Oh, thank goodness we’re ending season one so that I can begin season two next week with screencaps! Glory days! I think I forgot to tell you, but I’ll be writing about the final five episodes of the first season in this post. Why only do four and have one left?
Also, before I forget: our very own McKenzie was able to grab an interview with Rachel Skarsten, who plays Tasmin (during season three, which I have yet to get to!), tonight. So, if you have any questions you’d like asked, make sure to send her a tweet at @McKenzieLyn. If you don’t have a Twitter account, write it in the comments and I’ll tell her to check, but the easiest way is to tweet her your questions as the interview will be taking place tonight around 8pm eastern time. She’ll be posting the interview here on NWN later this week, so look out for it! Moving on…
The final five episodes of Lost Girl’s freshman season decide to move forward a bit with both season-long stories. Bo’s mother shows up, albeit without announcing as much, and Dyson continues to struggle with the fact that he’s omitting valuable information about Bo’s backstory to her. But at points, it still feels a bit rushed — as does many of the stories that take place during the first season. As many have noted, Lost Girl‘s season structure is always a bit clumsy, and I’d have to agree.
The first couple of episodes of the season are dedicated to the Bo and Dyson seesaw relationship, going on again, off again, and back on again in just a matter of three episodes. Then, the season shifts gears and decides to tell a mini-arc about Kenzi feeling sidelined, and then it packs a punch with “Vexed,” then slows a bit to a case-of-the-week format, introduces a new character, and then the climax of the season unfolds. This is more story than most other shows would dare to tell in just 13 episodes, and keep in mind that there’s more stuff going on in between those arcs. It just never feels like Lost Girl is telling multiple stories at the same time.
Some of that has to do with the on/off nature of the series, where they’ll skip a couple of episodes before deciding to touch upon an issue again. And some of it does have to do with general clumsiness. Maybe I’m just air-headed, but elements like Bo and Dyson’s relationship sometimes settled to a stasis where I didn’t even understand how it got there, and for that reason their story for the season never really hit home like I know the writers wanted it to. Before “Vexed,” they’ve decided to not sleep together again; during “Vexed,” they do and their relationship is different (I know, darn out of order filming); after “Vexed” it’s almost like flirtation again; and then “Faetal Justice” comes along and they’re like this epic power couple; after that, there’s this big honeymoon phase. By the time the big Mother reveal comes along, it’s difficult to feel as though Bo has truly been all that betrayed. Even the character sort of just brushes it off by the end of the episode. And when Dyson’s love for Bo is sacrificed, are audiences really all that crushed?
The handling of that relationship somewhat hastened the gravtias with its major plot points, and given the way the season ended, it seems like a lot of the story will fallback on it. Of course, there’s a couple of things working at the writers’ disfavor here: (1) They decided to stick “Vexed” in the middle of the season, which automatically would have caused a disjointed relationship arc for both of the characters; (2) A lot of what is happening is suppose to be explained a bit by who Bo is, intrinsically. The problem with that is I don’t think we sufficiently know Bo well enough to sympathize on all accounts. I mean, even last week I was questioning how awful was it really that Lauren had slept with Bo. (Speaking of Lauren, talk about a character who is sidelined after “Vexed.” Whoa.)
What did work for me, however, was Saskia, or I suppose Aife. I’m a sucker for characters like this, and it seemed like the perfect character that Lost Girl needed at that moment. When Aife is first introduced, I did have some sort of inkling that they could have been related and she was perhaps her mother. But I never really confirmed it in my own mind. Whenever I watch something, I never try to think too far ahead, to be honest. I like to keep myself surprised (which is why I’m utterly letdown when something is just too obvious). The Aife reveal worked well enough. I was mostly impressed by how well it covered up everyone’s motivations.
At first, I was misguided in thinking that Trick should have been a bit more sinister as he was played in the pilot. But given Aife’s backstory, the direction in which they took his character made much more sense. I especially appreciate just how crucial Aife, and therefore Bo, are to the Fae mythology. Although, with everyone saying just how dangerous Bo could be to everything and everyone, you just knew she had to be some sort of special. And it doesn’t seem like we’ve gotten to the end of her specialness. Snaps for everyone!
