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

Death Slot for Dollhouse…?

Hurrah! Dollhouse is back, unfortunately its back in the Friday death slot that has been the dumping ground for nearly every show FOX has cancelled. And the series premiere only pulled in 2.5m viewers, only beating out re-runs of America’s Next Top Model on the CW, or so says google at any rate. You would have hoped with guest stars Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica) and Alexis Denisof (Angel) that Dollhouse could have drawn some extra interest…

After watching the excellent Epitaph One last night, this episode Vows was a little disappointing. Essentially the episode does little more than set up the new season, which, I guess, is the whole point really.

The show can really be split into four parts.

Echo and Ballard

The main story arc revolves around Paul Ballard using Echo to further his own goal of catching bad guys. DeWitt asks him why he has changed sides, his reply is effectively “If you can’t beat them, join them.” A kind of reverse Spike in essence, Ballard joins the bad guys to further the cause of Good. The episode can essentially be boiled down to two key points for Ballard and Echo. Firstly that Topher’s wipe didn’t work, Echo still remembers her old imprints, which as we see in Epitaph One, she will learn to control, even overcoming any new personalities she is imprinted with, a kind of compartmentalisation for the mind. The second is Ballard agreeing to become Echo’s handler, a choice that is made easier for him when Echo reveals that she wants nothing more than to liberate the Dollhouse.

Victor and Sierra

Other than DeWitt paying for Victor to have his face repaired there is little to tell here, except that both Sierra and Victor are forming an emotional attachment to each other that it seems will transcend the imprinting process.

DeWitt and Boyd

Boyd is having a hard time letting go of Echo and even harder time raising his game as Head of Security. He has yet to form a decision about where his true loyalties are and that spells trouble for DeWitt. As do a new series of accusations by a US Senator, who is none other than Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, only without a British accent and no longer a slayer of evil creatures. The US Senator has had information leaked to him about medical advancements that the Rossum company (owners of the Dollhouses) are keeping from the general public. Advancements that presumably include whatever process is being used to cure Victor, but interestingly not Whiskey. I believe that the senator may end up being responsible for the apocalyptic future that we see in Epitaph One.

Whiskey and Topher

For me this was the most interesting part of the episode. We’ve had a “misunderstood-Topher” episode before in the episode Haunted, and Fran Kranz can really make these moments shine. This time he and Whiskey sit down and have a heart to heart about what it means to be human. She believes that Topher thinks she should worship him as a god, but Topher knows different. He tells her she is better than him. At the end of series one when Whiskey found out she was an active she asked Topher why he made her hate him. His answer in this episode “I didn’t make you hate me, you chose to.” The moments between Whiskey and Topher are really what makes this episode special. They are deep, almost soul searching and both are left with questions unanswered, unable to find any kind of solace.

All that and I managed not to mention Jamie Bamber once. His performance was fine but his story wasn’t the best, I kind of feel they wasted that guest star, if you know what I mean. I did think it was interesting that Bamber, an English actor who was forced to play an American for five years was guest starring alongside Denisof, an American forced to play an Englishman for five years, that was a nice touch.

Anyway, I’m expecting good things from Dollhouse (actually I’m expecting cancellation, but if it survives I’m expecting good things) this has been My Two Cents, tune into tomorrow for another TV Nibble.

Dollhouse on DVD

Hurrah! At last Dollhouse sees its Uk DVD release today. Whilst surfing over at Amazon I found this review that I thought I’d share with you guys…

Ok, so the series starts off with Joss Whedon, celebrated writer-director-composer, except no-one wants to work with him, then he has a hit web show and he catches the attention of the dark and shadowy Fox Corporation. Fox wipe Joss's brain to make him forget that he worked for them before when they became mortal enemies.

So now Fox can make Joss do whatever they want, everyday they activate Joss and set him to work making a television series for them called Dollhouse. Everything works out fine for them. The show is flashy, cool, sexy, confusing, humourless, disconnected and unengaging. Without the real Joss to complain Fox don't even have to spend much cash on it. But can the technology Fox has used really remove all of a person's memories, their sense of self, their soul?

As he works from episode to episode it becomes apparent that Joss starts to remember who he is, but knowing he shouldn't draw attention to this fact he keeps it to himself and works slowly to improve Dollhouse from within. From episode 6 `Man on the Street' flashes of brilliance begin to save the show, culminating in the superb episode 9 `A Spy in the House of Love', by now Dollhouse has become gripping, funny, dark and touching with an intelligent and complex storyline that has people thinking. Joss is even able to help other people taken over by Fox and makes Eliza Dushku realise that she is an actress.

