I don't know what that means. But it sounds kinda dark.

ETA: aww, sad. Joss didn't write it. Oh well, at least it's J-Mo and Joss directed. That's something.

[ edited by Jobo on 2009-03-15 01:41 ]

Jobo | March 15, 01:40 CET

Epitaph is Greek (anybody spotting the Greek thing in Dollhouse yet?) for "on the gravestone". It's like a sentence or poem which sums up something or someone.

gossi | March 15, 01:42 CET

Yeah, but the "one" confuses me. I mean, obviously it will not when I watch the episode (er, right?) but for the moment. I am curious to see what speculation will arise from it.

Jobo | March 15, 01:43 CET

Damn. I picked Restless Redux in the pool. Also nice Half Life 2 vibe for the title :).

Simon | March 15, 01:47 CET

Well, the first episode was titled Ghost, so Epitaph works with that, too.

NileQT87 | March 15, 02:08 CET

Aw, it sounds like someone's gonna die. again.

DisChunk | March 15, 02:11 CET

It doesn't quite resonate the way that a "Becoming" or "Graduation" does with the thematic obviousness, does it? The "One" sounds like something that gives it a double meaning. Maybe there's a Dollhouse run facility or some similarly important thing called "Epitaph One".

KingofCretins | March 15, 02:31 CET

That "one" qualifier is indeed peculiar. Huh. I guess we'll find out what it means.

This is a bit of a stretch, but "Alpha" denotes the *first* in a series - including, but not limited to, the alphabet. Alpha = One? Not really, I know. But.

phlebotinin | March 15, 03:03 CET

Tho many end/die, one can be summarized...

So what happens to a doll when they have completed their five year contract?

Wilhelm | March 15, 03:28 CET

No one knows, since this is only the third year of Dollhouse's operation.

DisChunk | March 15, 04:19 CET

I have assumed that the doll's original personality is safely stored on one of Topher's drives, and after the service is completed will be restored. Of course, who is to enforce a breach of contract dispute if the dollhouse were to renege? The handler?

peacemonger | March 15, 04:21 CET

getting better every week. I actually enjoyed ep 4 haven't watched last nights yet (taped it) but I am startng to catch onto the show. My dad uttered the words earlier Did I fall asleep and I replied for a little while and then ran around the house giggling like a tool.

Lockescythe | March 15, 05:01 CET

I don't see any reason whatsoever to think that the Dollhouse has any intention of ever letting Caroline or anyone else return to their lives at the end of 5 years. The Actives have no leverage. They, for all practical purposes, don't exist anymore. They'll use them for as long as they can manage to perform for the engagements they are requested, and then they'll probably bury them in the desert somewhere. Why wouldn't they? Moral compunction? Heh. Topher's ethics? Adelle's? Dominic's?

KingofCretins | March 15, 06:31 CET

Hypothetically: What would you think of the Dollhouse if it did honor the contracts? What would that do to the moral equation?

The One True b!X | March 15, 06:41 CET

I don't even know if I can engage the question until I see some evidence that they actually do. Seriously, you could push me over if they actually did. All having former Actives walking around out there in their old lives does is introduce a security risk -- that people that engaged them will run into them, or people whom they were used against will run into them, or people like Ballard, etc.

If (in the almost suspension-of-disbelief-crushing off chance) they did let them go... it wouldn't do much to my view of the morality of what they do. The Dollhouse renders the idea of informed consent not only moot, but kinda hilarious.

KingofCretins | March 15, 06:51 CET

I've seen this title before somewhere...

Chrisham2 | March 15, 07:01 CET

Buffy Anne Summers
1981-2001

Beloved Sister
Devoted Friend

She saved the world
A LOT

Did Wash have one in the movie?
(I need to purchase that movie)

[ edited by Wilhelm on 2009-03-15 08:07 ]

Wilhelm | March 15, 08:03 CET

Just a video headstone with "Hoban Washburne" on it.

John Darc | March 15, 08:12 CET

Epitaph One indicates to me part one of a two parter. This isn't like Joss Whedon tho. Usually he writes each season of a series as if the finale were a series finale. An end note. So speculation of others is probably more astute. It could also be Whedon(s) playing with us. Epitaph is usually an end note, but putting a one next to it indicates that there is no real end.. is there?

As for what happens to an Active after their contractual obligation is fulfilled, I imagine the Company lives up to its end of the bargain. Oh so it would seem. That's the game plan, but not all players on the field may opt to run that same play. DeWitt had Caroline sign the paper for a reason. Granted, there may be factions within the organization with less scruples. Therein lies more contention and more conflict. Always fun to have on a show such as this.

I'm sure that ideally, the intent is to do this: keep Caroline on disc somewhere, and after five years are up, scrub Echo's brain good so that Echo is completely gone, and then reinstall Caroline's original memories BACK into the Echo body. In theory, she'd be right back where she was when she started. In fact I bet Topher could invent five years of memories so she has no recollection of The Dollhouse whatsoever, and no reason to suspect anything curious happened to her in that time. Any scars she might have for example, would be explained away with artificial memories. They might give her some respectable amount of money for her trouble, telling her she made it on investments over the past five years. Then they'd probably have people shadowing her for the first few months, quietly monitoring her progress. A full team at first (maybe led by her handler) and if there's no worries, just one person who's job is to check in on her now and then to be sure there's no worries. That's the ideal. Smooth, you might say.

