Well, here it is.

After two seasons and twenty-six episodes Whedon’s latest project, Dollhouse, is coming to an end. For a show that hasn’t even been on the air an entire year, much hullabaloo has been made about this series. From a controversial plot to a slow start involving mediocre storytelling, it’s really no surprise that the show never really found an audience (which was reflected in the ratings). Still, I have no qualms about saying that I’m going to miss Dollhouse.

Sure, the show had its faults and it was nowhere near perfect. I’d describe my relationship with the series as a “rollercoaster,” but that really wouldn’t be accurate as there were many more “downs” than “ups.” To come to be a fan of Dollhouse meant that you had to fight through a lot of drivel in order to get to the good stuff…. But when the good stuff came, it was totally worth it.

Over the past six episodes, Dollhouse completely changed. Instead of hoping that each new episode would be watchable, I became enthralled with the continuation of the enormous storyline that was started in the infamous unaired 13th episode from season one, "Epitaph One."

Tonight, we not only wrap-up the story, but also the series. This is "Epitaph Two: Return."

Review

If someone would have bet me $100 after watching the premiere of Dollhouse last February that the series would wrap-up in a Mad Max fashion, I would have easily taken that bet. Still, I can not say anything bad about the way it ended. Sure, it was a little off the wall and somewhat over the top, but it was good… and that’s all that counts.

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I enjoyed this finale for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is because it was essentially picking up off of an episode that never aired on television. This was the second part of an episode that in order to watch, you would have had to seek it out by either buying the first season on DVD, flying to Europe to watch or by “other means.”

For Whedon to take an episode that was made way under budget, without any of the original cast and not really having anything to do with what we’ve seen in the first season and use that story arc to send the series off into the proverbial sunset… that takes… well, it takes something most people don’t have.

Was it perfect? No, but it sure was close. I wasn’t a big fan of Felicia Day in this episode. It seemed like she was play-acting half the time. I enjoyed her in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog but in this episode, she was easily the weakest actor. And while I liked the whole Alpha transformation, I did miss being able to see that progression or “evolution” as they called it. I guess that’s what happens when you jump ahead 10 years (Maybe I can say something bad about it).

Still, that’s just me nit-picking. I could have easily watched this as a standalone movie and been completely satisfied. It had everything I wanted and delivered in a way that I’ve never seen before. Coming from a guy who’s made an entire episode with almost no sound (Hush) or one where the entire cast is singing (Once More, with Feeling), I shouldn’t really be surprised.

I guess that’s why people flock to someone like Joss Whedon. While he gets a lot of flack from people for the way he works, when he’s on his game, it’s something you’ve just got to see.

Tonight, he was on his game.

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Or maybe he wasn’t. While my self-esteem might think differently, I can’t always be right. Can I? What did you think about the series finale of Dollhouse? Was it everything you wanted? Are you happy how it ended? Do you think now that Ballard is in Echo’s head that she’s going to start talking in a deep, raspy, voice?

Click to see yesterday's previews of the Dollhouse Series Finale before the episode aired...

Yesterday's Preview

C’mon, you know the drill. Like all of our previous “Review & Discussions,” this is more of a placeholder for you, the reader. This is here so that you can talk about the episode before, during and after it airs; before the review is done.

Want to yell about how evil Adelle DeWitt is or how great of an impression Victor can do of Topher?

Check out some info and previews of the series finale.

Picking up from the events depicted in "Epitaph One," the "lost" episode of DOLLHOUSE, and set in the year 2020, Echo and her surviving Dollhouse crew attempt to restore order to a devastating future world before mankind is eliminated.

Now, check out some of the previews. I have to warn you, there are SPOILERS below.

Preview 1

Preview 2

Preview 3

Don’t forget to catch the series finale of Dollhouse at a new time, 8PM on FOX.