Episode 12 – Omega – Season Finale
So, what did y’all think?
And did anybody spot the shoutout to Dollverse’s own Jackal in the episode?
49 Responses 
Dollverse (c) 2007-2009 Kevin Beaumont. Dollhouse (c) 20th Century Fox.
So, what did y’all think?
And did anybody spot the shoutout to Dollverse’s own Jackal in the episode?
49 Responses
I thought it was good! I thought there was a couple better episodes this season but it did a nice job at resolving everything (and truth be told is the show was canceled i think i would be some what fine with it =])
My only problem was that it felt a little rushed (really should have been a two part episode) and that the power station scene was kind of weak! I mean there were pictures of November and Sierra there as bounty hunters but there scenes must have been cut! Also i would like to add on how Sierra, Victor and November really seemed to just be forgotten in this episode! =[
Loved the last line
btw whats a Jackal?
fantastic episode, loved the putting souls in glass jars with fireflies comment=-)When they looked up November’s fingerprints previously and her real identity popped up on the screen her name was polly, not Madeline…gah…they can’t cancel this with so many balls up in the air!
They also dropped entirely that scene with the little girl in the first part.
Loose ends, people, loose ends…
That scene in the warehouse with Alpha and the girls was freaky and pretty terrifying, really.
FOX, we need a second season! No Blu-ray purchase from me until we get it.
This was overall a good episode, but I agree with everyone else that there are still a lot of loose ends. I really liked how the episode tied the Alpha situation up, but there are still so many questions. I was completely suprised that Paul negotiated November’s release instead of Echo’s. Of course, if Echo would have been released Eliza wouldn’t be back next season. There must be a next season!!!
Kegan, I think the scene with the little girl was thrown in to show the dollhouse as something that could be used for good. I agree with you that I would have liked to see that play out though.
The whole “murdering a series of Carolines” plan had me thinking neat things for a while there. Could the Dollhouse’s technology be used not only to effectively create immortality, but also provide an alternative to cloning? What’s to stop the same personality from being imprinted on several Dolls at the same time? What would happen if two Dolls with the same imprint saw one another? The same personality spread throughout different bodies…it may not be physical cloning, but it certainly is mentally…
God, I need a season 2. I need to figure out why Caroline chose to remain as Echo, and why Echo remembers Caroline’s name. I want to see how Ballard is going to deal with working for the Dollhouse, and in what capacity. I want to know what’s going to happen to my poor Victor! I want to know how Saunders deals with knowing that she’s a Doll, and how her hatred will manifest itself (because you know it will). And I want to know why Madeline/ex-November seems so at peace after being released from Dollhood if the reason she was there in the first place was to escape the memory of her dead daughter. Did they wipe that memory from her? Can they wipe select memories, or does it have to be the whole brain? Why did Alpha start glitching before he got the composite brains?
And my favorite question: does the “residual soul” affect a Doll to the point where they have traces of personality? Alpha grew a violent tendency. Echo showed hints of Caroline when she started protecting the Dollhouse and showing concern for Sierra. And Victor was attracted to Sierra when a Doll is supposed to be asexual. As Caroline put it, “You ever try to clean an actual slate? You can always see what was on it before.”
GOD I love this show. And I want more Boyd/Ballard interaction. How did Boyd start working for the Dollhouse? MOAR BACKSTORY PLZKTHXBAI.
Alpha didn’t grow a violent tendency, it was in him and could not be wiped away. It proved that you can’t wipe away everything. Like you said, no such thing as a clean slate.
I hope there’s a 2nd season. Joss’s shows usually get better as they go along and this one already started out pretty solid. Hate to see it go the way of Firefly. But if it does, at least this kind of had a resolution…
Scene with the little girl? Are we talking about Susan from the "Briar Rose" episode?
Anonymous: I think "Polly" was an alias (or one of her imprints as November). Madeline is her real self.
Holly: I'm actually NOT surprised that Paul went instead for November rather than Echo/Caroline. Paul had genuine feelings for her, regardless of whether or not she was a doll, whereas Caroline was more like…a goal he felt he needed to attain. He needed to "save the girl" and technically he did in this episode–twice over.
Ahem. Epic long comment post ahead. Skip to the bottom for the TL;DR.
