Joss Whedon is a master of creating possible and plausible post-apocalyptic futures that indulge our sci-fi fantasies while at the same time echoing societal sentiments. Today's doomsday has come and gone without incident, but we remain paranoid of further end-of-the-world predictions down the road (Here's looking at you December 21, 2012). In honor of our having survived the Rapture today, here is a compilation of the best visions of post-apocalyptic futures from some of Joss Whedon's most beloved T.V. shows.
Dollhouse — "Epitaph One"
Dollhouse was on shaky ground from its inception. Audiences couldn't warm to a main character who didn't even have her own personality, and the twisty plot lines only confused the casual viewer. Admittedly, for the first few episodes of the first season, Dollhouse was only a good show. But the season finale "Epitaph One" made Dollhouse a great show. The episode was a bizarre and grim flashforward to a future where the imprinting technology had spun out of control and created a world where people had been turned to zombie-like "butchers" and the wealthy could afford to live forever by jumping from body to body. You follow a group of "actuals" (non-imprinted people) who discover the old Dollhouse headquarters and slowly unravel the mystery to the imprinting technology and how things had gotten so bad. The episode is haunting and brilliantly filmed, combining flashbacks and true to form sci-fi action, depicting just how much of a danger we are to ourselves when technology can get out of hand.
Watch the haunting and ambiguous ending to "Epitaph One":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItDO1BEx9iM
Buffy the Vampire Slayer — "The Wish"
Ok, this was an alternate reality, but same difference. The season 3 episode "The Wish" depicted an alternate universe in which the world was overrun by vampires, lead by the rejuvenated Master. This parallel world came into being when Cordelia, after her painful break-up with Xander, was goaded by the vengeance demon Anya into wishing that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. As things happen, Cordelia was the most popular girl in a school where almost everyone had died or been turned into vampires. Two of these people were Xander and Willow, who subsequently killed Cordelia as soon as she realizes the huge mistake she has made. The rest of the Scooby Gang is not much better off: Giles and Oz lead a group of vampire hunters called "The White Hats," Buffy has a scarred face and a much colder personality, and poor Angel is a tortured captive of the Master. "The Wish" is a fun "what if?" episode that lets Joss Whedon stretch his storytelling skills with familiar characters. Even though it's a standalone episode, it's a provoking glimpse into a future in which our beloved Buffy never moved to Sunnydale.
The very awesome and still addicting opening to Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmoU05_Fr5A
Firefly — "Serenity"
The whole Firefly series takes place in a distant future where humans have long-since moved from Earth to live in a terraformed universe made up of several planets. Firefly is science fiction at its best, extending our imagination beyond the Earth that we know to a world influenced by the Wild West and Chinese culture. The existence of the "core" planets of the Alliance and the outlying frontier planets is very Star Wars-esque, but the fusion of American Western and Chinese culture really make this an intriguing future to look forward to. Of course, it's a much more positive vision of a post-apocalyptive future than Joss Whedon's other T.V. shows, allowing for the growth of the beloved crew of Serenity that we have come to know and love. There isn't any immediate threat of death by zombies or vampires, and although there's the looming threat of the totalitarian Alliance, that's a pretty sweet deal.
The opening credits to Firefly:
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