Watch me and Roth discuss and review the series finale for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse “Epitaph Two”. We both found the episode to be pretty good however I thought it should it have been a 2 part/2 hour finale because for what they were doing it needed more time to develop the story as it moved a bit fast. It also would have been really confusing for viewers who didn’t get a chance to see the unaired ”Epitaph One’ episode from season 1 (which is my favorite Dollhouse episode).
Let us know what you thought of the episode, the series, and our take on it, thanks!
- Dennis
Definitly a rushed episode, but, really, there was no way to avoid that.
Would have also been nice to see Whiskey again, but I suppose thats another thing they had to sacrifice
I loved the moment where Topher was watching Bennett's video, which also reminded us, that she was the first person he saw shot in the head (but not he first dead person he sees)
His noticing of the 'To Remember' memorial was a good bit of symbolism, as he set off the bomb, that would make everyone remember who they were in a sense. (Not quite sure how a bomb gets the world to remember who they are, but whatever, it works, and giving a detailed explanation would just ruin it. *coughcoughspinalfluidcoughcough*) =P
Yeah we forgot to talk about Whiskey being missing, didn't she stay in the Dollhouse waiting? Shouldn't she have been there when Alpha took over?
And I'm glad they didn't mention any of that spinal fluid nonsense either, because that would have just reminded me about how lame that was.
Dennis
i assumed the gas killed everyone in the building in epitaph one. so i thought alpha probably cleared them out when he took over
And finally, Tahmoh Penikett and his characters seem to have incurred a wrath from the writers of his show, towards his leg. In the first 'episode' of BSG, he gets a peice of shrapnel throught he leg, in finale, he get's shot, in the leg. In penultimate Dollhouse episode, Echo shoots Ballard in the leg. And finally, in this episode he runs over to help someone who got shot in both legs, and well, gets shot in the head. And if I recall correctly, it's always the same leg he gets shot in. It would almost be funny.
I was quite sad to see him go though, as his character was why I watched this show.
I never noticed that about Ballard and his leg, that's funny. I feel that they really didn't get to develop his character enough especially since they had to rush the show. He was Echo's handler for like what? 8 seconds?
Dennis
Without going off (like I did about Caprica) I'll just say that for all of the episodes that Dollhouse got very wrong (like ep12 this season) I do have say that I feel it was redeemed with this final episode.
All things considered and having to find a conclusion in short order I think it was done very well, and finally, all of the cast nailed their roles and sold their parts extremely well. Even Mad Max err Victor was good and sold me on his new idea and direction (I do agree that the costuming designer behind that should be run out of the business). I felt all of the character interactions were top notch and the end of Topher was absolutely perfect for his overall character.
Redemption is what Joss should have called that episode; it would have carried so many meanings including those outside of the character of the show.
Great review, I think we all agree that Joss was rushed and there was so much more potential to this show than was realized. Whatever flaws, it was an interesting concept.
I definitely agree and was happy to see the best Echo/Ballard moments. If only they had these kinds of interactions earlier in this season. I think the writing and direction for their scenes were much better in this episode. Their chemistry was so forced earlier in this season and it wasn't believable at all; the weird sexual imagery in Meet Jane Doe comes to definitely comes to mind here.
I liked the episode a whole bunch, but there were obviously some disappointments that probably wasn't too much of the creators' fault. It would have been nice to see things wrap up with Alpha maybe a little bit more. What was creators' fault, however, were the stupid outfits for Victor and his pals and some seriously cringe-worthy dialogue. I get what they were trying to do, but "log off"? ..Seriously?? I do think that Mag and Zone managed to pull off their futuristic lines, tho.
I think they did an admirable job with wrapping everything up. It's a damn shame that the series wasn't given more of a chance. I was very surprised with Eliza Dushku's performance. She really did a great job bringing Echo to life this time, especially during her breakdown scene with Priya. The resolution of this universe was quite rushed at times, but given the circumstances I would have to agree that the writers really kicked ass. Hell, if they can pull that off, imagine how amazing this series would have been over 3 or 4 seasons. It's a damn shame.
Hey guys – it's Heath – long time and all that!
I actually managed to to get in that last episode (I'm staggering around as a Dumbshow at the end).
If you're curious, the original plan was for us to walk outside, get ambushed and executed via machine gun….