People following my tweets will know that I agree that the episode was sorely lacking in the amount of Sierra, November and Victor. However! What we DID get of them, along with the stuff we found out about Dr. Saunders, was great. Loved the "molesting the furniture" quote. I'm not sure how I feel about Boyd and Paul suddenly teaming up after their epic fight scene in "Briar Rose", but I do have to admit that they make as good a team as they do enemies.
And I will admit, Paul finally became less irritating. I know that's going to make people go, "WTF? Irritating? What is Cris on?!" But he was. He was beginning to get on my nerves, but the last two episodes have begun to change that view.
Who else wanted to hug Victor after Dr. Saunders gave him that little speech? Actually…who wanted to just hug him, period? *raises hand* Enver is such a good actor… Has anyone seen him in anything else they might recommend?
But circling back to what we've learned: Dr. Saunders! Holy crap! I'd begun to suspect her status as a Doll after doing some thinking on "Briar Rose" (and mentioned it in the blog post concerning thoughts on that episode) but I was still surprised when this was actually revealed. The information that we're given about her is intriguing and raises a lot of questions that REQUIRE a second season to explore and answer–or, if need be, for us to pitch in a lot of money so Joss can keep his fancy awesome set and film a bunch of webisodes.
My biggest question on the whole situation with Topher. Why WAS it so important that she "hate" him, as Dr. Saunders/Whiskey put it? My current theory: Her real self is either his sister or his girlfriend. Either way, he looked so terribly sad… It was like that scene in "Haunted" which basically reveals that the "benchmark" imprint he does every year is essentially a means for him to have someone to celebrate his birthday with–and honestly, I'm not sure which one made me feel more for him.
The scenes with Alpha, Echo and Caroline: Epic, basically. The banter that went on during those scenes was amusing and the fighting between Alpha and Echo was fantastic, though I wish there had been more between them. I'll admit, I'm glad Alpha got away! XD Alan Tudyk is just enjoyable to watch on screen. ^^;
TL;DR:
1. Needed MOAR Sierra, November.
2. Awww, Victor!
3. Dr. Saunders = Whiskey 1.1 = Holy crap!
—> 3a. Who is her real identity?
—> 3b. Why does it make Topher so sad?
—> 3c. Theory: Topher's sister or girlfriend.
4. Alpha + Echo + Caroline = Epic banter. Fight scene could've been longer, but was still epic.
—> 4a. Alan Tudyk = Fun to watch!
5. Boyd + Paul = Epic Duo? Possibly.
6. A beautiful, bittersweet end to a great season.
I think Topher is starting to see there are consequences to what he does. And….Dr. Saunders assumes the hate is part of the program…but maybe it’s part of Whiskey, or her original self.
November’s real person had a ton of aliases, a police record, so she might have been a con artist…..I’m not going to 100% believe that’s her original self they released unless she’s gone for good. They could have done a program that would please Ballard, while just sending her to another Dollhouse to keep working as an Active, to uphold the contract. Win-win for DH.
Ballard has been hired to track Alpha, but how long will it be before the DH sucks him in? *eg*
kim
Awesome!!! Fox should definetly give us a season 2, too many loose ends and such a great show.
As a tru Joss Whedon fan I say we better get a secnd season because all this stories and all this characters are too fresh, too perfect and have potencial, I would love to see them evolve and amaze us.
Congrats from Mexico Joss! I hope we fans get to see Epithap 1 soon, and also a second, third, forth and many many season from Dollhouse
“November’s real person had a ton of aliases, a police record, so she might have been a con artist…..I’m not going to 100% believe that’s her original self they released unless she’s gone for good. They could have done a program that would please Ballard, while just sending her to another Dollhouse to keep working as an Active, to uphold the contract. Win-win for DH.”
Oooh. I didn’t think about that. Still, I’m going to continue thinking Madeline was her real self, if only because Paul’s been put through the emotional wringer with her. Maybe she was a criminal whose daughter died because of her actions? It might explain why she agreed to go to the Dollhouse.
An excellent episode. I want to see the 13th episode to see how the season was really supposed to end. What insights might we learn from that? Remember season 4 of Buffy? The season finale was dream sequences.
Fox HAS to renew Dollhouse!!!!!!!!
