Dollhouse season one finale review
Dollhouse - Omega
Could the season finale of Dollhouse be the last televised episode of this series? Sadly, it could be - at this moment while writing this, the ratings of the season finale of Dollhouse were the worst of the season - totally awful. More than likely, the analysts will blame the shows quality or something ridiculous, but lets face it - a science fiction television show on Friday nights during blockbuster movie season. That's a recipe for disaster. Don't forget, Star Trek came out this past Friday - Star Trek is of course one of the main reasons for science fiction fandom.
Everything this season was leading up to this episode, this moment - Alpha and the awakening of something more - Echo or as Alpha called her, Omega. I'm sure you've noticed that that the past few episodes, minus one, have been pretty damn good with the Joss Whedon flare we've all come to admire. It's unfortunate, however, that it took a couple of episodes to achieve that type of story telling since the first few episodes were due to direct interference by FOX, something that they continue to do because they think they know their audience when they don't at all. You'd think they would learn their lesson after completely shitting on Firefly, granted those exec's were different than the current FOX executives, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, to coin a phrase. With it's shaky start, to exciting Whedonesque type entertainment, Dollhouse has really begun to come into its own - it's too bad it might be the last. If we're lucky, we might be able to see the famed 13th future episode on the DVD release.
Although Dollhouse didn't come on to the scene with a bang, I hoped that the series finale would excite fans enough to call for a second season - something exciting like the Terminator: TSCC season finale did. The short version: Although it wasn't a huge exciting bang of a season finale, Omega opened up doors for our major characters in a well told story that can have consequences in a second season, if greenlit.
Fan favorite, Alan Tudyk, was introduced in the last episode before this as Alpha - the murderous active that escaped the Dollhouse but with intentions unknown. In that episode we only were able to see a few scenes with him, however, this week the focus of the episode was all about Alpha and how he became who he is - excellent backstory. Alpha, as an active, seemed to have fell in love with the new active in the Dollhouse, Echo. A concept we have been seeing with Victor and Sierra, but without all of the major drama. We saw, at length, what Alpha would do for Echo just so she can be considered the best Doll the Dollhouse had to offer. To achieve that, Alpha brutalized Whiskey or who we now know as Dr. Claire Saunders.
The reveal that Dr. Saunders, or the body of her, was an active is something that I didn't expect. On top of that, the personality of Dr. Saunders seemed to have come from an old male Dr. that was in the Dollhouse but was killed by Alpha during is rampage. That opens up a lot of new doors for the character, making Amy Acker's part more interesting to deal with now that we know she has layers.
Alpha's story, as we know from his escape, is far from over or at least we hope it's not. Everything he's done appears to have been meant to shape the making of Echo/Omega but where it could go from here, only Joss Whedon knows. Tudyk deserves major kudos for his performance, its hilarity and its ability to seem slightly menacing. As we know, Tudyk is a funny actor but I believe this is the first time I've seen him play a villain; the question I have is if Alpha is truly a villain - could it be he's simply misjudged because he's been overloaded with personalities during his time as an active? Even so, his reaction towards Echo when he was "offline", if you will, was a sure sign that something was different.
When Echo was given all of her personalities that she's been implanted with, a procedure Alpha performed, I saw what could be an extremely powerful person. If the personalities could be controlled, Echo could become one powerful weapon - both the doll Echo and the original personality Caroline together could create a morality of good - creating something different from Alpha, something that could potentially help others. Unfortunately, that won't be explored because Echo returned to the Dollhouse and was erased, but Echo herself has become mentally stronger since she retains or possibly has created her own personality. It appears, at least to me, that Echo is becoming aware and is a personality herself.
Paul Ballard has come to somewhat of a crossroads; he's finally found the Dollhouse, something that he's been trying to do since the beginning of the series. Last week we saw an incredible fight between himself and Langton, which was fantastic, and now in this episode we get to see them work together in an effort to find Alpha. I find that exciting because both characters are great characters - both are passionate and moral to a point. I love the fact that Ballard now works for the Dollhouse and if the series continues, I wouldn't be surprised if Ballard becomes Echo's handler.
To conclude, Dollhouse is a great show that has started to find its way, however, FOX of course won't give the show its fair shake - I fear it's going to get canceled. I wish Joss Whedon would just learn - the SciFi Channel should be his home. Imagine it - Ronald D. Moore's Caprica, Josh Friedman's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse together would make one powerful day in television. Caprica is already on the SF Channel but with TSCC and Dollhouse, we may have seen the last of them. But, there is still hope.
If, however, Dollhouse is renewed for a brand new season of television, I'm going to look forward to it with great anticipation. We need more Echo and Sierra (so hot). We need more Ms. DeWitt and her super tight skirts. We need more Helo and the guy from the Matrix movies. We need all of that stuff!
So in a hopeful voice, have a great summer and until season two!
By the way, Marco Sanchez played Alpha's handler - I just wanted to mention how much I miss Seaquest, another show he starred in.
-Phil
 |
 DOLLHOUSE - ELIZA DUSHKU - 2010 CALENDAR MAGNET  US $10.95
|
 ELIZA DUSHKU 600+ PHOTO CD DOLLHOUSE US $7.00
|
 Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
 2009 Dollhouse HUGE (TV) POSTER Eliza Dushku Amy Acker US $19.99
|
 Dollhouse (TV) POSTER Eliza Dushku Amy Acker US $9.99
|
 2009 Dollhouse x J (TV) POSTER Eliza Dushku Amy Acker US $9.99
|
 Eliza Dushku-Doll House - Boston Common Spring 2009 US $15.95
|
 Eliza Dushku-Doll House - Boston Common-Spring 2009 US $11.95
|
 Dollhouse - 24" x 32" - Eliza Dushku - Poster - 11 US $17.95
|
 ELIZA DUSHKU SIGNED DOLL HOUSE BUFFY HOTTIE US $49.99
|
 DOLLHOUSE PROMO POSTER Featuring Eliza Dushku SDCC US $4.99
|
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
Dollhouse - Did I Fall Sleep? - Eliza Dushku US $17.00
|
| Powered by phpBay Pro |
Related Posts
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed or sign up for daily E-Mail updates!
This show was the most mysogynistic peice of garbage on TV this year. Worthless x2 is still worthless.
I actually found myself thinking that that was the series finale. They explained every aspect of Alpha, they ascended Echo to awesomeness, and Caroline sortof resolved herself almost. I think this show could end and I’d be happy with it.
I loved this show. I thought it was amazing and hope it still goes on.
This show was freaking great. A second season is definite must have. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Leave your response!
Who’s so far being consider for the NFD 2009 sexy celebrity title?
Recent Film Reviews
Subscribe to NFD
Categories
Yesterday's Movies
Original Articles
Scores & Soundtracks of the Week - Total Recall
Photos of the Week: Total Recall
LOL Friday: Funny photo of the week
Concept Artist of the week
SciFi & Fantasy Art of the Week (NSFW)
Fan Art of the week