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This review may contain spoilers.

One of the highlights of the first season of “Dollhouse” was certainly the performance of “Firefly” alum Alan Tudyk as the rogue Active known as Alpha. Considering most of the other characters are either fairly subdued or under the control of the Dollhouse, it’s refreshing to see a character who’s so ridiculously out of control. And it’s easy to tell that Tudyk is having just as much of a blast playing Alpha as fans have watching him wreak havoc on the Dollhouse.

In “A Love Supreme,” the Dollhouse discovers that he’s responsible for murdering Echo’s former romantic “engagements.” As Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) and Echo (Eliza Dushku) rush to identify and protect Alpha’s next target, Alpha invades the Dollhouse and unleashes his own brand of hell on its inhabitants, namely Ballard.

For “Dollhouse,” the episode was pretty focused on its eponymous theme. Whether it’s the perverse infatuation Alpha has for Echo or the unspoken connection between her and Ballard, love is in the air. It’s easy to tell that the episode is a Joss Whedon-directed effort. His flair for balancing adventure, romance and comedy is in full effect here, as he defly and seamlessly transitions from a tense moment with Alpha to one of Topher’s (Fran Kranz) signature pop culture references.

What Worked

Now that the show is moving at such a breakneck pace, it’s clear that the writing staff is putting extra effort into retroactively injecting more relevance in the show’s first season, as if each of its self-contained stories is somehow contributory to the endgame of "Dollhouse."

Aside from Alpha’s triumphant reappearance, this was evident with the return of Joel Myner (Patton Oswalt), the Internet mogul Ballard stumbled across during his pursuit of Echo last season. Since that time, Myner has abandoned his fixation on the Dollhouse and is set to get married. Though Myner is simply a guest star, it’s nice that the show managed to find room in the series’ complex plotline to round off his arc, especially since Oswalt’s portrayal made the character one of the most endearing of Echo’s “engagements.”

But the real news here is Alpha. Although his initial appearance took the show to a new level late in season one, it is his role here that cements Alpha as one of Whedon’s best and most interesting villains. The moment when Alpha, armed with one of Topher’s one devices, unleashes the Dollhouse’s entire supply of Actives as his own private army is truly epic.

What Didn't Work

After “Meet Jane Doe” propelled the story so much closer to its ultimate conclusion, “A Love Supreme” almost feels like a step backward. Yes, it’s a superbly entertaining episode, and fans have been anticipating the return of Alpha since last season. However, Alpha’s crusade to kill off Echo’s romantic “engagements,” ultimately culminating in his mind-wipe of Ballard, doesn’t do anything to move the story forward.

If anything, it just complicates matters. We know from “Epitaph One” that Ballard’s personality is intact later on, so now the series must expend more of its limited time explaining how he returned to normal.
All us fans can do is hope that Whedon and his crew know what they’re doing here. So far, they haven’t let us down. This season has truly been phenomenal.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

“Dollhouse” stars Eliza Dushku, Harry Lennix, Fran Kranz, Tahmoh Penikett, Enver Gjokaj, Dichen Lachman and Olivia Williams. “A Love Supreme” was written by David Straiton and was directed by Joss Whedon. “Dollhouse” airs Fridays at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET on Fox.