Epitaph One
Encyclopedia
"Epitaph One" is the thirteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction
television series Dollhouse
. This episode became available on DVD
and Blu-Ray on July 28, 2009. It is also the first episode of the series to feature Felicia Day
, an actress with whom Joss Whedon
has worked a number of times prior to Dollhouse.
The episode was not aired in the USA due to different contractual obligations with the Fox Network (the television broadcaster) and 20th Century Fox Television
(the production company). 20th Century Fox needed thirteen episodes for the first season's DVD release and to sell to foreign markets, and having paid for but then scrapped the unaired original pilot episode, Fox only contracted the subsequent twelve episodes, but not the thirteenth. While Fox did renew the show for a second season, they never broadcast "Epitaph One." Due to Fox's decision not to air "Epitaph One," 20th Century Fox opted to promote the episode as a special incentive to buy the DVD and Blu-Ray set releases of the Dollhouse' s first season, in which the episode, and the original unaired pilot, are both included. In the United Kingdom
the episode aired on the UK Sci Fi Channel
on August 11, 2009.
The episode is set in 2019 in a post-apocalyptic state and utilized flashbacks within the episode to hint at the future the show may or may not take in later seasons. Joss Whedon screened the episode during the Dollhouse panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International and said the show would continue to feature scenes set in the future, that several of the characters introduced in this episode (including Felicia Day's character) would appear in episodes of the second season, and that the second season would follow the general continuity laid out in the episode, while reminding the audience that the episode is based on memories that may or may not be accurate.
A sequel, "Epitaph Two: Return
" was aired on January 29, 2010.
), Zone (Zack Ward
), Griff (Chris William Martin
), Lynn (Janina Gavankar
), a child named Iris (Adair Tishler
) and her wiped father (Warren Sweeney) get into the sewers and find a hole into the Dollhouse. Here the group restore power and find the chair. Attached is a tablet with a simplified interface and a number of sets of recorded memories. The father is placed into the chair and is given several sets of memories, one at a time. Through this method, events leading to the current apocalyptic state of the world are revealed. The group quickly realizes that the Dollhouse is the origin of the imprinting technology. The first set of memories shows Topher's introduction to the Dollhouse with DeWitt and Dominic, and his creation of a new imprinting system that used a different approach to the technology, leading to the development of the chair found in this episode. The old technology used analog cables, which took two hours to upload into an active. Topher brags
that he can do it faster using waves instead, and laughs off Dominic's warnings that such an upgrade could easily go out of control.
Lyn takes Iris to use the bathroom, but is distracted by the possibility of having her first hot shower in a year. She is killed by an unseen figure. A memory is shown with Echo in the chair, being imprinted for a client. Paul Ballard is now her handler. When Ballard and Echo are alone in the elevator she discusses her ability to maintain her own personality in parallel with her imprint but laments the terrible headaches this process gives her. Meanwhile, Iris finds Lyn's body and her screams bring the group to investigate. They all retreat to the chair room.
In a flashback, Boyd is preparing to leave the Dollhouse, collecting weapons, clothes, and food. He believes that he has placed Echo in danger and does not wish to place Dr. Saunders, with whom he is now romantically involved, in the same position. She gives him medicine and bandages, indicating that he has been recently injured. Before he leaves, he promises to return for her. This scene is later expanded upon and further explained in the season 2 episode "Getting Closer"
.
The survivors decide to give Iris what they call a "birthmark" — a tattoo on her back that allows people to distinguish actuals from imprinted people. Dr. Saunders suddenly appears on the Dollhouse's main floor; but it seems that she has regressed to her doll persona, "Whiskey". The survivors surround her, weapons aimed, accuse her of killing Lyn, and are about to execute her when she says she can lead them to "Safe Haven," a rumored place away from imprinting and "tech." Whiskey states that the memories in the tablet would lead them there.
In another imprinted memory Victor, who has been imprinted with Mr. Ambrose, a high-ranking executive in the Rossum Corporation, informs DeWitt and Topher that the company is going to begin selling the bodies of the actives for "a lump nine-figure sum." Select clients will have immortality, similar to that discussed in the episode "Haunted." Topher is visibly upset but says nothing. DeWitt is shocked and protests about the legality of such a procedure, but Ambrose informs DeWitt that it will be legal in a year, as everyone in a position of authority is either a client or "one of ours." When DeWitt threatens to reclaim Victor's body, Mr. Ambrose tells her that she can opt out, but that he is currently in ten other dolls talking to ten other Dollhouse administrators, and that Rossum will know if they choose not to cooperate.
Back in 2019, Iris kills Griff, then frames her father, still in the chair, by shoving the gun in his hand and screaming to attract attention. While Zone takes the father to the bathroom and executes him, Whiskey imprints herself with another set of memories: Mr. Dominic retrieved from the Attic by DeWitt and Topher; by this time, much of the general population had already been imprinted, beginning the apocalyptic events leading to the current situation. Dominic gloats about how he was right about them losing control, but DeWitt asks him to join them. They have a way to fight back: Caroline is now immune to imprinting.
