more coherent, than in Epitaph One, seems to be fully aware of what is going on around him. Maybe it’s just Fran’s interpretation, but he certainly seems less broken.

Meanwhile Priya sets about destroying the usb drives to stop Anthony taking them back. However Echo launches a full on emotional assault and tells Priya to get her head out of her ass and realise that Anthony loves her. Then she breaks down as she realises that she shut out her chance at love and now Paul is gone for good.

Back in the office Alpha is helping Topher prepare the pulse. Topher explains that the device can only be activated manually and that the resultant explosion will kill the person doing so. Him. “You’re not coming back.” Adelle states simply “Small price to pay.” Topher replies. 

Downstairs Anthony is burning the Tech when Priya brings T, her son, over and introduces him to his father and three are finally united as one.

“You don't have to do it you know.” Adelle says to Toper. “At least, not alone.” “I do.” Topher replies. “I’ll fix what we did to their heads, you fix what we did to the rest of the world.” He smiles and leans in close. “Your job is waaaaay harder.”

Downstairs in Dr Saunders old room, Mag and Zone have a short goodbye. “What did you do, you know, before?” Zone asks. “I was at Brookley, sociology. You?” “Landscape architect.” And with that they go their separate ways. I felt sure that eventually Mag would offers to set off the pulse, her being wounded and Topher being a genius but that was just wishful thinking, Topher was fated to die. Or was he…?

So Adelle lets Echo know that Alpha’s gone, it seems he wanted to be alone in case he turned back to his old self. “And you?” Echo asks. “I’ll lead them out, make sure they come through the pulse alright.” Adelle answers. “Ever the shepherd huh?” Echo replies. “Leading them into the light. Funny that the last fantasy that the Dollhouse should fulfil would be yours.” And with that the two are reconciled and Adelle is finally revealed as a force for good.

Up in Adelle’s old office Topher sets up the gear for the pulse. And as he triggers the device, something occurs to him and he turns to look at the wall of remembrance. “Huh?” He smiles as if finally realising something, then Boom! The pulse goes off and that is the last time we see Topher Brink. With Dollhouse off the air, the argument seems mute, but I don’t think  Joss would kill Topher, if Epitaph Two sees a sequel in comic book form, Topher will be back, I guarantee it. With regards to what Topher saw when he looked at the wall, I have no idea and I would have thought it is something we’ll never know.

And so the world is given a second chance to start afresh. Up in the chair room, Echo discovers the present Alpha left for her… Paul’s wedge. The last personality Echo would ever add to her head. I would have been happy to just leave it there, but Jed and Maurissa couldn’t help but have a mushy, inner head reunion. “Am I…?” Paul asks. “You wanted me to let you in.” Echo smiles. Ok, it’s kinda sweet… but we already knew who was on the wedge… you old romantics.

And so, predictably, the episode closes out with Echo climbing into her pod.

On Sunday I said that this was unashamed of what it was, that Epitaph Two is final chapter of the story, a conclusion for the fans. That said, it makes me sad to know that we’ll never see how the characters got to this point. That we’ll never know so many things. Like what happened to Whiskey, Ivy, Lawrence. Epitaph Two leaves so much of the Dollhouse story untold because it focuses solely on concluding the series and to me, that is a tragedy. I understand why it had to be this way, I just don’t want it to be.

As I pointed out above the story still has places to go and things to resolve. The destruction of Harding and Ambrose for a start. But also Topher’s comment earlier “Chain reaction, new problem” suggests that even if the pulse worked it would cause another effect. I suspect that, like Firefly and Buffy and Angel, that Dollhouse will see further addition in the form of graphic novels, but for now, this is the end.

This has been My Final Dollhouse Two Cents… tune in Sunday for another Weekly Round-Up.

Weekly Round-Up: 31/01/10

So, it’s been an interesting week. Sadly Dollhouse came to an end with an Epitaph that was both great and yet, in a strange way, a little disappointing. Also SyFy returned with the first new episode of Caprica.

Please note, I try to be brief in these round-ups but they do contain some spoilers.

Heroes – The Art of Deception

As the title suggests, this weeks episode is about deception. Specifically between Samuel and Noah. After Claire discovers that Noah intends to kill Samuel and disband the carnival, she offers to negotiate a peaceful surrender. Samuel agrees, pretending to feel guilty for destroying that town the other week. However, he has really sent his right hand man, Eli (The Copy Cat), into the woods to open fire on the carnival, immediately prior to Samuel’s surrender, thus making it seem like Noah did not keep his word.

