"Epitaph One" is one of the most fascinating, unusual, yet worrying pieces of television I've seen in awhile. It's a successful demonstration that Team Whedon can create high-quality episodes on a low budget, and feels like a contingency plan to film a cheap, effective series finale if the show hadn't been surprisingly renewed amidst dismal ratings.
It's 2019 A.D and we're presented with a post-apocalyptic world dealing with an extreme case of identity crisis, now that the Dollhouse's technology has been used for nefarious purposes on the unwitting worldwide population, in what later appears to have been a terrorist attack based on Stephen King's Cell, which has transformed half the population into psychotic "Butchers"."Epitaph One" is a story from the viewpoint of a gang of L.A survivors -- Mag (Felicia Day), Zone (Zack Ward), Lynn (Janina Gavankar), a little girl called Iris (Adair Tishler) and her mind-wiped father Mr. Miller (Warren Sweeney). These five friends accidentally discover the mothballed Dollhouse deep underground and realize this self-sufficient spa paradise represents the early use of the mind-swap technology responsible for ending civilization.
As the fivesome decide to fortify their new abode against intruders, they quickly realize they're sharing the place with a killer (later revealed to be abandoned "active" Whiskey (Amy Acker)), while intermittent flashbacks give us a sense of what happened to arrive at this point. The flashbacks leap around in time very erratically, but we see Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) now working alongside Echo (Eliza Dushku), who is now able to fake the success of her mind imprints; the arrival of genius Topher (Fran Kranz) to the Dollhouse facility, where he immediately increases productivity and makes an enemy of Mr. Dominic (Reed Diamond); DeWitt (Olivia Williams) receiving controversial orders from her bosses (to allow real people the chance to transfer their minds into "actives"); Boyd (Harry Lennix) deciding to leave the establishment; and Topher later realizing he's responsible for the downfall of society by pioneering technology to make it possible to brainwash people on a mass scale with a humble phone call...
Ultimately, it's difficult to know what to make of this episode. It's supposedly canonical, despite the fact it won't be broadcast in the US and the majority of viewers will never see it. Joss Whedon apparently intends to drip-feed the information presented in "Epitaph One" into season 2, but that doesn't seem feasible without just remaking this episode. If we are to believe "Epitaph One" gives us a glimpse of a future that can't be avoided, then Dollhouse itself suddenly has a Lost-style flashforward to aim towards reaching. Essentially, it feels like we've seen a preview of season finale years from now, so how is the regular show going to keep surprising us now we've had a peek at the last chapter of its story? Thus, while undoubtedly fascinating and game-changing in its own right, "Epitaph One" left me feeling very unsure about where Dollhouse can go from here, now that it appears to be straight-jacketed into just fleshing out the circumstances leading to this ending. Still, Joss Whedon's no fool, so I'm sure he has a plan.
Focusing on the episode itself, there was much to enjoy. Some nice twists, intriguing backstory, and the pleasure of soaking up information about this hellish vision of the imprinting process gone awry (e.g: survivors have their names, referred to as "birthmarks", scarred into their flesh to prove their true identities.) The vast majority of the episode focused on a brand new batch of characters (perhaps unwisely) with the Dollhouse regulars reduced to brief appearances in flashbacks, apart from Amy Acker's ethereal doll. Of the new faces, I was particularly impressed by child star Adair Tishler (best-known for playing Molly in Heroes), who was remarkable in her ability to pull off different adult personalities. She's definitely a Dakota Fanning-style talent to watch.Overall, "Epitaph One" is quite the conundrum; imaginative, creative and thought-provoking, but quite possibly a mantrap Whedon's allowed himself to step into. It remains to be seen if he can escape its clutches (and if he'll have to saw his leg off to do so), but I'm admittedly keen to see what his next move is. Or should we just write this off as a non-canonical, speculative flashforward DVD extra?
written by: Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (story by Joss Whedon) directed by: David Solomon starring: Eliza Dushku (Echo/Caroline), Harry Lenniz (Boyd), Fran Kranz (Topher), Tahmoh Penikett (Ballard), Enver Gjokaj (Victor), Dichen Lachman (Sierra), Olivia Williams (DeWitt), Amy Acker (Dr. Saunders), Felicia Day (Mag), Reed Diamond (Mr. Dominic), Janina Gavankar (Lynn), Adair Tishler (Iris), Zack Ward (Zone), Josh Kelly (Male), Shelley Mack (Female) & Warren Sweeney (Mr. Miller)
