LG: Hel part 1 - Dec 7

And so, the 5^th – and final – season of LG has begun vigorously! This season begins where S4 has ended, with Hale and Kenzi dead and Bo doing what she can to fix this state of affairs. In this particular case, it is on with a pair of magical slippers and off to the Valhalla, the current version of the LG-verse afterlife. 

Now, let us be frank. Valhalla, just like the Valkyries, is Norse, whereas the first seasons had a more Celtic bend to their mythos, but just like the departed Una Mens, the last seasons of LG have a different take on things than the first; something, apparently, has changed (or someone has changed, gotten replaced, quit, etc) on LG behind the scenes, and so LG has changed itself.

One may argue that this statement is unimportant, for LG take on Valhalla is ambiguous at least: from the inside it is a swanky hotel (more US than Canadian in style); from the outside – it is a snowbound wasteland with a statue of (apparently) Odin standing tall. (Or maybe it is Thor – who knows?)

Fair enough, but the choice of the afterlife for LG is still interesting: unlike Heaven, Valhalla was more materialistic and real, just like the Norse, who had invented (or imagined) it, less with the matters of the spirit than with the matters of heart and body – LG appears to be following this sort of reasoning too: when Bo meets Kenzi, the latter is enjoying luxuries such as food and clothing; but food and clothing alone do not make a person (well, not every person) happy, and that’s why Kenzi wants to get out. 

...And, because Bo is a selfless succubus of a character, she wants Kenzi to stay in hotel Valhalla instead, marry Hale, and finally have some happiness in her life. Well, her afterlife, if you want to be technical. Sadly, Bo’s father has other plans, and apparently he has shanghaied Hale from their wedding, and Bo has to confront him (her father) and possibly rescue Hale.

Among other characters whom we have met already in this season are other Valkyries (with whom Tamsin does not get along, apparently), and their mistress (and the Lady of Valhalla, perhaps), Freya or Freyja. The latter (alongside a reference to Bifrost, a bridge/highway/elevator between all of the realms) is another nod to the Norse myths, and again, it is a true one. The Norse did consider Freya to be something of a queen/mistress of the Valkyries, the only goddess, who could stand up to Odin, besides his wife Frigg (but there is confusion between the two goddesses, and one of Freya’s husbands was named Od/Odd/Odr, so let’s just assume that Freya and Frigg may be one goddess with two names). So far, Odin himself is absent, so naturally that Freya is the one in charge – of Tamsin’s fellow Valkyries (like Stacy) and of Valhalla itself.

This brings us to Tamsin, who really does not like Valhalla – apparently, as she tells Bo, whenever she is home, she does something to it. So far, however, it appears to be the other way around: Tamsin briefly went crazy (in a homage to Stanley Kubrick), and Bo had to smack her out of it. So far it is Valhalla one, Tamsin zero.

Or maybe it is more than one for Valhalla. At the end of this episode, as Kenzi wakes up in her coffin (a la the bride in “Kill Bill 2”) and Bo is riding the elevator to Hel (one ‘l’ in the Norse version, not two, as the episode’s title might indicate), more of the hotel Valhalla’s staff are holding Tamsin, while Stacy gloats – but perhaps Dyson and Lauren can rescue her.

Dyson and Lauren, now, they have been mostly background characters in this ep; Dyson hanging around with Trick (who had been left to man the rear guard at the end of this episode); Lauren – at her own personal clinic, which deals with Fae as well, since there’s at least one fire-breathing patient in it.

Of course, the question as to how Lauren got this sort of clinic after she had turned Evony human back in S4 is a plot hole, just one of the latest plot holes that had haunted since S1 at least. The plotline shuffling since S4 had not helped matters either – but otherwise, in Lauren’s case, the episode has held-up.

The only other weak point of the episode was the hotel Valhalla’s crowd – it came and went without any sense or planning. Sometimes it was there, other times it was not, and it did not make sense, not even in the LG version of Valhalla. But the episode still worked, it was a good one, and it promises a lot of excitement to come before the show finishes!

