Original Desmond

Episode 13 is on the dvd set

SPOILERS FOR THIS EPISODE








Just watched it, not bad, like the futuristic angle but not sure where it was taking things. I agree it was wise not to air it. Not sure how it will fit in with Season 2

mikehunt

So dewitt's office actually did look outside. Once we learned they were underground I never knew for sure if her view was real or just large projections

but where exactly were they going to climb up to from there?

wmansir

I watched this and the unaired pilot. I agree it was a good decision not to air Epitaph 1 as I really don't even see the point of making it, unless they didn't think they would get a second season. That issue aside the episode was ok, but had some problems, like the premise being a bit weak and the story predictable.

But I think the original pilot was, in many ways, better than the final pilot. It had a little more of a "piloty" feel with the new client's Q&A exposition. In the final pilot that was mostly replaced with Boyd being the "new guy", which was less clunky. But as far as the story told during the pilot, the original was better. I think I read that not only was the pilot reshoot because of network notes, but also the more episodic structure of the first half of the season. If so, it makes sense because the original had the show hit the ground running with the better storylines they didn't get to until the second half of the season.

The actual setup was slightly different too. Ballard's story was very different, but there were subtle differences too. Amy Acker made some changes to how she played the Dr. Also, I was surprised to see just how little footage was reused. It seemed about 3/4 was unseen material.

Gizmo

Really dug Epitah. Showed some backstory for the characters and possibly where the show may be heading.

LickTheABCs

I thought the ep. was great. Anytime I get more Amy Acker I'm a happy guy.

Arthur Dent

dstrauss

I just finished watching it. Liked it a lot, some really interesting ideas and definitely a different feel than most of season 1.

riley_dude

I didn't really care for it. A bit too vague and didn't really say much about anything.

kstublen

I really enjoyed Epitaph One. I found myself engrossed the whole time. It was dark, brooding, and tense. Some of the stuff that happened genuinely surprised me (the little girl killing the guy), while other stuff was predictable (Zone giving the girl an unloaded gun). The way it was shot was perfect for the post-apocalyptic world Whedon & Co. crafted. It was dirty and dangerous, and while I could tell it was shot on a budget, it didn't hamper the episode in any way.

I like the idea of Felicia Day and Zack Ward as main characters too. They were both fantastic in their respective roles and I totally believed them. I would like to see more of them in the future.

I'm not sure if Dollhouse will make it past a Second Season, but I hope it does so we can eventually reach the time when things really start to go wrong. Some of the stuff seems as though it could be explained in Season Two, namely Echo and Ballard. I'm interested in what is going on between them; she doesn't seem to have been completely wiped and Ballard seems to have taken the position to try and bring it down. Want to see what happens with Victor and Sierra, Langton and Whiskey (Claire?), DeWitt and Topher. Topher seems to have stopped having fun and snapped, realizing he was responsible. I'm glad they introduced the idea of "Selling Actives Permanently" as I figured that was a logical progression in the Dollhouse Universe.

All in all, I am excited to see where the show takes us and reinvigorated for a Second Season. I think the show has a lot of potential now that I have seen where it can go and only hope it catches on or remains popular enough that FOX will renew it for a Third Season.

[It was really sad when Whiskey asked Caroline if she "Was Her Best"]

mnementh

Not necessarily. At the Comic-Con panel, Joss Whedon stated that the memories may not be true.

RocShemp

I just finished watching Echo and Epitath One back to back.

I loathed every last minute of Echo. It was actually worse than the pilot they ended up airing. It was just so rambling and dull. All the while I felt as if I was listening to someone pitch a whole bunch of random ideas for a show but with no clear vision in mind as to the type of show they wanted to make. It was pure crap.

Epitath One, on the other hand, was brilliant. At first I was unsure. The setup had a been there/done that feel to it. It felt as if Whedon was simply recycling past ideas. But it gradually hooked me in and I found myself engrossed with the whole thing. Of course, once Amy Acker showed up I was both completely hooked and confused. She was, as always, amazing.

I found myself invested in the story fragments we got from the cast regulars. Not so much with the guest stars but I eventually warmed to them. My biggest schock was that I actually really liked Topher, whom I normally hate. Basically, arrogant, "oh ye of little brains" (not an actual quote from the show but basically what I hear when he talks down to people) Topher is great. Rambling, forced awkwardness Topher sucks.

I wish they would have aired this. It would have been a great hook for TV viewers that are on the fence.

I've been debating getting the season one set on BD since the show is essentially a mild guilty pleasure for me. Epitath One has made it a must buy.

Tscott

I liked Epitath One. It did a good job of giving some good titillating glimpses into the characters (possible) futures and raised the stakes of the game.

