Loaded Couch Potatoes

Finally, finally, finally, I’ve gotten around to hitting up Amazon.com for “Epitaph One,” the thirteenth episode of the first season of Dollhouse.

And if the people in the photo below don’t look familiar, well, that’ll give you an indication of the sort of crazy this episode brings.

In some ways, I’m not quite sure what to make of “Epitaph One.”  I enjoyed it, and would happily watch it again (something I plan to do whenever I’m able to afford the DVDs), but it also frustrated me at times.

Spoilers definitely lurk ahead, so proceed with caution.

The setup is that the bulk of the episode takes place in the year 2019, after some sort of apocalyptic war has broken out and devastated much of Los Angeles, and possibly America, and possibly the world.  The fan blades are definitely poo-spackled.

A group of survivors somehow find the Dollhouse — our Dollhouse — and get inside.  It’s abandoned, or so they think.  Here, things started to get a bit confusing for me.  These survivors have no idea of what the place is that they’ve found, and yet they seem to recignize the imprint chair for what it is.  I’m going to assume that I simply wasn’t paying close enough attention, and that’s plausible enough; maybe a second viewing will clear up some of those type issues I had.

Intercut with the flash-forward-to-2019 story is a series of flashbacks, most of which still constitute flash-forwards relative to where the story left off in the previous episode.  Christ, I know exactly what I meant when I typed that and it still sounds confusing, ’cause, well, it is.

From what I recall, the one scene that is genuinely a flashback involves seeing Topher’s first day on the job, and learning that not only did he not get along with Dominic right from the get-go, but that he was also responsible for developing some serious upgrades to the existing Dollhouse tech as of his hiring.

If I recall correctly, all the other non-2019 scenes take the story forward from the end of 1×12.  We see all of the main Dollhouse cast in one or more of these flash”back” scenes, and boy howdy, do we find out some interesting stuff.  For example: Echo at some point becomes able to retain what I assume to be Caroline’s personality while she is imprinted; Dominic isn’t dead, but gets out of the attic at some point and then later returns with a gun to properly chastise DeWitt for what’s happening out in the world; Boyd, who apparently gets romantic with Saunders 2.0, flees the Dollhouse; November — a November, at least — has had something bad happen to her; Caroline and Ballard become gun-totin’ pals in badassery, and possibly something more; Topher goes insane, possibly from guilt over what his tech has done to the world; and so forth.

It’s pretty gnarly stuff, and really, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

This is ambitious, heady stuff, and it’s clearly trying to serve a dual purpose: it’s insurance against a first-season cancellation, acting as an impromptu series finale; and it’s also a proof-of-concept episode, designed to show executives the type of direction the story was headed in.

Clearly, the series got a second season, so the proof-of-concept aspect must have worked.

So now, here’s the downside: we know where the series is headed, and while the journey in getting there seems like it could be interesting, it doesn’t change the fact that a great deal of the mystique of the show has now been permanently altered.  I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, but I’m not sure it’s a good thing, either.

If that sounds wishy-washy to you, well, that’s indicative of my reaction to the episode as a whole.  Years from now, it might well strike me as one of the best things ever made, or it might feel like little more than a failed experiment.  Only time is going to really answer the question.

The cast is typically strong, with Fran Kranz making a bigger impression on me than he ever has in the past; Enver Gjokaj and Dichen Lachman deliver their typically awesome work, as does Olivia Williams; Reed Diamond is always a welcome presence, as is Amy Acker.

Making the biggest impressions amongst the guest cast: Felicia Day, who is given little to do other than react, but she reacts capably and is very attractive, so score.  Backing her up is Zack Ward, playing a hardass named Zone.  Ward might look familiar.  Does this help?

He had yellow eyes … so help me God, yellow eyes.

And as it turns out, Ward is pretty good at playing a hardass.  Who’d a-thunk it?

I’m curious to see whether the second season of the show picks up any of these threads, or if Whedon will now hang back a while and see how long the train can run before he starts steering the story in the directions “Epitaph One” points toward.

Here’s hoping the series is able to hang around long enough for Whedon to get his way … and if the episodes Fox chooses to air are in the vicinity of being this good, minus some of the confusuion factor, then it just might happen.