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.

Lost Girl, Dec 29 - Groundhog Fae

And so, Christmas episode of LG has come. Because the 4^th season of LG was apparently shot during the summer, the gang had to go with a summer Yule, in a manner of speaking. In theory it was some other, ethnic Fae, holiday involving Krampus, not Santa Claus.

Krampus, BTW, is a devil-like being that has become associated with Christmas on continental Europe, especially Eastern Europe, and if you look over the Wikipedia, you will see that LG has toned his appearance down somewhat, in all actuality. That said, he played a very important role in LG-continuity, for he got Bo to admit her inner fears, insecurities and other problems, while almost grinding her into candy along the way. That, admittedly, is something of a dubious matter, for Bruce (who has become a semi-regular on S4) has apparently broken the machine earlier, but who knows?

The other Fae being who has been mentioned on “Groundhog Fae” is the Wanderer. So far the show was noticeably vague about him, but I am willing to bet that this character is not based on a species of a butterfly that is also called the Wanderer, because he actually scares Mr. Trick, who has faced the Una Mens without much fear in his gaze. That said, he has also hired Tamsin to find Bo, who should not have existed, (well, according to Tamsin, anyway), and so he might be Bo’s father as well as anything else. How very Electra (Oedipus’ sister and female counterpart)!

Tamsin... Tamsin is finally back, and she has recovered her memories, it seems, or at least some of them. She still lets Kenzi mother her around as shown at the end of the ep – this will probably lead to some interesting scenarios in the future episodes...especially since the Team Valkubus appears to be back on one hand, and with Kenzi and Hale delving deeper into their own relationship as well.

Kenzi, you know, may dress provocatively, but she, or rather Ksenia Solo who plays Kenzi, is more of a prude. Bo/Anna Silk has no problems in acting lewd and sexual acts on screen (just look at the car wash fragment at the beginning of this episode for example), but Kenzi/Ksenia does it all off screen, if ever. Still, it works, so who are we to complain?

Yet speaking of screens and screen times, has anyone noticed that this is the first S4 episode when all the gang is together? No, seriously, all of them are in the same house...but are kept separately to one extent or another. Mr. Trick spends most of “Groundhog Fae” in a bathtub, drunk to the wind. Vex, Lauren and Dyson are barely more sober, spending most of their time in a room apart from the rest of the action, musing drunkenly if they should or shouldn’t give the box to Bo, bonding and planning to reattach Vex’s hand – they were more of a comic relief this episode than anything else. So were Kenzi and Hale, actually, until the final third of “Groundhog Fae”, when the time loop ended and they had to confront each other.

Actually, the last third of this ep was marked by noticeable differences from the first two. The comic elements largely vanished at this moment, including Vex, Lauren and Dyson: they went fully off screen at this point. Tamsin has confessed to Bo and Bo has confessed to Krampus, however unwillingly about their inner problems. Kenzi and Hale too confessed to each other about their own insecurities – got to admit, it might be a twist to see those two as sexually innocent (though admittedly this is doubtful in Hale’s case).

Finally, Kenzi did deliver the box in question to Bo, however unknowingly, what is inside. Inside is a bottle of, probably, evil, judging by its inky black color. Of course, it just might be some hot chocolate or coffee gone bad, but evil is more likely in LG-verse. And Bo is more than slightly unhappy about this discovery – but what she will do about it will be revealed in the next episodes, since her discovery was the last scene in “Groundhog Fae”.

So: a fun holiday episode that turned serious at the end. Bo discovered more about herself. Tamsin is largely back to normal. Vex, Lauren and Dyson acted as comic relief. And Kenzi and Hale are continuing to evolve their relationship. A very good episode, in short.