If there's one thing we know about the WhedonVerse, things never go according to plan.

There's a lot of things that can go wrong with this plan. Say for example, Adele DeWitt represents those in The Dollhouse who operate legitimately, and hope to keep things as legit as possible, so that on that day when they will inevitably be caught, she'll have enough evidence to prove this was not an unethical operation even if it is illegal. Lawrence (security chief and lead boobhead) however, represents a contingent inside the organization that knows the world just don't work that way, and we don't need to operate ethically if we're already doing things illegally. This would explain why he's game for sending them all to The Attic on the slightest sign of trouble. If Echo gets sent to The Attic prematurely, they wouldn't have to worry about Caroline's petty retirement plan.

Also, what if after five years something has gone wrong with Caroline's recorded memories? Anything from a misplaced refrigerator magnet to Agent Ballard capturing Echo before they can properly reinstate the Caroline Matrix. That could complicate matters. And even if they successfully input Caroline into Echo, what if something goes wrong? What if Topher overlooks something? He's obviously far from perfect. What if Caroline's memories don't mesh with the world she inhabits five years later? We are led to believe there were problems in her life that DeWitt said would be resolved upon her return. What if they aren't? And what if in those intervening five years, Echo becomes a personality so strong that Topher's scrubbing can't remove her? Would that not lead to the infamous Composite Event they've talked about?

At any rate, we're definitely talking about a wide range of ...interesting possibilities. Though the ride so far has been a bumpy and uncertain one, personally I hope for all our sakes, there is an Epitaph Two. However, I hope you forgive me. I am not achieving a Man Reaction regarding that possibility. Not yet. Maybe the shower's a little too cold.

ZachsMind | March 15, 09:49 CET

Wheehee. Finally confirmation on that. Also, nice to know that Maurissa is actually out there editing fan-run wikis and not the official one.

wiesengrund | March 15, 10:39 CET

No one knows, since this is only the third year of Dollhouse's operation.

It's not. I don't know where the 3 year thing has come from?

Epitaph One indicates to me part one of a two parter.

To me, 'summary of Dollhouse (season one?)'. I read somewhere it neatly answers lots of questions and ties everything up in a little bow, then quietly asks a bunch more.

wiesengrund, does anybody edit the official wiki any more?

gossi | March 15, 10:42 CET

I'm very sad about the choice of writers. Episode 3 was very poorly scripted :-(

eyeboogers | March 15, 10:43 CET

I guess not, gossi. It does seem kinda dead. :)

wiesengrund | March 15, 10:46 CET

Aww, give both of them a chance eyeboogers - if I was going to write Joss off after one episode, I'm afraid after Buffy's "Family" he would have been dead to me. Also, eyeboogers is the best name ever.

gossi | March 15, 10:46 CET

How about Epitaph One meaning...that this is just one version of events. Like, there is more than one way to see how this when down.

dev | March 15, 12:22 CET

I don't think it was poorly scripted so much as trying to cram too much into one ep.

zeitgeist | March 15, 15:15 CET

I thought it was trying to space out too little, myself. I roughly sat through Stage Fright thinking "Is something going to happen now? No? Oh! Not!Britney has gone over the balcony! I hope she's dead! Oh, she's not! Damn! I want chocolate!".

gossi | March 15, 15:21 CET

:) Yeah, but you always want Ri-- er, chocolate and or a pint of lager and a packet of crisps.

zeitgeist | March 15, 15:22 CET

Oh God, J-Mo have turned me into a giant racist. Moving on from THAT car crash joke: I believe they're also sharing credits on Jane's episode.

gossi | March 15, 15:29 CET

Which one, gossi? As far as I know there are two Jane-episodes, one co-written with J-Mo and one without.

wiesengrund | March 15, 16:37 CET

I'd just like to state that dev's post a few up is actually me. Sorry - should check before I post!

bubblecat | March 15, 19:15 CET

Glory, is that you?

The One True b!X | March 15, 19:17 CET

LOL! I mean...if course not.

Back on topic - could the episode be all about Alpha's decent into madness?

bubblecat | March 15, 19:20 CET

Sorry. King Crimson's "Epitaph" just kind of composited itself into the conversation here.

MissKittysMom | March 15, 20:19 CET

Yeah, J-Mo and Jane are both credited for Haunted, the ninth episode. Then Jane's alone for Briar Rose.

Jobo | March 15, 20:24 CET

Well, that solves that one!

gossi | March 15, 20:28 CET

That was going through my head also, MissKitty'sMom.

peacemonger | March 15, 21:11 CET

Glory. There's a name I haven't heard in awhile.

Madhatter | March 15, 21:29 CET

ZachsMind, if I could toss off plot lines the way you do, I'd be writing fiction for money.

janef | March 16, 00:57 CET