On imdb.com, “Epitaph One” is the highest-rated episode from all of Dollhouse. Why is this? It’s certainly a departure from the other episodes. One of the plot keywords on imdb.com for Dollhouse is “moral ambiguity”. Certainly, throughout the series we ask ourselves a lot of questions about what in Dollhouse is ok, what is acceptable and what is reprehensible. I would argue that “Epitaph One” is popular because most of Dollhouse‘s audience watches the show and feels uncomfortable. They watch the show and feel that moral boundaries, such as whether or no dollsex counts as rape and the idea of selling one’s body have been breached. “Epitaph One” certainly asserts that this technology is not a good thing; the views of the audience are finally being confirmed. This is perhaps the most morally clear episode.
Unless, that is, you see the decimation of the human species as a good thing. At face value this seems like a ridiculous notion, but if it means the problem of overpopulation-which is ultimately responsible for most long-term global problems-is solved, is it justifiable? As the professor in “Man on the Street” says, “As a species, we would cease to matter. I don’t know, maybe we should.” If humanity has disregarded morality, perhaps we don’t deserve to exist anymore.
The reality isn’t quite like this, however. The people who invented and used the technology are the ones who have appropriated it and have presumably “survived” its misuse. The innocent, the people who didn’t even know it existed, are the ones who get it used against them. The Rossum executive in Victor’s body foreshadows this future, where a small minority of powerful individuals become immortal and can inhabit multiple bodies. This is a hugely exaggerated power imbalance. Taking this view, Dollhouse can be seen as a criticism of wealth imbalance, brought about largely by corporatisation. Do you think this view is one intended by Whedon?
To you, is “Epitaph One” more or less morally ambiguous than previous episodes?
It’s unclear (or at least I thought it was) whether or not Echo kills Adelle. Adelle seems to be the most morally ambiguous character. She controls the Dollhouse, but does not seek to abuse its power. This is arguably breached in “Haunted”, when she gives her friend life after death. When it gets personal, she seems less morally righteous. Adelle (and Topher) are partly responsible for the destructive technology, but they never intended for it to be used in such a way.
Do you think Adelle got killed by Echo? Do you think she deserved to be? What about Topher? Were his actions immoral if the consequences were unintended?
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April 25th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
I’m not sure if Echo kills Adelle… I’d like to say she didn’t just because I kind of like Adelle, but like Adelle says there are plenty of reasons for Echo to kill Adelle, least of which that Adelle ran the Dollhouse despite being fully aware of the moral ambiguities (Adelle is clearly intelligent enough to understand the consequences). However, just to defend Adelle, she does seem to be morally opposed to the executive’s new proposal in the flashback with Victor, citing the idea of “soul” as why selling bodies is wrong. When the executive tells her his new plan of taking over people’s bodies, she says that she will not “give away our actives” to the highest bidder, even if the price is a 9 figure sum. Her giving Margaret life after death was a temporary thing, and Adelle appears to be fully aware of this fact (Margaret knows that Adelle had plenty of failsafes in case Margaret tries to run). I would actually argue that when it gets personal, Adelle gets more righteous, since she refuses to give away “our” actives.
I think Topher’s actions were still immoral even if the consequences were unintended, because he should have realized how wrong his work is, even if it’s brilliant. He should have thought of the consequences of creating the technology to wipe millions of minds at once, and the fact that he doesn’t speaks to his immorality. That being said, I still feel bad for Topher, with the whole guilt-driving-him-insane thing. I think Topher’s life motto was kind of just to have fun doing what he loves without thinking ahead, and the consequences of his newest technology have really thrown him.
April 26th, 2010 at 3:11 am
I’m not surprised it’s the highest-rated episode. The others we saw were all very new in a disturbing way, but this one brought us back to familiar territory. It’s zombies! Zombies are easy. Caroline-as-Echo-as-Rebecca choosing (?) to re-do her scenario is… less easy. And I’m not just underestimating the general population; I, personally, found this episode far easier to watch. It’s the only one that I actually enjoyed, as entertainment.
As for the reason… I think you’re on to something with the idea that the ambiguity has been diminished. We’re sympathetic to Topher and Adelle but they’re nonetheless easy to categorize as villains to feel sorry for. It’s pretty common, in storytelling, to show someone as sympathetic or pitiable but still decidedly evil. Topher destroyed millions of lives. Sure, he didn’t seem to intend to, and watching his guilt is pretty ugly– but this is still easy. Forcibly wiping the memories of millions of innocent, unaware civilians to turn them into killing machines: bad. Easy! Turning a select few individuals, with consent that is complicated by nonetheless present, to make them into a variety of new people: bad? I’d say so, but it’s not easy any more, especially since sometimes it feels like the show is trying to convince me that the answer is, “not so bad.”
Also complicated: the question of whether or not humanity, as a whole, is really all that. We’re a big deal, in the sense that we’re pretty much everywhere now, but does it matter? I don’t think this is a question any of the episodes we saw really dealt with, but I wish it would. If everybody’s personalities were replaced with killing programs, would it matter if we then all killed each other? Or rather, wouldn’t that be the moment at which we had succeeded in killing each other– when everybody is a copy?
As relieved as I am to finally see the mind-wiping tech recognized as not very nice, it frustrates me that it required a blanket “no tech” rule. I am, ultimately, a science fiction optimist. I think we are capable of building all kinds of spectacular and terrible ways of destroying ourselves, but I also think we are capable of all kinds of spectacular and wonderful ways of saving ourselves. Even the dollhouse tech could have been used in so many beautiful ways– a cure for every mental illness! A radical rearrangement of the educational system! Everybody gets a job based on their passions, rather than skills, because the skills can be uploaded! Just leave the original individual intact and you’re fine.
“Moral ambiguity” is often just a way of sidestepping actually dealing with the ethics. Many things are morally complex, but I think it’s rare for them to actually be “ambiguous” in the “maybe it’s wonderful, maybe it’s slavery” way that the rest of the show has been.
So, it frustrates me that the episode seems to say that technology can only lead to misery. But it’s far, far less frustrating than the show failing to take a position at all.
April 26th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
For what it’s worth, “Epitaph Two” answers the question of what happened to Adelle definitively.