The Dollhouse Demise Towards Great Potential

So, just because this blog is certainly positive, doesn’t mean that my positive crystal ball always comes out right. I could play the pompous blogger and claim my crystal ball was a little broken and that lack of readers’ commentary is to blame, but geez – that sounds like too much effort. I always like to respond to being wrong on the Internet with a shrug, a crooked grin, and a “you can’t get ‘em all correct”.

Well, you can’t get ‘em all correct.

Despite my positive opinion for the stylings of Dollhouse‘s increasingly engaging plotline, Fox has given the Joss Whedon series the official axe today, meaning that the hiatus it is currently on will be the last break before the final hurrah of eps. This makes it two times that Whedon has been burned by Fox, the first being with the “most cancelled” series Firefly, which garnered enough fan support for a brief revival on the big screen (“Serenity“).

While cancelled series are difficult to make into a positive, there’s quite a bit of a glimmer on the horizon. The first is the different environment and cred that Joss Whedon has garnered since the last time he had a series canned.

When Firefly was cancelled, Joss had only Buffy and Angel to fall back on, but since then, he’s gathered a bit of a greater fan following through the modest success of Serenity, a well-received reception for the musical web short Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and now with Dollhouse, which despite being rebuffed by Fox at least made it further than Whedon’s first effort with the network. This makes a rescue by another network a slight bit more likely, though Syfy has already mentioned they probably won’t pick it up. Neither network, however, is the only game in town.

Even if it isn’t picked up, however, Whedon is prepared to move to different endeavors, stating on Whedonesque.com that he’ll keep on trucking with new projects, and one in particular which he says we’ll know about by the time the Dollhouse closes for good.

The knowledge of a series’ end also has a way of creating a buildup and a potential for “going out with a bang” . There’s Whedon-style star power coming to the impending end of Dollhouse, with Firefly alums and other folks making an appearance in the series’ swan song of eps. When a series is uncertain about its future, there tends to be a pulling of the punches, but when the game is going to come to an end, you can bet that it will be no holds barred. Dollhouse‘s dystopian outlook, moral questions, and conspiratorial mysteries will hopefully all be addressed, but the impending finale means that the last few episodes are going to be exciting, action-packed drama fests.

To accept the end means to look forward beyond it to the future, and while the demise of Dollhouse is arguably premature, I’m planning on enjoying every minute up until the finish line – and the potential of new beginnings for Joss, the cast, and all those involved. Take a swig of your glasses folks – it’s going to be a wild ride.