Whiskey is given another memory in which Victor and Sierra are seen with their original personalities back. Victor shows Sierra hidden hard drive wedges with copies of everyone, while also showing that Sierra is the one who began the ideas of tattoos to be placed in order to remember who they really are. She also mentions for Victor to be careful when he leaves to go to the surface, stating "Don't forget what happened to November" (something that is explained in the season 2 episode "The Hollow Men"
).
The survivors find the wedges and decide to imprint Whiskey with Caroline's personality. With the loss of Griff, Zone decides that it's time for Iris to have a gun to protect herself. Before long, Iris turns her gun on them revealing that she is an imprint. She does not know how she ended up in a child's body but she is going to take Mag's, and Zone's usefulness is at an end. When she fires her gun at Zone, she finds that it is unloaded, and after a brief struggle Zone puts her into the chair and they activate the chair, overwriting Iris's personality. Zone explains that he figured out that Iris was not who she claimed she was when he executed her so-called father: he had a tattoo but it did not match Iris's surname.
In the memory set in Iris's imprint, the Dollhouse has isolated itself. The actives have all been given their original personalities back. Topher, now mentally unstable, explains to DeWitt that a phone call could be made, and anyone who picked up the phone would be imprinted (similar to the way Echo was wiped in "Gray Hour"). This would create an instant army of people programmed to kill everyone who isn't imprinted. Topher realizes that this is happening because of the technology he made possible: imprinting people with waves rather than the slower, analog method. The guilty realization of the part he has played in causing armageddon has driven him mad. DeWitt tries to comfort him but they are interrupted when a series of crashes is heard from elsewhere in the Dollhouse, which turns out to be someone trying to break through a block wall sealing off the entrance to the complex. The residents take up arms and prepare to defend themselves as the wall comes down, revealing Caroline and Paul, who have
returned to take the actives to a compound, which is a place where they will be safe from imprinting, thanks to Alpha. Caroline requests that Topher make a copy of her personality to help others find the way there in case she's killed or another group of people finds the Dollhouse. Saunders explains that Topher no longer enters the imprinting room, but she volunteers to make the copy herself. As preparations to leave the Dollhouse are underway, DeWitt notes that Echo has returned to save the actives, but asks what her plans are for the former Dollhouse administrative staff. Caroline cocks her pistol and the memory ends.
In 2019, Caroline is imprinted into Iris's body. She quickly agrees to take them to the compound she mentioned in the memories, which is now being called Safe Haven. An explosion erupts from a device that the survivors left in the shaft that leads into the Dollhouse. The noise tells them that the imprinted butchers have reached the Dollhouse and that the group must leave immediately. Mag implores Whiskey to come with them but she says she must wait, as she is waiting for 'someone' (something that is explained in the season 2 episode "The Hollow Men"
). Caroline, Zone, and Mag shoot their way across the Dollhouse to the elevator shaft and start climbing; once they're inside the shaft, Whiskey activates a gas system rendering the imprinted butchers unconscious. With the survivors safe, Whiskey sits down on the balcony, her fate left unknown.
Mag, Caroline, and Zone climb the shaft and arrive in DeWitt's old office. Through the broken window they see Los Angeles in ruins. A large collage of photos is assembled on the wall under the words "To Remember." Photos of Whiskey, Victor, Sierra, November, and Caroline are amongst them. Caroline picks her photo off the wall, saying she hopes she'll find herself alive; then she puts the photo back. The group then climb out the window onto a ladder and the episode ends.
One of the biggest challenges with writing the episode was the slang, which they felt needed to sound like it could genuinely exist in ten years' time. This was fun for Whedon and Tancharoen to write, and they enjoyed finding the balance between interesting words which would also be understandable to the viewer; for example, in the future of 2019, the word "bars" itself has come to mean "signal".
By setting the episode in the distant future, the writers were able to give us an idea of the series' direction (and closure in the face of possible cancellation) through the device of flashforward
s into the show's future; these flashforwards are not seen in the actual core narrative of the episode, but rather through flashback
s in the 2019 setting in the form of character memories. This gives future writers room to move towards these storylines in various directions while allowing new ideas to come through and lead the show in other creative directions. Joss Whedon has also stated that the use of memories as the medium through which future events allows the audience and future writing teams to question the reliability and accuracy of some of what has been seen. This means there is room for future writers to ignore or change things seen in flashforwards to suit the needs of future storylines, actor commitments, etc.
