Mahlers5th and Valksy are back once again with their analysis of 4.05. Hope everyone enjoy!
“The worst enemy of life, freedom and the common decencies is total anarchy; their second worst enemy is total efficiency.” – Aldous Huxley
Mahlers5th:
We decided to mix it up this week and go with a conversational Q&A format, with me in the role of interviewer.
I thought “Let the Dark Times Roll” was Lost Girl at its very best. I’d rank it third on my list of personal favorites, right behind “It’s a Fae, Fae, Fae, Fae World” and “Vexed.” I know you loved it, too, Valksy. What made this episode so damn good? Please don’t mention Dyson’s absence. Oh well, if you must…
Valksy:
Since the Morrigan first made an elegant, laconic and deliciously wicked impact in episode 101, I have been waiting eagerly for a trip into the world of the Dark Fae. This episode delivered that longed for journey – with a side serving of the kind of salty language, sharp dialogue, grand guignol violence (that recognizes an adult audience), and wild humor, that made the show seem so bright and revolutionary from the very start.
Dreamscape motifs and mutable realities have been a daring and controversial choice, but I continue to welcome and applaud the ambitious departure from the safe haven of monster of the week episodes. I believe it a courageous gamble to make one story the focus of a full season, rather than attach it as a coda, and loved how this episode picked up exactly where the one before left off. Last week’s bewildering “time passes” gap did make me feel like I was missing something. I want every moment of this story and this episode was clearly one middle chapter in something that is of a much grander scale.
One of the signature elements of Lost Girl is that its urban fantasy setting offers some unique options for storyline and this is surely something rare and precious in television. Lost Girl is able to offer commentary via narrative on concepts of freedom, slavery and sectarian conflict without the inevitable weight of the socio-political reality of those difficult subjects.
Dyson being absent? I couldn’t help but notice that all the other characters were able to support and facilitate Bo’s story, and drive the plot forward with Bo as the crown jewel in the center of it all (as it is supposed to be). Lauren can help Bo without diminishing her, Kenzi and Tamsin can have a supplementary plot that does not dilute Bo’s position as the icon of the show, Trick can fill in gaps in exposition without seeming to suddenly have convenient knowledge beyond his pay grade. I still wonder what Dyson contributed in the first four episodes that was actually meaningful to the meta-plot rather than an accommodating sidebar to pad screen time.
Mahlers5th:
What were your favorite scenes and why?
Valksy:
The sequence on the lawn, as Lauren comes back to Bo, is a key moment in the episode. That Lauren is lit so that she is practically glowing, with her hair almost a halo, is obvious symbolism. I am not sure if we are seeing her as Bo does at this point, or if it a gift to a large portion of the viewing public, perhaps even with a nod and wink to us?
Lauren is barefoot and I wonder if this was intended to be taken as an image of purity, or if being barefoot was a symbolic recognition of the subjugation of women and is foreshadowing Lauren under the thrall of the Dark, or if it was simply soft turf that was a nightmare to walk across in heels. Are we being invited to notice such things, and make sense of them in our own way.
On a second review of episode 404, when I was searching for what I felt was the unexplained absence of the Wanderer (which seemed odd after layering in his otherworldly influence so powerfully in preceding episodes) I found myself puzzled by the decision to cast Bo into semi-darkness so frequently. During the necklace scene in episode 404, the left side of Bo’s face was bathed in shadow. This happened again in episode 405 as Bo watched Lauren and, as the scene took place outside in broad daylight, I found myself wondering what was casting such a heavy shadow. My question would have to be – is this intentional, or just a coincidence that allows for a projection of my own belief that something sinister is influencing Bo?
I loved that the threads of the story continued to be woven, adding depth and complexity to what seems at first glance to be a simple and appealing scene re-introducing a character. Lauren is quite obviously being given to Bo as a gift by the Morrigan. I loved the writing and the screen craft, and it was also joy to have Anna Silk and Zoie Palmer back on screen together. Their synergy and chemistry is as powerful as ever. I appreciated that, when the time came to briefly reunite as lovers, reaching for one another was synchronous. I have missed these characters.
Mahlers5th:
Lauren has apparently switched teams/cages. Last week, she was throwing down her shackles and declaring: “I’m done playing”. This week she’s tight with the Dark because they “sought me out and offered protection” (and traded in Karen’s rags for that awesome little black dress, am I right?). You’ve never felt so free, Lauren, but really, it looked to me like Evony had you kidnapped and thrown into that Saw sequel, then threatened to kill Crystal unless you came up with the diagnosis of spongiform encephalopathy. Premortem. Without optical fiber immunoassay technology. I know, I know – child’s play. Just who was that incestuous Fae elder, anyway?