In the process however there were two casualties. The first being Lidia. Samuel confesses to her even as she lies dying that he was the one who got her killed; it is not apparent if Eli had specific orders to shoot Lidia, but I think it is a definite possibility. The other is poor Lauren, who, as she lies dying in the woods, manages to call for help from non-other than Tracy-Freakin-Strauss.

However, all that Samuel nonsense pails into insignificance when we look at the truly dark moment that Sylar and Matt share together in his basement. After his wife demands that Matt put Sylar somewhere he can never hurt anyone again, Matt takes her at her word and traps the killer inside his own mind. Much like Matt’s dad did to him and Nathan. But better still, Matt bricks Sylar up in basement…

Unfortunately Peter arrives and ruins all the fun! Heroes has been extended to 19 episodes now, so just two more to go but who else is for the chop?!

Chuck – Vs. First Class

This week’s episode introduces a possible replacement for Anna Wu as well as a new love interest for Chuck (and who can blame him) in the form of Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk. The episode itself is quite good too.

Shaw sends Chuck on his first solo mission, although to be fair, we’ve seen Chuck voluntarily take on harder missions by himself before. Shaw believes that Chuck could be a great asset but that Sarah smothers him. I wonder what Fedak and Schwarz have planned for the show if they are trying to teach Chuck to stand on his own two feet?

Supernatural – Swap Meat

This week Supernatural delivers another one of their, fast becoming, trademark Bait and Switch episodes. By this I mean that they draw us into the episode and make us think, ah… it’s just a one off… and then they throw in some mythology just when we weren’t expecting it.

This weeks episode focuses on a “coven” of witches, well, three teenagers, who have taken it upon themselves to collect the devil’s bounty on Dean Winchester. Unwittingly however, they also nearly fulfil the prophecy in the process. Gary switches bodies with Sam so to get closer to Dean. If Gary were to say “Yes” to Lucifer…

I really wouldn’t have minded the episode going this way, but it didn’t, which means we still don't know, why or if Sam will allow himself to become Lucifer’s vessel.

However, with all this talk of a sixth season, I’m beginning to wonder just exactly how Eric intends to leave things this season. There have certainly been a lot of “Monster of the Week” style episodes of late (which I love btw) but you would have thought he’d be working on wrapping things up… Unless he is staying on???

But if that is true it makes THIS even more evil… *shakes fist with rage*… Damn you Kripke… Damn you to HELL!

Dollhouse – Epitaph Two

So, that’s it then, it’s over! Epitaph Two is unashamed of what it’s purpose is. It is the tomb stone for one of the best shows in recent times. It stands up and admits defeat, it is a calming word to the fans that the show is dead and that there will be no more.

By the time Epitaph Two is done the apocalypse has been averted and those responsible have been brought to justice. There is still so much we don't know, so much development from the characters we see in Dollhouse to those we see in the Epitaph that we will just never see. And if Epitaph Two has a major fault that is it. It’s a beautiful ending, but we missed out on the journey.

Join me later in the week as I break this final episode down and talk about exactly what I did and didn’t like about it.

The Clone Wars - The Mandalore Plot

After a rather disappointing episode last week, the Clone Wars returns with a story about the Death Watch. A group of Mandalorian warriors (the same race as Jango and Boba Fett), who, with the help of Count Dooku, are planning to overthrow the Duchess and take over Mandalore.

There is a astonishing amount of new material in this episode. Two new planets, dozens of new characters. It all seems like a hell of a lot of work, especially for a rather predictable episode. There were some nice touches, here and there, like the introduction of the black lightsaber, (I know someone who would have been very excited about that!) but overall the episode was disappointingly formulaic.

That said, this is just the beginning of a three episode story arc so hopefully, with the setting now established, next week will see some awe inspiring action!

Caprica – Rebirth

Caprica’s second episode, although an interesting insight into Caprican life, really doesn’t go anywhere very fast at all. That is not a bad thing by any stretch. They spend a lot of the episode developing the Zoe/Cylon character and a lot more development is needed if we are to understand how she comes to start a war against humanity.

However the most major plot point in the show is that Zoe’s mother finally comes to understand that Zoe was one of the Soldiers of the One and she admits this publically, that her daughter was possibly the person who blew up that train and killed all those people. Of course, she admits this at the memorial service for the people who died in that tragic incident… Not a smart move. 

A couple of minor niggles… The credit sequence feels… erm… pretentious. Oh and William Adama’s eyes are brown… which is interesting because I’m pretty sure they’ve turned blue by the time he becomes a commander. Oh… and… I have no idea where this series is going…!

Coning Soon

We cannot possibly ignore what happens next week, as, on Tuesday, Lost returns to our screens. Like with 24, Lost is a show I never read about elsewhere until I have seen the episodes, so I have spent the week hibernating and avoiding those previews ABC have been showing. I can’t wait to find out where this final season will take us.