One facet of the flashforwards was to make their revelations ambiguous. For example, a scene with Boyd (Harry Lennix) and Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker
) could be interpreted as either alluding to a new romantic relationship or merely a more developed friendship. The two writers chose to affect a similar ambiguity in the friendship between Adelle (Olivia Williams
) and Topher (Fran Kranz
). Other ambiguities include the fate of Sierra/Priya (Dichen Lachman
); seen in flashbacks alongside Victor's real identity (Enver Gjokaj
), but not in later scenes. Whedon and Tancharoen feels this could imply she was the one to start the resistance movement.
The writers came up with some of the themes for the episode while writing episode ten, "Haunted", alongside former Buffy/Angel
/Firefly
writer Jane Espenson
. In that episode, a character was able to solve her own murder using the Dollhouse's technology. When Whedon and Tancharoen thought about the implications of this, they added a few lines to the script for "Haunted" which resonate with "Epitaph One". In an "Epitaph One" flashforward, Clive Ambrose (in Victor's body) now offers the Dolls bodies for upgrades to their richest clients, offering immortality and physical perfection.
Whedon and Tancharoen enjoyed many of the developments the episode let them seed for future characters, such as Topher's mental breakdown. However, some were more subtle. They stated in the commentary that in the scene with Paul (Tahmoh Penikett
) and Echo
(Eliza Dushku
), Paul will, in upcoming episodes become Echo's "handler" (the role formerly belonging to Boyd). Another is peeling back more "layers" of the DeWitt character, who becomes protective over Victor's body because she is in love with him; in this instance, the line "That body belongs to another soul" becomes the first time DeWitt speaks of the Actives as people with real souls. Director David Solomon placed Paul and Victor together in the background of a scene between Caroline (Dushku) and Saunders, which implies that the two develop a friendship. Priya's surname is also revealed, which was contributed by actress Dichen Lachman.
Whedon and Tancharoen were happy with "Tsetsang".
The ending scenes of the episode raised some questions. For example, Whiskey (Acker) is seen gassing a room full of butchers. However, Whedon feels that perhaps she is just putting them to sleep and will clean up and continue protecting the Dollhouse as always. If this is the case, it raises the interesting possibility that all the events of the episode have happened before or will again. The final fates of the main cast are also left ambiguous; Caroline puts a gun to DeWitt's head in a future flashforward, and a board is marked "To Remember" featuring pictures of Echo, Sierra, Victor and November (Miracle Laurie
, who does not appear in the episode). This could have several meanings: to remember one's real identity, to remember the fallen, or (were the show canceled) to remember the show; the actors and the crew's pictures composed the board.
, who they use in "pretty much everything" because of her girl next door
quality. Over the casting of Adair Tishler
, Tancharoen "geeked out", having been a fan of her role in Heroes
as Molly Walker
. Tancharoen's bridesmaid played a pregnant woman in the Dollhouse, and the crew along with their families and friends' pictures were used to make up the board marked "To Remember" in the episode's closing scene.
Due to the time and budget concerns, the episode was filmed concurrently with the twelfth, "Omega", and had to use the crew from 24
as well as its director of photography, Rodney Charters and feature the series' cast minimally. This meant, for example, the Dollhouse sets had to be redressed for "post-apocalyptic" scenes and then stripped back down again for contemporary ones in "Omega". Actors schedules, the filming of "Omega" and child acting laws meant that Reed Diamond
(Dominic), Eliza Dushku and Adair Tishler had to complete their filming in a single day; the scene with Dominic and DeWitt was the first shot. In
the case of Tishler, all her shooting had to be completed in a few short hours.
Joss Whedon
has said that "Epitaph One" was filmed and produced on a significantly smaller budget than was used to produce the previous episodes. Feeling that the episode still turned out creatively strong, he screened the episode to executives at Fox
after the first season was completed as proof positive he could create the show without spending a lot of money. This, coupled with the show's strong performance numbers on DVR and the Internet and the hope that the show could sell well on DVD with the inclusion of this episode, prompted the network to renew Dollhouse for a second season in the fall.
"Epitaph One" was also written to serve as a satisfying series closer to the loyal audience members should Dollhouse not receive a second season renewal. In one sense, the challenge for the writers was to give a sense of closure to the series as a whole whilst also setting things up for potential future seasons. Since the show did get renewed, however, the producers planned to use several elements (including the flashforwards in time and Felicia Day
's character, Mag) from the episode during the show's second season. Scenes featuring Mag, Zone and Caroline-in-the-body-of-Iris were filmed for the second season premiere, "Vows
", but cut because the episode was "long and crowded with information". This material, as well as newly filmed scenes with the characters, appeared in the series finale, "Epitaph Two: Return".
Due to budget concerns, a real "pop" song could not be used in the coda
of the episode but writers Whedon and Tancharoen thought it would be necessary. To accommodate this, Tancharoen wrote and performed a song titled "Remains
," which can be heard in the background during the episode's final scenes. However, they wanted the song to not be too close lyrically to the content of the episode so as not to distract viewers with the realisation it was made specifically for the episode. The composed lyrics were thematically relevant, but not overly specific to the context. Whedon and Tancharoen were happy with the results, which they felt sounded a genuine
piece of contemporary music. "Remains" was released as a single on both Amazon.com
as well as iTunes
on July 9, 2009.
