Omega

"Omega" is the twelfth episode of Dollhouse and the U.S. season finale of the first season. It was written and directed by Tim Minear. The episode aired on May 8, 2009 on Fox.

Synopsis

Alpha's reign of terror continues as his obsession with Echo endangers Caroline's survival; Ballard must make a life-changing decision; and one Doll is permanently deactivated while another's shocking past is revealed. Sierra and November are sent on an engagement as bounty hunters.

Engagements

Engagements

Active	Client	Alias	Personality	Mission
Alpha	Lars	Bobby	Crime Spree Partner	Fulfill Lars' criminal fantasy of a cross country crime spree (Flashback)
Echo	Alpha	Crystal	Bobby's Lover	A familiar personality for Alpha to easily manipulate
Echo	Alpha	Echo/Omega	Super Being	Become a super being via a composite event
November	In House	Fritz	Bounty Hunter	Track Down Alpha and Echo
Sierra	In House	Unknown	Bounty Hunter	Track Down Alpha and Echo
Wendy (Not an Active)	Alpha	Caroline Farrell	Echo's Original Personality	Be killed by Echo after her composite event
Whiskey	Lars	Crystal	Crime Spree Partner	Fulfill Lars' criminal fantasy of a cross country crime spree (Flashback)
Whiskey	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none); attacked by Alpha before being imprinted
Whiskey	In House	Dr. Claire Saunders	Scarred Physician loyal to the cause	House Physician

Continuity

Echo's evolution

• Unlike Alpha, Echo does not snap after her composite event and remains sane and grounded.
• After her wipe, Echo remembers the name "Caroline."

Episode connections

Past episodes

• The flashbacks of this episode, particularly the dual Alpha-Whiskey engagement, explore why Topher Brink has such disregard for writing reports. It is because he made a note of how potentially dangerous Alpha's imprinted personality Bobby could be, which was seemingly disregarded. This is later referenced to Claire Saunders who is, ironically, an imprinted personality of Whiskey's. ("True Believer")
• After performing a remote wipe in "Gray Hour," Alpha is once again shown to have an advanced knowledge of the imprinting technology, sufficient to build his own chair and seemingly install the Active architecture in Wendy.
• During Echo's composite event, flashbacks of her previous engagements from the entire season are shown in quick succession, including those exclusive to the unaired pilot "Echo."
• Dr. Saunders discovers she is an active codenamed "Whiskey" who was imprinted with a modified version of the real, deceased Dr. Saunders. Her real status has been hinted at in "Needs" and "A Spy in the House of Love," and all but stated by Alpha in "Briar Rose."
• The reveal that Claire Saunders is not the Dr. Saunders attacked by Alpha changes the meaning of Topher's line about "Doc Saunders [looking] like a jigsaw puzzle" in a flashback from "The Target."

Future episodes

• The destroyed backup wedge with Caroline's original personality will be repaired and used in "Getting Closer."
• Adelle releases Madeline Costley ahead of schedule. Madeline will ask Adelle about this decision in "Instinct." It will be specifically stated she was released two years early in "The Public Eye."
• Victor's scars will be removed in "Vows."

Cast

Main cast

• Eliza Dushku as Echo/Crystal
• Harry Lennix as Boyd Langton
• Tahmoh Penikett as Paul Ballard
• Fran Kranz as Topher Brink
• Enver Gjokaj as Victor
• Dichen Lachman as Sierra
• and Olivia Williams as Adelle DeWitt

Recurring roles

• Amy Acker as Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey/Crystal
• Miracle Laurie as November/Madeline Costley
• Mark Sheppard as Graham Tanaka
• Angel Desai as Sophie Alvarez
• Alan Tudyk as Alpha/Bobby

Guest starring

• Natalie Avital as Nita Walsh
• Natalie Graziano as Art Attendant
• Joe Howard as Old Dr. Saunders
• Marco Sanchez as Blevins
• Ashley Johnson as Wendy/Caroline Farrell
• Ryan Alosio as Lars
• Jordan Tartakow as Ethan

Background information

Production

Filming started on January 21st 2009. Since it was the last episode of Fox's 13-episode order (which included the unairable original pilot "Echo"), it was effectively treated as a season finale, both by the producers in that it resolves most season-long plot developments, and by Fox who advertised it as such. However, the status as the season finale is weakened by the fact that 20th Century Fox Television produced a 13th episode, "Epitaph One", for international broadcasts and the Dollhouse Season One DVD. "Omega" was shot at the same time as "Epitaph One".

Reception

Critics

"[O]ne of the weirdest, most surreal hours I’ve witnessed all season"

―Matt Roush Recap

"Another polarising, complicated episode of Dollhouse. In that sense it was a fitting season finale."

―The TV Critic's Review

Ratings

"Omega" reached 2.7 million viewers, a 1.7/3 Rating/Share, a 1.0/4 Rating/Share in the 18-49 demographic and a 1.1/3 Rating/Share in the 25-54 demographic.

Deleted scenes

• Topher comes to Adelle to tell her Alpha used an old Whiskey imprint (Crystal) on Echo and explains why.
• Imprinted as bounty hunters, Sierra and November get a phone call about Alpha being located and start their motorcycles.
• Sierra and November arrive at the power plant where Boyd and Paul are tracking Alpha. Paul is afraid they'd hurt Echo and, despite Boyd's instruction to let them pass, tries to offer them a treatment, only to call it "therapy" instead. November knocks him out.
• At the power plant, November and Sierra corner Alpha. He starts reciting November's trigger, imitating Adelle's British accent. Boyd arrives at the scene before he finishes and offers both Actives treatments, only for Alpha to quietly slip away in the meantime.

International titles

• French: "Omega" (Omega)
• Italian: "La numero uno" (The number one)

Music

• The song in the flashback, in which Whiskey/Crystal is dancing to is "In Dreams" preformed by Roy Orbison. This is possibly a homage to a scene in the David Lynch movie Blue Velvet where the song is used in a similarly uncomfortable scene.
• It is followed by an instrumental theme called "Bad House": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj8DpCzz5W4
• A cover of The Korgis' "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" by Beck closes the episode.

Promotional Photos

Iromo-omega-01.jpg

Quotes

"Alpha, meet Omega!"

―Alpha to Echo/Omega after attempting a composite event

External Links

• "Omega" at the Official Dollhouse Wiki
• "Omega" at tv.com
• "Omega" at IMDb