Missed the last episode of season 5, check out my three part ramble in which I discuss the very nature of the island and what I think it is all about.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Until then… This has been My Two Cents…

10 Reasons to Watch: Alice

If there was ever a network that truly commits to its show’s, it’s   Sy-Fy and with Alice it is no different. I discovered Alice a couple of months back when I was wondering what Matt Frewer was doing with himself, instead of being in Eureka.

I have to say, Alice is not perfect but as this is a “ten reasons to watch” post I wont be focusing on the negatives, I will be giving reasons, that in my opinion, make this show worth watching.

So… Was it worth not having Taggart for a whole season? Let’s find out as we go through the Looking Glass and find ten reasons to watch Alice…

1. It’s Bonkers – What else did we expect from the channel that brought us Farscape? Possibly the best and yet most deranged Sci Fi ever envisioned. Everything from the Mad Hatter to the White Rabbit finds its place on this psychedelic canvas.
2. It’s Stunning – If Tin Man can be seen as a precursor to Alice, then take the visual spectacle that it was and quadruple it and then add some just to be on the safe side. Unlike Tin Man that was almost apocalyptic in it’s grey-brown world of bleak disaster, Alice is bright and vibrant. Even the city, which is little more than a decimated husk of a world is visually splendorous.
3. The Story – Even if you don’t know the Lewis Carroll original like me, you can still enjoy the way that Alice twists the story elements. This is not a retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story, it is more of a Return to Wonderland and everything is a very different and yet strangely the same. All the original characters are there, but, for example, The Mad March Hare is now an assassin.
4. The Actors – I’ve already mentioned Matt Frewer, who plays the terrified White Knight. He reminded me quite a lot of Brave Brave Sir Robin from “That Monty Python Film”. But add to that Colm Meaney and Kathy Bates as the King and Queen of Hearts and the terrific Andrew Lee Potts as Hatter and the show really comes to life. Alice herself is portrayed by Caterina Scorsone and, although occasionally shaky, her beauty and charm should be enough to win over even the harshest of critics.
5. A Tale for Modern Times – Whether or not Alice sets out to be a moral tale about a society built on instant gratification or not it certainly succeeds in being one. Although the issues that Alice deals with are dark, such as abandonment, addiction and revolution, the show itself remains vibrant and colourful.
6. Straight into the Action – Unlike other Sci-fi miniseries, for example BSG, Alice draws the viewer through the looking glass and into the meat and gristle of the story, almost instantly. Although Battlestar as an entity is brilliant, the original miniseries takes it’s own sweet time getting going, Alice however goes down the Rabbit Hole after just 10 minutes and its all action from that point on.
7. And What Action! – The locations for the action sequences are stupendous. The old library for example is an epic mix of fantasy and post-apocalyptic sci-fi that you just don't see everyday. The roof-top battle with the Queen’s agents feels like something from the matrix and chase sequence with the Jabberwock… I could go on!
8. Nick Willing – The director who brought us Tin Man, is not only the brains behind the look and feel of this epic tale, but he is also the words and the creative genius. For a writer without that much experience Willing spins an excellent yarn, that coupled with his creative vision helps Alice to feel like a cohesive story, with rich characters and interesting plots. 
9. Flying Pink Mopeds that look like Flamingos – Where else will you find that?
10. One Off or Back Door Pilot? – I can list at least two shows that started on the Sci-Fi channel as just one offs and neither of them remained that way for long… Yes I am talking about Battlestar and Caprica. Will Alice too get itself a regular slot on the Sy-Fy channel? I don’t know… Admittedly Sci-Fi’s last venture into the literary remakes “TinMan” was never taken any further. On the other hand there is nothing else like Alice on any network that I’ve ever heard of, but can Sy-Fy really afford another big cast, special fx show when they already have Caprica and Stargate: Universe?

Whatever Sy-fy decide to do, Alice is certainly a brilliant reenvisioning of the classic for the modern age and while it has numerous problems, it scratches an itch we didn’t even know we had…

This has been My Two Cents, until next time…

 

Weekly Round-Up: 24/01/10

So, another week over and what have we learned? Well, why not read on and find out, but beware these posts contain spoilers from the start, if you don’t want to know what happens look away now…

 

Heroes – Pass/Fail

This weeks Heroes still felt like it was just putting off getting to the finale, although several important plotlines were fulfilled. First off the Claire/Sylar storyline played out to its conclusion, in which Sylar discovered that if he is ever to atone for his past he must learn what it is to be human, he must rid himself of all his powers. To that end he closes the episode by going to see Matt Parkman.