2009 on July 24, 2009, the episode had its real premiere on the Season Pass on demand service from SingTel mio TV in Singapore
on June 17, 2009. The episode was first broadcast in Sweden on July 26, 2009. When aired in Australia, the episode was retitled 'The Future Project'.
The episode is present on the DVD and Blu-ray season sets released on July 28, 2009 and is currently available on Amazon, iTunes
, and PSN
.
said the episode, "In a word: Unusual." He notes that only after twelve episodes they are approaching this show from a new angle, and "it's a rather effective, offbeat tactic Whedon and this episode's writers, Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, are taking here. The episode is certainly fueled by the persistent "What the hell damn guy!?" question raised by dropping us into the middle of such a different situation." Myles McNutt from his blog on cultural-learnings.com stated that the episode, "isn’t perfect, but in its stylistic flair (it’s really well shot, amongst other things) and its tantalizing images of the past (but, for us, the future) it makes me more hyped for Dollhouse’s return than for the return of any other show this fall." Todd VanDerWerff from HitFix says the episode "suggests far more than it shows, and that makes it all the better" and goes on to say, "they create the sense of something epic that we're only seeing the tip of, that there is a bulk and a weight to this show that could outdo anything else Whedon has done."
and iTunes
on August 11, 2009. It was reported by Robert Seidman, that "Epitaph One" had reached number one on iTunes Top TV Download List on August 16, 2009. "Epitaph One" would then go on to take top spot in the sci-fi genre in 2009.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Dollhouse
Dollhouse (TV series)
Dollhouse is an American science fiction television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon under Mutant Enemy Productions. It premiered on February 13, 2009, on the Fox network and was officially cancelled on November 11, 2009. The final episode aired on January 29, 2010...
. This episode became available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-Ray on July 28, 2009. It is also the first episode of the series to feature Felicia Day
Felicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
, an actress with whom Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
has worked a number of times prior to Dollhouse.
The episode was not aired in the USA due to different contractual obligations with the Fox Network (the television broadcaster) and 20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
(the production company). 20th Century Fox needed thirteen episodes for the first season's DVD release and to sell to foreign markets, and having paid for but then scrapped the unaired original pilot episode, Fox only contracted the subsequent twelve episodes, but not the thirteenth. While Fox did renew the show for a second season, they never broadcast "Epitaph One." Due to Fox's decision not to air "Epitaph One," 20th Century Fox opted to promote the episode as a special incentive to buy the DVD and Blu-Ray set releases of the Dollhouse
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
the episode aired on the UK Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi channel (United Kingdom)
Syfy is a television channel service specialising in science fiction, fantasy and horror shows and movies. It is available via digital cable, IPTV, satellite television and Top Up TV platforms. The channel launched in 1995 in the UK a sister channel to the US Sci Fi Channel , with a similar...
on August 11, 2009.
The episode is set in 2019 in a post-apocalyptic state and utilized flashbacks within the episode to hint at the future the show may or may not take in later seasons. Joss Whedon screened the episode during the Dollhouse panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International and said the show would continue to feature scenes set in the future, that several of the characters introduced in this episode (including Felicia Day's character) would appear in episodes of the second season, and that the second season would follow the general continuity laid out in the episode, while reminding the audience that the episode is based on memories that may or may not be accurate.
A sequel, "Epitaph Two: Return
Epitaph Two: Return
"Epitaph Two: Return" is the 13th episode of the second season, the show's 26th episode overall and the series finale of the American science fiction television series Dollhouse. The episode was written by Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Andrew Chambliss, and directed by David Solomon...
" was aired on January 29, 2010.
Summary
The year is 2019. A group of "actuals" (non-imprinted humans) are attempting to get underground to avoid technology and "butchers." The Rossum Corporation has let imprinting technology slip from their hands; China has created a way to spread the imprint through phone lines and also blanket areas with a wave, and as a result, many people have been imprinted to kill those who have not been. The group discovers the Dollhouse and the chair. Through a series of memories left on a tablet, they discover how the world came to be as it is.Plot
In 2019, Mag (Felicia DayFelicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
), Zone (Zack Ward
Zack Ward
Zack Ward is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:Ward was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of actress Pam Hyatt and the brother of Carson Foster....
), Griff (Chris William Martin
Chris William Martin
Chris William Martin , also known as Corky Martin, is a Gemini Award-nominated Canadian actor...
), Lynn (Janina Gavankar
Janina Gavankar
Janina Zione Gavankar is an Indian-American actress and musician of mixed Indian and Dutch descent. Gavankar is also trained as a pianist, vocalist, and orchestral percussionist...
