If Dollhouse is any indication of what having a definite end in sight does to science fiction storytelling on TV, then we’re going to be satisfied not only with Dollhouse but also with Lost. Tonight we had longstanding mysteries solved, and yet at the same time unexpected twists and turns to keep us enthralled.
If you’ve never watched the show, I definitely recommend giving it a try.
If there is one thing Dollhouse touches on that my religion and science fiction course needs more of, it is the apocalypse – a term with religious connotations in its origin, but widely used (along with Armageddon and other terms from a similar background) in science fiction as well without religious connections.
It has been suggested that sci-fi’s interest in the end of the world is closely connected with the potential science provides us with to bring human history to an end through our own actions and technology. I suspect we could spend most of a class period just listing the opportunities (both already-existing and speculative) that science has or could provide us with to terminate ourselves. It wouldn’t be a fun class, but it could be interesting…
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In