In the year 2020, Mag, Zone and Caroline (in the body of that little girl) reach "Safe Haven" - the place where nobody can be imprinted. But just as soon as they arrive there, they learn that they have to go back to the L.A. Dollhouse to help guide Echo and her crew who must accompany Topher there; Topher may be half-crazy now, but he's still a genius, and he thinks he has devised a way to reverse the mind-wiping process and restore everyone (everyone still left alive, that is) to their original identities. But he needs to go back to the Dollhouse to do it. "Epitaph One" was a great episode, "Epitaph Two", the continuation (and conclusion) of its story, is merely a good one. It's clear at this point that the "Dollhouse"'s cancellation hurt Joss Whedon's original long-term plans for the show; as a result, a lot of interesting ideas (like the "tech-heads") remain underdeveloped, some characters vanish mysteriously (Whiskey, Dominic), other plot points are not explained (Alpha's transformation into a figure of good), and there are huge gaps in the evolution of the story during the 2010-2020 time period (gaps which may filled-in by a series of comics that will follow; the first chapter, included in the season 2 DVD set, is an intriguing start towards that direction - and it confirms that Mag is a lesbian!). Nonetheless, a bittersweet and acceptable under these conditions finale, and the welcome return of Felicia Day and Zack Ward, who really feel like an integral part of this world despite having appeared in just two episodes. *** out of 4.
Review of Epitaph Two: Return