), a child named Iris (Adair Tishler
Adair Tishler
Adair Rae Tishler is a former American teen actress, model, voice actress, and singer, who has appeared in television shows such as Charmed and House and in movies such as Within and An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. She is perhaps best known for portraying Molly Walker on NBC's Heroes...
) and her wiped father (Warren Sweeney) get into the sewers and find a hole into the Dollhouse. Here the group restore power and find the chair. Attached is a tablet with a simplified interface and a number of sets of recorded memories. The father is placed into the chair and is given several sets of memories, one at a time. Through this method, events leading to the current apocalyptic state of the world are revealed. The group quickly realizes that the Dollhouse is the origin of the imprinting technology. The first set of memories shows Topher's introduction to the Dollhouse with DeWitt and Dominic, and his creation of a new imprinting system that used a different approach to the technology, leading to the development of the chair found in this episode. The old technology used analog cables, which took two hours to upload into an active. Topher brags
that he can do it faster using waves instead, and laughs off Dominic's warnings that such an upgrade could easily go out of control.
Lyn takes Iris to use the bathroom, but is distracted by the possibility of having her first hot shower in a year. She is killed by an unseen figure. A memory is shown with Echo in the chair, being imprinted for a client. Paul Ballard is now her handler. When Ballard and Echo are alone in the elevator she discusses her ability to maintain her own personality in parallel with her imprint but laments the terrible headaches this process gives her. Meanwhile, Iris finds Lyn's body and her screams bring the group to investigate. They all retreat to the chair room.
In a flashback, Boyd is preparing to leave the Dollhouse, collecting weapons, clothes, and food. He believes that he has placed Echo in danger and does not wish to place Dr. Saunders, with whom he is now romantically involved, in the same position. She gives him medicine and bandages, indicating that he has been recently injured. Before he leaves, he promises to return for her. This scene is later expanded upon and further explained in the season 2 episode "Getting Closer"
Getting Closer (Dollhouse)
"Getting Closer" is the 11th episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Dollhouse and the show's 24th episode overall. The episode was written and directed by Tim Minear. It aired in the United States on Fox on January 8, 2010.This episode sees the beginning of...
.
The survivors decide to give Iris what they call a "birthmark" — a tattoo on her back that allows people to distinguish actuals from imprinted people. Dr. Saunders suddenly appears on the Dollhouse's main floor; but it seems that she has regressed to her doll persona, "Whiskey". The survivors surround her, weapons aimed, accuse her of killing Lyn, and are about to execute her when she says she can lead them to "Safe Haven," a rumored place away from imprinting and "tech." Whiskey states that the memories in the tablet would lead them there.
In another imprinted memory Victor, who has been imprinted with Mr. Ambrose, a high-ranking executive in the Rossum Corporation, informs DeWitt and Topher that the company is going to begin selling the bodies of the actives for "a lump nine-figure sum." Select clients will have immortality, similar to that discussed in the episode "Haunted." Topher is visibly upset but says nothing. DeWitt is shocked and protests about the legality of such a procedure, but Ambrose informs DeWitt that it will be legal in a year, as everyone in a position of authority is either a client or "one of ours." When DeWitt threatens to reclaim Victor's body, Mr. Ambrose tells her that she can opt out, but that he is currently in ten other dolls talking to ten other Dollhouse administrators, and that Rossum will know if they choose not to cooperate.
Back in 2019, Iris kills Griff, then frames her father, still in the chair, by shoving the gun in his hand and screaming to attract attention. While Zone takes the father to the bathroom and executes him, Whiskey imprints herself with another set of memories: Mr. Dominic retrieved from the Attic by DeWitt and Topher; by this time, much of the general population had already been imprinted, beginning the apocalyptic events leading to the current situation. Dominic gloats about how he was right about them losing control, but DeWitt asks him to join them. They have a way to fight back: Caroline is now immune to imprinting.
Whiskey is given another memory in which Victor and Sierra are seen with their original personalities back. Victor shows Sierra hidden hard drive wedges with copies of everyone, while also showing that Sierra is the one who began the ideas of tattoos to be placed in order to remember who they really are. She also mentions for Victor to be careful when he leaves to go to the surface, stating "Don't forget what happened to November" (something that is explained in the season 2 episode "The Hollow Men"
The Hollow Men (Dollhouse)
"The Hollow Men" is the 12th episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Dollhouse and the show's 25th episode overall. The episode was written by Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters, and Tracy Bellomo, and directed by Terrence O'Hara. It aired in the United States on...
).
The survivors find the wedges and decide to imprint Whiskey with Caroline's personality. With the loss of Griff, Zone decides that it's time for Iris to have a gun to protect herself. Before long, Iris turns her gun on them revealing that she is an imprint. She does not know how she ended up in a child's body but she is going to take Mag's, and Zone's usefulness is at an end. When she fires her gun at Zone, she finds that it is unloaded, and after a brief struggle Zone puts her into the chair and they activate the chair, overwriting Iris's personality. Zone explains that he figured out that Iris was not who she claimed she was when he executed her so-called father: he had a tattoo but it did not match Iris's surname.