That’s not my question for you, Valksy. What did you make of Lauren’s perplexing behavior towards the end of this episode – in particular, her decision to stay with Evony (as her newest toy?) rather than go home and enjoy that bubble bath with Bo? Even Kenzi showed more chutzpah in standing up to Evony (“I’m not your pet; I will never be anyone’s pet, nor will any human“). Should we take at face value Lauren’s own explanation that the Dark Fae are providing protection from an even more terrifying foe – the Una Mens? Or is Evony holding something over Lauren? Crystal’s life perhaps? Or does Lauren have some sort of master plan in mind to free herself and Bo from the Dark Fae, and is keeping Bo in the dark (ha-ha) for the time being? That last scene with Bo reminded me of their meeting at Taft’s castle – it was as if Lauren were speaking to two audiences, feigning an indifference to Bo that she didn’t really feel (“I’ll see you around”) in order to protect her.
Valksy:
We have a missing scene, again. The question is whether there will ever be an explanation because it serves a purpose, or if it will be left ambiguous as an invitation for viewers to decide for themselves. Since we are not quite half way, reserving judgment on the story itself seems the most valid option. It does seem premature to me to wonder over missing pieces with eight more episodes still pending.
My guess would be that we won’t see Crystal in person again, and that Evony seeming benignity in offering Lauren her “freedom” is a method to try and win Bo’s favor and co-operation. For this to work, Lauren must be a willing participant and, as we saw in 313 when she bargained for assistance for the Cabbit, it’s not in her nature to leave someone vulnerable behind. Lauren negotiating Crystal’s freedom as part of the deal to join the Dark would be in character, and would arguably make more sense than Lauren being held under coercion to convince Bo to be reconciled to the Dark.
This episode is the clearest indication yet that there is nothing much to choose between the two factions. The contrast between Light and Dark is not, and never has been, as easy as good versus bad. As Kenzi succinctly puts it, they are both “assholes”. Both sides practice dictatorship, de facto slavery, retributive justice without due process, and callous disregard of humans. The only true daylight between them is in terms of the style rather than the substance of their totalitarianism – one is bound by conservative ritualized traditions, the other seems more anarchic in nature. Freedom is an illusion on both sides. So why does Bo call the Dark “evil,” and use that as the foundation for her protest against them?
If Bo considers the Dark “evil” because of what the Dark King did to her mother, the back story that Vex relates may offer a contrasting counterpoint. Vex seems to be telling us that he joined the Dark because of a pogrom against the Mesmer kind (I don’t think he can be talking about humans doing this; human-Fae warfare, even at skirmish level of one species, has never been mentioned before). Is that more or less evil? What is “evil” in this universe anyway — is it completely subjective?
Bo regarding the Dark as evil is a stumbling block to Evony’s ambitions, so deconstructing that requires something other than force. Showing kindness and favor to Lauren, allowing Kenzi a lot of latitude, is a means towards this end. I cannot believe that this new philanthropy is anything more than a chess move by Evony, and am already awaiting the sting in the tail.
Is Lauren naive enough to think that the Morrigan would bargain in good faith? Or is it part of nobility of character to grant everyone a tabula rasa, and hope for the best? In terms of guessing where the plot will go, I have a feeling that the Morrigan will reveal Crystal is dead and – after protest from Lauren that she broke the terms of their agreement – Evony will simply shrug and ask what Lauren really expected from her.
I did love seeing Kenzi standing up for herself and am curious at her empowerment. In the second season, when she first meets the Morrigan (will this be revisited?) she seemed rightly afraid. At this point, as she confronts the Morrigan, is she subject to a kind of giddy nihilism given the threat against her? Is it because Bo is there and she still trusts her? I am not sure if it bravado or bluff. I could argue for and against all options, and appreciate that Ksenia Solo is given a chance to stretch beyond wisecracking comedic foil (although I love her doing this, too). This character growth and development is welcome. Kenzi playing damsel-in-distress and swooning into Hale’s or Dyson’s arms to be “saved” at this point would be infuriating.
Mahlers5th:
Bo’s offer to “claim” Lauren struck many as particularly thoughtless and tin-eared. What were your thoughts about this?
