I would have loved to see the Sierra/November scene.
The location is written as 'EXT. SOMEWHERE WE CAN SHOOT', and more stuff like that, so it looks like a very early draft.

J.I.G. | May 09, 17:45 CET

This is a stupid little thing, but I wonder why they (Tim?) didn't bother filling out the title page. Interesting to a nerd.

Also, yay! I probably will hold off on reading, though, unless it's found out the scenes won't be on the DVD.

Jobo | May 09, 17:45 CET

Interesting bits about typical revision colors here.

zeitgeist | May 09, 17:58 CET

Does no one find it odd that they cut out Alpha's escape? I guess the reviews were right; there was a lot more telling than showing. They basically just had Adelle tell us about how he got away.

There better be a director's cut on the DVD or something. There are some subtle nuances I want to see more of.

John Darc | May 09, 18:28 CET

Ah. I wondered if he was faking the "watch your step" moment but wasn't sure through all those flashbacks how much he was faking and how much he was really sort of only partially cognizant.

Sunfire | May 09, 18:32 CET

Pages 76ish onwards are a good read

gossi | May 09, 18:34 CET

Man, Alpha's escape sounds very cool. Must see extended cut!

bonzob | May 09, 18:38 CET

The original script had far fewer plot holes than the actual episode. Echo grabbing Alpha while still covered from his retaliatory fire was a much better reason for him to hurl the wedge away than because the unarmed woman is chasing him and he has a clear shot at her. Also, the Sierra and November stuff was all excellent, not to mention the bit when Ballard fails to deactivate November and gets pistol-whipped by her.

Taaroko | May 09, 18:40 CET

Ballards failed "you need therapy" line is great.

gossi | May 09, 18:48 CET

Also, wasn't Alverez the name of the woman Rebecca replaced on The Inside?

Jobo | May 09, 18:56 CET

Why did they cut that awesome Sierra/November stuff? Why not that lame scene with Tanaka or something? It was so sloppy.

jkalderash | May 09, 19:05 CET

I adored Paul's smile at the camera after that scene, though. Playing it off like it went just how he'd wanted. Hehe.

Jobo | May 09, 19:06 CET

But it did go how he wanted.

The One True b!X | May 09, 19:20 CET

Didn't it go just like he wanted it?

Sunfire | May 09, 19:20 CET

I laughed so hard at, "Therapy. You need therapy."

Pistol whipped!

geratongs3000 | May 09, 19:23 CET

Having read a bit more, I'm glad they cut the Paul comedy toward the end. It's great stuff but a bit odd there. The funny stuff they left in doesn't ever break the dire tone, as hilarious as many of Alpha's lines are.

Sunfire | May 09, 19:26 CET

I wish they'd kept the entire bit about the evolution of ritual sacrifice.

The One True b!X | May 09, 19:32 CET

Will they be on the DVD?? I hope so because i was really looking forward to the Sierra/November scene that they cut out but still used the promo pics for the episode so they can physc us up then let us down again. Really hope Dollhouse gets a second chance by getting renewed.

gingyfromshrek | May 09, 19:32 CET

Mannn, I guess I totally missed the point of that scene, then. I thought Adelle just knew he would try and out the Dollhouse and, as usual, nobody would believe him. And then she was right. I'm lame.

Jobo | May 09, 19:37 CET

It makes sense that they took Paul's gun.

John Darc | May 09, 19:41 CET

Jobo I think that's the setup-- you're not dumb, you're supposed to think that. I was surprised when Paul seemed to be trying to alert the FBI. But then that smile at the camera said pretty clearly to me that he'd just manipulated Tanaka a bit. It was a tricky scene. He did pass real information to the FBI, after all, even as he got them to go away. It's just that they're not going to believe it.

[ edited by Sunfire on 2009-05-09 19:43 ]

Sunfire | May 09, 19:42 CET

Here too, B!x -- that was a very inspired and astute observation in relation to the show -- by Minear, or whoever came up with that -- plus it would probably have been hilarious in Tudyk's delivery at the same time. :-)

Changing "Ancient Greeks" to "Pre-hellenic Minoans" was a good call. But really, the rest should have stayed in. Can't even imagine it being controversial.

Kaneda | May 09, 19:50 CET

Of course, now I want to read the other 11 scripts...

C. A. Bridges | May 09, 20:29 CET

Me, too! Great lines and scenes from "Omega" that I hope will be swept off the cutting room floor and deposited in my DVD box.