Does this mean that Sylar is getting the same treatment as Hiro and Peter did last series. All three characters have an insane amount of power which made the show difficult for the writers, now it looks like all three will be neutered. I’d rather see Sylar dead, than have him returned to a weak and whining human.

Also this week, Hiro’s brain tumour was cured by his mother in a dream sequence… Yup, makes sense…! Mohinder leaves to return to India… And Samuel finally brings Vanessa to the new home he built just for her… Only she doesn’t want it, or Samuel… so the good old carnie levels a whole damn town…!

Predictable but cool! The last two episodes will surely now be a superhero team-up to take Sullivan down and that means action packed adventure for all. 

How I Met Your Mother - Jenkins

Continuing the long list of guest stars this show has seen, Amanda Peet makes an appearance this week. However, the episode itself really does little new or exciting and after enjoying Amanda as the strong spirited Jordan McDeere in Studio 60, I found her role as “the other woman” rather lifeless.

As with most shows in this genre H.I.M.Y.M suffers from caricature-syndrome, where the principal characters stop being three-dimensional characters and can be boiled down to catchphrases and predictable jokes. That said, I don’t mind too much because H.I.M.Y.M is often very clever with its stories, but just not this week.

Chuck -  Vs. Operation Awesome

Devon isn’t dead…! Although I guess that was implied by the title of this week’s episode. Chuck undertakes a solo mission against the Ring to get his brother-in-law out of trouble. In the process we are introduced to the leader of the anti-Ring task force, Agent Shaw. I suspect Shaw might become a new love interest for Sarah. (He was also the mystery man with answers that appeared to General Beckman at the end of the second episode this season.)

Meanwhile Jeff and Lester perform a rather dark-comic homage to the David Fincher film Fight Club. 

Although the episode on the whole was enjoyable, the sitcom-esque, nothing-really-matters style storytelling still grates on me. It just feels too easy that Devon has gone from being in mortal peril back to marital bliss in a single episode. I guess I just long for a true metastory to evolve from the show but that’s probably not going to happen. I still enjoy it for what it is, I just can’t but wonder if it could be even more.

Supernatural – Sam, Interrupted

Ok, so I don't really get the title. I had assumed this episode would focus on Sam giving himself over to Lucifer. It didn’t. It was, however, old style, fun loving Supernatural without an Angel or Demon in sight. A evil wraith is stalking a mental institution and Sam and Dean check themselves in to investigate at the behest of an old, now nutty, hunter.

The best part of this story is the way the writers recapped the story so far. They had Sam and Dean reel it off to the doctor at the asylum and sure enough they were banged up and labelled crazy. A really funny episode, certainly not the best of the season, and it was a little bit of a filler episode with only 10 or so more to go, but it was really enjoyable.

The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Lost

This episode felt like a bad 80’s children’s tv show, back when cartoons had to deliver a moral message. The episode focused on Ahsoka, Anakin’s padawan, I don’t much care for her character at the best of times so this episode felt quite blah. Plus the criminals who stole Ahsoka’s lightsaber, which was the focus of the episode, looked like the fluffy, squishy things that used to advertise washing powder.

Although there were some nice Coruscant-based action sequences, this episode really just felt like filler. Hopefully the series will begin to climb towards a climax quite soon but so far it just seems a bit aimless. Unlike the first season which felt driven and focused.

Dollhouse – Epitaph Two

Wait a minute… where did my Dollhouse go?!

Next Week

So, next week then, Dollhouse’s final episode will air, and we will finally see James Masters return to our screens in the first episode of the Battlestar spin off Caprica. In the meantime I will be bringing you another 10 Reasons post, check back mid week to find out on what.

In preparation for Caprica starting back up, why not check out my thoughts on the pilot here.

Alternatively, if you want to know what I thought of last year’s Dollhouse Epitaph just scroll down and check out the recap below.

Recap: Dollhouse – Epitaph One

In preparation for next week’s second Epitaph I thought I would repost this. Below this short discussion on the first Epitaph you will find links to each of the expanded flashback posts.

I just finished watching episode 13 of series one of Dollhouse and seriously, we’ve seen Joss being ambitious before, but this is on a scale we’ve never seen!      

10 years on and the imprinting technology has gone wireless. The entire population of the world can switch bodies whenever they want, become who they want, what they want. That was the motto of the Dollhouse, giving people what they wanted, what they needed, children, playing with matches, burnt down the house…

At first I was a little sceptical as it appeared Felicia Day would be spearheading the episode and although I loved Dr. Horrible, she, in my mind, was the weak link. Then we had a flashback and I felt cheated, I couldn’t believe that Joss was daring to do a clip episode, but then again, this is Joss and he doesn’t do things the same way normal people do…

The story follows Mag, (Felicia) and her team. They are actuals, people who are still themselves. Since the imprinting technology went wireless no one can really know who they are. Actuals tattoo themselves with their names so that they will know if they forget who they are. Mag’s team have dedicated themselves to resisting the new order and saving as many as they can in the process. They eschew technology and fear it.