By the end of the series we have been taken to a place we little imagined in the beginning. I won't give any spoilers but Dollhouse does end with Joss improbably winning renewal for a second series, this time will he be out to revenge himself on the people who did this to him and turn out a flawless piece of work from the start?

Well, it made me laugh! This release hopefully contains all twelve of the episodes FOX aired along with the original pilot and the unaired episode 13 Epitaph One and a bunch of other special features but until my copy arrives I can’t confirm that. As always you can buy it here in my store and remember season 2 starts 25th September.

Looking Back on 24

Anticipating a lot of down time on my recent family holiday (last year I managed to watch seasons 2&3 of Alias) I picked up a copy of 24 season 1 (I already owned 2 through 6). So I thought it would be interesting to do a post about looking back at 24 from a season 6 perspective.

I remember, nostalgically, tuning in week after week to watch as Mr Bauer struggled to save the world, while Mr. Palmer had a tiny crisis that no one cared about. (Ps. I have a huge respect for Mr Haysbert, but David Palmer was not exactly the bag of excitement that Jonas “Snake Doc” Blane was, was he?") And I remember watching the last moments of the series with shock and awe as Nina turns out to be a traitor and Teri Bauer turns out to be dead.

And now, I can’t see why. When it started out, the first 13 episodes were pretty exciting as Jack rescues Kim and Teri from the evil clutches of Ira Gaines.

It had the tension building episodes where they knew there was a mole but they didn’t know who. Is it Nina, is it Tony? No its the softly spoken Jamie who no one would have suspected. It was good and tense and Jamie’s suicide rounded that section out nicely. At the time it was like nothing else on the air.

We had Jack under the control of the baddies, who made him do things against his will, including shooting Nina and leaving her for dead. Jack was motivated with two clear goals, both of which were being obstructed by CTU and the bad guys, but we liked that right?

We had Kim, who, while nice to look at, was, and continued to be for the next two seasons, highly irritating. In fact, had Jack turned on the TV and seen how irritating she was being, he probably would have let Ira shoot her!

However, then we hit episode 14 and things began to fall apart. For a start, Jack spent this episode sat a table. First in the interrogation suite, then in the conference room, then back in the interrogation suite. Which after the high octane rescue in the previous episode left the show feeling flat, but at least it was still focused. The next ten episodes really began to wander off course as the show struggled to find plausible plotlines.

Teri and Kim were kidnapped, again. This time they escaped without Jack’s help. After a car explosion Teri looses her memory, but in show time, this memory loss is cured in hours, without a trip to hospital. Meanwhile Kim is taken prisoner, again, this time by the police, before being finally re-kidnapped (and then escaping again, without help.).

At CTU the cast repeat the earlier storylines of “Who is the mole?” now with George Mason being cast in the part. I don't think, in the history of 24, that the person everyone thinks is the mole, has ever actually turned out to be one. You’d think that an agency, founded to fight terrorism, would develop a better screening process to weed out double agents?

Meanwhile, Jack falls back under the influence of the bad guys, however this time he is a little more carefree about it, clearly Victor was less likely to kill his daughter than Ira.

This cyclic use of storylines riddles the second half of season one like a cancer. The character development is all over the place too. Tony switches sides, from CTU’s golden boy, to Jack’s best pal at the drop of a hat. Nina switches sides with no warning at all. In fact the only major character who suffers little in the way of character degradation is George Mason and because of that he is painted as a mole!

The real reason why 24 season 1 is so memorable is that shock moment when the clock strikes 10:59:57 when Nina is revealed as a double agent and then again when the clock turns 11:59:57 when Teri Bauer turns up dead. However, the reason Nina’s betrayal comes as a shock is because it makes no logical sense. She has been way too helpful! The final episode reveals that she was not working for Victor Drazen, still, she had enough invested in his release to compromise her cover, which begs the question, why did she go out of her way to help Jack? After all she put her job (and cover) on the line for him too! In fact, watching it knowing she is a traitor, forces you to look for those clues that point to her true nature. Those little signs were abundant in the first 8 or so episodes (when she was being painted as a possible traitor), a little glance here etc, but entirely absent from the last 11.

