DJariya

Synopsis:



2 more hours tonight.

Apparently they are still in production on the final episodes, I read they are filming an episode today in Los Angeles.

The Burnoff continues.

LickTheABCs

Good shit. Can't wait.

Goldberg74

I watched eps 2 & 3 earlier this week and caught up with 4 & 5 today.

I wasn't impressed with eps 1 & 2 this season... but 3-5 were great.

Hopefully they continue to be good tonight.

Nick Martin

The first episode tonight was to me like the pilot - I was confused and had no idea what the hell was going on. Thankfully it was explained and elaborated on in the follow-up.

wendersfan

It's the same story - when the episode is Echo-centric it's very hard to remain interested.

Lone Wolf

Did "3 months later" or something like that pop up on the screen at any point? I'm wondering if I missed it. The timeline had me confused. She's homeless one minute and working at the hospital the next.

wmansir

Yes, there was a "3 months later" right after she took out the cop at the beginning.

xfusejc

i thought it was an excellent episode.

anomynous

wmansir

If he was pronounced "dead" I doubt it would be the end of Ballard, so I'm not even considering it with "brain dead".

kstublen

Just finished the first of the Friday's episodes. I didn't think it was that confusing. Echo is learning to control her imprint recalls, but at the same time it is hurting her. I think that's a pretty interesting introduction to her character; that she can now consciously decide what skill or personality to use. She's making Echo a "real" person and not just an empty slate.

I think them doing "Epitaph One" in between seasons, so-to-speak, was a great idea for a show they probably anticipated being canceled. It gave us insight into the future of the Dollhouse Universe and allows them to drop little bits and pieces that lay the foundation for that future.

I was never one of the ones who disliked Topher, but this season he has truly transformed into a compelling character. He is a troubled genius, motivated by a desire to push the boundaries and challenge himself, but the more he does the more he realizes that there are some things we should never do. In the first season Topher was really devoid of all morality it seemed, but this season he has shown he does have some principles. It makes his appearance in "Epitaph One" all the more heart-breaking. On another note, loved the "She went Cylon on me" line.

The only thing that wasn't clear about the episode is what endgame Echo, Ballard, and Boyd have in mind. And I'm sure the next episode will elaborate on that...which I'm starting right now.

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EDIT: Second episode was fantastic. It was nice to see Patton Oswalt back and have some resolution for that character; he's one of the few sympathetic clients and it was refreshing that he was able to learn something from his experience. So Ballard is brain dead but his brain is alive in Alpha's body. I guess Echo didn't kill him in the hopes that she could somehow retrieve Ballard from Alpha? Will be interesting to see where they take that with so few episodes left. If anything it provides a nice conflict for Echo: does she kill Alpha because he is a madman or spare his life because now he is also the man she loves.

The only thing that really bothered me is...why didn't Boyd or Ballard just kill Alpha on the helipad/rooftop? I mean, given his history did they really think he was going to let the client live? And seeing as how he has been such a threat to the Dollhouse wouldn't you think they'd just bite the bullet and kill him, sacrificing the client? That seemed to be a much more logical way of dealing with the problem than trying to save the client and letting him slip away again.

Topher had some good lines this episode "I know a conspiracy when I desperately try to avoid seeing one" and "I'm obsolete. Now I know what old people feel like...and Blockbuster." Him and Victor are easily my favourite characters on the show.

Alan Tudyk was great, as always. He does such a great job portraying Alpha. He captures the insanity and total lack of control. I guess the main difference between Alpha and Echo is that Alpha is unable to keep all the imprints under control, whereas Echo has a reasonable amount of control over who she is and who she becomes. This lack of control and probably a number of other factors drove Alpha insane, whereas it has given Echo perspective and purpose.

Next week's episode looks strange. It really is a shame the show's been canceled. It really hit its stride halfway through the first season and has been consistently entertaining, intriguing, and thought-provoking since.

Also, for those wondering what the remaining schedule looks like, here are the titles and airdates of the remaining five episodes. I've spoilerized it because one of the episode titles is arguably a spoiler of sorts.

Blu Man

Good pair of episodes. So was Summer only in those two episodes last week?

B.A.

I hope so.

For the most part - I have really enjoyed the past couple of weeks.

Olivia Williams has been sexy as hell.

Barry Woodward

Summer Glau will be back in the January 8th episode "Getting Closer" (written and directed by Tim Minear).

spainlinx0

Loved the shrink talk with Victor. I enjoyed the episodes, but holy shit is Eliza's Spanish accent awful.

Draven

Goddamn Fox for canceling this show when it really took off. I've said it before, but both Buffy and Angel took about a season to really get good, and Dollhouse has been following the pattern nicely. Many complained about those early episodes, but I really think they established the rules of this universe, so now they can start breaking those rules. If they dove right in, we'd have absolutely no context.

These episodes were great. The "three months later" was inspired, as we got a nice jump into a "new" Dollhouse with characters we know in different situations. I can't think of another show I've watched that did that much of a jump within a season (and not on a summer break).

Anyway, very sad to see this show go, but they seem to really be pulling out the stops.

spainlinx0

I can't really blame Fox. I know people say the episodes are as good as Buffy and Angel, but I still don't see it with some of the really bad ones. I think the problem is that while some of the stories may have been stupid, at least the characters were strong. Eliza is not a strong character, so when the story is uninteresting it's twice as bad. Even with these episodes that I enjoyed, she still stunk it up.

Draven

I disagree. She's not the strongest in the cast but I don't think she's that bad. And there were plenty of bad Buffy and Angel episodes too, especially in the early seasons. These past few episodes have kicked a lot of ass and are indicating what the show might have become and I think it deserved to finish out this season. I doubt Fox will find anything better to put on in its place anyway.

spainlinx0

If you know you're on the bubble, don't come back in the second season with a string of shitty episodes after a strong season one finish. They should have been leading off with the "burn-off" episodes. Completely stupid.

Draven

And again, I disagree. I thought the first few episodes of this season were fine. Not the greatest, but perfectly acceptable television.

clckworang

I agree with this. I thought the first episodes back this season should have built more from what happened at the end of last season as well as Epitaph One. This is more of the show that I wanted. Whedon's shows tend to do better as part of a larger whole rather than a lot of isolated episodes. I think the episodes get poorer the further away from the main plot they are.

spainlinx0

I disagree. I throught the episodes were weark. That's a difference of opinion though so irrelevant. However the fact is that when a show is already doing poorly, you don't start airing "perfectly acceptable" upon return. You have to blow people away. These later episodes should have started the season.

mnementh

No fans of 24 or Star Trek around here? No one's mentioned Glenn Morshower or Jonathan Del Arco appearing on Meet Jane Doe.

Pointyskull

There was a local Comcast issue during the first ep, beginning just when Ballard and Echo sat down together to fill in some narrative cracks. Stuttery voice and jittery picture for about 15 minutes, and then replaced by the SD feed (so I knew it wasn't my DVR), but by then it was too late to know exactly what said.

I'm digging this final block of episodes, and I only wish the early part of S2 was as good.

mikehunt

unless Alpha destroyed or kept the hard drive they should be able to imprint Ballard back into his body