The team has liberated a small girl and her father, although her father is a vacant shell who the team intend to put down. They quickly hole up in an underground bunker that we recognise as the Dollhouse. After finding the chair they imprint the little girl’s father with a series of memories that tell the story of what happened to the world, of how it all began in the Dollhouse with a scientist called Topher.

The list of memories appears to have been specifically compiled by someone, maybe Topher, Dewitt or Caroline, so that anyone who comes after may learn the truth. As we enjoy these cleverly crafted flashbacks (which give us a sneak peak into where the show is going without giving us a timeline to reference it by)

Mag’s team are picked off, one by one, by none other than the little girl, who it turns out was a spy, sent to kill those who resisted. However, Zone, another member of the team, is too quick for her, slamming her tiny child-like body into the imprinting chair and downloading a copy of Caroline’s personality into the little girl.

After a quick skirmish the team leaves with Caroline, heading to a place know only as “Safe Haven”. Doof… Joss Whedon…

That in and of itself makes Epitaph One a very interesting episode, but it’s the flashbacks that ultimately make this episode mind-blowing in the scope of its ambition. The title itself tells us more than maybe we realise at first. Epitaph, is defined as “A brief literary piece commemorating a deceased person.” In this case it’s not a person but the show itself. This episode is a hint about where Dollhouse would have gone if it had not been cancelled. (It hasn’t been cancelled yet but it looks doubtful that it will last to the point at which Epitaph One is set in 2019) A kind of commemorative statement about Joss’s vision for the show, a vision which seems to be constantly under fire from fans and critics alike. The second half of the title, One, seems to suggest that that season 2 will end with Epitaph Two, meaning part 2, because Epitaph One is only part of a larger story arc. 

So this episode tries to be what Serenity is to Firefly, the conclusion that we will ultimately never see because of the fickle, capitalistic nature of  television, and like Serenity, Epitaph One leaves the story open enough to continue, while offering enough answers to satisfy the fans. It is an amazingly clever mix of conclusion and intrigue that only Mr. Whedon knows how to achieve. It would be a dire blow to the future of intelligent television if we lose Joss’ talent and if we do not continue to cherish his genius, we will!

Now you may notice that I didn’t mention any of the flashbacks, well, that’s because I wish to talk about those in my daily nibbles, which will actually give me more space to give them the analysis they deserve.

So for now, this has been My Two Cents, make sure to pick up your copy of Dollhouse season 1 for your chance to witness the brilliance of Epitaph One for yourself.

You can check out the Epitaph One flashbacks here:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9

Spotlight: Dollhouse - “Hollow Men”

If you read my weekly round-up this week you’ll know that I found this episode to be a bit of a let down, but that doesn’t make it irrelevant and there were some pretty big plot points that need to be discussed. 

The episode opens with Boyd telling Caroline that Rossum is everywhere, involved in every aspect of medical research, with medical files on practically everyone. He explains that he wants her to become a Doll, with the alternative being that she be executed as a terrorist. “Not a chance” Caroline replies. “Believe me when I tell you, Caroline, this is your only chance. You are special, you have amazing potential. I wan to see exactly how far you can go and I promise you I will protect you.”

Ok, so that explains why Boyd becomes Echo’s handler, however, he wasn’t her first and if Alpha hadn’t composited she would still have her original handler. Also, why would the founder of Rossum place his original self in a position where he could end up dead? Why not use a Doll with his personality?

Quickly then we are returned to the present day as Anthony and Priya return to the Dollhouse, Priya’s sense of duty to Echo making her unable to stay away. However, by the time they arrive the house is in ruins and there are bodies everywhere. “Looks like the war started without us…” Anthony remarks.

Outside the House Ballard destroys all the mobile phones and any other devices Rossum might use to track them. Moments later Boyd arrives with Echo/Caroline and Topher. Echo is screaming in pain, Boyd tranqs her. The group quickly assume that Echo is broken, that her multiple personalities are clashing and without her all is lost. However, it is Boyd who insists that they all must keep going, even without Caroline to guide them.

It is obvious that Boyd has drugged Caroline to prevent her revealing his identity. What is not obvious yet, is why Boyd is so desperate to destroy the facility in Tucson.  

