"Epitaph Two: Return"

SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Today's Special: Tongue soup (no, not really... or is it?) and berries from the Safe Haven garden.

Ask just about any Whedonite, and they'll tell you that when a Whedon show gets the chance to have a REAL, honest-to-God finale, it is going to be an incredible piece of television (or film, in the case of Serenity). In that vein, "Epitaph Two: Return" did not disappoint. Here are my thoughts on the finale, in no particular order:

• Of the two deaths that I predicted, I was right about one of them. I TOTALLY called Topher's death, even the fact that he would die performing an act of heroic sacrifice. It is both sad and beautiful that the man whose tech brought about the thoughtpocalypse died returning everyone's minds to their rightful bodies.
• I was wrong about the other death, though. I predicted that either Victor/Tony or Sierra/Priya would die, falling in line with the usual Whedon practice of splitting up couples. As it turns out, neither one of them died, and I couldn't be happier to be proven wrong. Apparently even Joss wasn't willing to tear apart such a sweet couple, because Tony and Priya are together at the end of the series, making them members of perhaps the smallest club in the Whedonverse: the Happily Ever After Club. A side note: As much as I love Tony/Priya, if I had a time machine and super bargaining/intimidation skills, I would gladly trade their happily ever after for a Wash/Zoe happy ending. True story.
• Of course, the Whedon Curse had to claim a member of one couple on the show, and Paul was the unlucky one this time. In true Whedon fashion, the death was quick, sudden, and unexpected. BOOM - headshot - and Paul is dead. This being Dollhouse, however, dead doesn't necessarily mean all dead, and Echo and Paul are reunited in an unusual but strangely perfect way: Echo uses Topher's chair to upload Paul's consciousness into her mind, meaning they will (literally) be together forever. The person who left behind the wedge with Paul's consciousness on it? Well, that leads me to my next point:
• You know that slight resentment I've been feeling toward the Dollhouse writers since the revelation re: Big Bad Boyd? Well, they are forgiven. Why? Because they gave me a gift in the form of Sane!Alpha showing up as an ally (a beloved and trusted ally, no less) in the finale. Evil!Alpha was awesome (in a "Holy crap, he's frickin' scary" kind of way), and I love Alan Tudyk no matter who he's playing, but getting the chance to watch Alan Tudyk without having to hate his character? That totally made this fangirl's day. Come to think of it, I would just be deliriously happy if Joss Whedon's next project was some version of "The Alan Tudyk Show." Who's with me?
• As much as I love the fact that Whedon and Co. got a chance to actually end the series, wrap up the story lines and show at least a bit of where they were planning to go, this finale makes me lament all the wonderful stories that DIDN'T get told - at least not in full. If the series had lasted the 5 seasons that were originally planned, then we might have had a chance to see the development of a great many things that were shown in the finale. For example, Alpha's rehabilitation and redemption would have made for a fascinating story arc, along with the rise of the Tech Heads, the estrangement of Priya and Tony, the birth of T, the kidnapping and mental unravelling of Topher, etc., etc. Oh well. I guess that's what fan fiction is for...