I liked the first part of the pilot, as it did a good job of showing what the dollhouse was and the actives part in it. With the aired pilot, I felt confused throughout even knowing what the show was about ahead of time. So the unaired one set things up better. But then it laid out too many of the show's cards on the table. A lot of things that built up over several episodes, or were revealed later, were just doled out as plot points with no big payoffs- unlike how things played out eventually in the actual episodes.

kstublen

This is actually one instance where I think FOX made the right call in asking Whedon to re-do the Pilot. I didn't really care for the Pilot that aired and thought the show got better with each successive episode. Had the Unaired Pilot been the one that aired, I would have probably liked it even less than the one that aired.

If I had watched it without watching the entire Season first, I have no doubt I would have found it all over the place and confusing; there were about 30 different things going on at once and I never got a sense of who the main characters were or what they were all about. It was long and got dreadfully boring in parts.

Having already watched every episode thus far, the Unaired Pilot worked; I already knew what was going on, who these people were, what to expect, and was able to learn some new stuff about the Dollhouse and the characters. If I view this as revisiting the original episode(s) then it is interesting and a worthwhile watch; by itself and as an introduction for the series, this would have surely fallen even further flat than the Pilot that actually aired.

Kevin M. Dean

It was only a 10 year jump into the future, so it's reasonable for some people to look relatively similar.

mnementh

I wonder if it has anything to do with

writer106

Episode 13 was sort of weird but I really liked the unaired pilot.

RocShemp

That's why I'm thinking surgery has gotten good. And I've seen plenty of people change drastically in ten years.

I noticed in the unaired pilot that Topher made a comment about how Dr. Saunders could have gotten her face fixed but seems to have chosen not to so. Was this ever mentioned in the series proper? I can't seem to remember.

DB

I agree, I thought it was fabulous. I thought it was probably the best "episode" of the season, and was brilliant as a potential series ender if the show got cancelled, but leaving room for the series to continue if it didn't.

DB

I agree; I think the network also got it right, and forcing Joss to rework things was the right call. The ideas in the unaired pilot really did work much better the way it was reworked as injecting bits and pieces over the season.

Sanjuro37

Epitaph One belongs on that list of Joss episodes that just prove he's the best and most daring writer on TV (see also: The Body, Hush, Objects in Space, etc.). Just a magnificent episode that sets up the most intrigue callbacks ever, because now I'll not only be on the lookout for references to the memories of this episode but checking to see if anything differs from memory and cold fact. Acker was superb (duh; I don't think she can ever be dull), Dushku was great in her scenes, and I thought the future group were all good. The only thing about the episode I didn't like was the little girl, who didn't really work until the end when spoilery things happen.

As for the pilot, I'd call Fox's note that it was too dark and confusing stupid, but I'd have also given a note to Joss that said, "Cut some shit out. This is a one-hour pilot, not two." It's a damn sight better than that uneventful, watered-down version he gave us to usher in the show with a whimper, but I was disappointed throughout the second half.

It also kind of cheesed me that he just took all of the mythology and grand arc advancing moments and put them in the first five episodes and added nothing else to any of them in the way of world creation. No wonder those episodes felt thin, especially when stacked up against the second half.

LickTheABCs

Joss neither wrote nor directed that episode.. but other than that, I agree with you with everything else.

EDIT: He's credited with a story by.

Sanjuro37

I was speaking more in terms of him charging the crew with bringing out the high concept of the show with a slashed budget (therefore showing that he could make the show work on a smaller budget), but you're right, credit where credit is due. His Doc Horrible cohorts knocked it out of the park. And David Solomon's handheld direction avoided shaky cam pitfalls and actually worked in ratcheting up realism.

Great, great episode.

Pointyskull

I religiously watched Dollhouse S1 on television last season (and all of S2 so far into this season), but I since I didn't have the DVD set I finally "acquired" unaired Epitaph One and watched it last night.

Holy crap! That was terrific. It painted an exciting and gloomy direction for the show to go in, though I doubt we will ever see it unless there's a sudden "time jump" in the narrative to something closer to 2019. I love a good end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario, and Epitaph One set up a great one, with all kinds of potential.

Just when I was about to lose complete interest in this second season, this single ep has undeniably renewed my appreciation of it, with what it could be, and possibly might be over the course of the remaining S2 episodes.

Well done, Joss...

anomynous

Just saw Epitaph One, holy crap good episode. It'll be interesting to see if these "memories" are used in future episodes of the show.


I wonder what Boyd did to Echo to make him quit?

Superman07

Just watched this. It took some time to get rolling, but pretty good stuff. Sad to see the tech guy go, especially because of the host brat. I felt really bad for the 'father' as well.

I'll have to watch S2 now so I can get to Epitaph II.