Dollhouse season finale – Alpha, meet Omega

Look at me, all optimistic like, calling this a season finale. We’ll know for sure in a couple weeks what the fate of the show will be, so we’ll meet back here to talk about that then. For now, there’s a big season finale to discuss. And, as finales often do, this one was dropping bombs from start to finish. We got the answer for that Whiskey question from last week, found out who Alpha was, saw November’s fate altered, and got one last long look at Eliza Dushku’s boobs popping out all over the place. It’s a recipe for success!

Update: Overnights are in, and it’s more of the same. Another ratings low as “Omega” drew just 2.8 million viewers and a 1.0 in the adults 18-49 demo. Yikes!

The biggest thing in the episode was all of the reveals. They managed the difficult task of providing a degree of closure if this does end up being a series ender, but leaving the door cracked just enough that the show could hit the ground running in season two. Least surprising of those reveals was the news that Saunders is, in fact, Whiskey. We had all pretty much sussed that one out last week. Ahh, but there was much more to it than anyone had guessed.

To start, did anyone even bother to consider that the OG Saunders was a crusty old dude? Even better than that was the flashback to Whiskey in action. Amy Acker … so pretty. The way they revealed that she was the active working with Alpha was very clever. The Mickey/Mallory engagement was crazy, and fit so well with what was to come from Alpha. And really, while there were a lot of fun things here, Alan Tudyk’s Alpha stole the show. He did a great job conveying all of the personalities conflicting inside his head. Something that didn’t come through nearly as well with Omega, but we’ll give it a pass, because the big Alpha/Omega scene got right to the big questions in all of this.

What would the result of the Dollhouse technology be on humanity? What makes a person? Looking back, though, even as Alpha argued his side, it’s clear that he wasn’t so much arguing his point, as trying to wish it into being. He already knew that a person is who they are, and technology can’t change that. That’s why the first thing he did was destroy his wedge. And it’s why Omega didn’t immediately jump on board his crazy train. By all accounts so far, Caroline is, at her core, a good person. Even after her composite event, that remained true. And I think that explains why it is that Echo ended up back at the Dollhouse. She knows that the right thing to do is to have Caroline back in her body, and the only available means to that end call for her to finish her contract.

But that does take us to a couple of nagging complaints for the episode. Early on, more than a few people pointed out just how often the Dollhouse screwed up engagements. I was fine just dismissing that, as we weren’t seeing the hundreds of other engagements that were going on with all of those nameless actives wandering around the spa. But after this, I gotta say, the whole place is run by idiots.

Take Carl William, for example. We now know that he was a psychopath on the verge of becoming a serial killer. And this is who they chose as an active? Add to that, how did he learn to build his own imprinting setup? Clearly, ‘man imprint’ isn’t going to be enough. It suggests that, at some point, they loaded him up with that knowledge. The face slashing psycho. Even more puzzling, the multi-billion dollar corporation keeps all their backups right next to their originals. My music collection is better preserved than all of the actives’ personalities. And, kicking while they’re down, if you would like to get your own wireless wedge inspector, one can be had for $20.

Staying on that less than rosy track, we have the saga of Ballard. I didn’t like his little meeting with Tanaka. Rather, I didn’t like the satisfied grin after the little meeting. It makes sense, that Tanaka would blow him off, but is that really what Ballard should have hoped for? He had his shot to take down the entire Dollhouse right there. It would have restored his professional career, and he could have still gone after Caroline, with resources. He should have been disappointed that his gambit failed.

Similarly, his turnaround at the end doesn’t really make sense. After all we’ve seen from him, now he’s going to work for the Dollhouse? Doing so in trade for Madeline’s freedom is a nice, touchy-feely, gesture, but just what does he think they are going to be sending Caroline out to do for the next X years? I’m missing a scene where Ballard is forced into becoming an active, because that’s the only way this really works for his character.

That all probably sounds more negative than it really should. Despite those issues, I did really enjoy the show. After what was a slow start, it did eventually find its way, and there is enough right with the show that I’d certainly be up for seeing more next season.

Clacked by Brett Love
on May 09, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT