Joss Whedon, in a word, is a genius.  Though it wasn’t aired on television, he had capped last season with a shocking look at what the future could hold for the technology of the Dollhouse – what seemed morally questionable became innocent and tame by comparison to the potential abuses.  Then in the second season Joss showed us bit by bit how such a future could come to be – weaving the various “flashbacks” from the fast forward into the regular season and filling in the gaps of how the technology could progress as such.

While I am sad to see the show end, I think that having a defined end point allowed for one of the best series wrap-ups I can ever remember seeing on television.  Whedon and co. delivered one-two punches week after week with the twists and turns in the plot for the past few months.  Characters who seemed infallible would fall, characters who seemed incorrigible would be redeemed, and characters who seemed as transparent as glass would turn out to have unimaginable secrets.

In the final hour, we were returned to the 10-years forward view of things, where despite (or perhaps as a result of) our heroes’ efforts, chaos reigns.  But where the previous flash forward showed an isolated snapshot of the future mixed with glimpses of the road to it, this episode was a mission to set all things right in the world.  As is common with a Joss Whedon wrap-up (e.g., Wash, Anya, Wesley), there were casualties.  And as would be realistic, there were bumps in the road to redemption.  But all things said and done, I couldn’t imagine it ending any other way.

It is ashame that the show did not garner the success or the due that it deserved – if you asked people about the show, they would either love it or not know what you are talking about (unfortunately the latter would be the majority).  But I enjoyed it while it lasted, I can feel confident in the ending laid out, and look forward to Joss’ next project (hopefully in no way tied to FOX).

Every season brings a crop of new shows presenting new talent and new twists on old themes, occasionally some unique perspectives and ideas.  And with this annual crop, there are at least as many weeds as blossoms.  And there is always some level of shuffling things around to give every piece its due time in the sun.  But it seems that some people are too cautious of thorns to know a rose when they have one.

Yesterday, Fox officially announced that they are cancelling Dollhouse during production of this season’s episode 11.  So Joss Whedon now has 2 remaining episodes to tie up all of his loose ends and create a series finale for a show that shouldn’t need to be singing its swan song.  I have not gone looking for a response from Joss or the cadst, but I can only imagine that none of them are happy with the decision.  Given the Fox/Whedon track record, I wouldn’t be surprised if Whedon is turned off from television for a long while.

This situation was completely avoidable.  (a) Fox could have allowed season one to follow Joss’ plan instead of forcing him to change it (since their changes lead directly to depressed ratings during the first half of that season).  (b) Fox could have given it a fighting chance by putting it on a higher traffic night and/or giving it a better lead in.  A Dollhouse/Fringe pairing would have made more sense this season than exiling it to Friday nights nestled among doomed sitcoms.  (c) Joss could have started shopping for a new home for the show at the end of last season when the series was in danger of cancellation (sorry Joss – didn’t want to pin any of this on you, but this IS the third time Fox has screwed you).

As far as I’m concerned, this is a last straw for Fox.  I encourage anyone who feels similarly to consider the following:  Do watch the remainder of the episodes of Dollhouse - preferrably live.  If you don’t watch any other Fox shows, keep it that way.  If you do, DVR them or watch them in some other method where you can avoid watching the commercials (note – I’m not advocating illegal downloading).  Make a conscious effort to avoid Fox and its related properties – take this to the degree you prefer, but note that Fox is owned by the News Corporation which also owns Fox News, FX, FMC, the My Network, NatGeo, Speed, MySpace, Photobucket, IGN and many others.

Luckily I’m fairly liberal-minded and Tom is not my friend, so many aspects of such a boycott will be easy for me.  But I am a fan of a number of other Fox shows such as Bones, Lie to Me, House and 24.  So I will have to either divorce myself of some of these shows or follow my own advice on finding alternate ways of watching them (though I do already DVR pretty much everything I watch).  I hope to see Joss bounce back from this – perhaps get the show picked up elsewhere or work on some cool new project.  Only time will tell.  As sad as I will be to see Echo fade away, I will not forget where the stake through her heart came from.  I understand business, Fox, and this is bad business.

Throughout the season, the story arc has been well orchestrated and has built a strong and believeable canon.  And by the penultimate episode, several elements were poised for a climactic conflict – the Dollhouse continued to operate unaware of its own flaws, both Paul Ballard and Alpha were poised to step forward and get what they were after, and Echo has subtlely been more than she is expected to be.  On Friday night, it all came to a head revealing several mysteries in the process (including some that we may not have realized were mysteries to begin with).

This finale was a perfect conclusion to the current arc (though hopefully not the series as a whole – see prior post).  And the action started before the episode even began.  Last weeks episode, “Briar Rose”, was an artful set to the thrilling spike that was “Omega” which continued nearly off the very heals of its predecessor.  Following prior Paul’s infiltration and the revelation that his agoraphobic accomplice is none other than the inconspicuous Alpha, the Dollhouse has to gain control of the chaos in their laps (including Victor’s medical status, Echo’s absence, and Paul’s presence).  Interwoven with the efforts to piece together the present puzzle, there are flashbacks to the confluence of events that led to Alpha’s original breakdown and escape.  And while Ballard is busy convincing Topher that there is more to a person than a map of their brain, Alpha attempts to make a Bonnie to his Clyde out of Echo (or as he put it the Omega to his Alpha – hence the title).

