Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Lost Girl, Season 2, Episode 13 Barometz. Trick. Pressure


Lauren is heading off on a road trip with Nadia and, naturally, Bo is rather angsty about it. Bo also learns that *gasp* the Ash is manipulative and cunning and has used her rescuing of Nadia to rebind Lauren to him! Upon my word, who could possibly have guessed that the Ash had an ulterior motive! And Bo is shocked that her trust has been so abused! And she can’t even figure out how he did it! Bo, you’re not smart enough to play fae politics

Bo goes to rant with Trick, but Trick actually has intelligent things to talk about – and lo, he actually wants to check out the meta-plot! Good gods, someone remembered the terrible fate stalking them! He wants to tell the future to see what disaster is looming. But to do that he needs a magical ring. Sadly, he’s already paid someone to steal his mystic bling – a shifter named Taeg who has gone and got greedy. He wants Bo to negotiate him down using her succubus woo-woo (does anyone remember she has succubus woo-woo? Yes she does, I know she hasn’t used them in a while)

Meanwhile we see a lady get an old fashioned and most well applauded divorce and then she turns into the guy she smacked – this would be Taeg. And when Bo meets him, he turns into her. Ok forgive me for the cattiness but Anna Silk isn’t really the actor to pull these body switch scenes off (no, really, it’s not great). Can we have Dyson playing Kenzi again instead? That was fun!

Taeg has his own plan – fake being Bo to rob Trick blind, but he gets succubused and Bo gets the ring anyway and he gets his *sigh* gold bricks. For gods’ sake the word is “INGOT”. Metal comes in ingots. Not bricks.

Trick goes to see an old girlfriend (and gives us some mental images that are going to stick) Wai Lin, a fae who has the power to acquire truth. She’s a herbalist who has another element of the seeing the future ritual. But her price is 4 freely given answers in return. During which we learn how Trick’s wife died, that he took skulls on holiday and Hale learns that Trick was the Blood King.

But before we leave Wai Lin extracts the truth from Dyson – he cannot love Ciara. Yay, relationship angst. Trick does his ritual, Bo tries to go after Ash – Trick says no, but Bo, being Bo, agrees in the “I can’t act to save my life so am clearly lying” kind of way and runs off with some books/scrolls. Oh Bo, something foolish is going to happen. Because Dyson and Hale really need to be worried about this while helping Trick in a ritual that could kill him, right?

Bo manages to get past the Ash’s defences using a lighter. No, really. Yes, I didn’t believe it either. She then breaks into his secret secure chest – using a rock. Yes, the Ash’s security can be compromised using a light and a rock. And she finds a stash of heads! And the Ash! And he’s pissed so decides to arm her so they can have a proper duel (really? Someone breaks in planning to kill you so you give her a weapon because she’s been too damn foolish to bring her own).  Oh and some sex-shaming. Sex-shaming a succubus, really? Bo suddenly learns fighting skills – apparently. This being the woman who was defeated by a human dominatrix carrying a short knife? Make up your mind! Either Bo can fight or she can’t.

It’s a pretty cool fight though. Even with Ash trying to convince her she’s Dark Fae really, it’s pretty decently done. Thankfully the banter part of the fight has Bo reveal to the Ash that she has been speaking to the Nain Rouge (about damn time) so they can finally talk.


Trick’s vision tries to trick him – showing a vision of his dead wife to convince him as the Blood King to revoke the laws he wrote – the laws that forced peace between the fae and ended the constant fighting. Trick doesn’t fall for it of course, after all, what is he, Bo? And then things get interesting – as a Garouda (creatures with actual special effects budget!) – an ancient force that went extinct millennia before the fae existed – is manipulating his vision. And just as fae feed on humans, Garouda feed on fae – their rage and hatred. And Trick stopped that by bringing the peace as the Blood King.
And they’ve come back because Trick used his blood again – at the end of season 1, to save Bo. The Garouda have found him, know where he is and can come back for some revenge.

And back to Bo and the Ash. Lochlan, the Ash, is a Naga (Hindu snake being, if I know my mythology at all. Why do we have a white guy playing an Indian fae) and all the bad things he’s done have been for test her. The Naga have been hunted to near extinction because their venom is the only thing that can kill a Garouda. Since the Garouda feed on anger and rage, he has been testing Bo to see if she can control hers – as a Succubus, her power comes from lust and passion not hatred – so she is the perfect person to lead the fight against the Garouda. He wants her to lead his army against the Garouda

In the relationship side: Dyson and Ciara are unpacking after moving in together and arguing about t-shirts and being cutesy –but of course Dyson cannot love Ciara! Relationship, drama, angst!
Kenzi and Nate are still doing the cutesy relationship thing – and this guy thinks he’s a much better musician than he is, I think. If a man kept hanging around singing at me, I’d need whiskey as well. But the angst is back because Nate is leaving. And don’t you know, Kenzi spent all this time thinking of him since she was 6. Seriously – he left when she was 6 and she thought about him every day since then? Really? Really? I can’t even remember being 6! But more romance/angst/conmflict Nate wants Kenzi to come with him! Noooooo we can’t be without Kenzi?!

All in all – relationship dramas aside, we actually had stuff happen! METAPLOT! Special effects! Pretty cool fight scenes! Drama! Stuff happening! I’m actually excited and loving it! Yes, excited! By Lost Girl. We had world building and plot advancement and answers to questions and we know what the Ash is and he’s not being a complete arsehole for once. And we may learn more about the Blood King’s history and power and more about the Ash. Bo’s still a fool, but we can’t have everything. Yes, for the first time in a long time I have been riveted and excited by a Lost Girl episode.

At least it’s all happening! And we have a special effects budget for it as well!