Pointy | May 09, 20:51 CET

What a pleasure to read the script, but I don't think they lost that much with those cuts, the ending was faster paced and cleaner without the comedy (even though we always love the comedy). Suppose Fox will decide to make more money by publishing all the scripts the way they did for Firefly?
*sigh*

embers | May 09, 20:59 CET

It's interesting - it may well have been intentional? - that the Minoan culture was eventually picked as an example of a civilization that practiced human sacrifice. It's a controversial assertion - as is the notion that a number of other early civilizations performed this kind of ritual. The votes aren't all in on which cultures did or didn't practice this form of ritual murder.

However, it's clear that serial killers themselves perform ritual killings, and that Alpha sought historical support for his desire to kill. The choice of Minoan may have been specific, to indicate that for all his accumulated personalities' knowledge, he could still be very wrong - and thus very human and ungodlike - or it may just have been random.

The idea of human sacrifice also resonates with the operating core of the Dollhouse - the Actives are all human sacrifices, in a sense - and corresponds to some issues of "consent" as well. Some cultures may have obtained the "consent" of the humans they sacrificed - including those of children - but is it possible to consent to that which is difficult to imagine? One's own obliteration?

I very much enjoyed reading this version of the script (and would like to read any other versions of any other episodes.) While I imagine many of the cuts were made because they went long & had to compress, I really would have preferred to see bounty hunters Sierra and November retained for the final act. For so many reasons...

QuoterGal | May 09, 21:09 CET

Did he specify human sacrifice though? Or just 'blood rituals'?

SteppeMerc | May 09, 21:51 CET

He said "blood" rituals - but since he refers to it in the context of Echo killing Caroline - and relative to the sacrifice/murder of of Christ - it seems unlikely that he's alluding to initiation rites, or ritual tattooing and the like.

QuoterGal | May 09, 22:09 CET

I just loved reading this script. After seeing it performed, it was great to see what the actors did with their parts, and how much was set out for them. Super writing- it was all there, very controlled, yet no superfluous detail.

toast | May 09, 23:51 CET

Interesting reading. Perhaps the most interesting part for me is that it finished on Echo/Topher, not just on the dolls as we did... I do feel that scene didn't end up strong enough to close the season on, but it puts an interesting amount of weight on Topher (who, incidentally, I felt was the most interesting character in this episode, and when you're up against 48 of Alan Tudyk that's kind of impressive). Hmm.

skittledog | May 10, 00:28 CET

The closing shot of the episode aired is the final shot of "Echo", the original (unaired) pilot by Joss. Which is on the DVD.

gossi | May 10, 11:12 CET

QuoterGal: Minoan culture... It's a controversial assertion

Next you'll be telling us that the Germans didn't use Zeros to bomb Pearl Harbor.

OneTeV | May 10, 16:18 CET

Does no one find it odd that they cut out Alpha's escape? I guess the reviews were right; there was a lot more telling than showing. They basically just had Adelle tell us about how he got away.

I guess that when November and Sierra as bounty hunters got cut for time, they didn't have any good shots of Alpha escaping left without them in them. It's too bad. I liked the scipt's ending better. Alpha seemed more like the genius he's been built up to be when he used the Dollhouse's control measures against them, and less the run-of-the-mill serial killer he was in most of this episode. But then there are many Alphas, and thus infinite fanwank. His personalities seem to vary a lot in intelligence and maturity. Did anybody else notice that one of the scribblings on the wall of his lair is a game of tic-tac-toe?

The idea of human sacrifice also resonates with the operating core of the Dollhouse - the Actives are all human sacrifices, in a sense

They're mostly sacrifices to Mammon, it seems. They seem to be hedging their bets somewhat with the pro bono work, though.

dreamlogic | May 10, 16:42 CET

I just read 'Minoan culture' as 'minion culture.' Sounds fun.


Ohhh. I take it I would already know that if I had hung around here more as episodes were airing? Have been wary of heated debate and also, have been behind and spoiler-phobic. Oh well. Cool, because that makes a lot of sense (which I didn't really feel it did at the end... not quite, anyway. Something didn't quite gel in the tone).

skittledog | May 10, 16:51 CET

I hear there are tons of deleted scenes on the DVD, but I have no idea which deleted scenes.

TamaraC | May 10, 21:15 CET

I've heard similar, Tamara.

gossi | May 10, 21:19 CET

Good! I love deleted scenes, second only to commentaries. Somebody noted earlier that the Whedon DVDs don't usually have deleted scenes. True of Buffy and Angel, but not Firefly. There're a couple, just from the pilot. Which was not shown until after the series had been cancelled (hmmm). There are different rules for shows on the Fox network (.)(?)

dreamlogic | May 10, 21:55 CET

What's interesting is that the final shot from "Echo" was also used at the end of "Ghost".

Anuris | May 10, 22:27 CET