After Alpha’s plans backfire (sorry for the spoiler, but hey – you were warned … and you should have seen it coming anyway), the denouement includes Alpha being shelved, November being set free, Echo returning to the hen house, and Paul possibly finding an unlikely new place to roost.  Along the way we also discovered that Amy Acker’s Dr. Saunders is actually a doll version of the previous doctor (who happened to be played by George Frankly from MathNet), that Chrissy Seaver can hack it as an adult actress, and that serial killers shouldn’t be used as actives – especially in engagements fulfilling someone else’s serial killer fantasy.  I just hope that Fox sees the forest through the trees with this one and give the show another season to find its audience.  Otherwise this precipice to the next chapter is just an amazing ending.

As if they haven’t given me enough reasons in the past, Fox seems to have issues the final straw this time around.  Over the years they’ve canned and/or moved around a number of shows that I’ve attempted to enjoy.  But this year they’re about to go too far.  My particular concerns are with two shows that are in danger of cancellation this season that I believe are the only worthwhile sci-fi themed shows on television:  Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse.  In both of these cases, the writing and the action this season – especially in the last couple of months – has been sensational.

With Terminator, I am baffled as this show ties into a movie that will soon be in theaters.  It has obviously been used as a promotion vehicle for the movie, and the success of the movie should lead to increased interest in the show (were it to be continued).  And with that a cascade effect could continue with promotion of future movies from the continuing saga and a possible spin-off show to address elements of this saga away from the Connor family.  But given what I’ve read, none of this will likely come together and the franchise as a whole will likely suffer from it.  The biggest downside for the fans will be the lack of any resolution to the cliffhanger left off from this season finale and how things could possibly resolve to what the movie portrays.

Regarding Dollhouse, granted I am and have long been a fan of all things Joss Whedon.  And as a result I’m sure I’ve given this new show a lot of bias.  But the show has proved to be excellent regardless of this bias and deals with some great moral ambiguities while developing some fastinating characters.  If this show gets canned, I don’t know how Joss would have any desire to write for television ever again (as it is, I’m surprised he resolved to try again after Firefly – which was a magnificent show that was poorly treated).

Based on these possible decisions, I can only come to the conclusion that Fox doesn’t care about good television and doesn’t fully understand the implications of their apathy.  I understand that money is the driving force behind ANY industry, but the primary purpose of television is entertainment.  And to continually kill off entertaining shows in favor of a better bottom line is frankly not good for the bottom line.  Having such a high turnover rate and so frequent schedule adjustments to their programming staves off faithful viewership.  I know that I personally my develop a much stronger bias against this network if these cuts end up being exercised.  While there are several other Fox shows that I follow and enjoy (e.g., House, Bones, 24), if they cancel both of these shows I will likely stop watching any of their programming and encourage others to follow suit.  Maybe if enough people consciously boycott this network for such poor decision-making, there ratings will point out the error in their ways.  Maybe.

We will see what decision they make soon enough.  When they do, I will make it clear where I stand on this matter.  And this stance may lead me to rally behind a cause.  Fox – the ball is currently in your court.  Hopefully you make the right choice.

What I WILL write about here, though, is this series in general.  I was introduced to it via a combination of having watched and enjoyed the TV series on the SciFi Channel and having gained access to the books through a friend of mine.  The general premise is this:  Harry Dresden is a wizard living in modern day Chicago.  He is a 30-ish, tall, thin guy who was born with innate magical abilities and uses these powers as a supernatural P.I.  Sometimes he works for a client and sometimes he works for the police as a consultant, but generally it seems that a lot of paranormal and magical badness seems to happen around Chicago and he often ends up in the middle of it.

While I did enjoy the TV show, it turns out that it wasn’t all that true to the novels (at least in the details).  It seems they took a lose interpretation and spun things a bit differently.  I was very upset to see the show canceled.  But I am now more of a fan of the books than the show.  What is great about these books is that it takes almost every type of fantasy creature and concept and blend them plausibly into the real world.  And what makes Harry a compelling and interesting character is not how well he handles these situations, but how badly – he is constantly getting in over his head and somehow manages to pull his ass out (or have his ass pulled out) of the fire – often literally.

So far in the 4 1/2 books that I’ve read, I’ve seen Harry face down demons, sorcerers, werewolves, vampires, fairies, ghosts, and all sorts of monsters.  On a VERY high level, Dresden is sort of Harry Potter meets John McClane.  And despite the fact that he often gets through things by the skin of his teeth, I have yet to see the author cross the line of credulity (given normal suspension of disbelief).

So in summary, Harry Dresden rocks and I look forward to reading more.  I will get into more detailed reviews of each book in the near future (and maybe the graphic novels as well when I find time to read them).  But if you enjoy sci-fi/fantasy, magic, vampires, and/or anything created by Joss Whedon, then I think you’d enjoy The Dresden Files.