Add to this the fact that they shot an ending where Teri lived and you have a recipe for disaster. Had they aired that ending I’m not sure 24 would have survived past season 2.

Season 1 had some bad acting (Elisha Cuthbert can’t cry, period!), bad accents (Dennis Hopper) and bad editing (Check out the camera man in the episode entitled 07:00).

All that said, season1 gave birth to what we now know as 24. The high octane drama with the world’s most forgiving audience. Each new series has been filled with those great moments we find in the first half of this season. New stories (and some recycled old ones), a new cast (except for Jack.) and new special effects.

When I mentioned writing this review a friend of mine pointed out that it is only natural that the later seasons would be bigger (and better), it is just the nature of television. However, it is not the “bigger” that interests me so much as the “better”. Because of the expectations of the fans for 24 to deliver “heart stopping cliff hangers” and “impossible to predict twists” the writers have had to become very clever about how and when these occur, about the development leading up to them, and the final execution. That is something that season 1 created, but didn’t have as a driving factor.

Each subsequent series has had those “I can’t believe they did that moments” that season 1 laid the way for, but they have been much better integrated into the shows overall storyline. For example George Mason’s radiation exposure in season 2, or Ryan Chappelle’s execution by Jack in season 3, or the detonation of a nuclear device on US soil in season 5.

24 still has its problems, but it has become a show that is allowed to take risks, to go to places that other shows dare not tread and the more it does, the more the audience loves it in return. That is the legacy of season 1.

This has been My Two Cents…

Look out for season 7 in the My Two Cents Store on the 19th Oct

Ker-ching

In the Loop

Ok, over the last couple of weeks I started watching Fox’s “The Loop” staring Bret Harrison (before he was in Reaper) and I’ll be honest, after watching the first season (7 episodes) I knew I wasn’t going to write about it because it just didn’t deserve it and here is why:

Primarily because it was made in 2006, there were only 17 episodes, total, across 2 series, Bret Harrison has gone on to do better things, Fox cancelled the show before the second season even aired and there are a ton of better examples of this kind of show.

If you don’t know the show, Bret plays a young airport exec called Sam. He has a crush on a girl called Piper, she doesn't realise. He attempts to balance his homelife, lovelife and worklife and succeeds with a miraculous 100% track record.

Each episode follows the same format. A problem is presented, Sam makes it worse, then he pulls it out of the bag at the last second. This format grew exceptionally tedious!

There are many more things to hate about the show. Phillip Baker Hall is straining so hard for laughs that you just want to feed him laxatives. His character is a poor imitation of Dr. Kelso from Scrubs, right down to the gay son. I don't think I laughed at him once. Amanda Loncar, who plays Sam’s love interest is terrible in this show. Even Bret is bad at times, with the show often relying on bad slapstick comedy for laughs.

There is however one saving grace and that is Joy Osmanski who plays Sam’s deadpan assistant Darcy. She is truly inspired and her character definitely needs supplanting into a new sitcom.

Now I watched the first seven episodes so it couldn’t be all bad and it isn't. There are plenty of laughs along the way but as I said, the love story thing and the young exec trying to succeed have all been done before and done better. Ross and Rachel, J.D and Elliot, it’s old hat but it’s old hat that has learnt to say “Bi-atch” and is wearing a gold medallion and that just doesn't work.

So, I said I wasn’t going to write about it, but clearly I am, why? Because something exceptionally strange happened to season 2.

They cut two of the main cast for a start! Piper and her room mate Lizzy, both gone, with no explanation. This takes a little while to adjust to and you find it hard to forgive the show for this, but it was the right decision, effectively they scrubbed the 1st season and pretended it never happened and it’s all the better for it.

With Piper gone the show shifts its focus to Sam’s job at the airport. Little changes here, except that Darcy gets a bigger role (she is awesome, pitch perfect every time.) and a whole new cast of office characters are introduced, including Sikander the muslim-esk character who is constantly pounced on by security despite working at the airline. The character of Sam’s brother Sully is relegated to the sidelines as the show attempts to work out exactly what to do with him, coming up with improbable ways for him to be involved in Sam’s work life.

