Welcome to another special edition of TV or not TV where I admit that I am a Whedon-holic.

This past spring long time fans of the brain behind Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly were given the gift of another TV show from the mind of Joss Whedon. I admit to both excitement and trepidation in knowing that this new show, Dollhouse, would be on FOX after already having gone down that road with Serenity. I feared not enough  network support, I feared network interference and on at least one of those accounts I was right. Thankfully as the show progressed through it’s season the latter was overcome and the show went from mediocre to amazing in a very short amount of time.

Today I’m here to not talk to you about the history of Dollhouse or its second season pickup. I’m here to talk about the forthcoming release of Dollhouse season 1 on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 27th.

Dollhouse Blu-Ray

I’m not usually the guy that tells you to go out and buy a TV show on DVD mostly due to the fact that what you get more often than not isn’t anything greater than what you saw for free on television. With this DVD/Blu-Ray release, however, there is a different story.

There are two extras on this DVD/Blu-Ray that make the purchase a must have for any fan of the show. The first is the un-aired original pilot of the show. This pilot was shot and then shelved/used for parts in the assembly of a new pilot and subsequent episodes. After seeing the entire series I think seeing this pilot was interesting in seeing the vision that was originally intended for (and eventually moved back to) for the show. It’s also interesting to see the bits and pieces from this pilot that were used in the actual series. I also highly recommend it because as a fan of the Whedon clan I found that this pilot was far superior to the aired pilot.

The second reason I highly recommend this purchase if for another un-aired 13th episode of the show, Epitaph One. Ever since Felicia Day (@feliciaday on Twitter) announced that her episode wouldn’t air on TV (at the time setting off fear that this was a sign that the eventual renewal wasn’t coming) I have been obsessed with seeing this episode. Over the days after the tweet we learned that this episode was actually made specifically for overseas distribution AND the home video release. We were treated to cryptic messages from those involved like when Joss Whedon who said, “It’s one of the best episodes we’ve ever made.” The fans were wanting and waiting.

Now, on the eve of the episode Epitaph One being shown at the San Diego Comic-Con I am happy to say that I have seen the episode… and it is better than I’d even imagined.

Epitaph One was a story by Joss Whedon and a teleplay written by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. The episode, set well after the events of the first season, is a stand alone episode that provides us some flashbacks of the original cast and introduces us to six new characters (in the case of most, only briefly in true Whedon fashion). In a phone interview I recently had with Jed Whedon he confirmed that this episode was a story that was set in a way that the if show wasn’t picked up for renewal it would serve as a nice book-end to the series. It does this wonderfully in that we are shown the big picture while still having plenty of questions to have answered and none of our future seasons spoiled. We learn some information about what happened to our regular cast of players while being handed an interesting and frightening original story to follow. In some ways the story has almost Stephen King and George A. Romero inspirations to it and it presents to us a twist that could only come from the mind of someone named (or married to a) Whedon.

One of the interesting things about Dollhouse is the moral gray area that the show tap-dances within. Is what any of these people doing really right or wrong? If you watch Epitaph One one of those questions is heavily answered, and the answer weighs on one of the regular cast members so bad that the result is a complete mental breakdown. The performance of this character is a complete 180 turn from anything we’ve seen from them before and the pain that was conveyed in this scene reached out to me.

Another stand out in this episode is the use of Zack Ward who most of you will remember as Scut Fergus in the holiday classic A Christmas Story. His character is hard, he is tough, and he is played to perfection. One of the things I walked away from most in seeing Epitaph One is wanting to see this story play out just so I can see more of him.

I hate to say that Epitaph One is by far my favorite episode of the season, especially since it is a completely unique story that in no way is a reflection of the rest of the season, but it really is. I would love to see Dollhouse last for quite a few seasons to come and have each season end with the annual continuation of this stand alone story.

So there you have it folks. Whether you buy it or rent it I highly recommend you take in the first season home video release of Dollhouse and especially sit down and enjoy Epitaph One.

– Will Wilkins is only available in this limited edition set.I’d also encourage you to listen to the Jed Whedon interview for even more interesting tidbits.

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