Valksy:
As the third season progressed, Bo became subjected to the threat of a potentially mortal condition and then, after the Dawning, Bo’s whole personality began to change (or at least seemed to). Even if Bo becoming corrupted by the Wanderer is supposition, we do know that she was kidnapped and has had part of her mind compromised. If Bo is still subject to the Wanderer’s influence at this point then what, if any, judgment can be made about her current behavior?
When Bo confronts the Una Mens early in the episode, she tells them “this is my town.” I wondered if this was the voice of Bo the would-be ruler, or if it was “our Bo,” invoking force and braggadocio to get her way. Is fighting for and owning Lauren a viable (and moral) solution, or is taking possession of Lauren part of an ever-growing will to exert power and control? Is it even possible to deduce Bo’s motives and intent?
As a viewer, I can’t help but compare Lauren’s kindly-stated but firm refusal to let Bo fight for her (“I’m not angry, Bo”) to Dyson’s incessant need to champion Bo. Lauren is able to assert her own choice here, albeit within difficult and narrow circumstances; she is allowed to reject Bo’s will to play Sir Galahad. I hope that Bo will be allowed the same choice – to own her destiny, and let the cards fall where they may.
Mahlers5th:
Do you have any doubt that Bo and Lauren will be Doccubus once again — eventually — especially after that over-the-shoulder kiss and the “Just Married” sign hanging off their limo? Many were dismayed that no sooner had they been reunited in this episode than Bo and Lauren seemed to go their separate ways again. What’s your long-term prognosis?
Valksy:
I do think that what we have been shown so far indicates that part of the often-lamented triangle is very much a one-sided experience. The episode begins with Bo “charging the double Ds” because Dyson is out of town. Surely the well-established difference between sex for purpose and sex for emotion is beyond dispute after four years. Bo replaces Dyson with a pair of random strangers, motivated by nothing more than a biological necessity that he is not around to fulfill. Could the nature of her physical interaction with Dyson be any clearer?
The notion that there is still an active triangle in play presupposes that all parties are on equal footing, which is simply not supported by the frame-by-frame canon on screen. Dyson wants Bo back; Bo could have him if she wants, but she only speaks about Lauren when under the effect of the nectar of violet.
[Sidebar - I could not find a reference to Socrates using hallucinogens, although he did seem to suffer from some degree of psychosis in that he heard voices that he reported served as guides - I would happily stand corrected].
I’m not sure what, if any, conclusion can be drawn from this sequence, except that a sleepy, drugged and semi-paralyzed Bo only has thoughts for Lauren.
Vex: What’s that sound?
Bo: That is the song of my heart, want to hear it again?
I still think Doccubus will be the enduring legacy of this show. Television series come and go, and most are either consigned to vague rose-lensed nostalgia or just plain forgotten. Urban fantasy may currently be enjoying a period of being in vogue, but other shows in the same genre have tried and failed to reach a second season, let alone managed to become a global phenomenon.
I still believe that it is the chemistry and performance of Anna Silk and Zoie Palmer, in addition to the inherently compelling nature of the forbidden human/fae love story itself, which elevates the pairing above gender and orientation. It has proven to be a fallacy, after all, that all Doccubus fans are LGBT themselves. Something about this particular love story continues to resonate beyond any notion of simple niche viewing.
I anticipated that the reunion of Doccubus would be a season-long slow burn. Real love stories tend to invoke a journey, and typically involve having something that is worth fighting for. The greatest love stories in the arts and literature show that it is the challenges, and the rising above, that captures and drives our imagination.
Mahlers5th:
One of my favorite exchanges in the episode came during the “Evony’s Angels” caper, with Bo and Lauren reunited as a team to find Vex (just like the good old days before the Dawning). The exchange went something like this:
Bo: So how ’bout that talk?
Lauren: Talk? Now?
Bo: Now! We could be here a while…
Lauren: Where do you want to start?
Bo: Our break? What happened at Taft’s…?
Lauren: Karen…
Bo: Yeah, who is this Karen person?
Lauren: How we came into the clutches of the Dark Fae?
Bo: Back to this Karen person…
Lauren (distracted by the attack on Pietra): Wa-wa-wait…!
If Bo and Lauren ever get around to having their “talk”– they tried three times in this episode but hey, there was a lot to catch up on (*cough* sex *cough*) — what do you imagine Lauren might say about reasons for the break? The first break, I mean. Not the second one, in this episode – this one’s just a temporary break, right? Barely a bruise, nothing drastic, nothing permanent (What’s that sound? Just the song of a million hearts breaking).
