Lost Girl review – 3×05 / 3×06: ‘Faes Wide Shut’ / ‘The Kenzi Scale’

Having missed last week’s episode, we’re doubling down on Lost Girl as the truth about both Bo (Anna Silk) and Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) is revealed.

Let’s bitch it out…Faes Wide Shut

Of the two episodes, I’m inclined to say that ‘Faes Wide Shut’ is the superior outing. Like many of the best Lost Girl episodes, it’s outrageous in all the best ways (a sex club with near full frontal nudity? Kenzi stirring up trouble? An unexpected cliffhanger? Yes, yes, yes!). There’s also a strong character development angle to compliment the traditional procedural case-of-the-week, which centers around humans who liquefy into goo following sexual misadventures with a manta-Fae in the steamroom room of a suspiciously McMansion-like sex club run by Roman (Damon Runyan), a Bacchus Fae.

The case alone is interesting enough to get high marks, and that’s before we factor in how our ladies rocked the formal/slutty wear for their “key party” debut (don’t try to tell me that Doccubus fans weren’t flocking to make gifs of Zoie Palmer’s Lauren descending the stairs in that elegant purple number as Bo looked like she wanted to literally devour her body. So hot!)

By the end of the hour, it’s clear that the focus of the episode is not the case of the week, though. No, the focus of ‘Faes Wide Shut’ is twofold: setting up the Kenzi-doppelganger story that takes central stage in ‘The Kenzi Scale’ (explored below) and stirring up romantic problems for Bo.

Lost Girl has always been the story of a complicated bisexual love triangle with supernatural fun injected to set it apart. The central conflict is that Bo is a woman with two lovers whom she can never quite manage to be monogamous with. S1 is about her efforts with Dyson (Kris Holden-Ried) and S3 is about her attempt with Lauren (let’s forget S2 ever happened, shall we?). One of my recurring issues is that the writers seem to prefer the Bo/Dyson pairing. Much like MTV’s teen romance Awkward. (S2), even when the writers explore the alternative to their preferred option (ie: the Doccubus relationship), it feels as though it is only intended to last for a finite time limit. It seems inevitable to me that Bo will end back up with Dyson. Now that Lauren knows that Dyson’s love for Bo has returned, I’ll be interested to see if this is the beginning of the end of our Doctor/Succubus combo.

Other Observations:

• The hour opens with Bo and Lauren shopping for someone to satisfy Bo’s voracious sexual appetite. The rest of the episode is one extended sexual tease for the succubus as the case brings her back to the high sexual energy club filled with ultra-attractive people looking to get it on. When Bo remarks to Lauren that the sexual energy is at 11, she could just as easily be describing the episode itself
• In the early parts of the episode, it simply seems as if Kenzi is acting more needy than usual. It never even occurs to me that something is wrong with her until she begins deleting calls from Lauren on Bo’s cell. With the revelation that she’s been replaced, anyone care to guess when the body-swap occurred?
• The case of the murdered girl that Bo sleeps with at the start of the episode (Degrassi‘s Miriam McDonald) remains unsolved at its end. We know that Bo attacked coma guy in the season premiere, but what’s her involvement in this murder?

Best Lines:

• Lauren (seeing Bo and the hot blonde going at it): “Oh and there’s choking”
• Bo (surveying the sex club): “I think Hugh Hefner summers here.”
• Roman (chatting topless with Bo): “I’m all-“ (reclines, exposing his near-naked body) “-ears”
• Kenzi (referring to the dead girl): “The cupcake Bo was eating in bed?”
• Kenzi (when Trick suggests tagging along to Roman’s): “You wanna get kinky at a sex club with your granddaughter?”
• Bo (seeing the tentacle): “Holy octopussy!”

The Kenzi Scale

This week’s episode, ‘The Kenzi Scale’, should be the perfect episode for me. I love adventures that center around our core group, so the search to find Kenzi, who’s been holed up in a cave near the dump by a doppelganger named Inarri, should be right up my alley.

The biggest problem is that ‘The Kenzi Scale’ feels as though the story is unnecessarily stretched out, as though there isn’t enough plot to justify a 42 minute run-time. This is unusual, because the revelations about Tamsin (Rachel Skarsten) are pretty darn juicy.

