Lost Girl review – 4×07: ‘La Fae Époque’

Bo (Anna Silk) astral projects in Dyson’s (Kris Holden-Ried) memories after he is charged with murder and sentenced to death by the Una Mens. So what does Bo discover during her adventure in his nineteenth century lived experiences?

Let’s bitch it out…‘La Fae Époque’ is a strange episode. There’s every suggestion that it’s an important one in the mythology of Lost Girl‘s fourth season, but my initial reaction upon screening it is “whaaa?” The premise itself is cool and slightly reminiscent of season three’s ‘The Ceremony’, which similarly dumped Bo into a series of vignettes featuring the rest of the cast in fantasy roles as she began the Dawning. Here the introduction of Kenzi (Ksenia Solo), Lauren (Zoie Palmer) and even Vex (Paul Amos) is indicative of a blurring of Bo’s reality in Dyson’s memories. The plot itself also provides any number of opportunities to work through “Bo-as-Dyson” experiences. It’s a fun way to shake up the routine for the actors and something that Lost Girl is particularly well-suited to do (as both a sci-fi show, as well as a show whose cast seems game for anything).

As far as the plot goes, it’s all over the place and a bit of a mess. The resolution of Bo’s investigation into the events for which the Una Mens have charged Dyson is actually really straightforward, but the process of uncovering it is overly elaborate. Essentially everything boils down to a pair of shoes that Lauren’s alter ego, Flora Bloom, discovers has the capacity to bring out your darkest desires when worn. Dyson is responsible for helping Flora secure the shoes and feels responsible when she goes on a bloody rampage along a single street in Paris. At the end of the hour, however, very little of this is of consequence. All we really need to know is that both the Una Mens and the Wanderer are after the shoes. Bo offers the fascist Fae group, fronted by the Keeper (Christine Horne), one half of the bounty but it appears that this saga will continue in subsequent episodes as Dyson reveals that the remaining shoe is with Kenzi’s 1899 alter ego, bartender/saloon girl Angel. The fact that she’s waiting for a hero selected by destiny bodes well for us since that’s clearly Bo.

And so the hero quest continues…

Other Observations:

• Half of the fun of these kinds of episodes is watching the cast play different roles. Anna Silk is more or less the straight man since she’s restricted to Bo’s own observations and Dyson’s dialogue. I’d say it’s probably a toss-up between Ksenia Solo and Zoie Palmer as to who has more fun in their “alter ego” role: both of whom get to don Burlesque style outfits, adopt terrible French accents and wear big curly wigs. I’ll give the edge to Palmer since she gets to sing (or is that lip synch?)…in French no less.
• We learn that these events are what led to Trick (Rick Howland) to recruit Dyson and transform him into the hero we know and love (instead of a thieving Lothario constantly in danger of being killed by angry husbands). This is also when Trick reveals his true identity as Blood King to Dyson.
• I understand that not everything is plotted out four seasons in advance, but Dyson’s response when Bo asks why he and Trick never told her about these events is weak. “I didn’t know until now” – so he basically had narrative amnesia until it’s convenient to tell this particular story? I would have rather had a lie or an excuse because this just feels like an excuse drummed up in the writer’s room to justify why this is the first we’re hearing about these events. Just come out and say it, writers – let’s not pretend.
• This week’s special guest is none other than fortune teller Cassie (Vanessa Matsui), last seen waaaay back in 1×05 ‘Dead Lucky’ (an early favourite of mine). Good to see Cassie is as mouthy as ever!
• So we’re all in agreement that the writers have no idea what to do with Hale (K.C. Collins), right? I did enjoy the shout-out to the defeat of the Garuda when Hale advocates for Dyson’s release, though. Good continuity moment.
• I know it’s likely expensive, but I really appreciate seeing most of the core cast (sans Trick and Rachel Skarsten’s Tamsin) in a scene together. When they come together at the Dhal after everything has been resolved (a little too easily, I might add), it feels like a significant moment. Grimm is currently getting a lot of mileage out of these kinds of scenes (they do dinner together), but it helps to confirm that all of these people do know and hang out together collectively. Sometimes it just feels like Bo wanders from person to person as needed.
• Finally, there’s plenty of material in ‘La Fae Époque’ to satisfy both groups of shippers. For Dyson fans, Bo spends the episode inside of him and even Lauren admits that Bo needs to cut her string to return to him. Meanwhile fans of Lauren likely enjoyed the idea – if not necessarily the mirrored execution – of Bo’s sex scene (as Dyson) with Lauren and, more significantly, Bo’s kiss that brings Lauren back from the dream-astral state (very Sleeping Beauty). I like that there’s a continued acknowledgement of Bo’s interest in them both, even if Lauren’s work for the Dark seems primed to blow up her relationship with Bo before the end of the season.

Best Lines:

• Kenzi (to Hale): “I took a punch to the neck…by a monk!”
• Hale (to Kenzi, after describing the monk as a eunuch): “Yup, not even beach volleyball would do it for him”
• Bo (mumbling about Dyson’s memories): “Shoes…milk maids…boobs”
• Bo (watching herself as Dyson having sex with Lauren): “So this is happening”
• Dyson (discussing Bo’s astral projection): “That was intimate. You, in me for once” Gross

Your turn: did ‘La Fae Époque’ hit the spot for you? Did you care about the investigation of the deadly shoes? Who had more fun stepping out of their regular role? Why do both the Una Mens and the Wanderer want the shoes? Speculate away below

Lost Girl airs Sundays at 10pm EST on Showcase. I’m taking a vacation next week, so I won’t be available to review the Dec 29 episode. I’ll either double up or post a late review on Jan 4th when I get home. Happy holidays, Lost Girl fans!