The show still suffers from “Playing for Laughs” syndrome and it fails to get away from the slapstick element but it does begin to take brave steps in other directions. The copies of episodes I watched had to be censored for language and hand gestures with a viewer advisory notice before each one. The jokes become quite cutting and edgy (but not, unfortunately, cutting edge.) and you feel your politically correct centre welling up on the inside screaming “You can’t say that.” but on outside you’re laughing your socks off.

And that is the problem, the writers and producers took a standard “Boy Likes Girl” comedy and tried to turn it into something else. They make jokes about Tv Networks, even Fox, (the guys paying the bill). They make incredibly racist remarks. They make jokes about religion and sexual preference. It’s all very brave and some of it is quite funny, but in the end it is just too brave in all the wrong places. They would have done better to start over with a totally new concept, rather than use an existing platform and try and re-write it.

And so, while it remains an enjoyable 17 episodes, The Loop was always destined to end before it could take off. My recommendation? Watch season 2, have a laugh, worry if it’s PC. then consign it history and go watch Reaper…

This has been My Two Cents… keeping you in the Loop!

Kill Thy Self

Ok, so I know I promised a Heroes: Fugitives post but I think I should really re-watch it through to really do it any justice, but fret not, here’s the 411 on the finale of Dollhouse instead.

Now, after Jane Espenson’s jovial take on the character of Alpha last week, Tim Minear takes the reins and leads us down a very dark road indeed. Omega opens with Dr. Saunders calling out for help for poor mutilated Victor and in the ensuing chaos the doc stays very calm as if recalling a memory and then states simply “He came for Echo.” A statement that we will come to realise the true meaning  of later on.

Dewitt storms into Topher’s office demanding to know what Alpha imprinted Echo with. Topher doesn’t know and he can’t track her because Alpha has removed her gps tracking device. DeWitt leaves but Dr. Saunders remains. “He asked me if I always wanted  to be a doctor.” She says. “Who can fathom the mind of crazy person?” Topher jests. “The one made him crazy.”

And at last it clicked for me and realised what it was about the character of Dr. Saunders that was out of place, she’s a doll!

Cut to Alpha and Echo imprinted with trailer trash imprints driving a stolen car with a store clerk trussed up in the back seat. Alpha begins to flash, taking to himself in different voice and carrying on an argument in his head, a clue to what a “composite event” actually is.

Flashback time… Now I’m not a fan of flashbacks unless they are  specifically part of the style of the show i.e. Lost. Two actives are missing, one is Alpha and we assume the other is Echo. Alpha has kidnapped the client and is demanding to know who is in the van, the black vans the handler’s drive. Clearly Alpha, a paranoid thief, realised he was being followed and assumed it was a government agency. However the whole thing is a game, a fantasy dreamed up by the client. In the background a girl dances seductively, her features masked by smoke and headlights, still we assume it is Echo. Alpha continues to torture the man and eventually he cracks, telling Alpha that he isn’t real, neither him nor his girlfriend. Not a wise move me thinks…

“She’s real, she’s the last real thing you’re ever gonna see!” Then she comes, walking out of the smoke, Whiskey a.k.a Dr. Saunders. Boom! The doors come flying off their hinges and armed men rush in and take down Alpha and Whiskey and then we’re back to the present.

DeWitt sits down with Paul Ballard and explains the situation to him. Interesting as last week she wanted his brain pulled out and his body dumped in the attic. She explains the man he believed to be Kepler was in fact a broken Doll called Alpha who experienced an unfortunate technical anomaly. Agent Ballard replies with “My God, what have you people done?” to which Angela turns the tables back on him with playground logic. “What have you done!? You brought this thing back into my house!” Interesting how she thinks, no? I mean, they created Alpha but somehow once he was  out of the House he was no longer their problem. Also, considering the fact that DeWitt had been bonking Victor for who-knows how many years, you’d think she might show some concern that he’d just been cut up.

Anyway DeWitt knows that she can use Ballard to help track down Alpha, but she also knows she can’t just ask for his help, so she plays the guilt card instead. “And now, he’s got Echo, Caroline.” And it’s your fault Paul. Boyd gets a call that a bomb threat has been called in and the building is locked down, meaning no one can be dispatched to follow Alpha. Ballard thinks he can help and offers his services.