Valksy:
The reason for the first break, Lauren’s unhappiness, may not receive an explanation beyond what has happened to Bo since her experiences in the Dawning, and beyond. I didn’t think that Bo and Lauren reaching for one another was a true reconciliation. It felt more like a recognition of the love and passion that remains between them, even if they cannot currently make it work in a relationship. I found myself feeling hopeful rather than sad, and applaud the show for staying well away from easy and overplayed dramatic beats of ex-angst and associated animus between women.
Mahlers5th:
But in this episode, Lauren did raise what is likely the most problematic issue in their relationship, don’t you think?
Lauren: You’re Fae. I’m human.
Bo: So what?!
Lauren: So I’ll always be a prisoner. The least I can do is choose my own cage
Valksy:
I am not certain that anyone we have encountered in this universe has any genuine freedom, and autonomy and choice is very much as Lauren describes it. A subplot at the Dark Cèilidh seems to make this point very clear. Bruce is Fae, he is also very much a piece of property to be passed between owners and his life has little value. All of the Fae are subject to the whims of their faction leader, who can and will imprison or kill dissenters. The Fae faction leaders are, in turn, restrained by the Elders. The Elders do remain an unknown quantity, with only a peripheral presence, but they seem to function as referees and arbiters between the factions. Is even that burden and duty any closer to freedom?
Lauren seems to be demonstrating at least some awareness of this universal truth in the world that has been created for us – Predator and prey are as much a reality to her as freedom or fealty. I wanted the Fae, I wanted details and insight into their world and their culture, and this episode did not disappoint.
[Sidebar: A Cèilidh is celtic term for party, traditionally as a social event to facilitate courting. Is it a comment on Bo being set up to reunite with Lauren, just because it took place during a usurped wedding, or a reflection of nothing more than the Morrigan’s roots?]
Mahlers5th:
We can’t discuss this episode without at least making mention of the most retweeted exchange between Bo and Lauren:
Bo: Let’s get you out of that dress.
Lauren: Stat!
Bo: Mm, doctor talk.
Waiter: Mini-quiche anyone?
Bo: Get out!
Lauren: Uh…maybe just leave the tray?
Uh, maybe close the door on your way out, too?
Sheesh, BoLo, get a room! With a door that locks…
Valksy:
Sports drinks are now replaced by mini quiches, Lauren evidently recognizes that sex with Bo will leave her in need of some degree of replenishment. Appetite, food and sex are part of the way in which they experience one another (don’t worry, I won’t mourn the loss of a meaningful feeding scene, the horse has bolted on that) and there is a good-humored pragmatism to sex between them.
The love scene in episode 206 demonstrated the show understands that sex between women can be eager and urgent as well as soft and romantic. On reflection, and disappointment aside, I accept what the showrunner has said about a full-on sex scene not working at this point. I wonder if there would have been a temptation to compare Bo/Lauren to Lauren/Crystal, especially as the latter was more about desperation and comfort than any real romance – at least for Lauren.
Mahlers5th:
The Una Mens have to be the most deliciously evil “Big Bad” that the Lost Girl writers have cooked up yet. We hear a little more about their creation in this episode, but who are they? What are they really up to? Also, somewhere between episodes 404 and 405, they seem to have morphed from proto-Nazi totalitarians to religious zealots, talking all sorts of trash about “inquisitions,” ”unholy names,” “blasphemy,” and “orthodoxy.” Why the shift to this emphasis on religious zealotry?
Valksy:
I wholeheartedly agree that the Una Mens are a seriously effective Big Bad and am relishing Christine Horne as Arabella, the Keeper. I’d go as far as to say that they are the most intense, complex and fully realized enemy to date. The menace of the Una Mens cannot be comfortably reduced to who has the biggest teeth or the nicest wings or the best individual powers. The threat is based in ideology and the power that it grants them, something symbolically demonstrated when Bo’s attempt to apply conventional physical force against them rebounds. Ideas cannot be killed, other means are required to defeat them (what about dreams?).
To call Trick’s summoning by the Una Mens an “inquisition” is a shorthand way of telling us that there is a chance of significant, if not mortal, peril and brutality. The other terms are also part of a shared cultural lexicon and are invoked demonstrate the ethos of the Una Mens – a single-minded collective in worship of the chosen word, and incapable of tolerating deviation from it. I would guess at a semantic sleight of hand rather than an allegorical commentary on religion.