Have I just talked your ears off at this point? Or is that read your eyeballs off? What’s the text equivalent of that saying? All right, let me write a short blurb for each episode below…
“Fae Day” is one of those episodes where you’re just like, “Of course.” Of course the character Kenzi is getting close to is the one who gon’ die. It kind of saddened me that they went with one of these setups, where you get to know someone really intimately and then they’re dead forever. Of course, they’d use the parallel of a family who knew each other but wasted the opportunity to ever be close with one another. They don’t understand how good they have it; some of us don’t even know our family members (ahem, Bo!). Of course the character they choose for all of this was a humble, charming young guy you just didn’t want to pass away. Of course it was all the father’s fault.
However, this episode does establish the fact that some things are just destined to be. It’s faete. Har har har. I’m hilarious. These tend to be common themes, for the most part, on supernatural series, where there is so much unnatural-ness going on that the mythology calls from elements to ground the story — and I sort of see that’s what’s happening here on Lost Girl. Then again, it calls into question Trick’s whole Writing In Blood thing, but nevertheless.
Also, I liked the banshees.
Not gonna lie to you guys, I really kind of loved this episode. First, you’ve got Aife. So that’s already going to make you love an episode, obviously. Then you’ve got a great, fun whodunit of sorts. Again, fun. And then it reinforces some themes about the series!? Awesome!
That’s really all there is to say about this episode. We have to commend the Lost Girl writers for drilling in (pun intended) its message about female sexuality during this installment, having a fae who is against promiscuity for all the wrong reasons, and then having two succubi bust him for it. Nicely done.
Elsewhere, the series also decides to pick up on Kenzi feeling a bit left out and proves that shuffling the characters around could provide some good story lines now and again.
“Faetal Justice” is another one of those good episodes where you know that Lost Girl was hitting a stride. It features Vex in it already, which was the more compelling of all the villains this season, so it definitely already had a vibe attached to it from the get-go. For some reason, I just really bought into all of the drama that was taking place this episode, and I admire that sort of passion that was riled up inside Bo once again.
This episode also serves as a vehicle to propel Dyson and Bo into their dynamic that will ultimately feel a bit broken once Bo finds out that he’s been technically lying to her this entire time, so it needs to set that up well. Since I binge-watched these episodes, I can’t exactly say that it worked, but I imagine that might be something that’s better digested on a week per week basis. Something about time passing makes audiences feel as though, well, the same amount of time passed during the series’ timeline. So, it might have worked better live than on a rewatch. And I have to mention this, I’m not a fan of the Fae leaders any more than I was during the pilot. It has nothing to do with them being kind of the worst; it’s just them — the way they’re written and executed… I don’t know. Is it just me?
But whatever, any episode where Bo and Vex go at it again is a PLUS! Who cares that the culprit was once again obvious? NOT ME! Especially because this episode featured the most GIF-able moment EVER IN HISTORY:
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS MOMENT POSSIBLE. Series highlight, in my opinion. In fact, the series IS quite GIF-able in most respects. I also made a GIF of Kenzi’s eye roll at the bar, but… it didn’t come out so well. So, I’ll reserve that for only my computer. Hey, this is my second time ever making a GIF.
It’s weird to like this episode so much. There are just so many great gems here, I think. From “A stiff one will do it — I mean a drink” down to the fact that these people are swingers. I don’t even understand why I like an episode where a plant is eating people, as ridiculous as that sounds, but I do. I think maybe it’s because Kenzi goes undercover again, which is probably now just fact that it’s always hilarious. Also, Hale gets into the mix and um, can you say double hilarious? Kenzi and Hale should always be paired off to do missions together, Lost Girl. Thanks for that.
Bo and Dyson are all honeymoon phasing, which is what I caught to be a bit strange. Though, I guess it’s okay to be very happy that you didn’t die during the previous episode, so why not? I also like the little hint of Bo struggling to stay monogamous, as Aife said she would. Well, I guess she sort of told her it was pathetic as a succubus to commit to one partner, but still.
Also:
It’s okay, Bo. All the cool characters’s boyfriends do their moms. Ask Elena Gilbert.
