Lost Girl, Feb 16 - Dark Horse

And so, the last episode of S4 of LG had arrived, and it was good! Was it great, however? Sadly no, and here are the reasons why.

For one thing, the series’ characters did not appear to come and go into nowhere as they did in the previous episode. Mind you, “Origin” and “Dark Horse” were shaped to be a two-parter, even though the series did not acknowledge this for some reason. “Dark Horse” continues directly from where “Origins” ended, including the mention of Rosette. Frankly, it is not surprising that Bo was not surprised – after her misadventures with the crows, more of late Rainer’s treacherous minions, she was subconsciously expected Rosette not to be any different from them.

Why Rainer’s late? Because the druid killed him. LG tried to make him sound like Tolkien’s Gollum at one point, but he came across more like BtVS Warren Mears from S6, including invulnerability and insanity. And yes, it worked, even if he and Lauren just flickered from location to location, and why did he take Lauren? One may think because the Morrighan, his mother, commanded him to, but the latter not only helped Bo and Lauren to stop (and kill) him, but she also spent a good amount of time at Trick’s getting drunk. Yes, that was a break in the tension, but also a break in the plot, and it gave no good excuse as to why the druid just took Lauren almost everywhere – yes, he was lonely, but not in that manner, sadly.

On the other hand, Bo did kill him at the end, distracting and tricking him long enough for Lauren to steal the twig of Zamora and destroy it, making the druid vulnerable and mortal. Comment: Hale is not the last of Zamora, back in S2 he had a father and a sister...who had not been seen since. Interhouse warfare, maybe? 

This is beside the point, however: Hale is dead, the druid is dead, Vex has apparently fled to London (but all of S4 is famous by not having all of the LG characters in its’ episodes) and Kenzi has self-sacrificed herself to save the world. One can guess that Ksenia Solo (Kenzi), just as K.C. Collins (Hale) and maybe Paul Amos (Vex) had had enough of LG and decided to leave. Fair enough; IP’s Primeval, for example, was notorious for the cast changes; and the already-mentioned BtVS changed its cast a lot since S3, actually.

In any case, Vex went to London, Hale went stabbed from behind, and Kenzi went through self-sacrifice, dying to prevent Bo’s father, the titular Dark Horse, from coming into the world. It was wonderfully done, but Kenzi/Ksenia’s parting smile was supposed to be kindly, understanding and forgiving – instead it was slightly serpentine and creepy. Ah well, that happens; Kenzi still died, and Tamsin took her to Valhalla.

And yes, Valhalla (and Hel) was discussed previously, but firstly, “Dark Horse” once more showed it a) with vaguely Christian connotations (a Norse Valkyrie is not a Christian angel) and b) with one of its entrances in a Toronto seedy alley. That is just weird.

Also Dyson carried Tamsin away from the gates of Valhalla (they took Kenzi’s corpse in, but did not accept Tamsin herself?) bridal-style. Since one of LG’s trademarks is the tangled love interests between the main characters, we are seeing the beginnings of a new love triangle, especially since Lauren may be dropping out of the old one and taking care of the Morrighan/Evonie for now.

Sigh. The last love interest of Lauren’s that was not Bo was the waitress (Crystal) at the beginning of S4 – and she probably ended up made into sushi or burgers by the Dark Fae. The Morrighan is doomed. 

Finally, Mr. Trick. It was very noble of him to come to aid of Team Bo at the end of this episode, but he also was the new Ash, or the substitute Ash, or something. He could have at least tried to get some of the Light Fae to help save the world, but instead he spent his time with the Morrighan and Vex with mixed results. Does he even take his new job seriously, or has he quit with the death of the Una Mens? If so, then the Fae world may start to experience anarchy, and Bo is subconsciously already ready to step in.

To elaborate: S4 has changed the Fae society by adding the Una Mens, who apparently were beyond the Fae council as shown by lord Blackthorn back in S2. Bo, with Rainer’s help, killed the Una Mens, and was later acknowledged as Queen by Dyson, Tamsin, possibly Lauren – she is the granddaughter of a King, so the title is hers by blood too. And with Una Mens gone, a Queen just might be the right person/entity to take charge of everyone, especially since the scriptwriters, including Michelle Lovretta, has largely forgotten about the council from S2 by now, so what happens next is anyone’s guess.

So: Kenzi and Hale are gone, Vex may also be gone, after being mostly a semi-convenient plot device from time to time, Lauren may’ve found herself a new girlfriend, Bo, Dyson and Tamsin may be forming a new triangle, and Trick has told Bo the circumstances of her conception. That, incidentally, raises the question of when did this happen and how – if Bo’s father is trapped in another direction, how he was able to conceive Bo? And if he is not trapped, then the whole season 4 just does not make sense – and this is why “Dark Horse”, just like “Origins”, is a good episode, but not a great one.