Badger is back, (yey) or to give him his Dollhouse character name Tanaka. Mark Sheppard played the recurring  pretty criminal Badger in Firefly and now he plays FBI Agent Tanaka and while the two characters are polar opposites with regards to their legal standing they both share that “pain in my ass” trait. Ballard comes strolling out the front door and tells Tanaka that this is the location of the Dollhouse and that the bomb threat is a hoax. To be honest it’s hard to tell if Paul is actually asking for help because he knows that Tanaka thinks he’s off his trolley but at the same time Ballard’s compunction to bring down the House is so strong that maybe he believes if he keeps trying someone will eventually believe him. That person, however, will never be Tanaka, who on hearing what Paul has to say quickly calls off the bomb squad and heads home. However Ballard has in effect saved his own life. Even if Tanaka doesn’t believe him Dewitt can’t exactly bump him off now because no FBI agent, not even one as clearly prejudiced as Tanaka can ignore evidence in a missing person’s case.

After the FBI leave Ballard turns and smiles for the camera and DeWitt smiles back, in the same way she might look at a small obedient child. Seconds later in comes Topher with news, all of Echo’s imprints, primary and back ups, all gone.

Down in sick bay Dr. Saunders is seeing to Victor. “I’m not my best anymore. I want to be my best.” It’s interesting that the Dolls are somehow imprinted with the desire to please, even in their dormant state. Its eerie, they are too pliable, too ready to serve, slave-like (Caroline calls them Zombies!) and it doesn’t sit well with my conception of right and wrong. In fact, I think its part of the show’s intention, to mess with your moral sense of what is right and wrong, who is good and who is bad. Certainly DeWitt is easy enough to pick out as a bad guy, but what about Topher or Boyd? And if they are the villains then who are the heroes? Certainly not the Dolls themselves, if anything they are the victims. What about Ballard, is he the good guy? Or is it Alpha? Or is there no black and white, merely different shades of grey…

“How can I be my best now?” Victor asks, eye’s wide and innocent, his face cut to ribbons, held together with threads. Dr. Saunders looks away, but subtle hints are not easy for a Doll to grasp and Victor persists. “How can i be my best?” “You can’t Victor.” She snaps her mind trying to recall who she was before she was slashed, trying to reconcile what she knows about her past and how she feels now. “Your best is past… your past you  can’t even remember… you’re ugly now, disgusting, all you can hope for now is pity and for that, you’re gonna have to look somewhere else!!” Harsh words Doc.

Flashback time… Finally the real Dr. Saunders is revealed as old man with a stack of lollypops and to be honest the name suits him better than it does Whiskey. Zoom out to Alpha as he watches Echo being brought in. You can see in his eyes that he is attracted to her, the same way that Victor looks at Sierra, which makes you wonder about the suitability of men as Dolls. An issue which is a minefield of potential sexist comparisons and examples which I shall let someone other than me examine.  

Back to real time and Ballard is trying to be holier-than-thou with the wise cracking Topher. “So, this is where you steal their souls.” “Yes, and then we put them in little glass jars with our fireflies.” (Is Firefly code for something, dreams, hopes, aspirations maybe? :P) “Why is there a tall, morally judgemental man in my imprint room, besides him?” Indicating Boyd. I don’t think Topher much cares for people with morals, he doesn’t have them, or if he does his scientific curiosity overpowers them. Remember back around episode 6 I suggested that an event would occur when Topher’s over confidence would bite him in the ass (I seem to recall a Jurassic Park parallel being used.) Well now I believe that event has already happened, the creation of Alpha.

Cut to evil laboratory, Alpha has the nice, shop assistant lady, Wendy, strapped into the chair ready to imprint her. The lab itself is reminiscent of Mr. Universe’s lair in Serenity. It is this rough and experimental look that I love about Joss’ trips into sci-fi- land. Even inside the Dollhouse which is so pristine and clean, Topher’s lab is still messy, still real. Echo asks what Alpha has planned and he explains. “Wendy is going away, she wont be here in a minute.” and then we’re back in a flashback.

Alpha is stalking Echo, waiting for her to come by so he can surprise her with a kiss. It’s scary just how infantile Alan comes across in this sequence. Around the corner comes Alpha’s handler and catches them in the act. Unfortunately his attachment to his active causes him not to report the incident, not wanting Alpha to be sent to the attic. A failure that would prove fatal. “Just… watch your step.” His handler warns, a warning Alpha takes literally, although you get the impression from Alan’s eyes and gestures that Alpha is a lot more aware than he is supposed to be.