As a season finale, “Blood Lines” does the first season of Lost Girl justice. It’s an episode that rightfully plays up all the dramatic tension that has been brewing for the previous 12 installments and even makes it worthwhile: there’s an impending war coming, after all. Hell, the show decides to murder some of the Elders, because why not? Of course, much of what the finale comes down to is just, basically, information.
Who is Bo? Who is her mom? Why did she abandon her? What’s the story with Trick? And in most other series, it’s understandable why some of this may have just seemed like it was prolonged only because. I suppose you can say that about Lost Girl, as well. “Well, what was the point of delaying that?” It didn’t affect all that much, if we’re being honest. But if the finale gets any major points, it’s showing us how far along the characters have come in their dynamics, and just how much they care for one another.
Here, Bo is willing to go solo if it means that Kenzi is 100% safe. Kenzi is willing to sacrifice her life if it means that she can fight the good fight beside her friend and she calls Hale up, which reinforces their fun banter. Trick willingly changes destiny, knowing all well that there will be dire repercussions. Dyson is willing to forego being a werewolf if it makes Bo just a bit stronger in any way, although the result is him giving up any romantic feelings for Bo. We even have Bo going back to Lauren, who she feels betrayed her deeply, just to get more information about how to takedown a succubus. That’s right, Bo is willing to forego a relationship with her mother (I mean, she knows she’s a bit out there, but still) to save the fae from getting into another epic war.
If there’s anyone out of the mix, it’s Lauren, who is weirdly just relegated to giving technical details and exposition about fae for the last five episodes of this season. Once again, the structure of the season strikes again; having Lauren more involved would have allowed for more compelling tension between the two characters. But the snag in their relationship goes so far as to just put distance between them, and we never get any dramatics between Bo and Lauren… and Lauren and the Ash, for that matter. It’s unfortunate.
If I have one real problem with this episode, it’s that staircase scene. Let’s just not talk about it. I am, however, happy that Aife didn’t plummet to her death. They couldn’t get rid of her, obviously! And I look forward to whenever she plops up again, but am kind of saddened that she may not be her usual self. I just want her to be the mother that poisons her child to spend some quality time with her again. Is that too much to ask!?
Lost Girl season one wasn’t the most elegant ride, but it was definitely a fun one. What the season lacked in drama, it made up in campiness and charm. And you know what? Charm is really what makes people remember to come back, anyway.
Next week: season 2! I’ve watched the premiere, so I know how the “curse” is handled thus far, which seems to be played quite straight. But I have to say that I like the film-like qualities of the season. Not too shabby.
Don’t forget to tweet @McKenzieLyn with your Rachel Skarsten questions!
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You are gradually turning me to an appointment reader with your LG recaps,so far you are the only site that i know that recaps the show fairly... well done,can't wait for the next batch..
Why, thank you! I didn't anticipate how difficult it might be to do 4 episodes because being very detailed would drive me and readers bananas (plus I want to watch more than 4 a week!), but I'm glad you're enjoying it. :)
Also, before I forget: our very own McKenzie was able to grab an interview with Rachel Skarsten, who plays Tasmin (during season three, which I have yet to get to!), tonight.
The sounds that escaped my mouth were very very far from human sounds(let's just say that while some people worship Joseph Morgan, other people worship Rachel Skarsten)
I was misguided in thinking that Trick should have been a bit more sinister as he was played in the pilot.
Oh I don't know. Sentencing someone for centuries of torture and rape sounds quite sinister, even if "for greater good"(not to mention show establishing that he is STILL lying).
Trick is someone who is both sinister and benevolent, calculating and affectionate, to the extent that sometimes its hard to separate on when he does something because he cares and when he does something because it benefits him.
Then again, it calls into question Trick’s whole Writing In Blood thing, but nevertheless.
Don't worry. Show touches upon it and how Trick's power and fate would interact and if they would. There are a lot of nuances to Trick's power, which explain on why he is the way he is..
The thing about lost girl concept of fate is that its tricky(pun intended) - even in this specific example - a simple foretelling of someone's death turned into generation spanning detective case. The very fact that "fate" is not just one thing destined to happen, but series of events surrounding it makes one question - does Trick's power change the fate of things he wants to change OR is Trick using his power to change something specific is fated in on itself?
I don’t even understand why I like an episode where a plant is eating people, as ridiculous as that sounds, but I do.]
