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This review may contain spoilers.

“Dollhouse” has reached its Fox-induced finish line. Yet, unlike their handling of creator Joss Whedon’s “Firefly,” the network gave “Dollhouse” enough of a heads-up to allow Whedon and his creative team to accelerate the plot, giving the show’s small but fervent fan base the series finale they craved.

However, just like the penultimate episode “The Hollow Men,” “Epitaph 2: Return” is something of a mixed bag. As its title suggests, the episode picks up right where season one’s “Epitaph One” left off. The imprinting technology which Topher (Fran Kranz) conceived at the Dollhouse has run rampant and created a chaotic society in which people can have their identities “wiped” from anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, Echo (Eliza Dushku), Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) and other former denizens of the Los Angeles Dollhouse continue to fight against the Rossum Corporation in their search for a way to destroy the tech once and for all. Early on in the episode, they rescue Topher from Rossum’s clutches and, almost instantly, discover that Topher has figured out a way to reverse the imprinting tech, returning everyone affected back to their original personalities.

Even for science fiction, a genre that thrives on the unbelievable, this development felt so far-fetched and trite. For a series that was given only 26 episodes to tell such an epic story, “Dollhouse” pulled it off rather well, all things considered. However, Topher’s sudden arrival of a solution to the apocalypse is one instance in which the show’s time constraints cause the plot’s plausibility to falter a bit.

Had “Dollhouse” been allowed to run its course over a few seasons, the story would have been able to smoothly transition from one milestone to the next. The Echo/Paul romance – which was glossed over midway through this season – would have had more time to develop, making the series’ final scene more poignant, and most importantly, the post-apocalypse wouldn’t feel as jarring with the rest of the series. As it stands now, one could almost ignore the two “Epitaph” stories, since “The Hollow Men” does provide a conclusion to several of the show’s running threads, most obviously the relationship between Echo and Boyd Langdon (Harry Lennix).

“Epitaph 2: Return” succeeds in completing each character’s arc in a satisfying way. Topher achieves redemption by sacrificing his own life to destroy the tech that he created, Adelle (Olivia Williams) finds herself once again shepherding confused, helpless people and Victor/Anthony (Enver Gjokaj) and Sierra/Priya (Dichen Lachman) receive the happy ending they deserve.

What Worked

If it’s a Whedon series finale, someone must die, and in addition to Topher’s trip to martyrdom, Paul takes a bullet to the head, echoing Tara’s sudden death by a stray bullet on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The shocking moment happens so fast that viewers might need a moment or two to register what just happened.

This technique affords the audience the same disorientation that Echo feels at that moment, and her outburst to Sierra/Priya later regarding Paul’s death was undoubtedly the most emotionally charged moment of the episode. It also marked one of Dushku’s finest scenes in the series and effectively set up the final twist of “Dollhouse.”

While it might seem puzzling to some, the final scene – in which Echo loads Paul’s personality into her own mind so that in a way they can always be together – does bring their romance to a bittersweet close. It also reiterates one of the show’s central themes, that imprinting can, in essence, be used to achieve immortality. Paul does just that by the time the credits roll. Amidst the events of the final episode, the show also included two fan favorites.

Alan Tudyk once again steals the show as Alpha, having turned to the good side sometime prior to the “Epitaph” world. Although he’s less bloodthirsty and more focused than his last appearance in “A Love Supreme,” his razor-sharp wit remains intact. In fact, of all the fascinating characters “Dollhouse” has created, Alpha is perhaps the most memorable.

Summer Glau also has a sweet final moment as Bennett Halverson, helping Topher save the world through a tutorial video he watches. The kiss and simple “thank you” that Topher offers Bennett’s image really helps to sell the unrequited love the two shared and contributes much to the emotional stakes of the episode.

What Didn’t Work

The return of Mag (Felicia Day) and her traveling companions from “Epitaph One” didn’t really contribute anything to the story. In fact, they only served to eat up screen time that would have been better spent on Team Echo and the characters that viewers care about. Their non-impact on the endgame of the series only serves to underscore just how inconsequential the events of “Epitaph One” really are.

Also, Victor/Anthony and his nomadic band of “Mad Max” wanna-bes seemed like an unnecessary complication. It’s almost as if the creative team of “Dollhouse” was afraid that the show wouldn’t seem “epic” enough if there weren’t about six million new characters thrown into the mix at the eleventh hour. A sharper focus on the main cast would have resulted in a greater sense of clarity with regards to the “Dollhouse” story.

Instead, due to time constraints, Topher’s efforts and those of the rest of Team Echo seemed rushed and were not developed or explained well enough to provide storytelling bravado the series finale of “Dollhouse” demanded.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

“Dollhouse” stars Eliza Dushku, Harry Lennix, Fran Kranz, Tahmoh Penikett, Enver Gjokaj, Dichen Lachman and Olivia Williams. “Epitaph 2: Return” was written by Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon and Andrew Chambliss and directed by David Solomon.