Lost Girl rewatch week 7: Garuda isn’t a cheese?

I went into this week thinking that I’d watch five Lost Girl episodes as to not do four, four, and then have two episodes of the season left. So I watched the fifth episode, which was “The Girl Who Fae’d With Fire”. Then I watched the next one.

And the one after that. And the one after that one.

And before I knew it, I just finished season two of Lost Girl five minutes ago (yesterday, when I began writing this). I started the day with three episodes left, and somehow reassured myself that it was a good idea to just finish off the season. Why not? I always find it hard to even dissect all the details of four episodes in one post, but for some reason I thought that 10 would be manageable.

So the truth is that I won’t be able to get into every nook and cranny of the second half of Lost Girl season two, but I’ll give a general analysis. Or at least I’ll try … but in the same amount of words as usual.

Last we saw Bo, she was feeling things all by her lonesome at her own birthday party. You can’t blame her, either. The girl was just gifted a trio of impersonal items — weapons. Thanks, but no thanks. Bo had just realized she didn’t have any true intimacy with anyone, which is sort of the Catch-22 of everything Bo. She wants monogamy, but craves the physical.

On Bo and Ryan

That’s why, I’ve got to say, that I loved her season two boyfriend Ryan. I rolled my eyes at the typical cliché meet-cute they had, but halfway into their first episode, I was delighted. Ryan let Bo explore parts of herself that Dyson wouldn’t allow her. Though Bo and Lauren haven’t had a full-blown relationship (yet), I’m assuming that she wouldn’t be cool with an open relationship, either. It was refreshing to have someone come in and be completely accepting of Bo’s alternate side, allowing her to revel in a bit of her darkness.

Eventually, she has to call it off. I have to say I’m not a fan of the sudden pretension and total lack of tact that they gave Ryan from one episode to the next, but even I was kind of disheartened when Ryan had to go. Of course, Ryan represents Bo’s intrinsic fae, but as we’ve mentioned, she’s also very married to the idea of monogamy. But more importantly, the series doesn’t decide what’s “good” one way or another. So many so-called empowering series get this wrong plenty of times. What’s empowering isn’t the fact that Bo has casual sex without being called a slut or facing dire consequences (though, that is progressive); it’s her ability to choose whatever lifestyle she wants. The series even sets this up perfectly with Bo’s lack of choosing neither the dark nor light fae. Bo isn’t bound by the conventions of societal norms.

So we have a character that is told from the beginning of time how relationships ought to work and a body that is fighting her to think of it differently, which gives us less freedom to call her out on it like so many people do in the real world.. Metaphors everywhere, people!

On Trick Being Bo’s Grandfather

About two episodes before the finale, I told my television screen, “He’s got to be her father.” Nope. Just like Bo, I had jumped the gun on that theory. Turns out that Trick is Aife’s father, which makes him Bo’s grandfather.

I like the twist, but my only complaint — as are all of my Lost Girl complaints — is that I don’t think the series capitalized on its dramatic effect enough. Sure, in the beginning of the series, Trick was quite sinister in execution. But after that, he sort of did become the father of the group, and a harmless one at that. There were sprinkles of Trick’s supposed dangerousness here and there, including Bo’s vision of murdering him, but that’s about it. The reveal felt a bit matter-of-fact, but I can deal with it. I still yelped at the screen.

That is, of course, if Trick’s not lying. But I’m just going to guess he’s not.

Lachlan’s Many Faces

One of the my favorite storylines throughout season two is whatever the heck Lachlan is up to. Shortly after Nadia wakes up, we find out that his venom is the only thing that can kill a Garuda, which is after Bo and Co. Also one of my favorite things? The fact that Lachlan was a character sort of written apart from the rest of the Lost Girl dynamic. But as soon as he entered the fold of Bo’s team, he was given some slapsticky humor. Lachlan is fine as he is; so many people get those zingers, guys! Just keep him dead serious. We like that version of him. (Okay, I like that version of him.)

My only negative here is that Lachlan seemed mysterious just to be so. “I was very mean to Lauren so that you’d notice me.” OK…? He started off as an arrogant prick, and it’s fine if you want him to be on the side of the good guys, but he can continue to be a good guy and prick. They’re not mutually exclusive. It’s not like it was jarring or anything, his mystery just felt a bit contrived is all.

Kenzi and her new Beau

(Get it? That’s like a homophone pun.)

So, obviously, it’s great that Kenzi was finally paired with someone outside of the group and that she got some storylines that didn’t really involve Bo. The only problem is that we never really saw any of them. I think what was going wrong here is that I watched their entire relationship in, like, two days, whereas most people were watching for a couple of months. So when they were all in love after a couple of episodes, I was like, “What?”

When writers can’t show something, they usually rely on the passing of time. It’s one of the least-talked about problems with binge-watching. That kind of stuff just doesn’t feel organic when you’re watching in succession in one night. Throughout the weeks, we feel the quasi-passage of time. Even then, however, I’d say that we definitely needed to see more of this relationship and how it illuminated attributes of Kenzi’s character.

For now, though, I think showing us what Kenzi believes to be her destiny by not choosing Nate is sufficient. As it turns out, Bo isn’t the only one whose relationships struggle because of the fae world. And it was also a nice reversal on the guy-saving-girl trope, even if I wasn’t much of a fan of the whole, “Go on now, git!” part. Nate was just so likable that this was bound to end in absolute heartbreak for all involved. (Some may disagree, but I also think that Ciara was quite likable. I was all “NOOO!” when she bit the dust. Though, it was sort of like, “Oh I’m just back out of nowhere to die.”) Though I can’t help but think there was a bit of truth to what Kenzi was saying here.