Damn you Whedon! First Firefly, now this?! I got so addicted to this show. (like Firefly) Now with the mentions of possibly not having a second season…..ack….I would be so pissed. Every person I forced to sit through just one episode of this show got instantly hooked. I loved the Omega episode, mostly because of all the cliffhangers. I love it when they leave you wanting more. It didn’t really give me what I would call closure on anything, but it was good since it answered some big questions. On the flipside, it created even more. They’d be fools not to bring it back. You can smell the money. I will be making sure to attend Comicon just for the off chance the DVD sets haven’t been swooped on. fat chance. If Dollhouse does get picked up for the duece, just make sure to give Sierra her own episode. A sexy one.
Wasn’t overly impressed with the episode, but it was pretty good. Saunders being a doll was clever, and I thought Alphas going crazy originally scene was very nicely done.
On the Saunders side, the computer skills comment could’ve been a reason why she could get into the computer system, but that seems unlikely to me. In other episodes Tofer’s security systems have been commented on heavily and it’s been hinted at that he’s the only one who could break them. So, I conclude, new Saunders is old Saunders, combined with a bit of Tofer (and maybe some other bits), which is where the hating Tofer side of her personality comes from. Tofer knows it’s only him and Saunders, and it’s gotta be pretty saddening when someone so bluntly tells you that you hate yourself.
If anybody wants some Jossy fun, go back and watch the series from the start and keep an eye on Doc Saunders and Topher. Even in the first episode, there’s foreshadowing whilst Topher is on the phone to Boyd, looking at Claire.
Does anyone know what song is played when Whisky and Alpha have fun with that guy ? At about 7 minutes in the show , the echoy rocky thing.
re: mellie/november – when all those names flashed on the computer in loomis’ office, i assumed those were all personalities that the dollhouse planted in the fingerprint system. the dollhouse has to have some tap on the system for scenarios just like that one so people can’t find out who the dolls really are. if they didn’t, would the screen have gone blank like that and said “no results found” or whatever it said? i can’t imagine november having a criminal record.
also, i think there’s no way ballard would simply work for the dollhouse. they HAVE to turn him into a doll. though i guess it would be more interesting to watch him try to take it down from the inside and then have them turn him into a doll. would adele really risk letting him join the team right after breaking in and trying to expose them? she has to have more control over him, right? he’ll be a doll.
What the heck happened to the 2 bounty hunters played by Dichen and Miracle?
Only 4 promo pics were released by Fox for this episode and 2 of them showed those 2 at the power station so wtf happened to that?
best quote of the episode?
“now….*sigh* do what I say….or…..I will blow your brain out”
blahahahahahahahahaha
now I’m gonna go back and watch em all again and look for more innuendo..cos judging from the comments I’ve read in here…I’ve been asleep!
I loved this episode. Alpha freaked me out on a regular basis, but his dialogue with his many personalities did make me giggle at times.
“I’m not bluffing! We’re not bluffing! Well, actually, I’m bluffing…AGH! Just that guy is bluffing, but the rest of us aren’t bluffing!”
Also, I was really intrigued when Dr. Saunders didn’t check out who she was before she was Whiskey. It’s something Caroline and I think most of us would have done. And the lollipop thing was of course very sweet.
Loved Omega! It was so much fun to see the tie-ins for so many different people. Victor’s situation was heartbreaking, as well as Whiskey’s. I loved that Caroline, in Wendy’s body, chose to return to life when confronted with the truth of “abandonment”. My favorite thing though, was that Echo, faced with the reality of herself, just wanted Caroline to take her body back. She knew she wasn’t real, and her priority became to be “real” the only way she could be. Awesome episode. I really hope there is a season 2, I want to see where they take this.
Not a bad episode. As others have commented, it did feel a bit rushed. Regardless, the last 7 episodes have made for some very compulsive viewing. Dollhouse would do well with a (full length) second season to allow it some room to breathe.
Good stuff, which has the potential to get a damn sight better. Fingers crossed eh?
OK, is this a continuity error? When Echo’s in the chair getting fried by Alpha, before she sits up, we see a little red mark on the corner of her mouth.
It appears to be a burn from the electric shock from the wire, and interestingly, the edge of her lip appears untouched – it goes skin-burn, edge of lip, lip-burn.
