DOLLHOUSE 1×12 “Omega” review

© Fox

We’ve reached that time again, you know the time right?  That time of year when we all start worrying about the likelihood of survival of our favourite shows.  No self-respecting TV addict is immune to that awful feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you know that some exec is gonna pull the plug on a show you enjoy.

Sometimes a show won’t even last until the end of it’s first run (e.g. Waterfalls), sometimes what’s even worse is when a show does make it all the way through, only to not be renewed (e.g John Doe), and then sometimes a show is renewed but the faith in the returning product quickly dies and it’s cancelled 3 or 4 episodes in (e.g. Tru Calling).  You’ll probably have noticed that the three shows I’ve mentioned were all Fox shows, and they were all treated poorly, although maybe none moreso than Joss Whedon’s previous effort, Firefly.  So why does he continue to go back to Fox?  Some kind of kinky sadomasochistic pleasure?  It’s probably a much more mudane reason; simply that they put his shows on the air.  The way Fox treats it’s properties it’s hard to believe that they actually likes many of the shows they air, save for The Simpsons and American Idol; but they need to fill out their schedule each year, and more often than not they turn to a Buffy or Angel alum to help.  It always ends badly for the fans of these shows though because Fox has no staying power, they just won’t spend the time needed to see a show gain a strong following.

All this brings me to my review of the season (most probably series) finale of Dollhouse, although it should be noted that there is one more finished episode sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting for inclusion on the inevitable DVD release.  I really enjoyed last weeks episode with the introduction of Alpha and the ending when he took Echo. Unfortunately I was a little let down with “Omega” because I had hoped that Alpha and Echo were partners in crime, and that when he took her from the Dollhouse they would wreak havoc on the world.  Sadly this wasn’t the case, as it was revealed that Alpha had imprinted Echo with a personality who would recognise Alpha from a previous engagement, with this being how he would convince Echo to leave the Dollhouse with him.  The pair of them then kidnapped a clerk and took her to Alpha’s hideout, hooked her up to his own mind-wipe chair thing, and imprinted her with Echo’s original personality (Caroline).  Alpha then put Echo through the same procedure he had gone through by mistake, whereby she is imprinted with all the personalities from every engagement she’s been on, so that her mind becomes a giant collective.  I guess Alpha had hoped for a kindred spirit, but all he got was a self-aware doll who could slip in and out of the personalities as she desired.  This all led to a bit of action and some lame chasing.

Like I said, it was a letdown.  But not all of it was bad, there were a couple of nice revelations concerning Alpha’s backstory and the true nature of Dr. Saunders, but I won’t reveal them here just in case someone is reading this and hasn’t seen the episode yet.  All the Alpha/Echo stuff I’ve mentioned doesn’t really spoil anything, but the real gold in this episode concerns Topher and Dr Saunders, it’s just a shame that it wasn’t enough to push the episode to a higher level.

Pros:

• All the Dr Saunders and Topher stuff, whether together or on their own
• The flashbacks in the Dollhouse
• The torture scene early on
• Alan Tudyk – especially the contrast between Alpha now and in the flashbacks
• Eliza Dushku in that awesome top
• The origin of Alpha
• “Whiskey, let Echo be number one”
• The use of “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime” by Beck

Cons:

• The “confrontation” between Echo and Alpha
• Ballard – that guy has just not grown on me
• The limited screen time for Sierra
• The end – “Caroline”

Final Grade:  C-