In the memory set in Iris's imprint, the Dollhouse has isolated itself. The actives have all been given their original personalities back. Topher, now mentally unstable, explains to DeWitt that a phone call could be made, and anyone who picked up the phone would be imprinted (similar to the way Echo was wiped in "Gray Hour"). This would create an instant army of people programmed to kill everyone who isn't imprinted. Topher realizes that this is happening because of the technology he made possible: imprinting people with waves rather than the slower, analog method. The guilty realization of the part he has played in causing armageddon has driven him mad. DeWitt tries to comfort him but they are interrupted when a series of crashes is heard from elsewhere in the Dollhouse, which turns out to be someone trying to break through a block wall sealing off the entrance to the complex. The residents take up arms and prepare to defend themselves as the wall comes down, revealing Caroline and Paul, who have
returned to take the actives to a compound, which is a place where they will be safe from imprinting, thanks to Alpha. Caroline requests that Topher make a copy of her personality to help others find the way there in case she's killed or another group of people finds the Dollhouse. Saunders explains that Topher no longer enters the imprinting room, but she volunteers to make the copy herself. As preparations to leave the Dollhouse are underway, DeWitt notes that Echo has returned to save the actives, but asks what her plans are for the former Dollhouse administrative staff. Caroline cocks her pistol and the memory ends.
In 2019, Caroline is imprinted into Iris's body. She quickly agrees to take them to the compound she mentioned in the memories, which is now being called Safe Haven. An explosion erupts from a device that the survivors left in the shaft that leads into the Dollhouse. The noise tells them that the imprinted butchers have reached the Dollhouse and that the group must leave immediately. Mag implores Whiskey to come with them but she says she must wait, as she is waiting for 'someone' (something that is explained in the season 2 episode "The Hollow Men"
The Hollow Men (Dollhouse)
"The Hollow Men" is the 12th episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Dollhouse and the show's 25th episode overall. The episode was written by Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters, and Tracy Bellomo, and directed by Terrence O'Hara. It aired in the United States on...
). Caroline, Zone, and Mag shoot their way across the Dollhouse to the elevator shaft and start climbing; once they're inside the shaft, Whiskey activates a gas system rendering the imprinted butchers unconscious. With the survivors safe, Whiskey sits down on the balcony, her fate left unknown.
Mag, Caroline, and Zone climb the shaft and arrive in DeWitt's old office. Through the broken window they see Los Angeles in ruins. A large collage of photos is assembled on the wall under the words "To Remember." Photos of Whiskey, Victor, Sierra, November, and Caroline are amongst them. Caroline picks her photo off the wall, saying she hopes she'll find herself alive; then she puts the photo back. The group then climb out the window onto a ladder and the episode ends.
Writing
Joss Whedon had conceived many ideas for the episode, but turned the reins for writing it over to his brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen, who work together as a writing duo. Some of Joss's initial ideas for the episode include the concept of "actuals" tattooing their real names on their backs in the post-apocalyptic future.One of the biggest challenges with writing the episode was the slang, which they felt needed to sound like it could genuinely exist in ten years' time. This was fun for Whedon and Tancharoen to write, and they enjoyed finding the balance between interesting words which would also be understandable to the viewer; for example, in the future of 2019, the word "bars" itself has come to mean "signal".
By setting the episode in the distant future, the writers were able to give us an idea of the series' direction (and closure in the face of possible cancellation) through the device of flashforward
Flashforward
A flashforward is an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards are often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future...
s into the show's future; these flashforwards are not seen in the actual core narrative of the episode, but rather through flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s in the 2019 setting in the form of character memories. This gives future writers room to move towards these storylines in various directions while allowing new ideas to come through and lead the show in other creative directions. Joss Whedon has also stated that the use of memories as the medium through which future events allows the audience and future writing teams to question the reliability and accuracy of some of what has been seen. This means there is room for future writers to ignore or change things seen in flashforwards to suit the needs of future storylines, actor commitments, etc.
One facet of the flashforwards was to make their revelations ambiguous. For example, a scene with Boyd (Harry Lennix) and Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker
Amy Acker
Amy Louise Acker is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series Angel as Winifred Burkle and Illyria and on Alias as Kelly Peyton. She is also known for her role as Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey on Dollhouse.-Early life:Acker was born and raised in Dallas, where she...
) could be interpreted as either alluding to a new romantic relationship or merely a more developed friendship. The two writers chose to affect a similar ambiguity in the friendship between Adelle (Olivia Williams
Olivia Williams
Olivia Haigh Williams is an English film, stage and television actress who has appeared in British and American films and television series.-Early life:Williams was born in Camden Town, London, England...
) and Topher (Fran Kranz
Fran Kranz
Francis Elliott Kranz is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Topher Brink in Joss Whedon's science fiction drama television series Dollhouse.-Early life:...