As the scene changes, and the camera pulls away, I don’t see the burn any longer. Does anyone else?
sorry but, I think the show is over. it seems to be going in circles and going nowhere. this final was too heavy and violent. but even in terms of story, it has been hiting on the same point since the beggining and still it hasn´t made it…everything is to twisted and messy, and the meaning of the story got lost…The show has no future.
Kegan, I thought that was blood. in any case, it’s a small detail, and they probably figured that the plot was more important.
and anynomous above this post: the show does have a future. have we been watching the same show? doubt it. Dollhouse definitely has a future as long as Fox doesn’t act stupid.
I’ll go with blood
at least then I can rationalize any idiosyncrasy and just say she wiped it away.
And I’ll agree that the show might have been weak in the beginning, but it is picking up speed. We have Alpha on the run, and Echo knows she’s a Doll, all in the first season with four potential seasons to go! I wonder how Joss is going to handle that fact, and I can’t wait to find out.
Also, anonymous #1, don’t be so bleak. Family Guy was doomed, too (stupid Fox) but the fans brought it back through DVD sales. May the network not be so hasty this time around and axe Dollhouse.
There’s a campaign on Facebook called ‘Don’t Send Dollhouse to the Attic – people are asked to send a letter and/or a doll of any kind to Fox Broadcasting, to let them know that its fans won’t stand for the premature cancellation of good programming.
The address is:
Attn: FOX BROADCASTING
Don’t Send Dollhouse to the Attic!
FOX Broadcasting Co.
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213
Tell your friends, please!
notice on episode briar rose, Dominic( on victor body) calls saunders Whiskey and she says “he wants a drink”, she tought he wanted to drink, but he was saying her doll name…these guys are just messing with us all the time and we don´t even notice…hehe
Wow, I do remember that
awesome. I liked in this episode how Alpha asked Saunders if she’d always wanted to be a doctor; when Saunders repeated it to Topher, it really struck me – she hadn’t always wanted to be one, she was just programmed to think that…for whatever reason, I found that thought-provoking lol.
couple of thoughts:
Is it possible that Topher’s birthday friend personality is Whiskey 1.1/Dr. Saunder’s original personality?
Also, from a D.I.D. (dissociative identity disorder, multiple personality disorder) point of view, this final episode made a lot of sense. The original Caroline and Carl, when removed, actually left a 2nd personality in the body whose job it was probably to maintain the body. This second personality is mostly passive, but is the one that experiences all the downloads etc. You can’t ever get a completely empty body. If you have a second personality who’s job it is to experience all the “abuse”, it would blame the original personality for creating it/putting it in the position of taking all the abuse. So the composite event–is actually the 2nd personality with lots of downloaded personalities on top of it. I doubt with any doll they will ever return the original personality again. The best they can do is reload a dominant “original” personality, and keep buried a 2nd personality that retains the memories of the downloads.
I loved the episode. But Whiskey? Seriously? They just think of stupider and stupider names for the Dolls.
I thought it was different, actually
Meggie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet
“Is it possible that Topher’s birthday friend personality is Whiskey 1.1/Dr. Saunder’s original personality?”
That’s an interesting idea. It would explain the sadness and silent angst he has when she confronts him towards the end of the episode…
Sorry for the double-post, but have any of you read the live blog from the season finale? It’s a hilarious read and I wish I’d known about it: http://dollhousewiki.fox.com/page/Dollhouse+Finale+Live+Blog
Oh man, I wish I’d known about that blog, too. Thanks, saturn!
No problem.
Their reaction to the whole Claire/Whiskey thing cracked me up–because I was the exact same way. XD
Whiskey is on the military alphabet, so it wasn’t a completely random choice.
Wow. Whew. Still catching my breath. I’m going to have to watch it again to really comment in detail, but oh my god, this episode was amazing. Very fast-paced, yes, but nicely done, Joss, Tim and everyone, with tying up a lot of loose ends so smoothly and yet suspensefully.
Okay, so a few quick reaction notes:
- Alan Tudyk’s portrayal of Alpha and his personalities was amazing and funny. I loved how he was talking back to himself about bluffing and one of his personalities having multiple personalities.
Also, his whole historical and philosophical rant/irrationale about the ancient Minoans and Nietzsche was hilarious and intriguingly revealing into his bizarre mindset.
