Lost Girl recap – 1×05: ‘Dead Lucky’

Last week brought us the first ho-hum episode of Lost Girl. This week the show rebounds with a fun little caper of an episode that demonstrates how a case-of-the-week doesn’t have to suck the life out of a show.

Let’s bitch it out…

Case of the week: The case of the week is a bit like a film noir which takes place in the seedy underworld and is filled with colourful – and untrustworthy – characters. After being kidnapped by Mayer (Aron Tager), a luck Fae, Bo (Anna Silk) agrees to investigate a very successful gambler who shouldn’t have had any luck. The problem? Roger (Richard Harte), the human gambler, is dead. So who’s the real culprit? Dyson reveals that they’re dealing with a Hsien (pronounced shin) Fae: a body jumper. After a quick stop-over to see “hot for blondes” morgue attendant, Eddie (Dylan Roberts), Bo and Kenzi ID the likely villain, a Hsien named Lucas.

The search of Lucas takes Bo and Kenzi to an underground gambling ring fronted by a frost giant named Jesper (David Keeley),whose “frigid” hands allow him to suck power from others (including Bo, who does a great Popsicle impression). Although this sequence is interesting, it’s ultimately pointless since Lucas turns up in the morgue. After trapping him in a body (James Preston Rogers), Bo brings Lucas back to Mayer to reveal that it was Mayer’s nephew, Seymour, that organized the ruse because he was looking to be taken more seriously (it’s a theme of the episode).

Undercover Stints: Bo crashes the underground gambling ring in a sexy blue dress. It’s not really an undercover stint, however, since Jesper knows exactly who Bo is, but Kenzi’s work as “good luck charm’ makes for an amusing detour.

Kenzi Hair-o-meter: Strange side ponytails and side bangs for Roger’s wake. Her red wig at the underground poker game is more fun, even if it does make her look vaguely like a Russian mail-order-bride/prostitute.

Bo Personal development:  Cassie, the Oracle (Vanessa Matsui), informs us about Bo’s past (including a fatal ‘first time’ in a car), but the real shocker is when the Oracle reads her future. It turns out that Bo is a “major player” for whom fate has plans. Cassie then confirms what many of us have suspected since the pilot: Bo’s parents – or mother at least – is alive. Duh duh duh! Side Note: Mention the word “Oracle” and I automatically want a discussion about spoons…alas this did not occur.

Sexnanigans: We open with some office foreplay at the precinct (anyone else think a good portion of Dyson’s pay would go towards button replacements considering how often Bo rips off his shirts?). The healing power of love doesn’t come cheap for wolfie, though, as Dyson gulps energy drinks and walks with a limp for the duration of the episode. Not only is this a testament to Bo’s (sexual) power, but reiterates just how dangerous she is unchecked (no wonder teen boyfriend bit it in the car). Side Note 2: I love how unapologetic the show is in letting Bo be an active sexual being (even if it is clear that she wants them to be monogamous BF/GF).

Other Considerations:

• The primary reason I was high on this episode? The fight scene in the morgue is easily my favourite fight scene the show has done. In it Lucas jumps from body to body until he ends up in a huge bodybuilder and he and Bo face off. It’s reminiscent of the long-forgotten Denzel Washington thriller Fallen (where bad spirit angels jump via touch or something). It’s a great example of the show’s ingenuity. Not only does it demonstrate how the Hsien Fae work, but it’s a practical, no frills special effects that makes a conventional fight scene significantly more interesting. The only minor quibble: Bo depends on Dyson to save her. I like my Bo more independent.
• You either thought Cassie, the Oracle, is the most annoying or most hilarious character in the episode (“Do you have a mint?”). Did the bubbly, Japanese-flavoured idiot savant do it for you?
• Dyson never went to high school? How did he get his job as a police officer?
• Kenzi’s dad was an underground gambler who “taught her everything she knows.” Everything really does come back to family on this show. Interestingly she claims to Mayer that she doesn’t have much luck, but he corrects her and says she tastes like a survivor.
• Hustler vs Siren in a pool contest: Draw. Kenzi can “handle her shit” on the felt, but she doesn’t like getting advice from Hale about needing to be more self-sufficient. Naturally this leads her to act out on her own to demonstrate her self-sufficiency…which leaves her stuffed in the trunk of a car.

Bo and Dyson’s Dating Rules

In case you need to refer to them later:

1: No breakfast

2: No discussing their relationship with other people (exception Kenzi)

3: They come, they go, no questions asked. No sad goodbyes

4: Dyson doesn’t get to tell Bo which cases she can’t take, so long as she tells him which ones she does

5: They’re not exclusive – they’re free to see other people

Best Lines of the Episode

• Kenzi (dragging a frozen Bo into the Dal): “911 booty call”
• Trick (hearing the commotion from Bo/Dyson): “Did my troll get out?”
• Kenzi (after seeing Dyson’s healing ability on Bo): “Dude, your junk could cure cancer”
• Bo (to Lucas in the body-builder’s body): “Bring it, juice-monkey”
• Kenzi (as Dyson unties her): “That’s right, mock the human, because that’s not getting old”
• Dyson (after Kenzi refuses to rejoin ‘Team Dyson’): “Come on…we’ve got t-shirts.”

What did you think of the latest episode? Were you satisfied with the case of the week or do you prefer your Lost Girl a little more mythology heavy? And would you sign on for those dating rules?