Back at the House, Anthony and Priya have checked in with security, they are all dead and all surveillance footage has been taken. Further protecting Boyd’s identity. The two of them return to the Chair room to discover a note that simply reads: “Press Enter :)”

After a quick discussion Anthony decides to jump in the chair and get zapped with an unknown personality. His decision seems to be based purely on propelling the story forward rather than any other emotion, especially as he has twice suggested getting out of the House and leaving all the mess behind. It was these small undeveloped or contradictory moments that made this episode fail to satisfy.

When he comes round Anthony is no longer himself, but Topher instead. I like Enver’s Topher impression so I was glad to see it make a return. Priya quickly brings Victor-Topher up to date with current affairs in an attempt to discover why someone wanted them to use the wedge. Then Topher remembers that he had a secret camera installed in the Chair room, that was lucky. Quickly he pulls up the footage to see Boyd injecting Echo with something. “Why would he drug Echo?” Topher asks, he trusts Boyd unquestioningly since he helped Topher get rid of Nolan’s body. “Not Echo, Caroline, she was going to tell us who the founder of Rossum is.” And then it quickly dawns on Topher “Boyd’s working for Rossum.”

Back in Arizona the band of Dollhouse Rebels are met in the lobby of the Rossum building by non-other than Clyde, only, now he’s sporting a brand new body… Whiskey’s to be precise. BTW, Amy Acker looks weird in a suit!

Clyde invites Adelle upto his office for a drink to thank her for all the work she has done preparing Caroline/Echo. “Above anything, Caroline is your success. You nurtured her, fostered her growth, guided her to become what she is now. Our saviour.” What Clyde means by this will not become clear for sometime.

Meanwhile, Topher, Boyd, Paul and Mellie are trapped in an interrogation room. Boyd is working on overriding the security. After he does so he asks Paul to go and find some weapons. Paul wants to take Topher, but Boyd insists he needs him. This can only mean one of two things. Boyd needs to Topher to achieve something or he wants to kill the genius.

Back in the House Priya is trying to track November/Mellie but of course Paul cut out her GPS strip. She insists on going after Boyd and Topher offers to return Anthony to his body but with some enhanced fighting skills. Priya is not so hot on the idea of having her man’s head fuzzed with. “I know, I get it, the tech is responsible for all of this, but in this instance, why not give the good guys a fighting chance.”

I liked this concept. In another series, it may have seemed noble to not use the weapon of the enemy for the purposes of good (think Lord of the Rings) but here, in Dollhouse, logic takes precedent over nobility and I like that.

Back in Tucson Boyd and Topher are sneaking about. Topher pulls Boyd aside to confide in him. “Echo, Caroline, whatever happened to her, it wasn’t a bad wedge. This is something else.” Topher explains. “What do you think it is?” Boyd asks. “It’s eerily similar to Sierra when Nolan drugged her. It had to be someone in the Dollhouse, I don't know who yet but I’m working on it. I left a little helpful something something back at the ranch. Topher 2.0, hopefully Victor and Sierra came back, fired it up and are on their way here with reinforcements… Go Team!”

Well, that really put a spanner in Boyd’s plan. What I don't get is why Topher didn’t figure out who drugged Echo, other than the Rossum operatives that knocked Topher out, no one other than Boyd has even had contact with her. Had it been me I would have been at least a little suspicious of my “man friend”. 

Back in the House Anthony comes to. “I don't feel any different.” Seconds later the elevator pings and Anthony flattens two black ops guys without breaking a sweat. “Looks like someone in Tucson knows we’re here.” (That was quick, Boyd!)

In Tucson Boyd leads Topher into the R&D room where the Rossum guys are working on the Wireless Imprinting Tech. “I thought it would take Rossum years to realise my schematics.” Topher is petrified. “Now that they have?” Boyd asks. “We’re even more screwed than we thought. With this you can wipe and imprint anyone. One zap with the laser and bzzz you’re a Doll.” Boyd picks up the laser and pulls the trigger.

A moment I loved, quite like that moment in Lost where Jack pulls the trigger on Locke. And just like that moment, the gun doesn’t work. “Whoa! What is wrong with you!?” Topher screams. “It doesn’t work!” Boyd says disappointedly. “Well good, maybe they didn’t have the cojonies to finish the job. They’re setup for mass production, this is catastrophic.”

TOPHER! BOYD JUST TRIED TO WIPE YOU!

Topher smashes the prototype and Boyd tries to stop him. “They are going to weaponise the Tech, my Tech.” Topher explains emphatically. “Topher think.” Boyd tries. “That’s what got us here in the first place. I’m going for mindless destruction now.” But Boyd persists. “We can use this Topher. If the tech stays in our hands we can stop Rossum and get out of this building without taking another life. All you have to do is fix one of them.”