). Other ambiguities include the fate of Sierra/Priya (Dichen Lachman
Dichen Lachman
Dichen Lachman is an Australian actress. She is best known for appearing in the soap opera Neighbours as Katya Kinski and Joss Whedon's science fiction drama television series Dollhouse as Sierra...
); seen in flashbacks alongside Victor's real identity (Enver Gjokaj
Enver Gjokaj
Enver Leif Gjokaj is an Albanian American film and television actor. He is best known for his co-starring role as Victor in Joss Whedon's science fiction television series Dollhouse.-Early life:...
), but not in later scenes. Whedon and Tancharoen feels this could imply she was the one to start the resistance movement.
The writers came up with some of the themes for the episode while writing episode ten, "Haunted", alongside former Buffy/Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
/Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
writer Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson is an American script writer and television producer who has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and shared a Hugo Award for her writing on the episode "Conversations with Dead People"...
. In that episode, a character was able to solve her own murder using the Dollhouse's technology. When Whedon and Tancharoen thought about the implications of this, they added a few lines to the script for "Haunted" which resonate with "Epitaph One". In an "Epitaph One" flashforward, Clive Ambrose (in Victor's body) now offers the Dolls bodies for upgrades to their richest clients, offering immortality and physical perfection.
Whedon and Tancharoen enjoyed many of the developments the episode let them seed for future characters, such as Topher's mental breakdown. However, some were more subtle. They stated in the commentary that in the scene with Paul (Tahmoh Penikett
Tahmoh Penikett
Tahmoh Penikett is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Karl "Helo" Agathon on the Sci Fi Channel's television series Battlestar Galactica and as Paul Ballard in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse'.-Early life:...
) and Echo
Echo (Dollhouse)
Echo is a fictional character portrayed by Eliza Dushku in the Fox science fiction series Dollhouse, created by Joss Whedon. Within the series' narrative, Echo is an "Active" or a "doll", one of a group of men and women who can be programmed with memories and skills to engage in particular...
(Eliza Dushku
Eliza Dushku
Eliza Patricia Dushku is an American actress known for her television roles, including recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel. She starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse...
), Paul will, in upcoming episodes become Echo's "handler" (the role formerly belonging to Boyd). Another is peeling back more "layers" of the DeWitt character, who becomes protective over Victor's body because she is in love with him; in this instance, the line "That body belongs to another soul" becomes the first time DeWitt speaks of the Actives as people with real souls. Director David Solomon placed Paul and Victor together in the background of a scene between Caroline (Dushku) and Saunders, which implies that the two develop a friendship. Priya's surname is also revealed, which was contributed by actress Dichen Lachman.
Whedon and Tancharoen were happy with "Tsetsang".
The ending scenes of the episode raised some questions. For example, Whiskey (Acker) is seen gassing a room full of butchers. However, Whedon feels that perhaps she is just putting them to sleep and will clean up and continue protecting the Dollhouse as always. If this is the case, it raises the interesting possibility that all the events of the episode have happened before or will again. The final fates of the main cast are also left ambiguous; Caroline puts a gun to DeWitt's head in a future flashforward, and a board is marked "To Remember" featuring pictures of Echo, Sierra, Victor and November (Miracle Laurie
Miracle Laurie
Miracle Laurie is an American actress best known for portraying Mellie, November and Madeleine on the Joss Whedon drama Dollhouse.-Career:Laurie's first credited TV role was sorority sister Veronica in "Team", a 2004 episode of Medical Investigation...
, who does not appear in the episode). This could have several meanings: to remember one's real identity, to remember the fallen, or (were the show canceled) to remember the show; the actors and the crew's pictures composed the board.
Production
Joss Whedon had wanted someone not conventionally strong for the part of Mag, who he felt should be a regular girl who the audience could see thrown into an impossible situation and not a battle-hardened or tough woman. Writers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen selected Felicia DayFelicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
, who they use in "pretty much everything" because of her girl next door
Girl next door
The cultural and sexual stereotype of the girl next door or the All-American girl is invoked in American contexts to indicate wholesome, unassuming femininity, as opposed to the culture's other female stereotypes such as the tomboy, the valley girl, the femme fatale, girly girl, or the slut. The...
quality. Over the casting of Adair Tishler
Adair Tishler
Adair Rae Tishler is a former American teen actress, model, voice actress, and singer, who has appeared in television shows such as Charmed and House and in movies such as Within and An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. She is perhaps best known for portraying Molly Walker on NBC's Heroes...
, Tancharoen "geeked out", having been a fan of her role in Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
as Molly Walker
Molly Walker
Molly Walker, portrayed by Adair Tishler, is a fictional character on the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. She is a young girl with the power to locate anyone just by thinking about them.-Genesis:...
. Tancharoen's bridesmaid played a pregnant woman in the Dollhouse, and the crew along with their families and friends' pictures were used to make up the board marked "To Remember" in the episode's closing scene.
