(S02E12) The problem with prequels (and with regards to Dollhouse, I consider everything that happened before "Epitaph One" and "Epitaph Two" a prequel) is that you know how things are going to turn out. This somewhat ruins any sense of surprise one might get from any revelations of the program.

Granted, it was a decent stopping point for the show. All the dangling plot-lines were resolved and if we weren't aware of the two "Epitaph" episodes, we'd all drink our collective Slurpees and let out a sigh of relief knowing that Dollhouse ended on an emotionally satisfying note.

TWO WEEKS until the next episode? Come on, Fox. What's up with that?

We told you earlier this year about the new ABC mystery series Happy Town. It's from the people who did Life on Mars and is about weird happenings in a small town. OK, that doesn't describe much, but from the extended preview below, it looks like it has a lot of Twin Peaks and a little Harper's Island. It has a good cast, including Sam Neill, Steven Weber, Amy Acker, Geoff Stults, and Abraham Benrubi.

(S02E01) For those who have seen the DVD-and-iTunes-only episode of Dollhouse ("Epitaph One") which deals with an apocalyptic future, we're not there yet. Instead, this episode (written and directed by Joss Whedon) deals with Paul Ballard using his connections to the Dollhouse to go after an arms dealer that he couldn't put away as a simple FBI agent.

We see the beginnings of the Boyd Langton/Doctor Saunders relationship hinted at in "Epitaph One," but once again, considering that Amy Acker has a limited appearance this season in order to go to Happy Town, she was the highlight of this episode. I honestly hope that show fails, so that Amy will be around this one more for next season. Is that wrong?

A lot of people thought that the phrase "second season of Dollhouse" wouldn't even be something we'd be saying at this point. It was assumed that FOX would be one of those sci-fi or action shows that FOX cancels quickly and we'd be writing Short-Lived Show posts about it.

I guess if this is the last season we could still write those posts, but until then, here's a trailer for season two, which starts Friday.

(S01E13) This episode of Dollhouse never actually aired on Fox, and in fact, it's not going to. I'm not sure why, though, because I thought it was fantastic. Yes, it was a dramatic departure from what had gone before, but despite its unique presentation, it offered some amazing insight into the world of Whedon's Dollhouse, and its future.

"Epitaph One" will be available on the Dollhouse: Season One DVD, available July 28, 2009. It was also screened this past weekend at Comic-Con. Even though I wasn't there, I did manage to get my hands on it, so join me, if you will, for a very spoilery look at the true season finale of Dollhouse.

I roll my eyes a bit when a network has to go back about 20 years for a reference that ties into a new show. From the network that gave you Twin Peaks, comes a new town: Haplin, Minnesota. Hey, this show's about a town too! This one is also a mystery, about someone called "The Magic Man," who kidnapped several children years earlier and now might be back and behind a murder and another kidnapping. This has Amy Acker and Dean Winters in it, so I'm definitely going to check it out.

Well, you guys were absolutely right. Season five of Angel is awesome, and I'm so glad I slugged through some of the earlier seasons that didn't exactly float my vampire boat.

The writing in season five is excellent, the characters are both fun and multidimensional (especially Wesley, whose story only gets more and more tragic), and it's just a great all-around season. Here are five reasons why I loved this season as much as any TV show (including Buffy).

Well, I've covered Buffy the Vampire Slayer here on Jane After Dark, and my nephew, who loaned me his Buffy DVDs, also got me into Angel. Nearly everyone I talked to about Angel said they just couldn't get into it. After Buffy, maybe everything else pales in comparison.

I have to say, I really only started watching Angel out of respect for Buffy and Joss Whedon, and because I really loved the character of Angel (and David Boreanaz is not hard to look at). I was alternately watching Buffy and Angel at the same time (one disc of Buffy, one of Angel, and so on); it was a good way to do it, because there were a few crossover episodes that made a lot more sense watching them that way.

Does this new TV season seem weird to you? It's almost as if it hasn't "officially" started yet. Ratings for returning shows are down, only one new show seems like a real breakout hit (The Mentalist), and there's an odd feeling to the whole season so far. I think it's a mix of the writers strike, apprehension that shows we like will get canceled too soon, and the new habits of TV viewers (TiVo, iTunes, Hulu, AOL Video, and other online viewing destinations, etc). It's almost as if the new season won't be in full swing until Lost, 24, and American Idol come back.

Another show that a lot of people are looking forward to is Dollhouse, the new FOX show from Joss Whedon. Fans freaked a bit last month when the show's production shut down. But it was only for two weeks, and now Amy Acker explains what happened and why there's nothing to worry about (to summarize, Whedon shut down production so he could change the fourth episode a bit and catch up on scripts).

The Whedonverse is an incestuous place. While Drive is not technically a Whedon show, Tim Minear was brought into the fold long ago and is part of the family. And it is showing as they continue to retool the cast of his latest creation. Amy Acker, formerly Fred on Angel, is the latest addition. She'll be playing the missing wife of Nathan Fillion's (Firefly, Buffy) character, Alex Tully.

There is finally an official start date for the show as well. Drive will premiere on Sunday April 15th before settling in to Mondays at 8 on April 16th. Leading in to 24 is about as good a slot as they could have asked for, and taking over for Prison Break seems to make a lot of sense. Viewership for the two shows should be similar, so hopefully most of those folks will stick around to see what Minear has cooked up.

[ via whedonesque ]

When ABC decided that this was going to be the last season of Alias, J.J. Abrams wasn't in on the discussions. It wasn't until after the decision was made that Abrams was called while filming Mission Impossible 3 in China. While he's not all that surprised at the decision, he is saddened to see it end . . . make that "somewhat" end. Abrams has been discussing the possibility of doing something (spin-off? TV movie?) involving the characters Sark (David Anders), Peyton (Amy Acker) and Sloane (Ron Rifkin). Y'know, I might be OK with that idea, but only if they do something fresh with it; the whole Alias vibe to me is stale.