- Alpha vs. “Omega”/Echo – It’s fascinating just how capable Caroline/Echo’s mind is to adapt well to adverse situations. Granted, Alpha was a sociopathic killer before he got wiped, so his mind was broken – yet brilliant – to begin with, but man, I almost envy Caroline’s mental strength.
- Dr. Saunders/Whiskey 1.1 – Kind of expected it, but not in the way she was presented, as Alpha’s pairing. I’d thought Alpha was fixated on both Echo and one of her imprints from a shared engagement, but it turns out that he was fixated on the imprint itself, not the person/doll hosting it. His fixation on Echo/Caroline just appeared out of nowhere… perhaps he just got bored of Whiskey or he was physically attracted to Caroline like Victor is to Sierra?
- Whiskey 1.1 and Echo – Beyond the surface similarities of being “number 1 active,” fair-skinned and brown hair, they are both mentally resilient in the extreme and show signs of an ability to adapt and evolve. Echo with her personalities and Dr. Saunders with her decision to stay Dr. Saunders.
- Dr. Saunders – Oh, god, how she must feel right now.
- Topher – Oh, poor Topher. My heart aches so much for him here. That said, he had some amazing awkward lines here. With the fireflies sarcasm and the “Why is there a tall, morally judgmental man in my imprint room… besides him (Boyd)?”
I’m not sure why he made Dr. Saunders hate him. If it were a sister, best friend or girlfriend, I would think he would’ve registered anguish every time he imprinted Whiskey 1.1. Unless he followed her here, taking the job as programmer in order to be near her and watch over her? But he seems to relish his job too much.
I don’t think there’s any Topher in Dr. Saunders because he’d have no reason to do that unless the whole “hate himself” theory pans out. Personally, I think he just added that because he either hated what he was doing or he is fond of her, whether from previous life or just watching her.
Enjoyed the Caroline/Wendy-Echo interaction. Some great lines from Carline/Wendy: “I want back in my brain!”
Ballard… yeah, he gave Mellie her freedom. Wonder how she’ll fit into a second season if there is one.
Saturn, I know what you mean by now Ballard’s not as annoying as he seemed to be getting.
On a random note, did it bother anyone else how proud Whiskey’s handler was that Whiskey was the most requested active? That was creepy and troubling.
Heather: Maybe Topher’s thing is like the Repo Man/Nathan in “Repo! The Genetic Opera”. (To which I could make several parallels from Dollhouse, though Adelle’s old job is the most obvious.) Topher clearly loves his job, but there’s also that aspect (like with Dr. Saunders) that gives him angst. *shrug* A thought.
Anyway. Did anyone see this?: http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/05/11/dollhouse-watch-pleased-to-meet-me/?xid=rss-topstories
One of Time Magazine’s blogger/article writers talks at length about Dollhouse.
Hm, interesting; I hadn’t thought of that!
A few other things I thought while watching:
- when Alpha gouged out Blevins’s eyes, I can’t have been the only one having Reverend/Nathan Fillion flashbacks to the 7th season of Buffy. =) That was one of many moments where I knew I was watching a Joss/Tim script.
- On the Alpha backstory, now it’s clearer that while the Dollhouse outfitted him with qualities that exacerbated his psychopathic nature, which they had willingly overlooked, his nature was already there to begin with. So for the viewers determined to label “bad” and “good” guys, ALpha falls more evenly in the “not-good” category.
- Previous spoilers had stated that in this episode, one doll would be permanently deactivated and one getting backstory. So my guess that Mellie would be deactivated was right, but I’m glad it wasn’t in a bad way. And the backstory turned out to be an Alpha and Whiskey/Dr. Saunders combo, although Dr. Saunders didn’t really get too much backstory beyond the fact that she even existed as a doll beforehand.
Ooh, Saturn, great link to the Time post.
On the issue of the Dollhouse’s greater purpose as opposed to how it makes its money, perhaps it’s like a big, illegal, clinical trial by Rossum on humans to determine just how strong and tangible of a link there is between human body and mind – and essence/soul. To determine the borders at which science can tinker with without either killing the subjects or getting caught.
Okay, finally got to watch the last two episodes. I’m sure everyone can’t wait to know.
