Las Vegas Weekly

An addition to the Dollhouse

Dollhouse fans should seek out the show’s un-aired 13th episode now available on DVD.

Produced without Fox’s involvement and never aired on TV, the 13th episode of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse is now available exclusively on the DVD set of the first season. Billed as a standalone episode not following directly from what Fox billed as the season finale, “Epitaph One” is actually far more important to the show’s future than that description would indicate. Although it doesn’t pick up right from the 12th episode, “Epitaph” does rely on developments from throughout the first season to weave a story that projects years into the future of the Dollhouse itself.

It’s tough to say too much without giving away the episode’s many twists, but any fan of the show will want to seek out “Epitaph” both for its exciting narrative (built around a framing device that features post-apocalyptic survivors breaking into the Dollhouse in 2019) and for the path it lays for the show’s future. Although “Epitaph” would have been a fitting series finale, and was devised when the producers had no idea whether the show would return for a second season, creator Joss Whedon has said that its major developments will be followed up on when Dollhouse returns in September. If you want to get an early look at the promising new direction for the sci-fi show, DVD is the only place to do it.