When Trick describes the Una Mens as having surrendered ego in order to reach the perfect state in which to enforce the laws, he speaks in terms of surrendering flaws and ideas, ambitions and desires. Trick describes it as essentially abandoning their soul in order to achieve emotional and intellectual detachment – zealot seems an excellent word to describe this state.
It is perhaps worth noting that the “ego” as described by Freud was not synonymous with a person’s sense of “self” or personal identity (as it is commonly used) but was understood as a part of personality that moderates between our basic urges, morals, and idealistic standards: “The ego represents what we call reason and sanity, in contrast to the id which contains the passions.” [Sigmund Freud, 1923, The Ego and the Id].
If the original definition of the ego can be summarized as a mechanism that controls the gratification of desires or urges in the service of one’s own idealized reality, the Una Mens have willingly forfeited this aspect of personality. They seek to adhere to, and enforce, the word of the Blood King at all costs. They will slaughter anyone who stands in their way without a second thought. Have they have become dogmatic literalists who are mired in deadly moral absolutism?
I can use an example from the Ten Commandments to explain why I find the Una Mens such frightening and effective villains. It would be an act of moral absolutism to say “thou shalt not kill,” with no will or capacity to make exceptions to that dogma under any circumstance. The Una Mens would enforce this to the letter of the law — disallowing any act of killing in self-defense, for example — since their ability to rationalize, empathize or interpret reality beyond the exact wording of the law is absent.
Compare that to the legal definition of murder as “the unlawful killing of another human being without justification of excuse.” Murder, as defined by hundreds of years of jurisprudence, is very much relative to culture and experience, and requires degrees of interpretation. The Una Mens would be unable to function within this reality, since they appear to regard the word of law as immutable and they have lost the ego-based capacity to mediate between reality and the Blood King’s ideals.
If exact terms are set by the Blood King, and the Una Mens are the enforcers, then they are fundamentalists who cannot, by their reborn nature, negotiate. If you cannot fight them, reason with them, even surrender to them if they decide to kill you or your loved ones, how do you win?
I am wondering if this is Rick Howland’s chance to get a really meaty storyline rather than being simply “Mr. Exposition.” I am not sure if this serves as a dilution of Bo as the hero, since it seems that the only solution is for the Blood King to reveal himself and re-write the rules that the Una Mens are compelled to follow. The simplicity of this solution (even though we know that being a blood sage has consequences) makes me think that revealing the Blood King may not be the endgame for the season. Is an even bigger picture in play? Which leads to the next question…
Mahlers5th:
Finally, in a post-episode interview, Emily Andras revealed that there will be three “Big Bads” this season — the Wanderer (now identified as Rainer), the Una Mens, and a third party who is “going to be a big surprise.” Give us your best guess – who will be the third Big Bad, and how do you see this confrontation of Big Bads playing out?
Valksy:
I think that the third Big Bad will be Bo herself.
On the Light Side we have Trick dealing with the Una Mens, on the Dark side I think that we will see Rainer challenging the Morrigan for power. Both of those battles represent a sustaining of the status quo verses the threat of a revolution. Whoever (or whatever) Rainer may be, he is bad enough to be a boogeyman to the Dark Fae and if he is (or was) a Dark King, then he may well want that crown back.
If we can place Kenzi and Lauren temporarily on the Dark side, and Hale and Dyson on the Light side, then all of the people that Bo regards as her chosen family are in harm’s way and can be used as leverage against her.
Should Trick finally be revealed as someone who keeps secrets from Bo, there is an element of familial conflict on both sides (not that Trick’s acts of deception are even in the same ballpark as Rainer’s – but Bo is very much attuned to, and motivated by, concepts of trust and betrayal).
If both factions are facing destructive schism, perhaps in addition to open conflict and the pre-text of war between them, then to “save” everyone I can imagine Bo rising up to rule. She has always been the Wild Card in their world, a card that everyone with power has sought to control, contrary to her often stated desire for self-determination. In episode 313 Bo was called a Messiah, and there have been hints about prophecy in play. With one foot in each world – Dark and Light, Human and Fae – Bo may even decide that the best way to proceed is to bring about a new order, wipe everything that the Fae think they know, and start again.
The power to take life, and grant it, at will is a desperate temptation. Even if motivated by her own notion of benevolence, and a genuine wish to enact a greater good, there is still a fine line between tyrant and savior.