Don’t say they didn’t warn you: Hale’s bloody ear as soon as he and Kenzi solidified their relationship, creepy-under-the-graveyard lady telling Bo someone will die, and the absolutely rushed engagement. Hale has bit the almighty bullet. But did it feel earned to you?
In some ways, I want to commend Lost Girl for going there. It’s been almost four seasons and no one really all that important has died. I don’t ever think of Lost Girl as the show where anyone will die, anyway. I mean, I think of Lost Girl as mostly campy fun. But season four has been getting into some dark territory, especially with Bo killing the Una Mens last episode. In this episode, she literally drinks blood. I heard that there was an interview somewhere where Showrunner Emily Andras said Hale is gone for good, but he honestly died a couple of scenes after Linda Hamilton (Linda Freaking Hamilton!!!) said, “No one really dies.” I know she said it about Massimo specifically, but this was also an episode with zombies!
Besides, Hale’s death came after several seasons of the show not really knowing what they should do with him. He was frequently absent with little to no explanation, and when he was in an episode, he didn’t have much to do. And as soon as Kenzi gave her response to his engagement, I just knew that he was going to die. The rushed engagement was a contrivance to pull at the heartstrings. I thought Hale was rushing things because he already knew he was going to die of something else, but that wasn’t the case. And I don’t want to be that guy, but I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I’m disappointed a minority character was the one killed off (in an episode with the magical black lady trope).
But enough with the negatives. There’s a huge positive: that performance. Ksenia Solo and Anna Silk really sold it for me; their final scene elevated this episode from just another disappointing outing. Season four has been about Bo pushing her family away for reasons we didn’t really know. Subconsciously, perhaps, Bo knew that she was going to meet up with Rayner and break his curse. Maybe that’s why she used Dyson and Lauren for sex this season and then brushed them off. Hell, even after Tamsin told Bo how she felt and how she was sorry she was hired as her bounty hunter, Bo still just kissed her anyway as just a fun thing to do at a Groundhog Day Amnesia party. Maybe that’s why she’s been so crass with Trick, since he’s the one who put Rayner on Train Limbo. Maybe she’s been so consumed with whatever huge plan or destiny she believes she needs to fulfill with Rayner that she’s been sidelining her family.
But the truth is, when Kenzi told Bo she’s selfish, she truly meant it. It all culminated in that moment for her, and Bo has been selfish. She interrupted Kenzi and Tamsin hanging out so that she could get some time with her supposed BFF. She tells Dyson she doesn’t love him but still expects him to help her out of Rayner turns out to be evil. This is a character that left everyone thinking she didn’t exist just so that she could do the horizontal tango with some guy she met.
But why? We get that Bo has been a bit distant, but we need to get into the specifics. When Dyson asks her this episode, she just says, “It’s a long story.” Is it? We’ve got some time, like 13 episodes worth.
Speaking of Dyson, after realizing Bo believes Rayner is her destiny, he spirals into the sauce. I don’t think Dyson’s response is so much that he thinks Rayner is a bigger threat than Lauren (where is Lauren?), but that Bo finally told him that she doesn’t love him. Before, he thought he had a shot, but now it appears all is lost. And could the same be said for Tamsin? I think she’s been attracted to Dyson for a while now, but maybe thought that she would be able to defeat Rayner and still be in the running too? Only when she found out Rayner wasn’t the one who hired her, everything turned a bit upside down. I think a mixture of all those elements results in their hookup. (Though the details of what Tamsin remembers are bit iffy, so I think there are some plot holes there.)
Season four has found many people connecting with other characters because Bo just hasn’t been around or has been pushing them away. How else could we have gotten Kenzi and Tamsin moments or more Lauren and Dyson moments, too? Both of those new couplings has been quite great. I know many have had issues with the way that season four has been executed thus far, but there’s certainly a theme of the family you’re born into and the one you create.
In this episode, Kenzi is given the chance to reconnect with her mother, only to find out that the reason she became a lost girl in the first place was still warranted and that just because they’re blood, it doesn’t make them family. How she will cope with the loss of Hale and the semi-falling out she had with Bo after all of this is definitely going to shake things up in the Lost Girl world in a way that I hope is potent, but with Lost Girl you never know. Ultimately, that’s the real issue. Lost Girl has the ability to drive many of these points home, but some of the threads and plot lines have ben so loose that it comes off as disjointed or incoherent.
Though, I don’t think anything is more revealing than Bo telling Dyson that you don’t always choose your path, on a show where the intro credits have her claiming in every episode: “I will live the life I choose.”
No, Bo. Things are a bit out of your control. You’re the pawn in someone’s larger plan, and the fall of Hale is just one of the many consequences coming your way.