SERIOUS TOPHER, LISTEN TO THE WARNING BELLS!

Meanwhile Ballard knocks out the security guard and steals his pass to get into the weapons cache. He hands Mellie a weapon and tells her to protect herself. Then she asks the question we are all asking. “Why am I here Paul?” he replies “I guess I couldn’t let you go.”

Pile of crap. He let her go at the end of season 1. He let her go and testify in “The Public Eye” even when he knew she was being used. She is there for one reason, because someone has to die!

“That’s very sweet Paul but I don’t believe you. I’m not real. I’m a program.” Mellie protests. “So am I!” Paul exclaims. “And I decided it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Another statement that riled me. Had Dollhouse been given another season or two then Paul “might” have come to accept his situation, but he wouldn’t have done so after just a couple of hours, not a chance! I can see why this line was there, it was an attempt to wrap things up, but it was unnecessary, we can assume that Paul took the appropriate time to adjust to his situation, we don't need his story to be resolved with a throw away statement like this.

Back in the R&D room Topher figures out how to get the tech working. “A team of engineers couldn’t crack that but you, Topher Brink, you did it in ten minutes. You truly are amazing, I’m glad I chose you.” And so Boyd finally reveals his true colours… oh wait… but Topher still hasn’t cottened on! Luckily Echo shows up and kicks Boyd butt. Unfortunately Clyde is not far behind. He points a weapon to both Echo’s and DeWitt’s heads and the fight stops.

“What the hell is going on?” Topher asks…

“Boyd’s the founder.” Echo explains. “There is no way, not a chance on this earth.” Topher protests. “It’s the truth Mr. Brink.” Adelle assures him. “You really think I was going to kill Topher?”

Side Scream: THE HELLS YES! First he fired the imprint gun at Topher, then he reached inside his jacket for a bullet firing gun… Of course he was going to kill him.

“Why bring him here?” Echo asks. “Not just me?” Boyd looks about, a hint of crazy dawning across his face. “You’re here because you’re my family”

And snap. From this point on Boyd stops being Boyd and becomes a rather insane scientist/entrepreneur, no warning, no subtle change, just sane to crazy with the flip of a switch. You could blame time constraint but I don't feel it was necessary to have Boyd turn maniacal, the story could have functioned just as well without it. To me he isn’t crazy, he’s possibly not even evil, if anything he is logical… sigh…

“You’ve proven yourselves in so many ways I wanted you all with me. Except for Paul.” (Why the hell not Paul?) “Frankly I never understood what you saw in him.”

“So, you want us to keep you company, fiddling while Rome burns?” Adelle asks. “Thank you very much, I’d rather be dead.” A nice moment from Adelle, although if push came to shove she would side with Boyd.

“We have to face the facts, the technology exists. It can’t be un-invented. Once it gets out there it will be abused, none of us can prevent that from happening, but we can choose where we want to be and on what side when the end finally does arrive. You want to be the destroyed or the destroyers?”

Boyd returns to his “I care for you all” routine, but Echo doesn’t want to hear it. “You’re the key.” Boyd explains. “You’re going to save us all.” But Echo is defiant. “I wont save you Boyd. Given the first chance, I will kill you.” Boyd seems unnervingly calm at this news. “I have no doubt you’ll try. But the fact remains, inside that body of yours is ever lasting life. Every time your nervous system blocks an imprint, it leaves neurochemical traces in your spinal column. It’s unique to your physiology. So we’re going to harvest it from you.We’re going to use your spinal fluid to make a vaccine against imprinting.”

Ok, so that explains what “The Cure” is or at least might be, in the Epitaph flashbacks. It doesn’t explain why “we have Alpha to thank for that.” but hopefully we will find that out next week.

Meanwhile Paul and Mellie discover the mechanical room and decide to destroy the air con unit that keeps the servers cool and thus disable the Attic Hive Mind. Unfortunately Boyd simply activates the secondary cooling system and while he’s at it, he digs out a convenient recording of Adelle activating Mellie’s sleeper protocol.

Side Scream #2: WHY! Why would Topher not remove the sleeper protocol from the imprint. Why bring a doll with you that could turn on you. Why bring Mellie at all…? WHY WHY WHY!

Mellie opens fire on Paul. Paul throws down his gun and tries to appeal to the girl inside of the killing machine. “Listen to me. You’re not a killer. Remember us, remember what we had.” Mellie puts a gun to Paul’s throat, but then the Mellie imprint breaks through and she can’t kill him… so instead she shoots herself.

