EPISODE REVIEW: Dollhouse: “Omega” (Episode 12 - Series Finale)

“We’re superior people, with a touch of German thrown in. What could possibly go wrong?”
---- Echo.

I have to admit, I’m kind of blown away by it all. Though Mr. Whedon really only delivered half a series, and only half of that was any good, the bit that was good totally lived up to the hype, even if that doesn’t completely redeem the slow, boring, uninspired start.

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I’m going to do this in chronological order, rather than follow the fractured narrative structure of the episode, since it’ll make it easier for you, the reader

Quite a while ago, a psychopath kidnapped a woman, took her to an old abandoned power plant, and sliced her up, pursuant to actually killing her. She got away. The police caught the guy, but the victim could never remember where his lair was. He was tried, found guilty, and sent to jail, but he got an easy charge because he didn’t actually kill anyone. Even so, he was facing 20 years to life.

Sometime after this, the Rawson corporation - which owns the dollhouse - was experimenting on criminals, in exchange for reduced sentences and jail time. Even back then Rawson had clout and connections. Our psycho-killer volunteered, and became a doll named “Alpha.”

Several years ago, Alpha and Whiskey were hired by a client with a “Natural Born Killers” fantasy. Unfortunately, Alpha was buggy as hell, and got all spooked and paranoid from the nature of the fantasy, which was perilously similar to his own real-world past. Alpha slips away from his handlers with Whiskey and the client, and goes back to the same abandoned power plant, where they torture the guy for information while Whiskey dances to Roy Orbison (“In Dreams”), shades of Blue Velvet. Dollhouse security manages to track him by his chips, however, and they bust in and save the client while Alpha and Whiskey are evidently planning to rape him to death. It’s not shot explicitly, but it’s still creepy as hell.

Whiskey is the #1 doll, the most popular, the most requested. There’s a kindly elderly man doctor in the Dollhouse at this point. Around this same time, a year or so before the show begins, Caroline/Echo comes to the Dollhouse. She doesn’t seem as resistant as she has in the flashbacks prior to this episode, but she’s clearly scared as hell about it. Alpha is immediately smitten with her.

Caroline becomes Echo, and Alpha - though a typically vacant active - puts the moves on her. His handler doesn’t take this seriously, and let it slide. One day in art class, Alpha hears a couple handlers talking about how popular Whiskey is. Alpha goes over to her and says very politely, “Whiskey, let Echo be the best,” and then slices her up really badly.

Security pulls Alpha off of her and drag him up to Topher’s lab - “Did I do something bad? I just want to be my best!” They’re preping him for The Attic when he starts fighting his handler, and kicks him in to a control panel while trying to get out of the chair. This causes a malfunction that downloads all 48 of Alpha’s previous made-to-order “Doll” personalities in to him at one time. He goes psychotic, kills the handler, grabs his original personality recording from