While I enjoyed most of this series, I always wonder – much like Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – what could’ve been. Throughout its 2 season run, there have been some gems, some lumps of coal, and a whole lot of mediocrity. I especially liked how it built some momentum at the end of first season which carried into most of the second season. The unaired “Epitaph One” episode was probably arguably the best and served as the framework for how the second season wrapped up. I wish Fox could’ve aired Epitaph One for audiences that didn’t rush out to buy/rent the Dollhouse season 1 DVD (I mean, if we we watched it week-to-week, why would we?)

I can’t help but feel a bit unfulfilled. It was building to a solid finale with episodes “The Attic” and “Getting Closer” where you learn what exactly Caroline knows. There were some great payoffs here and some great reversals with Adele DeWitt and Dr. Saunders/Whiskey. All this made for entertaining television until the final two episodes “The Hollow Men” and “Epitaph Two: Return” were ultimately underwhelming.

In “The Hollow Men,” revealing Boyd as the mastermind behind everything was interesting but I felt his reasoning was glazed over too quickly. I get the sense the wrtiers felt there was enough ambiguity with his character’s background to pull a stunt like this, but didn’t give the audience enough time to put it together without having long expository scenes. It would’ve been nice to see that story unfold over three episodes.

There was an especially unwatchable scene in this episode between Paul Ballard and Mellie/November. It’s a crime that Tammoh Penniket (Helo from BSG) can still get roles where he has to emote. He is just horribly bad in this scene. (I remain convinced that the the less Ballard and Echo in an episode, the better it really is)

I really wish I watched “Epitaph One” again before “Epitaph Two: Return.” In fact, I think it probably should’ve been a 2-hour episode – or 90 minutes, at least. Whenever you flash forward a few years, you can’t just expect the audience to swallow all the changes that have occurred. With “Epitaph One,” the focus was on the tech. In this one, not only do you have to focus on the tech, but also create resolutions for all the characters. But to do that, you have to show what these characters have been doing up until you moved ahead in the timeline. Sure, they got the point across with some exposition and you can follow the story, but I suppose I felt I was owed a bit more. I would’ve liked to see the deterioration of Sierra and Victor’s relationship. I would’ve loved to see Echo’s inability to show affection towards Ballard. I would’ve loved to see Topher’s steady decline into madness. There were some scenes in the finale with emotion at the core, but without solid context, you will not connect with the audience.

I suppose this is what happens when you find out you only have so many episodes left before you’re done. You have to take shortcuts to tie up the loose ends AND give the characters the resolution they should get. And I suppose this is why I can’t help but think of what could’ve been with this show. It is what it is, so they say.

But all in all, it was a pretty good run. With the exception of Echo and Ballard, I’m sure the actors will find better jobs – specifically Enver Gjokaj (Victor) who steals every scene when he’s imprinted with Topher Brink, Dichen Lachman (Sierra/Priya) who really showed her chops when they did the Priya backstory episode (Belonging)*, and Olivia Williams (Adele DeWitt) who admirably played ruthless and motherly at the same time.

* Belonging was directed by Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame. This was probably one of the best-directed episodes of television I’ve seen in a LONG time. Performances were great and there was an excellent use of motifs and imagery that you rarely notice in episodic and serialized TV today.

Tags: reviews, TV

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