Annnd that about sums up the "ridiculous theme of the week" episodes Lost Girl loves to do :P
I frankly sometimes have no idea on what goes on in the writers room when they think up some of those concepts.
But the snag in their relationship goes so far as to just put distance between them, and we never get any dramatics between Bo and Lauren… and Lauren and the Ash, for that matter.
That's because the show is trying to avoid the whole love triangle fatigue - when one point of the triangle(square? rectangle? octahedron?) comes into forefront, the other is made sure to be in the background, just enough to be noticeable. When watching it does feel that one or the other side is getting shafted and I do feel that the show sort of struggles doing that, but I am happy that they did not take the easy way out of just going for "oh which one she will choose" stuff that ruins so many shows(*cough*TVD*cough*). Hell, the show even establishes early on that CHOICE itself might not be possible considering the lead's nature.
Thus the snag causes no dramatics, because there's no actual relationship "yet" formed(show made sure that viewer would know that there "could be", yet also made sure that it would not happen yet), just a start of it, which both sides feel they blew. You have moments of childish snark from Bo towards Lauren, but otherwise they both seem to just try to ignore each other, both because of break-up(the way you would just, not call your ex for weeks/months after the break-up) and because of Bo's interest in monogamy. The thing is I doubt Lauren and Bo can ignore each other that much longer after that kiss.
As for dramatics, a lot of dramatics coming in. A LOT.
And yes, Aoife is best thing ever and you won't be disappointed.
Haha I know! I thought they same thing when I was writing. I should work on editing. But I meant more presently benevolent. He started off all like IN THE SHADOWS and then he became like that fun guy behind the bar with all the answers. It wasn't what I expected but I welcomed it! And haha I'm so behind in Lost Girl doh!
Even though all the seasons have problems with pacing, season 1 is the least problematic. I say this having not seen Season 1 for a long time.
Well that's unfortunate :/
I wouldn't be so sure.
S1 had a LOOOT of problems in pacing.
S2 might be a little bit too stretched out, but it flows a whole lot better than S1 due to inter-connectivity of the narrative. Its slower, but its more even if that makes sense.
S3 has a little bit of a breakneck pacing, but yet again, its more even, you no longer have "filler" episodes as every single episode is far more connected to the ongoing plotlines, to the point that I would say S3 does NOT have stand-alone episodes.
Parts of season 2 might have the best pacing. Some plotlines in Season 3 are too fast and others are too slow.
Firstly, thanks for doing the recaps. I'd liked to echo another poster and say it's refreshing to see a balanced review of all the characters. I'd like to know why is it that Rachel Skarsten is being interviewed ahead of all the other LG actors?
Thanks!
About Rachel Skarsten, we're just a small lil' blog. McKenzie tried her luck and was able to get an interview with Rachel Skarsten, which was surprising for both of us. It surprises me every time we have an interview (which has been, maybe, four times). So it definitely is just one of those things where we're extremely appreciative to have been given the opportunity Of course, we'd love to interview the entire cast! :D
Your caps, they are divine.
I, too, thought Trick was going to get played far darker than he ended up. He still manages to be pretty ruthless, but he plays so benevolent at other times . . . I think Rick Howland manages the swings pretty well, but I still find them jarring.
Your caps, they are divine.
I, too, thought Trick was going to get played far darker than he ended up. He still manages to be pretty ruthless, but he plays so benevolent at other times . . . I think Rick Howland manages the swings pretty well, but I still find them jarring
I just accept it as part of who Trick is - one hell of a shady bastard, who is nigh impossible to figure out, as its very hard to catch when his feelings and actions are real and genuine and when - its nothing but a pokerface.
he is certainly one of more complex mentor figures in tv shows right now. You are never sure what his intent is and whether he is benevolent or malevolent creature, which fits his name perfectly.
I think it's, as someone said, that the tone of the show also changed and perhaps they were trying to figure out how to write the character. But yes, the actor definitely can handle both takes on the character quite well.
Somewhat, but he'll veer back and forth a little more through 2 and 3, too. He's not a 'known entity,' as too many mentors usually fall into a benevolent father/mother figure role, and even when things turn out badly, they're 'trying to do right.' Trick is much more in a gray zone, and I love it.