Perhaps it’s that the reveal that the fall-out from Kenzi’s actions with The Norn in last season’s finale aren’t quite as epic as I’d hoped for. While I love a good doppelganger episode (Buffy’s ‘Doppelgangland’ remains one of my favourite hours of TV ever), a lot of what happens with Irrani is underwhelming. So this Fae (whom we don’t even get to see in her natural form) simply wants to have friends/be loved? It’s a bit of a dull, boring characterization and the conclusion – an off-screen death – fails to pay-off.

Considering the build-up in ‘Faes Wide Shut’, this plotline would have been stronger with a more complicated role for the villain that involves more than simply taking Kenzi’s place. It’s been in the works for seven episodes and even though I wouldn’t have wanted to see this version of the story played out more than one episode, there’s potential for a multi-episode arc had it been played differently.

On the plus side, Tamsin is finally growing on me. After taking a step-back in ‘Faes Wide Shut’ with a return to her “bitchier than thou” attitude, there’s more effort here to round her out. In addition to learning that she’s a Valkyrie Fae – capable of planting doubt and confusion in her victims – we now know that she’s in The Morrigan’s (Emmanuelle Vaugier) pocket. As predicted a few weeks ago, it seems that Tamsin is destined to follow a similar path to Vex (an unseen Paul Amos): a Dark Fae who’s alliance is compromised courtesy of the “happy sunshine gang”. There are still more questions to be answered (such as why her chi is so powerful to Bo), but this is a great start that helps to flesh the character out. Before I loved to hate Tamsin, and now suddenly I can see her sticking around for the long run. Talk about a turn-around!

Other Observations:

• I may have misunderstood it, but it seems as though Inarri is suggesting that Kenzi – despite being a human – has Fae potential and she doesn’t know what she’s capable of. Is this a hint of things to come (especially in relation to Bo’s “evolution”) or is Inarri just commenting on the abilities of Fae over humans?
• The big Bo reveal is that she’s begun ‘The Dawning’, a form of Fae evolution, but she’s about 200 years premature. There’s little information given besides Trick’s (Rick Howlands) proclamation that the process involves a test that can be passed or failed. I’ll freely admit that I am more intrigued by the idea before we see the individual who failed to pass, who resembles a generic baddie who growls and slobbers in the basement of the Dhal. Side Note: Why the hell is this individual simply being kept locked up? That seems like a really inefficient way to deal with those who fail
• I think it’s really unfair that Bo holds Lauren responsible for Kenzi’s injuries, but spits no such vitriol at Dyson. Perhaps it’s considered acceptable because Bo is currently dating Lauren, but it’s not like Lauren a) put her in the holding pen and b) can let her out. On the flip side, however, it’s super annoying that everyone automatically turns against Bo without even considering that she’s telling the truth. Considering the relationships they’ve forged, shouldn’t they have a teensy bit more confidence in her?
• Also, why doesn’t Bo reference the fact that Kenzi ate peanuts last week as a way to convince the others that she’s telling the truth? Seems like an obvious example to break out (even if Inarri likely would have simply denied it)
• Speaking of food, I do appreciate the exchange between Inarri and Kenzi about eating jewelry and respecting the Kenzi “brand”. Even as a prisoner, Kenzi is witty
• This marks back to back weeks without any sign of Hale (K.C. Collins). Whether this is due to budgetary cuts or Collins’ availability, it seems unusual that the character has been MIA so often this season, especially given his “promotion” to Ash 

Best Lines:

• Kenzi (to Tamsin): “Rehab is rough and no one makes care packages like moi. So peace, bottle blonde.”
• The Morrigan (when Tamsin protests doing evil): “Hope you haven’t fallen in love with the happy sunshine gang on your excursion with the Light.”
• Bo (when Tamsin offers to let Bo feed off her): “I kinda hate you.”
• Kenzi (when Bo asks if she’s okay): “I just want a burger. And fries. And a second burger.”

What are your thoughts on the resolution of the Kenzi/Norn curse? Are you intrigued to discover what test(s) are involved in the Dawning? Are you warming up to Tamsin? And what do you think Hale has been doing all of this time? Sound off in the comments below

Lost Girl takes a breather for a few weeks and returns Sunday, March 3 (in Canada) and Monday, March 4 (in the US) at 9pm EST on Showcase and 10pm EST on Syfy respectively