Back in the present Ballard is looking for answers. Topher finally explains the meaning of a “composite event.” It seems that Alpha got 48 complete personalities dumped into his brain simultaneously, which would explain the talking to himself. Paul asks who it was that Alpha went for first, not who got in his way, but the person he went after as soon as he had the choice. Topher slowly realises that Ballard may be on to something. “Himself.” Alpha killed himself, by destroying all the copies of his personality. Ballard takes the next logical step and asks Topher for Caroline’s original self. The self proclaimed genius comes back with a smashed harddrive. “Where’s the backup?” Topher looks guilty. “This was the backup!”

Wendy is gone but Caroline is back. Alpha has imprinted the kidnapped shop assistant with Caroline’s self and Caroline is more than a little shocked to be looking at her own body. “Whose body is this?” Caroline asks. “It’s just a body, there all pretty much the same.” And there it is, Alpha’s take on life, the explanation behind his own self destruction. He is a collection of personalities that need a flesh and blood body in order to operate. It is merely necessary to have a body, it doesn’t matter what that body is.

“I want back in my brain!” Caroline cries out. “You should have thought of that before you vacated the premises.” Again Alpha recognises the truth, that their own selves cared so little about themselves that they abandoned their bodies and from that Alpha surmises they do not deserve to be allowed back. And the problem is that a part of me agree with Alpha and yet he is so twisted that he just cannot be the ‘hero’.

And so we return to flashback and the actives are clipping their bonsai trees. Interesting Alpha’s is more erratic and one sided than the others. Further indication that he is not following the same programming, that he is “evolving”? “Whiskey, let Echo be number one.” Alpha calls in his child-like way that is so very very creepy, before he slashes her face apart with his pruning shears. Security grab Alpha and dump him in the chair. DeWitt wants answers but Topher has none. He is running a full diagnostic, bringing up every imprint to see if something matches… oh dear… Alpha’s handler gets knocked into the computer and the  composite event occurs. Alpha’s handler is the first to go, his eyes squished out, followed closely by a rather foolish Dr. Saunders. But Alpha didn’t go for Topher… why? After all it was Topher who enslaved him? But it was also Topher who created him…

Back in the secret lab Echo is in the chair and Alpha is about to help her “ascend”. And so, with the immortal words “Alpha, meet Omega.” the composite begins and Echo is reborn. “I get it.” She whispers, ironic really as it’s actually Alpha who gets it, where it is a pipe to the head. “Now I understand everything.”

Ballard comes before DeWitt demanding to know “Who is Alpha?” After some debate DeWitt hands over a file. Carl William Craft and DeWitt reveals that Alpha, along with other Dolls, presumably, were volunteer prisoners and they wonder why Alpha went slasher happy! How thick are these people, I mean, honestly! So Ballard and Boyd set out to find the girl Craft almost killed. When she answers the door and they see her face, it becomes apparent that Topher is wrong, that whoever the actives were before still  exists below the imprint.

In the evil den Alpha and Echo debate philosophy. Alpha believe they are Gods, “Perfected, objective, something new.” Objective? I think not, Mr. Alpha. “I get it, I understand it, I’m experiencing 38 of them right now but i somehow understand that not one of them is me… There is no me, I’m just a container.” Caroline pipes up. “There is a you, she’s sitting right here.” When will people learn to keep stum around crazy god-like beings? “He may be crazy, but he’s right, you left me alone.” Cue Alpha with pipe. The two of them slug it out. Alpha has given up on Echo now, realising she is not the person he thought she was. Echo knocks him down and proceeds to untie Caroline, who requests to be put back in the wedge. Echo asks “Why don’t you come home?”  and after a little ummming and arrrring Caroline agrees to go get back in her own body and is promptly shot! “Now… Do as I say, or I will blow your brain out.” Alpha sneers, pointing his gun at the wedge with Caroline’s personality inside.

Meanwhile Topher realises that Alpha was using an old Whiskey imprint on Echo, but way too late to be of any use, except to confirm the address for Ballard and Boyd. However Dr. Saunders is becoming self aware too and she wants answers.

Alpha, spurned by Echo, explains his evil plan for revenge. To imprint as many girls as possible with her personality and keep killing her over and over. See what I mean about him being too unhinged to be the hero? But Echo wont lie back and take it. Alpha warns her “I’m not fooling, he’s not kidding, we’re not bluffing! I’m bluffing… But the rest of us, we mean business.” (brilliant!) Alpha shoots Echo in the shoulder and makes a dash for it. After a brief chase Alpha throws the Wedge away and Echo goes after it, but it falls, straight into Paul Ballard’s well placed hands. So, he  did save Caroline after all… awwww.

