Dollhouse

Damn, I really wanted to love the Dollhouse finale – but this is a show that has never been easy to genuinely love, and while there were plenty of moments to enjoy here, it was still fairly messy as a whole, and a disappointment after the last few very good episodes ("Haunted" aside).

"Omega" was written and directed by the talented Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls), and certainly had its strong elements. Alan Tudyk was great as Alpha, clearly relishing the chance to play this psychotic, villainous role, after so often (and so well) playing the lovable funny guy. We got much more of an idea of how Alpha works here, as he moved from one personality to another, often having trouble keeping his thoughts coherent. This was a cool and interesting idea, though it did beg the question of how he was able to keep it together and not give any obvious hints that something wasn’t right when he spent so much consecutive time with Ballard last week. Yes, we can all fanwank different explanations – "Well, with intense concentration, he’s able to maintain one personality for longer" or such, but an onscreen explanation would be nice, right?

"Omega", like much of Dollhouse, was filled with intriguing ideas, even if the execution wasn’t completely thrilling. Alpha’s ultimate plan involved kidnapping a random girl, Wendy (played by Ashley Johnson, AKA Chrissy from Growing Pains!), and putting Caroline’s original personality into her – giving Caroline the freaky scenario of seeing herself standing there, via Echo’s psycho-criminal persona given to her by Alpha last week. Alpha then gave Echo every personality she’s ever been imprinted with all at once – intending to make her his true female counterpart, Omega, who would kill "Caroline" and be free of her old self. This was all crazy and big and fun to watch play out.

The problem was, it didn’t make Caroline/Echo/Omega any easier to invest in as a character. When she (very predictably) turned on Alpha and attacked him with that pipe, leading into a full fight between the two, I realized how completely un-invested I was in the battle. Caroline/Echo has been hard to truly root for and cheer for the whole series, and adding in the Omega element didn’t suddenly make her a cool, layered, well defined character, it just muddied the waters more. When Wendy/Caroline was (also predictably) shot, it wasn’t the stunning, oh my god moment Joss Whedon and Minear have delivered in the past, but just… a scene in a television show.

The lack of investment in these characters was a major problem throughout the finale. Seeing Ballard standing in the Dollhouse talking to DeWitt, Boyd and Topher should be a "holy crap, it’s finally happening!" moment, but we’re talking about a group of characters who run the gamut from uninteresting, to unlikable to confusing, none of whom feel fully fleshed out after 12 episodes. It was also annoying that the events of the only truly strong episode for DeWitt, "Spy in the House of Love", were ignored, as we never saw her show any reaction to Victor being disfigured, despite our knowledge of what he had meant to her.

And then there’s Ballard… Seriously man, what is your deal? What do you want to accomplish, exactly? Let’s also reflect on the fact that within the span of about 20 minutes, he first called the chair used for imprints the place where people’s souls are stolen, and then proceeded to say in a later scene that you can’t wipe away someone’s soul. Well, which is it, Paul?

And then was the end, as we discovered a deal Ballard made. A deal which made no sense. So Ballard agrees to work for the Dollhouse, in exchange for November getting her freedom? Yeah, it’s a fake out at first, as we’re supposed to think it’s Caroline he’s freeing. But either way, what the...? Why make this deal for either of them? Ballard now knows where the Dollhouse is and his old boss at the FBI believes his stories about the Dollhouse. He can bring her and many others there and free everyone who’s there in the process! Why the hell would he agree to work with these people instead, only freeing one person in the process?

If you’re going to have Ballard sell his soul as it were, it needs to be earned and properly motivated. Freeing November is not the proper motivation, when he has plenty of other options. Nothing had changed to make him think the Dollhouse served a greater good or needed to exist for some reason – far from it, in fact. I couldn’t believe what an infuriating plot point that was to end on.

Just writing about the finale is making my frustrations with it grow, as the problems it had stick out like sore thumbs. What kind of non-ending was that with Alpha? We see him running around outside, Boyd presumably is chasing him, and then we just hear "he escaped." Where? How? Can we please see that? Apparently some scenes were cut (photos showed November and Sierra in their bounty hunter personalities arriving at Alpha’s lair), but this was not a clean edit to be sure.

I don’t want to forget the good parts of the finale. As I said, much of the material with Tudyk/Alpha was fun, and I also want to mention Amy Acker. Yes, it was pretty predictable that she was a doll, especially after the huge clue last week, when Victor/Dominic called her Whiskey – no way was he asking for a drink, right? But the way they made the reveal was still very cool, in the midst of a flashback showing Alpha and her imprinted with their Mickey and Mallory type personalities. And Acker was great, suddenly showing several different personas – including Dr. Saunders, Whiskey as a doll, and the sexy, dangerous imprint. When Dollhouse was first announced, I remember talking with a friend about our worries about Eliza Dushku, and how we felt, based on her great work as Fred and Illyria on Angel, how Amy Acker would probably have been much more solid in this demanding role… and no, "Omega" didn’t make me think otherwise.

This is the last episode of Dollhouse FOX is airing this season – though there is still the one extra episode they are not airing, which will be on the DVD. It remains to be seen if the show will be back or not next fall, though I wouldn’t hold my breath. In the meantime, it’s hard not to see this series as an interesting but ultimately majorly flawed experiment on Whedon’s part.