Welcome to “I Just Now Saw,” a new column in which I attempt to conduct conversations about television shows you watched ten years ago and I just now saw, in their entirety, for the first time. Today I’m gonna talk about Lost Girl, which’s the only show on my list for this series that’s actually still on the air!
1. Overall Feelings
Y’all have been bugging me to watch Lost Girl for a while now because of its bisexual lead character, Bo, and so a few weeks back after finishing Battlestar Galactica, I dove in. I ate it in about a month, finishing the second-to-last episode online about half an hour before the finale aired on SyFy, which was the first episode I saw as it aired on television! (Syfy uses different opening credits than Netflix, sidenote.) Obviously I totally hated the finale, even though I hadn’t followed any of the magical mystery storylines in Season Three with enough consciousness to care about whether or not those loose ends were tied up. It’s just that I will smash my face into a rock if Bo and Dyson become a thing again. “I offered her my wolf.” Oh, shove it.
I’ve read absolutely nothing about Lost Girl anywhere, except for a review of the first episode of the third season on AV Club to see if they said anything about the fact that it was the most transphobic thing I’ve seen on television in quite some time. (They didn’t.) (I was personally appalled that a show with such a passionate queer following actually launched its third season with a classic “deceptive transsexual” storyline. I mean honestly the entire episode was profoundly stupid, like Sucker Punch or something, but just when you thought it couldn’t get one ounce stupider… it did!)
Obviously it reminded me immediately of Buffy, particularly because it has the same structure of each episode being its own procedural of sorts and the entire season dedicated to one Big Bad, and then the Kenzie/Willow parallel (especially if Kenzie gets powers next season) and, perhaps, even a Tam-Tam/Faith parallel? A Giles/Trick parallel? I could go on.
I liked that the show was really dark and sexy and I liked the aesthetic. Is it a “good show”? I’m not sure. It’s a pretty good show, though.
2. Yay Bisexual Representation!
This is, hands down the best depiction of bisexuality I’ve ever seen on television, in that it was completely a non-issue. We’re completely spared the standard coming out narrative and nobody has any problem with Bo’s bisexuality or her relationships. Her feelings for women are never seen as “less than” her relationships with men. Her sexual orientation was actually seen, more or less, as the norm, rather than the exception. I think this is part of why queers are so drawn to sci-fi narratives; because we can make our own worlds there, worlds without compulsory heterosexuality or traditional gender roles. It actually seemed like all the fae were bisexual. It was a magical world where nobody assumes anything about your sexual orientation just from looking at you. Girls kissed other girls so often that I stopped even noticing it!
3. Doccubus Processing Fees Were Through The Roof
As a queer lady, I think all women on television should date and fuck other women, exclusively. Yup. Every single female character on television would be a better character, in my opinion, if they were gay. I will root for the girl-on-girl hookup over the girl-on-boy hookup any day of the week.
Thus I rooted enthusiastically for Lauren and Bo… until they got together and suddenly the relationship was transformed from the sexually electrifying and emotionally complex coupling we’d fallen for and replaced by the standard media depiction of lesbian relationships as tedious, passionless and high on emotional processing. They got off to a good start — those early-season sex scenes, for example — but as Season Three prodded on I was repeatedly frustrated by how intensely it seemed the show wanted us to favor Bo and Dyson! I was having serious Marissa/Alex/Ryan flashbacks. Even Kenzie was on Team Dyson, and I always figured Kenzie was on my team implicitly. As it so often goes with bisexual women in television, her lingering affection for a male ex is repeatedly referenced, as is her BFF’s preference of that male suitor over the female one. While I appreciated that gender was never addressed as a factor in who Bo would favor, it was still an unfortunate trope for this show to entertain. I felt like I could sense the writers favoring Dyson and that pissed me off.
As it was written in the AV Club before they gave up on Lost Girl, “It’s difficult not to get annoyed when every single conversation Bo and Lauren have is dripping with unasked questions and they can’t have a normal conversation without the weight of a relationship barging into the room.”
4. When Did Bo Become Such a Bitch?
As Season Three advanced towards its confusing end, I felt like my brain was on a spin cycle. Suddenly Bo, who I thought was all about caring for other people, was being exceptionally selfish — perhaps best exemplified by the episode in which she misses Lauren’s science award ceremony. That particular plot — the overworked partner lies about his/her actual activities and misses a significant event in which their partner expects their attendance! — is done all. the. time. I hate it. It even happened in an episode of Breaking Bad I saw two days ago, where a character missed his wife giving birth to facilitate a drug deal. I hate it. I hate that plot! So from the moment Lauren announced that she’d won the award (about which Bo was totally uninterested and a complete cunt), I knew how this shit was gonna go down and I spent the episode in the fetal position, whimpering “no” over and over again softly into my bed.
5. OMG Bo’s Rack
Bo’s rack was practically it’s own character. I admit at times I was sort of confused by this, like is there any mission she participates in where maybe a wonderbra isn’t the best choice? It would seem that answer is “no.” Okay then!
6. She Blinded Me With Science
One of the many things that made Lost Girl different than Buffy was that it was way less geeky. Like I said in the Buffy post, the fact that Buffy was an outsider wasn’t enough to make me connect to her because she wasn’t really geeky in other ways — she hated school and books and computers and all of it. Bo is the same way, of course, and actually so are most of the characters in Lost Girl. Except Lauren! Lauren was the nerdiest coolest science person of all time, and everything about her rang true.
7. The Acting…
I really liked Trick’s character and position in the story, but was I the only one who felt like his acting was consistently sub-par to the point of being comically bad? I felt like every one of his lines sounded like a terrible actor in community theater being like “Hey guys! Look at that over there! I think it’s a grizzly bear!” Ditto for The Morrigan.
8. Kenzi BFF 4Ever Always
I love love love shows which emphasize the importance of female friendship over everything else in the whole entire world! I love how when Kenzi and Bo referred to each other as “best friends,” they spoke with the expectation that the Best Friend Relationship would be privileged like any other official intimacy, like lovers or family.
I’m sure there are shit-tons of Kenzi/Bo shippers out there in the sea, but were I to ship a ship on this show besides Doccubus, it would be this one:
just saying
9. I Liked Vex
I was so excited about Vex, who in my mind is the lovechild of Spike and Andrew from Buffy. He provided some welcome and clever comic relief and when he left the gang near the start of Season Three I was super sad about it.
10. OMG Emma from Degrassi
!!!!!
Omg I was so excited when No and Tamsen kissed. They would make the hottest couple. They mentioned that Bo was changing in season 3 after that mystical test thing she had. Kenzie mentioned her changing to Lauren and she sounded sad but they both wanted to support her. Awesome show, can’t wait for season 4.
I loved this show through the rough and ugly first season, really liked it through the second as it picked up steam and then..
And then the fucking third season opener.
The main issue is the most obvious but first I just want to ask, what freaking happened to the lighting, the pacing, the writing, and the fae histories? The show suddenly looked like some CSI neon lit knock off and Trick was suddenly comic relief? (Although his acting was already sorta that, but still.)
I might have been able to stomach all this, but the damn “Trans evildoer deception breeding thing” was absolutely disgusting. It was insulting and hideously written. I mourned for the fun and sex positive quirky show I loved but I didn’t go back.
“As a queer lady, I think all women on television should date and fuck other women, exclusively. (…) I will root for the girl-on-girl hookup over the girl-on-boy hookup any day of the week. (…) I was repeatedly frustrated by how intensely it seemed the show wanted us to favor Bo and Dyson!”
As a bisexual I actually find this part very reliable and realistic:
Everybody and their mothers (and by that I mean straight folks and especially my very own mother) want bi women to date male partners. Based on their own heteronormative expectations and the lack of understanding of (1)same-gender attraction and (2)fluid sexualities, they treat relationships and the actual date partners/lovers/girlfriends/wives noticeably different. And noticeably less serious.
Monosexual queers however play the game in reverse. Many want bisexual females behave like lesbians and therefore “reward” same-gender relationships. Albeit the privileges that come with being a “good queer” don’t seem like much, being able to connect with fellow LGBTs and to feel more welcome within queer spaces is actually a lot.
So basically both worlds judge bisexuality not on it’s own multisexual terms, but from an either gay or a straight point of view and therefore by monosexual standards, that are specific to either homosexuality or heterosexuality, which bisexuals can never fulfill. Simply because they are neither gay nor straight.
The fact that the fist option (a.k.a. favor of dude) seems to be the case for Lost Girl, makes me suspect, that the writers are not queer women ;)
I personally don’t care either way. Although… No, I actually do care one way! Not so much because of my own preferences but because of the lack of queer women (or women in general) in the media. So yes, I DO want more queer women. And I do want them to come in various shades of gender. Like… I want hot, sexy butches! Really, really bad! And I want geeky, steamy androgynous girls. And want them to be of various sexual identities, races, body types, ages and all that jazz. And I want them to be well written, multidimensional characters.
Why can’t we have diversity?
As a bi girl, I wanted to comment on this as well… but you’ve pretty much said everything that needed to be said.
You should watch Orphan Black next! It’s on BBC America and the season 1 finale airs this weekend. There is an awesome nerdy science lesbian AND Emma from Degrassi has a small part. I guess she makes appearances in every single show filmed in Canada?
Yes!
Although I think Tatiana Maslany has said that Cosima is an awesome nerdy science bisexual.
Gotta love a character who says they want to make crazy science with someone as a euphemism for sex
I third the Orphan Black recommendation. Cosima is probably my favorite of the Orphans. Sometimes I forget that Tatiana Maslany is playing all of them. She’s just so damn good at making them all so different. If it weren’t for Doctor Who I probably would have never discovered this show.
Speaking of Doctor Who, Riese what did you think of inter-species lesbian couple Madam Vastra and Jenny this season? Most DW fans are dying for them to get their own spin-off with Strax. I hope it happens for them because they are adorable.
I’ve never seen Doctor Who! (i know, i know…) But last weekend a ton of straddlers told me about Orphan Black and told me I have to see it.
Well, if you want to jump into Doctor Who at any point may I suggest that you at least check out all episodes featuring Madam Vastra and Jenny. They’ve only been in about 4 so far but I guarantee you will fall in love with them.
Yes, could we have a discussion about the Orphan Black finale on the site? I’m going to have a lot of feelings I think :)
Sweet Baby Jesus, I want Madam Lady Lizard Vastra and Jenny to be a thing so bad! I would love the shit out the show.
But please can it also not being written by the-problem-with-the-world-is-that-nobody-cares-for-the-menzzz-Moffat?! If it ever happens, I mean.
Moffatt recognizes that the characters are extremely popular but says he has no plans on writing a spin-off at this time. That said, it is also said that he will be leaving Doctor Who altogether after it’s next season. So will Matt Smith.
If we can’t get a spin-off I at least hope we get more DW episodes next year featuring Vastra/Jenny/Strax. They really were the best thing about this season. Whereas I have heard plenty of mixed reviews about the new companion if not downright hatred. I was personally annoyed that they made her a super special snowflake who went back in time to save not just Eleven but all incarnations of Doctor Who, including the very first one. Now I finally have a companion that annoys me more than Rose. Congrats, show.
Haha, yes, I feel like my heart faints whenever Jenny and Vastra are included in an episode. I want them to be on the show on regular basis and get a lot of shit done! And I want them to be more intimate with each other. Not in a sense of exploitive sexyness that caters them towards straight men, but in a sense that I really want to see them to be in love with each other. You know what I mean? Like, why is it that the Doctor is given screen time to grab and kiss Jenny without her consent but there was no screen time (in the same episode) to show Jenny and Vastra’s affection towards each other?
Yay @ Moffat’s leaving!
Also why do you hate Rose? I liked her so much. She had those awful spidery lashes and she was super cute and super exited about things. I still laugh about her running into the Tardis, and then outside of the Tardis, and then around the Tardis, before she realized that OMG it’s bigger on the inside. That was such a funny and dorky moment.
I don’t really hate Rose. That’s a strong word. She’s just my least favorite of the companions, well next to Clara. A lot of that is probably for petty reasons because she always gets exalted as BEST COMPANION EVER by much of the fandom who then turn around and bash my favorites Martha and Donna. So in that sense, Rose or rather her legacy is annoying but I did enjoy her during her original run. River, I loved from the beginning. Amy really grew on me by her second season. I remember hating Rory on site then falling completely in love with him by time he exited. I still miss Rory. Fucking Weeping Angels!
Ah, okay. I usually don’t engage too much with fandoms because the level of blatant misogyny within those communities creeps me out, so I don’t know anything about the companion wars. But I see where your frustration comes from :)
And yes, go Martha!
I really disliked “Lost Girl.” Mostly because of the bad acting (yeah, Trick is terrible, and a lot of the guest stars are terrible). Also because I LOOOAAAATHED Dyson, and I ABSOLUTELY HATED his wardrobe. If I had to see another ill-fitting button-up shirt with some printed design on it and a leather vest over it, all capped off with a chunky bracelet while he was working his job as a detective, I was absolutely going to lose it. And I really liked Lauren at first but she was never on the show enough, and then the show just kind of started treating her like FunSucker Extraordinaire. So I never even made it to the third season. I’m liking “Orphan Black” a LOT more.
seriously every time he talks about his “wolf” i punched myself in the eyeballs
YAY YOU WATCHED LOST GIRL! I love this show; it’s not perfect but I think the good far outweighs the bad. It’s campy and fun, and I love how queer-positive and sex-positive it is. And nerd-positive. Bo’s lady boner for Lauren’s geekiness is possibly my favorite thing. The cast and show runner are also really aware ad supportive of the queer fans, which is great.
P.S. – Any chance you guys will recap Lost Girl in season 4? Would love to read about/discuss it here.
OH ME TOO. Well, I haven’t started season 3 yet, so I think that I shouldn’t read this until I finish. I just got really excited.
Wait I remember now that the reason I started watching Lost Girl was because of this column and because this show was next. Now it all makes sense.
THANK YOU BO/TAMSIN! I am glad somebody agrees with me on this. Also, I will never be able to think of Vex the same way again.
Episode 3×01 did shock me. Like I was left with this horrible feeling after watching that episode. It was just so out of place for a show like Lost Girl. I don’t understand how someone didn’t see that before it aired.
I do love the show though. I mean I know the acting is sometimes terrible and the stories often make little sense…But there are a lot of things to love. The amount of girls making out for one (pretty much every episode third season). Complex female characters. Basically everything Kenzi says.
The third season did seem a lot heavier on female side of Bo’s sexuality. Other than a few moments with Dyson she mostly had tension with Lauren and Tamsin.
Dyson is the one thing I don’t like the show. Its weird because the actor in interviews is adorable. I saw him in the movie A Touch of Pink and he was adorable. But Dyson drives me up a wall.
“I was personally appalled that a show with such a passionate queer following actually launched its third season with a classic “deceptive transsexual” storyline. ”
OMG Are you serious? LG has answered this already. The character wasn’t transsexual and I don’t see how anyone could see it that way unless they were looking through a hyper sensitive lens. This was a fae that was a male, that identified as male, who disguised himself as a woman (disguised being the important word) to rape and impregnate a group of women because he couldn’t infiltrate/overpower their clan otherwise. Nothing about that was anti-transgendered people or implied that transgendered people were deceptive.
I think it’s shameful the community has made this out to be something that it’s not. Many people have never seen this episode but have all these negative opinions because of this.
Moving on…a bitch and a cunt? Lovely choice of words. Her relatioship with Lauren was rushed and they are in completely different places in life. I also don’t think they have good chemistry. Bo was being a bad gf, but she doesn’t deserve to be demonized. Lauren hasn’t been perfect this entire show.
Tamsin/Bo all the way. I really want to see this happen. Hell I even like BO with Dyson. No man hate here, as long as the character isn’t a lesbian being turned into a bisexual.
Wellll…I don’t think the show runners intended to make the character transgendered or intended anything transphobic. And I accept their response, they’ll probably be more aware in the future.
But even as someone who has mostly learned about transgender issues from this site…trans women are so often stereotyped as a man who is pretending to be a woman or is deceptive in some way in order to infiltrate their space (i.e. washrooms).
It’s nice that you paint it that way, but people were very quick to use vilifying language against a show that’s been pretty good to lesbian/bi-sexual women. That’s not the same as pointing out it be potentially offensive to certain groups because of the parallels.
So no show can ever do a storyline with mythical beings or aliens that can change shape and who cause harm, because it might be reminiscent of something else worse?
I used the language I find apt to the show and I loved the show. I raved about it and pushed for everyone I knew to watch it for the incredibly progressive views on sex, openness, and both bisexual and lesbian relations. I adored it and it made me sick to my stomach the day my partner I am watched the opening of season three.
I am not painting this in anyway other than how it is seen to affect the trans community. Stating that its being “painted that way” is extremely patronizing.
I do not have to see it “through hyper sensitive lens” to perceive it as such. How many did? Are you really trotting out the anti-feminist “You take things to seriously” trope on a feminist forum against transwomen?
I only have to see it through the lens of the group who it maligned. A character who was male, being caught pretending to be female to impregnate amazons is not subtle, and it has nothing to do with whether or not the character was transgender.
Learn a little history.
“This was a fae that was a male, who disguised himself as a woman (disguised being the important word) to rape and impregnate a group of women because he couldn’t infiltrate/overpower their clan otherwise.”
This EXACT narrative is the one used by TERf’s and seperatists since Janice Raymonds ilk in the 1970’s to instill fear and division between feminists and transwomen. A particular theme that is still causing horrific results to this day. By their logic, since Trans women can’t be women, then they are just men doing what this shows plot describes. And no he didn’t identify as male, he hid the fact he was male. Which makes all the difference.
To say that this is okay because magic creatures and shape shifting is myopic and desperately trying to justify acceptance of something that has no effect on your particular views. You do not get to decide if this loaded portrayal is good enough to be transphobic unless you are trans, anymore than I would ever speak to any particular oppression’s that you may face differing from mine.
The character was male. The character was never considered to be transgendered. By your logic we should never ever use storylines that might be offensive to a group (Don’t watch Defiance, lots of parallels to oppressed minority groups there). Also, we’ll need a member from every single group to sign off on a show before it airs, since if I can’t possibly have a point of view because I am not transgendered, no one else can?
I know the history, thank you for making assumptions.
Feeling bad when you see something, because you feel they parallel painful life experiences is one thing and your feelings are always valid, but jumping to conclusions and saying that what you saw shouldn’t be allowed is another. Saying that the writers were out to instill transphobia is reckless and defaming. To make matters worse I think the majority of heteronormative people didn’t even draw that parallel, hell I didn’t draw that parallel. In a way the connection to a transgendered person didn’t even exist in a lot of people’s mind until the community made it so. Perhaps I’m being naive though, because I don’t see my friends as shape shifting rapists and baby harvesters?
They went with the theme of a Liderc (shape shifting type of succubus/incubus) and there isn’t anything wrong with that. I’m glad they took the time and were sensitive enough to address their viewers, but they weren’t in the wrong.
You really go out of your way as an apologist for transphobia.
The narrative of this story was obviously identical to the narratives that transphobes try to get people to believe about trans women in women’s communities, as well as to the narratives that transphobic str8 d00ds on the internet think are hilarious to tell about trans women.
They changed the mythology of the Lidrec so that rather than features of an animal giving the shapeshifter away, it was features that showed the character was not a cisgender woman, which all the characters in the story then decided meant that she* was not any sort of woman. They changed the mythology to make the story fit the classic “trap” narrative.
The characters’ reaction to the villain not being a cis woman is explicitly transphobic regardless of the gender identity of the villain, so the story is transphobic regardless of whether the character is transgender.
*The character never refers to herself as male. Other characters do based solely on her being MAAB.
The character not being transgendered has nothing, nothing, to do with the themes and narrative that was used to portray a traditional transphobic storyline.
Your “political correctness gone wild argument” reeks of the worst sorts of erasure arguments used against gays, lesbians, or any oppressed groups of people. If the straights didn’t see it as transphobic, well gosh, it can’t have been. Are you kidding me? The idea of characters and the harm they do not being possible unless people KNOW they are seeing something doing harm is ignorant in the extreme.
I would suppose that a group of straights watching some horrific stereotype based on being gay or man-hating-lesbians, that never get that what they are seeing isn’t perfectly normal, are somehow absolved those creating the tropes from the damage they create? Because they don’t know that what they are absorbing is wrong? By this bent logic rape jokes that dudes see now harm in are ok? But transphobic themes are exempt because they don’t exist until there is a consensus on them? A consensus of you and others not existing within those spaces?
You appear to love the show, I get that. I did to. Or do, I loved the first couple seasons.
But you do not get to tell me what is and isn’t transphobic just because you didn’t see it. I bet there are things I wouldn’t see about your daily existence that I can not and will not ever see as a problem but I will back you up if you say that it is oppressive or damaging because I have to. You are the only person that can speak to your experiences about you. You are not trans. So no, you can not speak to what is and is not transphobic. Just the way it is. No more than I could speak to what it is like being hispanic, cisgendered, disabled, WOC, poor, or any other status. I have to got to the people within that status and follow there lead. Its humbling but it’s the way we get things right.
I don’t need the permission of a privileged person to state that a narrative is a problem.
If you believe this, then I suggest you start asking straight, white, middleclass, hetero, christian males if everything YOU think is racist, homophobic, or oppressive, is allowed. You do not have the authority to claim harmlessness in this situation.
And I am curious as to what painful harm this argument is causing to you, beyond “defaming” your TV show? Why are you defending something so problematic with the argument of “no harm done” when it is clear that is has been to so many people.
Was it not enough people harmed?
Or not the right kind of people?
Wow I am an apologist for transphobia now! Well since I know what kind of person I’m talking to now I won’t continue. You’ve made all the assumptions about me you’d like and you’re not going to believe different.
“Was it not enough people harmed?
Or not the right kind of people?”
Wow…just wow.
Oh and I should probably clarify that when I said “what kind of person” I was referring to personality traits. I wouldn’t to be called a racist or whatever different cist/phobe that exist between us that I’m not aware of. It seems I’m a terrible enough of person as is and I didn’t even realize it.
The first two places I see you, you are shitting on trans people for talking about their oppression on two seperate occasions. It isn’t much of a leap.
I love love love this show! I love that Bo is such a strong female protagonist, that her sexuality is pretty much a non-issue, as well as the intelligent/intriguing storylines. Also I don’t know if it’s, like, taboo or something to mention AfterEllen on here (I personally don’t get all the AE hate, but that’s a discussion for another time…), but AE does some quality recaps of Lost Girl. These recaps always include a “Boobs O’Clock” screencap, which is basically a shout-out to Bo’s cleavage in a particular outfit in that episode.
Alsoooo Anna Silk was pregnant while filming the last few episodes of season 3 (she’s since given birth), which could explain the size of her breasts then!
I mainly stuck with Lost Girl through season 3 (after skipping season 2) because of Tamsin. Tamsin was hilarious.
Wow, I just saw Orphan Black mentioned!
I would think that if you enjoyed Lost Girl, you would also like Orphan Black.
While Lost Girl is a tad more campy and sometimes doesn’t really take itself seriously (in a nice way), Orphan Black is intense with some very nicely done hilarious parts thrown in.
But yeah, Season 3 of Lost Girl sagged a bit. I rejoiced that Bo and Lauren made it official, but the rest of the season felt off for most of the time. (And the finale was frustrating to say the least)
Please take a look a Orphan Black though, Riese!!
I love Lost Girl. Even season 3 and the finale.
Probably because Tamsin was in it and I really love Valkubus (Tamsin x Bo) more than Doccubus (Lauren x Bo) and will be super pissed if she dies. I’ll take either of them other Dybo (Dyson x Bo) any day of the week, though. Maybe they could all have a polyamorous relationship? Bo does need to feed off of more than one person anyway… Then everyone could be happy.
Orphan Black is a pretty good show too, and definitely gives out some similar vibes to Lost Girl. You should watch it, especially since it won’t be that hard to catch up since it’s not got that many episodes yet.
It surprises me a little that the show hasn’t addressed polyamory a little more. I mean, it seems like something that could really work for Bo ?
They sort of did with Bo/Lauren due to Lauren’s being human and it was ultimately presented as Lauren was not “enough” for Bo because Bo can’t feed off of her alone. That scene where Lauren ultimately accepts that she has to open up the relationship for Bo even though that wouldn’t have been her first choice was heartbreaking and their relationship didn’t end up lasting that much longer after that due to Bo kind of being a shitty girlfriend to her in later episodes. I think a poly relationship is something that Tamsin could accept with no problem but I don’t buy Dyson going for it for very long either. He was already kind of annoyed about the prospect in S1.
One weekend in late 2012 I found some torrents and inhaled the first season and half the second season in one weekend. Then life caught up with me and I haven’t watched since. But I do like the show.
However I find Lauren so… sterile. I like her and Bo, but Lauren is so anti-fun. Oddly enough the actress who plays Lauren is sarcastic as hell and I like her in interviews.
Anyhoo, like five seconds ago I saw someone reference Tamsin in the commenrs, who I have never heard of since she was probably introduced after I stopped watching, so I YouTube’d a video and the first one that came up is “Bo & Tamsin Bathtub” -> http://youtu.be/NNaz9NAQFD8
And well, now. Well now I SHIP hardcore Bo & Tamsin. I could hate someone’s guts, but if they were even mildly attractive and professed their desire of me in the way Tamsin did to Bo in that scene… my panties would drop. They would just evaporate.
Please write a book – or an autobiography even. It could be called ‘Riese’ Pieces’.
Also, I thought I was being clever here but really, I’m sure it’s one of those things for you that you’ve heard 20981 times already and it’s a bit like me being a twin and people saying ‘I’m seeing double!’ and expecting me to acknowledge and appreciate their infallible sense of wit every time this happens whilst never realising that it’s one of the most obvious and repetitive ‘jokes’ that plagues my existence
But still – please write a book? :)
hahaha yes! alex made me a mix cd called “riese’s pieces” once upon a time, and then when we started this site everybody insisted on me having a column called “riese’s pieces” which is basically just a tag applied to everything i write from my heartspace.
i am writing a book though, don’t worry. soon enough. <3 thank you.
Hooray!
I knew that this would have already been a thing but I wanted to know how – and I’m glad to hear the story and also to now have appreciation for this tag which I never noticed before!
I eagerly await the book release also <3.
I love this show. It’s deeply flawed at times (mainly 3×1), and the acting is all over the board (some of them are much better than the scripts deserve, some of them are pretty terrible – like Trick, alas) – but goddamn is it nice to see such a progressive portrayal of sexuality and relationships. Also it’s fun, and campy, and for the most part pretty self-aware, and that combination is like crack to me.
I think they get more right than they get wrong, though what they botch is extra frustrating because of how much potential there is in this show.
That + all the eye candy = I’m sticking with it. Glad to see it getting some time on Autostraddle, too!
I also want to recommend the following blog for Lost Girl recaps. The author is in the TV/movie industry, but also a huge nerd, and digs pretty deep. The recap of the season three finale was particularly eye-opening: http://mehlsbells.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/lost-girl-season-3-episode-13-those-who-wander/
Yay, you finally got to Lost Girl!
I love, love, love the Bo/Kenzi dynamic. We so rarely get to see a female friendship that is as cherished and taken seriously as theirs is. Even rarer still is the queer/straight girl friend pairing. It’s a special bond, and to see the kind of relationship I have with my straight friends reflected on screen is so refreshing. It always did annoy me how Kenzi was so clearly team Dyson for most of the series, but I think she’s definitely come around to Lauren now in season 3.
And on Trick’s acting- thank you! It’s terrible. Most of the time, it completely takes me out of the scene. I read a comment somewhere about how he lent much needed gravitas to the role or something and I was like, “um, excuuuuse me?” The Morrigan is basically a cartoon villain. Not a deep character, but at least she influences the plot. She sets a lot of shit in motion and the same could hardly be said for Trick.
