Dollhouse finale bumped to Fr. 1/29 at 8 PM

[august]

There's going to be some kind of Haiti relief event televised next Friday, so the Dollhouse finale will be the week after that, and at 8 PM I believe (some new series is already scheduled to debut at 9.)

The finale, "Epitaph 2: The Return," follows up on the events depicted in "Epitaph 1," described as the "lost" episode of "Dollhouse," which never aired on FOX. Set in the year 2020, FOX says, it features Echo (Eliza Dushku) and her Dollhouse compatriots attempting to restore order in a desolate future world.

So who has seen the last couple of weeks? Spoilers ahead....
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I have to say that Enver Gjokaj (Victor) did the most incredible imitation of Fran Kranz's Topher that I could possibly imagine!

I'd never noticed this before, but I think we can tell what Joss's dream woman looks like - without varying make-up, hairstyles and costumes, Eliza, Amy Acker and Summer Glau bear a remarkable resemblance to each other, enough to be sisters! And Miracle Laurie has the same "look" too.

My biggest gripe about these last few episodes is that while the twists and turns of a complex plot are always interesting to watch, at times it seems that they're cheating - just leaving things out, then "surprising" the audience with the twist. Or as has happend in a number of recent eps, starting things in media res. Which semi-literate people going back 300 years or more have been able to do, so it's not that "smart" an accompishment.

The other thing which probably bothers some viewers is that the last few weeks have almost been a parody of Joss's tendency to kill off beloved characters, seemingly needlessly, especially attractive female ones.

As a number of us have observed before... Dollhouse would have made the most incredible 4 or 6 hour miniseries ever.

[RobRoy]

Originally Posted by august

I have to say that Enver Gjokaj (Victor) did the most incredible imitation of Fran Kranz's Topher that I could possibly imagine!

He's done Topher twice now, and yes, he's freaking amazing at it. Right down to the physical ticks that Kranz imbued in his character. I wonder if it wasn't something off-set that occurred, and someone picked up on it? Anyone know?

I'd never noticed this before, but I think we can tell what Joss's dream woman looks like - without varying make-up, hairstyles and costumes, Eliza, Amy Acker and Summer Glau bear a remarkable resemblance to each other, enough to be sisters! And Miracle Laurie has the same "look" too.

I actually thought that Glau was Acker at one point.

My biggest gripe about these last few episodes is that while the twists and turns of a complex plot are always interesting to watch, at times it seems that they're cheating - just leaving things out, then "surprising" the audience with the twist. Or as has happend in a number of recent eps, starting things in media res. Which semi-literate people going back 300 years or more have been able to do, so it's not that "smart" an accompishment.

The wife and I have commented that everything seems rushed . . . which is probably true. In order to complete the series and tell the story, everything sorta has to be rushed.

The other thing which probably bothers some viewers is that the last few weeks have almost been a parody of Joss's tendency to kill off beloved characters, seemingly needlessly, especially attractive female ones.

It's almost a foreseeable pattern, such that when the wife and I were watching "True Blood" we started saying that certain people had to be killed off in the next couple of episodes, because they were suddenly a happy couple!

As a number of us have observed before... Dollhouse would have made the most incredible 4 or 6 hour miniseries ever.

Yeah it would have. Oh well, on to the next project!

[august]

I looked up a pic of Joss's wife to see if that is indeed his dream girl look, and it is to some extent, although his wife Kai has more the look of Sofia Coppola or Tania Raymonde from Lost:



But the key is - she's not a petite blonde, a tall redhead, or a Latin, Asian, Indian or African-American. She is indeed a pale slender brunette with shoulder-length hair.

[EDSEL_PK]

With choking, teary-eyed acceptance, I prepare for the f-f-f-final...yes, FINAL episode of 'Dollhouse'. The saving grace, the redeeming ray of UV that wards off the impending, all-encompassing gloom of it is that the Dushku and her compatriots are now free to pursue other projects.

[RobRoy]

Originally Posted by EDSEL_PK

With choking, teary-eyed acceptance, I prepare for the f-f-f-final...yes, FINAL episode of 'Dollhouse'. The saving grace, the redeeming ray of UV that wards off the impending, all-encompassing gloom of it is that the Dushku and her compatriots are now free to pursue other projects.

The other saving grace, at least for me, is that this series will have a logical ending, unlike "Firefly" which was canceled mid-season, and even with the movie, didn't really get to tell the full story.

[august]

Robert Bianco, who's usually pretty fair and often plugs genre shows as much as he can, had this to say in this weekend's USA Today:

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse (Fox, 8 ET/PT) closes shop tonight, done in by a weak concept and a cast not strong enough to compensate. As much as cultists will fuss, it's no great loss. The loss would be if the failure of Dollhouse encouraged Whedon to head to a niche cable network — and to narrow his vision rather than broaden it. He's an incredible talent who could, with a better vehicle, appeal to a wider audience. It would be nice to see him try.

Apparently he's referring to recent reports that Joss might do a project for the F/X network.

[Kea]

Isn’t F/X part of the FOX network?!

[august]

Yep. Or actually, both are part of... I guess it's called maybe Fox Media? Who own 20th Century Fox, Fox News, etc. etc.

[EDSEL_PK]

I'm still coping with the loss. Shivering in the winter cold, snuggling solo under flannel sheets, and drowning my sorrows in hot tea.

One day, my Dushku will return. Eliza, not Nate. Get it right, people!!!!

[Kea]

Yep. Or actually, both are part of... I guess it's called maybe Fox Media? Who own 20th Century Fox, Fox News, etc. etc.-August

Ah I knew it.

I'm still coping with the loss. Shivering in the winter cold, snuggling solo under flannel sheets, and drowning my sorrows in hot tea.-EDSEL PK

There there!!!!
Your only drinking hot tea…right!!!!

[RobRoy]

Ok, I caught the finale this weekend on Hulu at a friend’s house. Still geeking-out about it.

Now, granted, there were coughing children that we were all trying to get to sleep, so I potentially missed some things. Overall, you just got the sense of rush-rush-rush for the last three episodes. You could see that there was going to be an entire world, and entire universe of stories that Whedon was going to be drawing from, both technological advantages as well as new dangers that would have been freaking amazing.

Alas, these were not to be (at least in television form, perhaps we’ll get some graphic novels now). In retrospect, I can see that the slow-paced first season was a necessary evil, and yet this necessary evil is what killed the show. We just didn’t get to the “cool stuff” fast enough. The moral-ambiguity of rooting for Echo was heavily tempered with what Echo was being “forced” to do, and so at the core, I think a lot of viewers (or maybe this is just my projection) were uncertain where their loyalty should lie.

But all that preamble having been voiced, the finale did tie up some nice loose ends, and rounded out the two seasons in an acceptable (if rushed) fashion. This finale episode was easily one of the snappiest in terms of dialogue. Despite its incredible darkness, I’m pretty certain I laughed more during this episode than all of season one combined. We did see some standard tropes from the Whedon arsenal: sudden (though not unexpected) deaths, no real happily-ever-after for anyone (except perhaps Felicia Day’s character with the “cute Asian”). Victor and Priya might have a reconciliation, but that was left ambiguous.

What about Alpha? I liked the turn of the character from cracked-foe to close friend, clearly someone who fought with and for Echo. I would have liked to have watched that transformation over another season or two (recurring theme left from watching)

To view, use your mouse to select the text:

I do have to give props for the Ballard-Echo ending. I didn’t like it, but it worked, and I felt ok with it.

[august]

An interesting post-mortem at SciFi Wire. It echoes (no pun intended when I typed it, but now lettin' it stand ) an observation that my old roommate from years ago mentioned to me when I ran into him a few weeks back: one theory floating around is that while Joss set this series up as a vehicle for Eliza, he passed a lot of creative control over to his brother Jed and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen.

[RobRoy]

Originally Posted by august

An interesting post-mortem at SciFi Wire. It echoes (no pun intended when I typed it, but now lettin' it stand ) an observation that my old roommate from years ago mentioned to me when I ran into him a few weeks back: one theory floating around is that while Joss set this series up as a vehicle for Eliza, he passed a lot of creative control over to his brother Jed and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen.

I can see that. We didn't seem to have the snappy, witty, interesting-twists that we've seen from him in the days of yore.

[august]

The Hollywood Reporter notes that "Fox's Dollhouse concluded its run Friday with ratings on part with its previous episodes: 2.2 million viewers and a 0.8 preliminary adults 18-49 rating."

[EDSEL_PK]

It's weird. The fan-base seems small, but really loyal. On other boards, there's lots of talk about the show. But it just never got that broadbased appeal. The castmembers -- Eliza, Dichen, and Miracle especially -- have become very well-known and popular.


I'm missing them already....