Courtesy of Syfy / Showcase
It’s back to school time on Lost Girl as Bo (Anna Silk), Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) and Dyson (Kris Holden-Ried) go undercover to break up a doping ring (what is this, Teen Wolf?). Plus: Lauren’s (Zoie Palmer) sex life gets a boost.
Let’s bitch it out…In many ways ‘School’s Out’ is like an old-school case of the week episode of Lost Girl. Back in the first season, when we were still learning about the Fae world, we often saw these kinds of episodes: a case that requires everyone’s participation, frequently involving undercover work and a minor reveal about some detail of the Fae world. In this case we learn a little about underage Fae, but for the most part it’s a standard standalone episode that has little-to-no bearing on the show’s overall mythology.
When it’s all said and done, the episode falls squarely in the middle of the Lost Girl barometer: it’s neither good, nor bad, it simply is. There are some funny lines, and the case is okay (albeit predictable), but in the grand scheme of things it fails to reveal much about anything and there’s no lasting character development. On the plus side, it’s not as bad as my favourite crappy go-to, 2×07 ‘Fae Gone Wild’, which exists simply to put Bo in a strip club. On the flipside, it’s nowhere near as good as the cases that actually have a personal impact on Bo, like 2×10 ‘Raging Fae’.
Courtesy of Syfy / Showcase
At the end of the day, the only truly important element to take away are the Nadia (Athena Karkanis) bits. We learn that Nadia still knows nothing of the Fae world, but she does have her suspicions since she’s snapping photos of Lauren’s necklace (aka her symbol of indentured servitude to The Ash). It’s a bit of rote set-up for Nadia’s inevitable discovery of the truth, though it fails to carry a lot of punch because we’re reminded in the process how much Nadia is a stop-gap (much like Ciara was with Dyson).
If ‘School’s Out’ tells us anything, it is how little we know – or care – about Nadia. Sure, her presence means that the lady sexytime quotient of Lost Girl increases dramatically (and provides ample oogling time for straight males and lesbian fans), but aside from that can anyone honestly say that they care one way or another what happens to this character? The whole problem with the Nadia storyline is that we’ve never known her as anything other than “the absent lover” so who she is or what becomes of her feels immaterial. There are still six episodes remaining, so perhaps that will change, but for now, this is all a big shrug and a “meh.”
Other Observations:
- Bo’s tenure as a high-school substitute is awkward (“Werewolves: fact or fiction?). I can’t imagine a lot of learning went on in that classroom between her stumbling around the content and the distraction those boobs provide.
- Dyson as a guidance counselor is almost as bad a fit as Bo as a teacher. The man with no ability to love counseling hormonal high schools in perpetual states of romantic crisis should be more fun, although his resigned sigh and bewilderment about whether any of the students have real problems is worth a chuckle.
- The early parts of the episode work best for me because they feature Kenzi discovering that her street-lingo is not a good mesh (predictably so) with the popular high school girls. Enjoyably, this produces references to Heathers and bouts of physical violence.
- Lambert (Anthony Lemke) is still kicking around, hiding in bathtubs and high school stairwells like the secret lover he is. The parallels between Bo’s romance with him and the study of canonical high school text Romeo & Juliet falls completely flat, as does the idea that she’s still sleeping with the Dark Fae under Kenzi’s nose. While I like Lambert, I’m already dreading the inevitable discovery of this relationship because we all know how it will play out. The result is that the majority of these scenes now feel like they’re treading water.
Best Lines:
- Kenzi (to Bo, re: breaking things off with Lambert): “I don’t expect you to holster your honey-pot.”
- Bo (suggesting Dyson will do fine undercover in high school): “Sad, wolfie eyes. Chris Martin hair.” Way to recognize the similarities, Lost Girl
- Kenzi (on fitting in at the school): “Oh honey, they’re going to be printing my face on t-shirts by lunch”
- Kenzi: “Teen angst. Our greatest foe.”
Annnd that’s about it. What did you think of the episode: enjoyable side-diversion or space filler? Are you invested in the Nadia storyline? Do you really think high school girls would pour coffee on Kenzi’s boots (as opposed to worship them)? And would you have been able to focus on Romeo & Juliet with Bo as your busty teacher? Sound off below.
Lost Girl airs Fridays at 10pm EST on Syfy
First of all, I love your posts on LG, I agree with like 98% of the stuff you write!
As much as I like Lambert as a character, I think the continued relationship is damaging Bo’s character. I understand Lambert was used to get Bo to think differently about the Dark Fae- but wasn’t that established like, two episodes ago? It’s obvious that Bo likes Lambert- but it’s also obvious that she kind of wants the whole thing to end. But Lambert keeps pulling her back in, it’s as if he’s the succubus (er, incubus) and she’s the succeptable human.
Where is our kickass succubus!?
Moving on: I was done with the whole Nadia storyline before she was even cured. I really can’t see the Nadia thing going further than jealousy, lesbian love, boobs, and another human finding out about the fae. There’s no emotional depth, and a backstory for her would be extremely out of place unless there’s an episode entirely dedicated to Lauren and Nadia…snoozefest.
On the boots: It was semi-okay comedic relief, but it was a bit of a downer on her character. We all appreciate Kenz for her style, but she’s done undercover stuff before! She’s been a clairvoyant (the episode with the spider fae) a foreign country club worker (the episode with the salad and stuff) I mean, we know Kenzie knows what she’s doing in situations like that: I feel like it was a step backwards.
I loved Bo’s attempts at teaching…of course I think it wasn’t exactly a wise choice “in character” wouldn’t the centuries-old, wise, Dyson have been a much better teacher than a 28 year old who left before finishing high school? Also, wouldn’t Bo have made a better guidance counselor? She’s a succubus, people really tend to open up to her, spill out their deepest darkest secrets, etc. I just feel like the writers would do a better job keeping things logical-ish (how logical can you get with the fae?) rather than a few moments of force comedy?
Sorry for writing so much lol!
I completely agree with you. Bo would have been a much better guidance counselor (I think Dyson would have fared equally poorly since he’s not really relating to folks these days).
It does feel like the show forgets how to use Kenzi at times, or they slot her in wherever they need someone to perform function ‘X’.