Lost Girl 5×15 review: ‘Let Them Burn’

Nothing says penultimate episode quite like burning down the house.

Let’s bitch it out…

With only a single episode left before the series finale, Lost Girl is setting the stage for the final battle. While we still don’t know exactly what Jack’s (Eric Roberts) plan is, we now know that Bo (Anna Silk) is the real peripice – the ultimate weapon that Jack has been waiting nearly three decades to deploy. It takes most of the episode for the truth to come out, though. First Bo and Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) must go on a journey to Evony’s (Emmanuelle Vaugier) stable in an attempt to seek out the midwife present at Bo’s birth. In a keen bit of callback the midwife turns out to be Lou Ann (Marie Ward), the woman that Bo tried to free from death row all the way back in 1×08 ‘Vexed’. Lou Ann fills Bo in the final missing pieces of her birth, including Trick’s attempt to protect them both (no surprise there) and how Aoife wanted to kill Bo because she saw “something dark in her” (again…something we already knew) The combination of this knowledge and the fact that the horseshoe fashioned by Hephaestus back in ‘Judgement Fae’ does not fit the fire breathing horse they find at the stable leads to Bo’s realization of her true purpose.

And herein lies my BIG issue with this episode. Bo’s conversion / submission to her father is obviously a ruse, at least in the opening/closing framing device which finds Bo burning down the clubhouse with her friends inside. In the final scene of the episode, Jack sits Bo down upon a throne and her eyes glow blue (a visual cue to indicate when Bo has lost control of herself) and in this moment it is clear that she has succumbed to his will. But she’s clearly in control when she willingly tries to burn down her home and murder her friends. Yes Bo is willing to go undercover and do some shady business to get results (as she has so many times over the years), but it feels disingenuous to suggest she would willingly put everyone she loves in danger in order to stop Jack. Our Bo would never accept that risk; she would look for another solution. Even Jack himself is not convinced, suggesting earlier in the episode that he doubts her conviction and believes she is acting for his benefit.

Unless we see some kind of proof in the finale that Bo engineered an exit for her friends in advance, Bo’s willingness to kill everyone feels wrong. It would have been better to have her under Jack’s control when she’s pouring the gasoline and calling Kenzi to assemble the troops. As it stands, this piece of ‘Let Them Burn’ simply doesn’t gel with the character we’ve known for five seasons.

Other Observations:

• There are two significant subplots in the episode. The first is Tamsin’s (Rachel Skarsten) abduction and imprisonment by Jack. I will admit that I prefer my Tamsin bright and shiny and while Skarsten plays the hell out of the Valkyrie’s fear and anguish, it’s uncomfortable watching a pregnant woman, her wings clipped, wailing and crying in a cage. Very torture-porn.
• The other subplot concerns Dyson (Kris Holden-Ried) and Mark’s (Luke Bilyk) attempt to call Concilium – a meeting of the Elder Councillors – at the Dhal. Unfortunately the tension between father and son over the Light Fae/Dark Fae invitations feels forced and arbitrary. It’s obvious that Mark’s youthful belief in the two sides coming together is the way that the issue will be resolved. The division between Light and Dark was a dominant theme in the early seasons so their unification over Jack’s defeat is a fairly obvious way for the writers wrap up this particular narrative arc.
  • Mark also shifts for the first time, though it is as a panther and not a wolf. I…don’t care. I’ll just admit it: I’ve never warmed to Mark as a character (his presence is arbitrary and his story lines have never taken off), so I couldn’t care less if he chooses Light or Dark at the end of the day.
• There’s very little closure for Vex (Paul Amos), who – as predicted – survived having his throat slit, though his vocal cords are severely damaged. The way that Vex is treated by everyone is surprisingly indifferent; they only care about determining whether Jack was responsible for the attack and then bicker over Vex’s injured body about what to do next. No one even wishes him a speedy recovery! Cold…

Best Lines:

• Kenzi (when Bo insists she should not have come back from Spain): “Besides this crack shack will always be home”
• Kenzi (as they arrive at Evony’s house): “Fresh mimosas. Respect.”
• Evony (discussing what she wanted to do to Bo when she was the Morrigan): “What else do you do with a weird mole? Burn it off”
• Kenzi (as Bo realizes she is the peripice): “I am trying. I am struggling. I mean yes, you do have a lustrous mane, but you don’t have horse face. It’s more oval!”

Your turn: did you buy Bo’s attack on her friends and lovers? What is Jack’s plan? Were you uncomfortable watching Tamsin’s scenes? Surprised that the Light and Dark are coming together in time for the finale? Do you care what happens with Mark? Sound off below.

Lost Girl airs its series finale next Sunday at 9pm EST on Showcase