I have to say, on the whole, it was fictionalized – and delusionalized – enough to constitute fair use. And I enjoyed watching Alpha and Echo make out, that was TV watching at its weirdest.
All in all, I think I can say it’s probably for the best that I made myself wait two months to actually see Alpha before I called Nancy Grace. Although I do believe it would have been a compelling hour of television. Did you see the Vanity Fair article on Bernie Madoff this month? It reaffirmed the old adage, the very last person you would ever want to have testify against you is your secretary.
I think the adorable, too-sweet-to-annoy people at the Fox Dollhouse wiki would have loved it. Although Melanie the moderator’s nerve cells might have been fried irreparably.
I bet Nancy Grace has a larger audience than Dollhouse. Joss himself might want to consider going that way as a powerful cross-promotion if he gets his second-season relaunch.
I won’t nit-pick Alpha as written. I’ll just say, as for the knife-slashing metaphor, fair enough, to the terribly limited extent that you know me. It’s the only time I’ve ever done anything like that, I made a special exemption for some very special people. Two thousand death threats later, I hope my main target now recognizes me as one of her milder critics.
When you do what I did, you don’t expect to make lifelong friends in the process. But I will say, it’s interesting to me, how manipulative narcissistic/sociopathic personalities independently hit on the exact same thought. If you look up her very limited comments and written statements on the matter, you’ll learn that The Most Hated Woman In America, Lori Drew, considers Tina Meier to be a deranged stalker who shut down her Drew Advantage discount-coupon business for no good reason.
Just putting it out there. Trying to give my readers something to think about, like all writers try to do.
It would be a shame if a failure-pile like this got renewed while monumental goodness like Firefly was cancelled. It was ridiculous when Alpha was climbing up a tower at an abandoned power plant, and after dropping the wedge all of a sudden they make this terrible cut back to the Dollhouse and are like “darn Alpha got away again.” Where the hell would he go, he climbed a tower! And as far as Saunders being a doll, yawn, that was supposed to be a suprise. that was some M. Night Shamalanadingdong style lameness. Sorry but I have a feeling all who give dollhouse these glowing comments are just trying to justify wasting their time by watching this. Im not afaid, Ill waste my time watching garbage. Just sack-up and embrace those hours that will never return. By the way nice soggy Natural Born Killers retread.
Hmm, it just occurred to me that Topher should have tried to reprogram Dr Saunders. Same personality and knowledge, but just wipe the part where she found out she was a Doll and that he programmed her to hate him.
I wonder if they have to keep re-imprinting her?
Good episode, but as I have stated before, I don’t like Caroline. I love wiped Echo and all the side characters, and in this episode they all glowed, but Caroline and Omega just don’t register with me yet.
My theory on why Topher programmed Saunders to hate him (Assuming that was the actual case):
Topher and Saunders are the only two non-wiped people who seem to live with the dolls 24/7. Topher has severe relationship problems, and I think he just wanted to make sure that Saunders wouldn’t try to approach him, but leave him alone.
Another note:
Ballard kept insisting that the Dollhouse is messing with people’s souls. But that presumes the soul is all in the mind, not something more, which to me, is what a soul is – more than just mind and/or body put together… more than the sum of its parts.
And as we can see, the dolls in their doll-state still have elements of themselves remaining. It’s just the links between their memories and acquired knowledge and skills that are severed and reconstituted in silicone circuit form.
So Ballard’s argument about souls is kind of flawed.
To whomever was asking about the song in the Whiskey/Alpha Natural Born Killers engagement: I’m pretty sure it’s Roy Orbison’s In Dreams.
That’s before the song I was asking for , what’s after that?
The IMDB message board reference a Beck cover of "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime." Is that the song you're looking for?
Ok, I just had a listen to the Beck song and it probably isn't what you are looking for. Sorry.
Just a random point, they obviously aren't doing the alphabet in order. Alpha should be, and possibly was, the first doll, but Whiskey is already wiped and in the DH when Caroline is being shown around. And since Caroline becomes Echo, which is clearly before Whiskey in the alphabet, it seems like they're just doing it in a random order. My point being, if there are other 'criminals' serving their sentances in the DH, it's pretty likely Whiskey is one of them, as she seemed to be active on a similar time frame to Alpha?