Dollhouse season one released yesterday on DVD and Blu-Ray. I rented disk four of the DVD as the rental place didn't get the Blu-Ray. Disk four has the un-aired Epitaph episode and the original un-aired pilot. Epitaph was intended to be a wrap up of the series if it didn't get renewed. Or if the series got renewed, which it did, a device to create episodes that explain how the apocalypse shown in Epitaph came about.
Unfortunately like so many of the series episodes Epitaph comes off like a bunch of unpolished sketches and listening to the commentary by Jed Whedon and his wife who wrote that episode that's exactly what it is. The episode takes place in 2019 ten years in the future. Much of the story takes place in a darkly lit underground ruins shot with video (creative license to keep the budget down) and interspersed with flashbacks from the series as well as parts from the original pilot. The sketches make it a little hard to follow but overall one of the better episodes. It is interesting to note that at the time the commentary was recorded they still didn't know if the series would be renewed or not. However, the original un-aired pilot has to be about the best episode of the entire series. It was very coherent and well done. It was almost the quality of a True Blood episode. It was a great set-up for the whole series. So what happened? The pilot reads like something HBO or Showtime might pick up not a broadcast network. Did FOX water down and starve the series for funding? My bet particularly the latter happened. The behind the scenes suggest that the creative enthusiasm was very much dampened. And Dollhouse, has a rather large ensemble cast for a network show. So has True Blood. Most broadcast shows have smaller ensembles. Or look at the successful Burn Notice (on USA Network) which has three principles. It's easy to do that show on a light budget in Miami shot on 16mm which makes it look grainy but I loved the cinematographer's style which is very 1970s and few "extreme closeups" which look lousy on HD sets. I would hope that Dollhouse gets a bigger budget and more time to develop scripts for the second season. Otherwise we may not see season three.
