Dollhouse Series Finale

[white avenger]

While recuperating from my latest bout with the flu, I've been re-watching "Dollhouse," for the first timr since the series left the air, and I was wondering if anyone could help me to understand a few things.

Mainly, I'm not quite halfway through Season 7, and I can't help but wonder just exactly when Joss was given the word that there wasn't going to be a Season 3, My reason for asking is that it seems pretty clear that the entire second season, plus part of the first, is building directly toward the end, with almost no hope whatsoever of there being a Season 3. It's almost as though he planned it to be two seasons long from Day One.

 

[Taake]

Well in interviews Joss has mentioned that the only reason they weren't cancelled after season 1 was because they were more or less "forgotten" to be dropped and were more or less just dutifully given that second season because. So I think that at the start of season 2 he more or less already had implied word that there wouldn't be a third season...

I think the reason why it seems like they were always building towards the end already in season 1 was that clearly, considering the network involvement with the first couple of episodes, there was never much faith in the show. Joss probably tried to get a complete a story as possible in season 1 because they weren't sure they would be getting a season 2 at all. I don't know if it's like that for American networks but in Sweden they measure they viewership at the third episode of a show and then already make the decision whether to invest in a second season or not (it is thought that after the third episode viewer numbers are unlikely to rise). If it's similar then I can't imagine "Dollhouse" ever having had much of a chance for even a seconds season because they kind of struggled with viewers as far as I've gathered. So really, I think they just knew they weren't believed in and unlikely to go on and therefore tried to wrap things up as best possible and as quickly as possible.

 

[thetopher]

If you're refering to Epitaph 1 then that was purely a budgetary thing to begin with. Joss filmed the Pilot (Echo) but it got negative feedback from the focus group/audience preview so he decided to redo it. Fox wanted 13 for a season but Joss now only had a budget for 12 and a bit.

So Joss reused some of the scenes from the unaired pilot (but not some of the best ones imo) in later episodes and decided to shoot a low-budget 13th episode for the DVDboxset so he could produce that magical '13' number that the studio wanted.
I don't think Epitaph 1 was initially what Joss wanted to do but it was something he thought about out of nessesity and decided to continue with it.

About half-way through S2 they were informed that Dollhouse would not be renewed for a third series- and you can tell when because that's when the season starts to accelerate towards a climax, tying up all the loose ends it can.

I think Joss imagined a 5 season story arc (the dolls contracts, including Echo's, are all five years) with maybe another 'post-apocalyptic season at the end to finish the story off. The fact that we only really got a third of that is pretty sad imo.
Ironically the two 'Epitaphs' are some fans favourite episodes.