Lost Girl, Dec 15 - Of all the Gin Joints

Last week’s LG episode was delivered wonderfully, as LG usually does. For the record, it was Vex and Tamsin’s turn to be absent for one reason or another, so let us not speak of her for a change. 

As for the other Fae... “Of all the gin joints” introduced the Alkonost, which was one of Russian birdwomen, who sang, supposedly, with such joy that people just died from happiness. One can see her connections to the sirens of the Greek myths – and to Hale, who is a siren himself. Curiously, his sonic skills so far are depicted as sonic beams with which to stun his opponents into unconsciousness. Ah well, no one has called LG’s Fae depictions canonical...

The other Fae included the Buraq, named after a winged – and human-headed steed of Mohammed, upon which he flew over the universe before launching the Islamic religion and the Kemazon, which is basically a corrupted version of the Amazon, who already appeared back in S3. 

That is the new Fae. What about the already established ones? Bo and Dyson are reigniting their relationship, and while the physical part of this ‘ship are proceeding as it always does – smoothly, the rest of it – not so much. Dyson simply has problems with commitment; he may not be as bad as Angel from BtVS may, but he would rather do anything than talk about his feelings, or about anyone’s feelings, or about anything at all! Maybe it is because he is behaving as a stereotypical male does, or because he is a werewolf – and when was the last time that an average werewolf quoted Lord Byron or Leo Tolstoy? – but still...

The peak of this Dyson character trait comes at the end of the episode, when the Una Mens make their reappearance just when Bo was having her mental breakthrough and Dyson went on the offensive. Considering that the Una Mens are protected against physical attacks, Dyson’s strategy is really thoughtless and will only result in him getting hurt – but we will have to wait until the next episode to see.

Bo, on the other hand, has had a breakthrough – she realized that it was her father who sponsored her entry into the dark Fae – and she is not happy about it. That prompted Dyson to comment, that among the Fae the light and the dark are just labels..., which is true – this whole system is based upon folklore’s Seelie and Unseelie courts, whose relationship to each other was enigmatic, but to humans they were equally unfriendly and occasionally lethal. That said, quite a bit of LG world-building was built on the supposed antagonism between the light and dark Fae, so Dyson’s statement was probably OOC rather than canon...which is why the Una Mens may have come – but again, we’ll see in the next episode.

Mr. Trick, admittedly, did appear here, but mostly as a secondary character, preferring to stay in the background, so let us keep him there this time too. Hale and Kenzi, on the other hand, were very much in the foreground, as they finally admitted their feelings to each other... it is about time. Their ‘ship, while not exactly absent, usually was barely present, so, again, it is about time for them to resolve their relationship – are they a couple or not? And it looks like they are, at least for now...

Finally, the second plot line, Lauren is moving out of her old digs and the Morrigan is there to help. I have to admit – that was unexpected, and Lauren probably agreed: her interactions with the Morrigan were wary to say the least, but the Morrigan did get Lauren to commit to work for her and the rest of the dark Fae as a doctor, so go team dark. Lauren, on the other hand, got the Morrigan’s DNA (or maybe a tissue sample) so go team dark Lauren as well.

Crystal – Lauren’s former co-worker at the diner – was absent this episode, which makes one wonder what is up with her. Fae-human interactions are unpredictable, so Crystal could have been simply eaten for all we know, but Lauren’s nonchalance about her is still strange...

So: Kenzi and Hale have a relationship breakthrough, Bo remembered some of her recent past, Dyson is about to get hurt and Lauren is reinventing herself, with the Morrigan’s help. As the previous episode had spoken, let the dark times roll!

Lost Girl, Nov 17 - Sleeping Beauty School

The 4^th season of “Lost Girl” continues strong. Bo is still missing, Dylan is still in love with her, and Hale finally decided to make a move for Kenzi but more on that below.

Firstly, Mr. Trick survived, though scarred – Aoife may be formidable herself, but her father is still the king, literally. For now Aoife is absent once again, so let us put her aside. Speaking of asides, Trick was also put aside for most of this episode, so better luck next time, your majesty.