I really enjoy your caps, particularly because it's nice to see a good neutral opinion on what is going on in the show. Lauren actually gets 'bumped' (sort of, there are still like 4 episodes where she doesn't appear) to series regular in season 2, so she is more a part of the storyline - although like with everything to do with Lauren, her role is important, yet subtle (during the latter half of the season). Personally, I think Trick should be a bit more shady as well, although they really go in to the consequences of his actions next season.
Keep in mind, regarding pacing: Season 1 is the only season where they got what they planned for. Word is that they planned for 13 for Season 2 and got 22, and then they planned for 18/22 for season 3 and got 13. So there are a few filler episodes in season 2 to compensate, and especially the latter half of season 3 you get a lot.
It's interesting to re-watch Lost Girl with you and read these reviews - especially knowing what we now know about these characters that we didn't when first watching (There are a few characters in particular that have backstories thrown out from left field - one of them having WTF backstory moments in seasons 2 and 3). As you said, this show really isn't the most high quality show, but it's like the ultimate guilty pleasure!
Sorry but have to disagree about S3 having "filler episodes" in latter half. There are literally none.
As for planning for 22 episodes, its quite clear that they are treating S4 as second half of S3 story-wise, as for S2 - yeah, in places its a bit stretched out but overall both S2 and S3 are still more even than S1.
Oh I don't think I properly finished my sentence re: season 3. I agree. There are no filler episodes in the latter half of season 3. I meant to write *a lot of fast paced storyline crammed in to each episode*. Editing failure on my part.
As for the Ash, I'm curious what will be said about him during season 2.
Ha! I just wrote about this, when showrunners get more episodes than they want. In my opinion, the stretching out plan doesn't always work too well because you do get some filler. But if it's just crazy, fun case of the week filler, then I think it's okay, Of course, I'd prefer episodes that deal with arcs, but this happens regularly on all shows.
Oh most episodes still deal with the story arc in one way or the other, the show teases a bit more, throws in a bit more foreshadowing than usual, etc. Most of cases of the week are connected to the story arc too At the same time due to slower pacing, show also adds some scenes relevant to storylines beyond the current season. .
Its slower-paced but unlike S1 - more even, as in you won't be getting important-story-stuff suddenly dumped at you after ~4-5 episodes of no-one even remembering the story arc. So you get a plot twist or plot reveal and then spend time together with the characters as they are confused and try to figure out on what the hell.
S3 on other hand had to be condensed, so writers simply eradicated most of case-of-the-week stuff, so most of stuff happens at breakneck pacing with one stuff happening after the other(Think: finale episodes of teen wolf S2, or how stuff was condensed in the btvs s7 final five episodes) and a lot of that stuff can drastically change the direction of the show.
Thanks for reading! :) A couple of people have actually been commenting that I'm one of the few who is neutral about the show, which is interesting. Now that I've finished the first season, I wanted to go read some season one reviews to see what the hullabaloo is about.
I know some have said that the Lost Girl fandom has its fair share of ship wars, which makes me sad. :( Can't we all just get along?
The neutrality stuff comes from the fact that quite a few reviewers tend to outright ignore various characters or have a twisted viewpoint on them that directly contradicts the show. Its not limited to one character or one ship though and Season Three is especially quite polarizing in terms of how reviewers view those characters
. Its not limited to reviewers though, as when Season One was airing on SYFY, for example, whoever was responsible for marketing made sure to remove every mention of Lauren in the syfy channel promos(of course it has gotten better now)
And yeah. Ship wars, ship wars everywhere, to the point that sometimes TVD fanbase shenanigans look like a friendly pg-rated banter, which puzzles me, considering, unlike TVD, which has its writers leak some more vitriol into the fire, Lost Girl is mostly fair to all of its ships(and oh my, that's quite a lot of ships), so fanbase should be calm too, right? Yet its not and I never figured out on why is that the case, especially considering that we are talking about the show where main character is not technically monogamous, so why not ship her with multiple people at once instead of going to war with other ships?
I have my own theories as to why, but I don't want to affect your reviews in any way. Like I said, I appreciate the fresh viewpoint you bring to the table, not just about "the triangle" but the interactions between all characters.