Lost Girl rewatch week 9: Since the Dawning of time

Whoa. What a delay. Happy fourth of July, everyone. Sure, it’s belated, but still. I was going to write this on Tuesday, then grew ill. Wednesday, I focused my attention on a Big Brother article. And yesterday, I was celebrating Independence Day. So, I’ve decided to sit my behind down today and write out a few thoughts (and I mean it this time!) during the penultimate week of Lost Girl rewatch.

For this week, I watched five episodes, which I think turned out quite nicely as it concluded Bo’s Dawning arc. Well, it ended on the episode where she’s no longer devolving, so I figure that’s a better closing to that chapter than the episode right before it. And what an arc, eh?

When we last left Lost Girl, Kenzi was stuck in some alley somewhere and god knows what happened to her; Bo and Lauren were figuring out how to work out Bo’s, you know, urges; and Dyson was still pining after the love of his life.

“Faes Wide Shut”

So, basically, get ready for part one of the Ksenia Solo Appreciation Club moment. Solo acted cutoff Kenzi so wonderfully, it was kind of mesmerizing. At first, it appeared that perhaps Kenzi was just emotionally stunted. Kenzi wanting Bo to cut ties with everyone except for her was kind of like a concentrated dose of her character arc since the beginning of the series. Well, what I mean is that, if we’re to believe that something was happening to Kenzi’s person, then I easily could have seen something within Kenzi erupting to make her behave this way.

That’s what I think is so genius of it all. I’m still not done giving the Lost Girl writers their deserved kudos for giving both of its leading ladies such careful development.

Of course the episode where Bo and Lauren are scoping out who Bo should sleep with is also the same episode where all signs point to a sex party house, but that’s just Lost Girl for ya. Strangely enough, this episode marked the beginning of both Lauren and Dyson beginning to doubt Bo and question who she really is. Meanwhile, Tamsin is the only person who has been able to perceive Bo … well, I don’t want to say correctly, but something close to it. And it even continues for a couple of more episodes after this one.

I know it’s kind of a wobbly way of thinking, but Tamsin knew Bo was responsible for the fae attacks… and then noticed that Bo was being truthful about Kenzi in the next episode, while Lauren and Dyson were busy including other factors in their determination process. When I think of Tamsin’s character this way, it’s easier to know why she was included into the season, but I still haven’t really had that “aha!” moment about her character. Perhaps it will all click during the final four episodes.

Also, I love the end of this episode and just how much Bo knows Kenzi.

“The Kenzi Scale”

And now on to part two. You don’t even need me to tell you how amazing this was.

As I mentioned just a couple of paragraphs ago, this is where Dyson and Lauren’s seed of doubt grows. In their defense, there was conclusive evidence to suggest that Bo was truly changing. And Dyson had been denying that Bo could have been responsible for attacking dark fae for so long that it was time he finally gave up on his “I know her!” shtick.

In a way, it makes sense for Lauren to be slowly convinced; she is, after all, a very analytical thinker. And Dyson, who sort of rides the fence between emotional and pragmatic, tried to push out any reality in which Bo was a danger to society. So I think it fits. But it does call into question: who truly understands Bo entirely?

Of course, not even Bo understands everything about her and her grandfather, the Blood King, is sometimes fazed himself. It just makes you realize that there is a lot more about Bo that needs to be explained. Just when she thinks she has some things figured out, like her feeding habits, there’s something else right around the corner — why is she devolving so quickly? And honestly, what is the deal with deep-voiced Bo? Yet unanswered, but important to keep in mind. It still may not be time to have Bo considering her choice of suitors when there is still so much she needs to accept about herself.

Which transitioned nicely into…

“There’s Bo Place Like Home”

Don’t tell anybody this, guys, BUT I BLUBBERED LIKE A BIG OL’ BABY! What is the matter with me? I was even aware of the gross sympathetic details they shoehorned into Bo’s mom’s character, and I still decided to cry. You go, Anna Silk!

Bo is very much a character driven by her insecurities (I guess that’s everyone in life, but hers is even the most palpable of the show in my opinion). At some point or another, we had to go back to see Bo’s home — not for the audience, but for Bo’s own growth. It was timely and mostly perfect. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Bo thinking she may be “a monster,” but I think she’s finally been able to realize the people closest to her don’t think of her like that at all.

As she said, she’s created a new family for herself. And she can no longer blame her parents for what they did, being people who clearly didn’t and couldn’t understand what was happening to her.

“Fae-ge Against the Machine”

Talk about the most clueless of cliffhangers ever. WHAT? I guess I’ll just have to watch the final four episodes, but I truly need to know all this Wanderer business. I mean, obviously, I can take this literally, since we know that Bo is somewhat of a nomad and has finally begun to put roots down. But that can’t be it. One of my favorite aspects of season three, which has nothing to do with the story by the way, is whoever is in charge giving us that moment during the credits to reflect.