Topher catches Whiskey on his computer, she turns to him knowing now that she was once a doll too. “I think you gave me more computer skills than would be required by a medical doctor. I understand, why hire a new physician when you can just imprint the broken doll.” and without a pause “But why did you decide it was so important for me to hate you?” And why did he? Is it that Topher feels responsible for what happened? Whatever the case you definitely get the feeling that he goes deeper than what we see on the surface. 

So Alpha escaped and now Ballard is working for the Dollhouse on the agreement that November is released from her contract. An interesting but not entirely unpredictable change of heart. Echo is returned to herself but we can’t assume she has come out of the whole ordeal without some kind of damage, in fact as her glass lid over her bed slides into place, she breathes a single  word… “Caroline!”!

So that’s it, the first season is done and dusted and it seems I had a lot more to say about this episode than i first realised. However the series is in a position where it could easily stop without too much of a problem, no cliff hanger or major unsolved issues to be dealt with. Ballard found the Dollhouse and saved the girl. Topher and DeWitt were humanised. We discovered the spy in the House was Mr. Dominic and we know who and what Alpha is, even the quirkiness of Dr. Saunders has been resolved. However there is certainly room for the show to grow should it find itself renewed. Echo will have to deal with her ever growing sense of self. Ballard will have to work out where he fits in the grand scheme of things and then there’s Alpha…

So Favourite Episode: This award has to go to Briar Rose or Man on the Street, the former purely for Alan Tudyk’s performance and the latter because, it was, for me, the turning point when the series went from good to great.

Favourite Moment: This award goes to Topher in Haunted, when you realise that he had no one in his life and that once a year on  his birthday he is allowed to make himself a friend. *wipes tear* Beautiful, brilliant and yet so incredible sad all at the same time.

Right, well I’ve gone on long enough, this has been My Two Cents and hopefully I’ll be writing about Dollhouse again soon…

Wash is Back… And This Time It’s Personal!

It seems like forever ago since I last wrote about Dollhouse and during its week off I missed it like I’d miss a limb, well maybe not, but I still love the show. I know I should have probably done this on Friday but this weeks episode is currently #10 on the iTunes chart for Drama, interesting two places below fellow endangered Tv show from CBS “The Unit.”

Anyway, as you probably guessed from the title of this post old favourite, Alan Tudyk is back on our screens in this latest episode of Dollhouse and I know I say this every week, but Best Episode Yet! I have an unfortunate habit of completely ignoring any credits that flash across the bottom of the screen when i watch Tv, I like to think that this is because i don’t like to have the plot ruined for me by knowing who will be in the episode, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. So I didn’t know that Alan was going to be in the episode until recognised his mug shot and got very excited!

So, this weeks episode begins with Echo reading the story of Briar Rose, which as far as i can tell is Sleeping Beauty. One girl, Susan, reacts badly to the story, destroying the book. In particular she objects to the Prince coming to save Briar Rose, presumably because no prince ever saved her from her abusive father. Through some creative programming on Topher’s part he has given Echo the same life experiences as the little girl, except that Echo is now a well adjusted woman who uses her life experience to help others. The intention being that Echo could show Susan that it is possible to move on.

Meanwhile Paul Ballard, the focus of this weeks episode, breaks up with Millie, unable to live the double life with her any longer. Topher’s anti-breakup programming kicks in and Millie begs Paul not to go, telling him that she will do whatever necessary. Paul however has made up his mind.

Back in the Dollhouse a flash drive arrives for Mr. Dominic, the ex- head of security who now resides in the Attic, a brain dead body. Fearing they need his help to open the drive DeWitt authorises Mr. Dominic’s personality to be taken “off the shelf” and imprinted into Victor.

Millie, consumed with grief at losing Paul after fighting so hard to be with him go down to the motorway bridge and prepares to throw herself off. November’s assignment as mild mannered Millie, it seems, is finally over and her handler takes her back to the Dollhouse, suicide averted, while Paul follows behind, hoping to be led right to the front door.