Due to the time and budget concerns, the episode was filmed concurrently with the twelfth, "Omega", and had to use the crew from 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
as well as its director of photography, Rodney Charters and feature the series' cast minimally. This meant, for example, the Dollhouse sets had to be redressed for "post-apocalyptic" scenes and then stripped back down again for contemporary ones in "Omega". Actors schedules, the filming of "Omega" and child acting laws meant that Reed Diamond
Reed Diamond
Reed Edward Diamond is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Det. Mike Kellerman on Homicide: Life on the Street and the role of recurring character Laurence Dominic on Dollhouse...
(Dominic), Eliza Dushku and Adair Tishler had to complete their filming in a single day; the scene with Dominic and DeWitt was the first shot. In
the case of Tishler, all her shooting had to be completed in a few short hours.
Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
has said that "Epitaph One" was filmed and produced on a significantly smaller budget than was used to produce the previous episodes. Feeling that the episode still turned out creatively strong, he screened the episode to executives at Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
after the first season was completed as proof positive he could create the show without spending a lot of money. This, coupled with the show's strong performance numbers on DVR and the Internet and the hope that the show could sell well on DVD with the inclusion of this episode, prompted the network to renew Dollhouse for a second season in the fall.
"Epitaph One" was also written to serve as a satisfying series closer to the loyal audience members should Dollhouse not receive a second season renewal. In one sense, the challenge for the writers was to give a sense of closure to the series as a whole whilst also setting things up for potential future seasons. Since the show did get renewed, however, the producers planned to use several elements (including the flashforwards in time and Felicia Day
Felicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
's character, Mag) from the episode during the show's second season. Scenes featuring Mag, Zone and Caroline-in-the-body-of-Iris were filmed for the second season premiere, "Vows
Vows (Dollhouse)
"Vows" is the premiere of the second season of the American science fiction television series Dollhouse and the show's 14th episode overall. The episode was written and directed by series creator and executive producer Joss Whedon, and aired in the United States on Fox on September 25, 2009...
", but cut because the episode was "long and crowded with information". This material, as well as newly filmed scenes with the characters, appeared in the series finale, "Epitaph Two: Return".
Due to budget concerns, a real "pop" song could not be used in the coda
Coda
Coda can denote any concluding event, summation, or section.Coda may also refer to:-Acronyms:* Calgary Olympic Development Association, the former name of the Canadian Winter Sport Institute, a non profit organization...
of the episode but writers Whedon and Tancharoen thought it would be necessary. To accommodate this, Tancharoen wrote and performed a song titled "Remains
Remains (song)
"Remains" is a single from Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon and was released on July 9, 2009.The track was co-written and produced by Maurissa and Jed specifically for inclusion in "Epitaph One," the unaired lost episode of Joss Whedon's sci-fi television series Dollhouse, which Maurissa and Jed...
," which can be heard in the background during the episode's final scenes. However, they wanted the song to not be too close lyrically to the content of the episode so as not to distract viewers with the realisation it was made specifically for the episode. The composed lyrics were thematically relevant, but not overly specific to the context. Whedon and Tancharoen were happy with the results, which they felt sounded a genuine
piece of contemporary music. "Remains" was released as a single on both Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
as well as iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
on July 9, 2009.
Release
Despite advertising that the episode would have its debut at Comic ConComic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
2009 on July 24, 2009, the episode had its real premiere on the Season Pass on demand service from SingTel mio TV in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on June 17, 2009. The episode was first broadcast in Sweden on July 26, 2009. When aired in Australia, the episode was retitled 'The Future Project'.
The episode is present on the DVD and Blu-ray season sets released on July 28, 2009 and is currently available on Amazon, iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
, and PSN
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
.
Reviews
Eric Goldman from IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said the episode, "In a word: Unusual." He notes that only after twelve episodes they are approaching this show from a new angle, and "it's a rather effective, offbeat tactic Whedon and this episode's writers, Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, are taking here. The episode is certainly fueled by the persistent "What the hell damn guy!?" question raised by dropping us into the middle of such a different situation." Myles McNutt from his blog on cultural-learnings.com stated that the episode, "isn’t perfect, but in its stylistic flair (it’s really well shot, amongst other things) and its tantalizing images of the past (but, for us, the future) it makes me more hyped for Dollhouse’s return than for the return of any other show this fall." Todd VanDerWerff from HitFix says the episode "suggests far more than it shows, and that makes it all the better" and goes on to say, "they create the sense of something epic that we're only seeing the tip of, that there is a bulk and a weight to this show that could outdo anything else Whedon has done."
Sales
"Epitaph One" was released on both Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
and iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
on August 11, 2009. It was reported by Robert Seidman, that "Epitaph One" had reached number one on iTunes Top TV Download List on August 16, 2009. "Epitaph One" would then go on to take top spot in the sci-fi genre in 2009.