Okay, I know it sounds really stupid, but I admire that. Previous seasons of Lost Girl would just end with the theme song replayed, as is ordinary. That’s what usually happens with networks shows because there’s just no time to let audiences watch credits. They’re usually simultaneously rolling something else or a promo or even the next show. But season three affords us that moment.

I can’t even articulate what I mean. Aaron Sorkin said it better than I can:

There’s another advantage that nobody ever talks about. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is. And it’s end credits. Why are end credits a big deal? Because no matter what you write, the last moment is meant to resonate. And with HBO or any of the premium cable channels, it does. You have music playing, you have end credits rolling, the audience has a moment to sit there and just kind of feel the way the storytellers are hoping you’ll feel.

You know what I mean? And the Lost Girl showrunners continuously end their episodes with a bit of irony and cheekiness; I’m a fan. Especially during this episode, where “The Wanderer” played over the credits — you’ve got to figure something kind of huge and dark is bubbling, even by reverse psychology. It’s like an added element to the show.

Okay by now you’re probably pissed that I spent so much talking about freakin’ credits during a heavy Bo/Tamsin episode. I don’t think there’s much more to say here than I think that Tamsin really just understands Bo on a level that not even we, the audience, can yet. We’ve seen Tamsin lie to the Morrigan for her, understand that she was telling the truth and break her out of the cell they had her caged in (even if at first it was for personal gain), and then decide to follow Bo on this insane quest. There could even be an inherent connection during their retrograde episode, when they shared a kiss during spin the bottle. So why do valkyries taste so good, Bo? Hm.

For as much as this was a Tamsin/Bo episode, it was also quite heavy on Lauren/Bo. As if things weren’t difficult enough, it turns out that Bo may be suppressing some feelings of superiority? That felt a bit off. But if nothing else, Bo definitely was feeling as though Lauren’s issues paled in comparison to what she had to go through. You can’t blame Bo for thinking a banquet is a bit trivial while in the middle of her Dawning pre-game. But you also can’t blame Lauren for perhaps wishing she could have a companion who was so tied up with the complicated world of fae. I wonder if her development with the guy who came knocking on her door will go any further.

“The Ceremony”

This episode was practically firing on all cylinders. First, you’ve got Kenzi who is feeling sidelined and is in search for her own family, much like Bo was a couple of episodes prior. They’re so alike in that way, just wanting acceptance from the people around them, that it’s a relief for us too when Trick tells her she’ll always have a place with them. However, we have yet to delve much into Kenzi’s emotional arc this season after being brushed off for a couple of episodes; I’m hoping we’ll get into it with these final four.

Meanwhile, Lauren is feeling more and more distance from Bo, knowing full well that she isn’t wired to help Bo much during this very fae experience. And Dyson, ever the hero, decides to put his life on the line to give Bo a fighting chance.

I got to say, I thought for sure that The Key was the model who wanted to sleep with Bo. Something tells me there’s got to be more story there. She was just everywhere in the Dawning reality. She was even the key witness. C’mon!

Anyway, the alternate reality here was plenty of fun. My initial interpretation of this reality is quite Hannibal-ish, that the Dawning had to show Bo the negatives so that she can clearly understand how her reality operates. Lauren, her partner, is her police partner with a work relationship; she comes home to a very friendly Tamsin, caught red-handed; and is married to Dr. Dyson. Plus, she’s taking medications that are clouding up the way her anatomy is supposed to operate.

I don’t know if this will be the outcome, but since apparently every Dawning is unique to each fae and Bo came out of it understanding herself much more, I’d say there are some lessons to be learned. For one, she may come out with an understanding that humans are not suitable partners for a succubus, regardless of her decision to be unaligned. The Dawning may be trying to tell her that although she’s warming up to Tamsin, that there could be carnage involved. And more importantly, I think, the Dawning was trying to make Bo finally realize that trying to stay monogamous goes against who she is, and no amount of medication will remedy it. That’s how I interpreted it having her kill Dyson, anyway. They said the Dawning would be so epically the most difficult thing anyone will ever have to do, which it wasn’t (not that I expected it to be), but it’s quite appropriate that Dyson confessed his love during it … giving her choice to kill him that much more difficult. Here’s a pro tip: never be around Bo while she’s carrying a knife and when people are yelling. She will stab you.

Dyson’s death may have been more dramatic when the episode airs, but I obviously know that the actor is still around for season four … so I didn’t feel that level of intensity. But it’s interesting to note that Bo has gone through the Dawning and yet used her dark abilities to bring him back to life, citing she understands how to work it now. So she may have stopped devolving, but there’s still parts of her unexplored. (Plus, was that her father!? Oh, Lost Girl, you tease.)

As for Bo’s revelation, I think it’s a clear confirmation that she doesn’t have to align herself or play by anyone else’s rules. She knows she breaks the rules. She knows she sets trends. But exiting the Dawning on her own terms just reaffirms that this is the fae she is supposed to be.

And we wouldn’t have her any other way.

And so, next week is the final week of the Lost Girl (re)watch! Sad face. But thankfully it’s not the end of the series; there’s still more to go … once season four premieres next year. Oy, fae!