Finally free of the Dollhouse and active November, Agent Ballard makes a stop at the FBI HQ to chat with his “woman on the inside” Loomis. He has a theory that for the Dollhouse to be invisible it must produce its own power, water etc. Which is where the environmental systems consultant comes in… a.k.a Stephen Kepler (Alan Tudyk.) Loomis responds with “It’s good thing I’m relatively sure you’re not crazy.” the line that qualifies why she is still helping him, despite the risk to her career.

Back with Susan, Echo is finally making headway. She tells her to look back at the story of Briar Rose and to think of herself as the Prince. “The Prince shows up at the last minute, takes all the credit, that means that Briar Rose was trapped all that time, sleeping, dreaming of getting out, the Prince was her dream, She made him, she made him fight to get her out.” Pause. “Prince.” She finishes, pointing at Susan. However the story of Briar Rose is not all that different from Echo’s own, the only question is, who is Echo’s prince…

So Ballard turns up at Stephen Kepler’s apartment and hilarity ensues. Kepler, a pot addled systems engineer is growing “medicinal carrots” throughout his apartment, a fact that Agent Ballard uses to enlist his help in breaking into the Dollhouse. Alan is brilliant as the twitchy engineer, he had me rocking with laughter and its so very good to see him back with Joss once more.

Victor a.k.a Mr. Dominic is now under the influence of a kind of truth serum and Boyd manages to get the password to the flash drive from him, a single Greek character… Alpha . The drive opens with nothing but a single image of a statue in Paris. Quickly DeWitt and Boyd learn that a body has turned up dead in Paris with Alpha’s signature face slashing and they send Sierra in to investigate.

Meanwhile Ballard and Kepler break into the Dollhouse, tazer Topher, steal a couple of Doll outfits and begin to wander around looking for a computer terminal. Commandeering Dr. Saunders office Kepler sets to work disabling security. Ballard sets off to find Caroline/Echo, unfortunately for him, he finds Boyd too.

A fight breaks out which awaken Victor, worried about his health Dr. Saunders takes him back to her office, where Kepler is still disabling security. Now, this is where i began to wonder, why? Alan’s character had been looking for a way out of the Dollhouse as soon as they broke in. He was worried that if he was discovered he would be killed, why, then, would he stay behind once Ballard had gone?

Doc and Victor walk into the office, no sign of Kepler, then bam! Kepler appears slashing Victor’s face and we realise at last exactly who we’re dealing with… Alan Tudyk is ALPHA!

Boyd orders Echo to run and finally takes Ballard into custody, bringing him before DeWitt for sentencing. She makes it very clear that Ballard wouldn’t be missed and she turns to Boyd and asks “Shall we put him in the chair?”

And that's it… Paul Ballard’s fate remains undecided, Sierra calls in with news that the body in Paris is Stephen Kepler and he was murdered in LA and then shipped to France. Instantly DeWitt checks the security feed and sure enough Alpha is in Topher’s office reprogramming Echo. Echo awakens and smiles. “I remember you… My Prince.”

So Alpha is back and Echo is leaving with him, Ballard is in custody and possibly facing the chair, it’s all very exciting with only one episode to go. However I can’t help wondering if it wasn’t Alpha that Lawrence Dominic was working for all along. Certainly Alpha’s goal seems to have been to get Echo out of the Dollhouse, a goal that ties in neatly with Ballard’s. If it wasn’t then how could Alpha be assured that Ballard would come looking for Kepler? Revealing November as a Doll caused Paul to break up with her, which in turn led him to the Dollhouse and to Kepler. If Alpha was merely an opportunist then who is behind the messages from within the Dollhouse?

And what about next week? Will Victor be ok? Certainly he can’t continue to work as a Doll if Dr. Saunders is anything to go by. And what about Ballard, will DeWitt really send him to the attic? Or will Boyd’s moral code kick in and force him to go rogue in order to save Paul? And what about Alpha and Echo? Is Alpha really only after the girl he loves (who presumably is not Caroline but probably some dream girl Alpha cooked up in Topher’s lab.) or is he going to try and take down the Dollhouse with Echo’s help? Also with the next episode being entitled Omega, the opposite to Alpha in that it is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and thus commonly associated with “The End”, will it be the End for the show or for Alpha? Or is it the name of a new Active brought in to bring down Alpha and Echo?

Whatever happens I’m right there with this show, on the edge of my seat, just waiting to find out. Anyway, that’s my Two Cents, until Saturday when I will have a Lost update for you.