Then again, the same can be said about Vex. After looking over the latest episode I realized what Vex’s problem is – his character just does not generate any respect. His villainy got nothing to do with it – his problem is that he is more of Peter Pettigrew than Lucius Malfoy, and this has to change, or Vex will probably have to die, for there is only so much abuse any character can take before either the audience loses their respect – and sympathy – for him, or he will turn on his abusers...with mixed success, admittedly, but still.

Incidentally, by who was Vex abused? The Una Mens (or the Spanish Inquisition)? The episode does not tell us...probably saving it for later. That said, this is the second time in the show (the first was in S3) when Vex gets to be fed some insect, and that is the opposite of respect. For real, Vex just should not have come back at S3, is all I am saying.

Of course, the root of Vex’s trouble is that the previous Morrigan either is dead or is not. Frankly, at the end of S3 she looked quite dead but you never know with the Fae, fair enough. Of course, this makes her one of the two contenders for the identity of Kenzi’s new babysitting charge... and the other one is Tamsin, who’s been absent from the previous episode. Sadly, it may be that Tamsin may actually be Lauren’s new friend and an owner (?) of a fast food place (think “The Ruby” from “Corner Gas”) in which case the precocious tyke’s identity may be someone else. And the tyke is precious: she grew from a child to a teen in than an episode: Kenzi will really have her hands full with the child/teen for the next episode or two...

On the other hand Hale has admitted his feelings for Kenzi, sort of. I am guessing that the siren playboy is new at this, and it took some Kenzi/Dyson flirting from the previous episode for him to get his brain into gear. All that can be said – it is about time, the Kenzi/Hale ship was practically absent from S3 so it got some serious catching up to do.

Speaking of means of transportation... The ghost train that has appeared in this episode was very impressive, especially how Dyson and his companion were able to catch a ride on it. Sadly, it also seems that Bo has escaped from it (or another ghost train?!) so the game is now literally afoot.

Now, about Dyson’s companion. This episode borrowed from the Greek-Roman myth of Selene and Endymion. Selene was an early moon goddess who was merged with Artemis-Diana and Endymion was her mortal consort. To prevent him from aging and dying Selene put him into an eternal sleep...one that Dyson woke him from. Only, it may be that this Endymion is not the real deal, but is a fake – Dyson was able to figure it out in time and “replace” him with a real deal, a woman...who may be actually an agent of Vex who needs Bo alive for some personal reason... See, it is confusing.

And Lauren... aside from the fact that her new friend may be Tamsin (or maybe another Valkyrie instead) she had rescued a customer from a beetle in his throat. Considering that the customer survived having his throat torn open and healed in a matter of moments, this means that he was a Fae and that, possibly, the beetle was the adult form of the grub that Vex was fed. It also means that either Lauren has somehow become an opponent to some obviously powerful Fae group...or she is some sort of an anti-Kryptonite to Fae...or her cooking is. Either way, she has problems...and has to solve them on her own. It is also the end of the Lauren/Bo ship, but that was evident from S3: the scriptwriters wanted to pair Bo with Dyson and are going to do that. Yet they are doing it with much more grace than, say, Mike and Bryan from the “A: TLA” fandom, who did their ship (Kataang) with all the subtlety of a brick...and are paying for it with the gradual loss of their fanbase; of course, “Korra” does not help either... but I digress.

The bottom line here is that this episode was confusing. Yes, Hale is finally getting on with Kenzi, Dyson has admitted his feelings to Bo and Lauren has to come into her own somehow (or perish) while Bo has escaped from captivity at last – but the brief entry into Greek mythology notwithstanding, this episode was still confusing. One thing is clear – if in previous seasons that was one major mystery (such as the identity of Bo’s true parents) and lesser, one-episode, ones, here, in S4, there is only one major mystery-slash-conflict and that is to find Bo. Let’s wait and see what happens.