Dyson & Ciara and Lauren & Nadia

Oh, love triangle pairings. When will you learn? Going outside the triangle will never work out for you. Just like Bo and Ryan, Dyson & Ciara and Lauren & Nadia were doomed to fail. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to know much of Nadia … at all, actually. I’m assuming that whenever she was snooping around, most of that was the Garuda, right?

That part of her storyline is so unclear. Was she the Garuda when spying on Bo and looking at pics and all that? Or was she only the Garuda for one episode? Because if it’s the latter, there really wasn’t much of a problem of how much information the Garuda knew. And if it’s the former, I was very invested in the Nadia-finding-out-everything story. Of course, it was sort of brushed off all, “Whoa! Supernatural stuff exists. Awesome. Got any soda?” But, you know, that was fun while it lasted. (Also, I was a fan of the whole… “Can I sleep with you?” “Yes!” “I meant literally sleep.” and “You need to feed, of course!” “Actually, I was going to ask if you have any aspirin.” Ha! You slay me, Lost Girl.)

Same with Dyson and Ciara. We all knew where this was going before it even began, and Dyson just continued to fib to her about his heart, or lack thereof. To be honest, I kind of checked out here. I’m sorry, everyone. When Dyson was in that cell with that guy yelling about stuff … I don’t even know what they were talking about. I really hope that’s not important in the future. But I’m glad that Kenzi got Dyson his heart back.

For now, it seems like Bo has made up her mind as to who she wants to be with. She clearly was paying closer attention to Lauren during … well, everything. Of course, this decision comes with Bo’s prior knowledge of Dyson lacking any feelings for her (plus, she had taken time to move on from him). So once that’s all revealed, it will be interesting to see what she decides to do then.

Also, how horrible is it that Bo is going to be all, “Yep. Killed your girlfriend; let’s do it”? That’s got to be hella uncomfortable! But they seemed to get over it quickly enough, I guess.

R.I.P. Nadia. In a coma for five years, conscious for like 15 hours, possessed by an evil supernatural being, then killed by your girlfriend’s lover. Life has been hard on you.

Hale

Poor Hale gets so little, and yet that’s exactly what his storyline was. Kind of meta, here. Nice, Lost Girl! Hale gets to complain that no one really tells him anything. And it’s true, people do sort of leave him in the dark about everything. As such, there isn’t much to write here … which is upsetting.

However, we do get to meet Hale’s family, and it turns out they’re bigots, which is again a nice reversal. Hale’s family is disgusted by the thought of a human in their home, which isn’t as important as how his dynamic with Kenzi changed. That’s where most of his story comes from in the second half of the season. We see that Kenzi feels used by him, and that he’s quite emotional when he thinks she’s a goner.

Basically: For Hale and Kenzi, things are still brewing. Vex sees it! (Also, YAY VEX RETURNED!)

The Champion

Having Dyson touting himself as The One was so anti-this show, that he should have known he was wrong. Never trust what the voices in your head are telling you whilst naked staring at a fire. Before Bo confessed that she wanted to give up her responsibility as “The Champion,” I was prepared for a completely different interpretation.

My view on this was that Bo felt a bit jealous or even superior to Dyson during this situation. As we’ve gotten glimpse of in the past, part of Bo is out for complete dominance. And my understanding was that her need to be in total control (even of people) was showing. But according to Bo, she was tired of carrying the weight of everyone’s destiny. This is a nice angle, too. Albeit, my original idea wasn’t the freshest either, but I think Dark Bo gives it that little extra something to make it different.

Though we’ve witnessed it, it’s finally been said aloud: Bo’s DNA is pre-wired to crave power. I guess that’s in all of our DNA, but Bo’s is stronger. Feeling dominant over her entire group of fae pals let us see it once more. And it’s clear that the writers are going for a more series arc thing here. So here’s hoping that they get many many many more seasons to explore this further and do the storyline justice. Unless it’s next season. Even then, here’s hoping to many many many more seasons.

The War With the Garuda

This is the only time in the season where I felt everyone’s grievances with the structure. For, like, eleven episodes, everyone kept talking about an impending war. And then it happened … and it was more like a whimper. We know about the financial constraints, so that’s okay, Lost Girl. (Then again, it’s not like the fae would have a full-on war and risk outing themselves, but.)

And that about sums it up. I hope I didn’t leave anything out. Season two of Lost Girl was, in my opinion, a great improvement to season one. With the exception of a few beginning episodes, the series didn’t really have any lackluster installments (except the mini-battle episode, which … I don’t know, didn’t jive well with me). Even better? They really amped up the mystery. This season, too, the show was plagued with whodunits that were easily solved. They decided to go a different route; instead of whodunits episode after episode, there was a shift to, I guess, more problem solving and critical thinking.

It’s not that murder/crime mysteries aren’t fun, it’s that when they’re easily solvable, they lose their flavor. The shift in style was much welcomed, and I didn’t even really notice until the penultimate episode. In fact, if not for the obligatory cold open scenes, I would not have even noticed there were so many case-of-the-week storylines.

At points, season two may have felt a bit slow, but the show was able to explore multiple arcs while still feeling organic. And they most certainly found a tone that works for them. I’ve heard things shift just a bit next season, and I’m okay with that, too. But season two — especially the latter half — actually had me want to watch more. I mean, I watched 10 episodes in one week for goodness’ sake! I think that’s a testament to how much better Lost Girl got at interweaving storylines and serial storytelling, given their episode number and resources.

So, onto season three!