Side Scream #3: WHY! (Sorry, I’ve screamed that once already.) Firstly, Mellie and Daniel have both failed to resist the sleeper protocol in the past, her doing so now is just a soppy plot device that holds no water. Secondly, Mellie knows she is a program and not a person, therefore blowing her brains out sentenced Madeleine to death too. Although that sounds like a good moral dilemma to deal with, it isn’t dealt with, it’s just ignored. But finally, if you have to kill her it would have had much more impact if Paul had done it, after he swore to protect her? Plus it would have been far more in keeping with Joss’ ethos of killing the ones you love. Buffy killed Angel, Angle staked Darla, Wesley attempted to kill Fred, Connor killed Jasmine, the list goes on.    

So, Boyd and Clyde strap Echo to a rather Giger-esk machine to extract her spinal fluid, without killing her. Boyd neglects to mention whether or not it would leave her paralysed though. While Echo lies motionless, her spinal fluid being drawn away, a knock comes at the door.

Seriously…? A knock!? The scientist clearly decided that one of the authorised personnel who would be allowed in the room has left their keycard at home so he opens the door… HE OPENS THE FREAKIN’ DOOR… FOR A KNOCK?!

Quickly Anthony and Priya enter and get Echo out of the machine. “I thought you two would be on a beach in Cancún by now.” Echo mutters. That’s a Reaper reference by the way, but unlike Tim Minear’s cute Firefly references last week, this one did not evoke fond memories, it just reminded me who was responsible for the KNOCK ON THE DOOR BIT!

Echo instructs Anthony and Priya to get everybody out while she tries to blow the building up.

Meanwhile in the R&D lab Topher is blaming himself. “I did all this. I’m the one who brings about the thought-pocalypse.” Adelle shoots him a look. “Thought-pocalypse?” “Is Brain-pocalypse better? I figure, if I’m responsible for the end of the world, I get to name it.” Topher explains. “I gave the plans to Harding, I’m just as culpable.” DeWitt reminds him. “Thanks Adelle, you handed someone a piece of paper, I invented it… Which means I have to destroy it.”

Moments later Anthony shoots the lab to pieces, when he is finished he simply asks. “What next?” and Topher replies. “We wipe this tech off the face of the earth.”

Meanwhile Echo runs into Clyde, who’s fighting style reminds me of a certain primordial demon… The two go at it and Echo wins. However we still don’t know why Whiskey was left behind in the Dollhouse after the others left, was it her choice, or was she being condemned for what she did as Claire or Clyde.

Meanwhile Boyd meets up with Ballard, who is the only person still not clued in on what is going on. Pissed at DeWitt for triggering Mellie, Ballard joins up with Boyd and they go after Adelle. Boyd leads Paul into the mainframe room, where he immediately switches sides and puts a gun to his head as Echo draws and aims at Boyd and rather tongue-in-cheek-ly Paul looks almost at the audience and says “What did I miss.” (nice line :) )

Boyd goads Echo, explaining that her future is already written, that she will save the world whether she likes it or not. “Don’t think, shoot.” Ballard says calmly. “She can’t.” But she does, she shoots Paul in the thigh and he goes down in pain, giving her a free shot a Boyd, but she can’t take it, her programming wont let her. Luckily Topher shows up with a fixed version of the imprint gun and bye bye Boyd.

In a rather macabre ending to Harry Lennix’s Dollhouse appearances, Echo straps him with C4 and orders him to blow up the mainframe and Boyd replies with those immortal words “I try to be my best.” Although I like how dark this demise is, I found myself wishing they had given Boyd more time to be the Founder of Rossum, for him to be that bad guy, so that we could really have understood him, now we never can. It’s a shame and I wonder if Boyd would have still been killed had the series not already been canned when this episode was shot.

So the lab is destroyed, Boyd is dead and the world has been saved… but it was all in vein, as the episode closes out with a “Ten Years Later” moment, which felt rather unnecessary. Also the “So did we save the world?” “I guess we did” moment feels too neat, hopefully Epitaph Two will do more to explain what went wrong after they destroyed the lab and how Rossum was still able to bring about the apocalypse.

Overall this episode would have benefitted from an extension, preferably to a whole season, but to at least a double would have been nice. Also if Joss wasn’t going to write it, a Whedonesque veteran like Minear, Edlund, Craft and Fain or even Marti Noxon would have been better choices than new comers Tara and Michelle.

All of my complaints and I still think that Dollhouse has been the best new series of 2009 and the small issues I have with this episode in no way ruined the series… it just didn’t feel as awesome as it could have. I can’t wait to see what Jed and Maurissa have planned for  the Epitaph, it’s going to be epic!

This has been My Two Cents, tune in next week to bring the final curtain down on Dollhouse: Epitaph Two.