My number one problem with Lost Girl, however, is inconsistency especially in terms of the mythology. First we had to go through the whole ordeal picking a new Ash and then suddenly Hale just gets the position later. No “stag hunt” required this time? And it felt like the whole Dawning thing just came out of nowhere. If it’s really something like fae puberty, wouldn’t someone have told Bo about it early on? And wouldn’t they be able to recognize the signs, even if Bo was going through it very early? We also really don’t know what underfae are. Are they their own species or just fae who didn’t pass the Dawning? It often feel like we don’t have a good sense of how the fae world works. It’s not being cleared up or defined as the series goes on, it’s only becoming muddier.
I think a problem facing both Lauren and Dyson is also in the writing. Kris is actually a pretty good actor and a lot of fun to watch when he gets to cut loose, like in the body swap and teenage regression episodes. He really needs a plot and romantic interest outside of Bo. All his brooding isn’t sexy, it’s creepy and possessive. Lauren, on the other hand, is a pretty selfless character. She keeps getting stepped on and used by everyone. I want to see Bo and Lauren get back together (team Doccubus what up!), but before they do, Lauren needs to do her own thing. I think the breakup, although gut-wrenching, needed to happen. No one knows where Lauren went now. I just hope the writers are using this as an opportunity to develop the character more. We know next to nothing about her history. I want to see her as person, not a plot device. Next season, I’m really hoping for some more backstory on her, Kenzi and Tamsin. Everyone on this show doesn’t need a mysterious past.
I only critique because I love. The great things about Lost Girl outweigh the negatives. It’s definitely not a show I recommend to everyone, I have to know they appreciate a certain level of camp. You’re right, it’s not “good television” but it’s a pretty good show. And it sucked me into shipping like I never have been before.
Orphan Black, on the other hand, is objectively good television. The writing and pacing are great and Tatiana Maslany is a revelation. You must watch it soon! Aside from a new minor science gripes, it’s just fantastic. Orphan Black, unlike Lost Girl, is a show I have been recommending to everyone.
I used to love this show so much until season 3. They completely wasted and undermined Lauren, turned Bo into a completely unlikable ditz wihout a single redeeming feature, and just crammed Tamsin down my neck until I was fit to burst. The charm is gone.
I don’t know, I’d love to hear it had found its heart again, but it sounds like S4 is going to be more of the same. I’m not sure I can bear to see characters I used to care about so much dismantled any more.
About the S3 opener – it was pretty troubling. However, I completely buy their apology and explanation. I don’t believe it ever occurred to them that’s how it was going to come across, I think they were mortified when they realised it did, and I think it’s safe to say it won’t happen again.
So that moment aside, I have to say, I have no problem enjoying the hell out of it, for what it is, on rewatch.
So I started rewatching Degrassi… between Lost Girl and Poison Ivy, little Emma Nelson just wasn’t the same.
But I do love Lost Girl. It’s one of those shows where it’s so terrible it’s awesome. At least that’s what I tell myself so it’s ok to continue watching it… like Glee.
You guys, Mia Kirsher is signed on for Season 4 of Lost Girl. Jenny is going to ruin Lost Girl (even though it’s already kinda blah, but I can’t help but watch it because of its positive portrayal of sexuality and Ksenia Solo)! Thankfully, Ali Liebert from Bomb Girls and Geroge Takei are also signed on, but fucking Jenny, you guys.
I tried, really TRIED, to get into this show, because 1) hello, queer ladies, and 2) everyone said it would be good for my soul after watching Glee for so long.
I couldn’t do it. I never reached the ‘so bad it’s charming’ point with this one. I did enjoy Kenzi, though, for the brief amount of time I watched.
I refused to watch this show for ages and then found myself watching all three seasons within four days (yes you read that right) and I think we can all agree that Anna Silk’s rack makes up for everything else that wasn’t up to scratch.
Buffy was so intelligently written and saturated with philosophical allusions ranging from Plato to the deconstructionists and then just for irony to Homer or Bugs…the road runner even. This show should not be credited with near that comparison. The only critically interesting aspect about Lost Girl is that the Bo’s characterization is that of a borderline sociopath and these types of characters are really rather “new.” But then again, so is the prince in Frozen, and saddly Disney was probably more aware of that than are the writers of Lost Girl.