Aaargh, you know what film I truly despise, perhaps above all others?
Groundhog Day. Do you know what’s even worse than the film? The fact that every
TV series that can get away with it simply has to have a Groundhog Day episode.
That said, on to the episode where the gang is in a garage and we have
more eye candy (is it just me or has the eye candy levels been really high this
season?) with Bo sexily cleaning a car while Lauren looks on then is joined by
Dyson who also stares at her (this lasts a full 2 minutes by my fast-forwarded
scale).
This is apparently the Christmas episode, judging by the music and Dyson and Hale talking Yule traditions (Krampus) and lots of poking between Dyson and Lauren to get closest to Bo. As they drive off, 2 guys in the garage drop a man under the bonnet of a car – which seems to have no engine since he fits.
At Bo’s house, Kenzi and Trick are decorating for Yule – well Kenzi
is, Trick is chuntering on about the real meaning of Yule as a ceremony of
contrition (mentioning Krampus again) in his Rudolph (Eikthyrni! Even if he does have a
red nose!) jumper. The rest of the gang return and resolve to party hard to
show Bo that she’s still special to them.
Seriously? Is there an episode that goes by without someone telling Bo how special she is? Her alarm clock probably wakes her up in a morning with an ode to her shiny specialness.
And then Bo
wakes up in the car where they left her and apparently forgot about her (hah,
no. Don’t buy it – certainly not with Dyson and Lauren vying for her
attention). The party is in full swing (including a Choga, apparently someone
with narcotic secretions you’re supposed to lick). And Dyson and Lauren
plotting upstairs – Lauren’s found a box in the dark archives addressed to Bo
in Bo’s handwriting – and no, we don’t get to see what’s in it but Dyson thinks
they shouldn’t show her it. Wow, is that not the ultimate agency cross?
Refusing to let Bo give herself a gift!
And Vex drops in to… well, be Vex. And Bo goes down to the party to throw her own little pity party because everyone is not basking in her glory (as she unloads to an old man for some reason) before Tamsin arrives, apologises to Bo then kisses her (there you go Bo, one of your worshippers are back) before telling Bo she’s not going to remember anything in 2 seconds
And she wakes up in the car again, gasping “what the f...” (no, that’s the TV show’s prudishness not me. Seriously, we can see Vex cut his hand off but “fuck” is too racy?)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH btw for the inevitable groundhogness
We go back
into the party and everything is how it was before (of course) except Tamsin
cuts it a little short, pointing out what everyone is going to do (throwing in
a transphobic “ladyboy” in there for no damn good reason) showing that Tamsin
has been riding the groundhog loop a few times and we were mercifully spared
it. Bo protests that Tamsin should have told someone – a suggestion she treats
with the contempt it deserves since no-one remembers what she said when the
night resets – until Bo anyway.
Shiny and
special enough yet Bo?
So they kiss
again – which does nothing except Tamsin falling ever more desperately in love
with the eternally awesome Bo. Bo still whines about everyone not worshipping
her – and the loop resets again. Bo decides to use the loops to party hard
(shall I say “like there’s no tomorrow”?) which includes making out with Tamsin
while everyone watches and cheers.
Upstairs,
Dyson and Lauren are having a drinking game, deciding whether to tell Bo about
her box and snarking at each other with lots of passive aggressive digs about
who loves Bo more (Vex is providing commentary). If nothing else, these three
and a lot of alcohol are great fun - especially
when they decide to do some drunken surgery on Vex. Also, Dyson and Lauren, at
Vex’s urging, realise they don’t hate each other any more.
In fact, screw Bo – I want a Dyson, Lauren, Vex road trip (Kenzi can join)
At the party Tamsin tells Bo why she ran off – to find other Valkyries and find herself again – and the wallpaper eats someone (or some fae disguised as the wallpaper does).
The time resets and Tamsin and Bo search the party – the fae who was eaten by the wallpaper is still gone, he hasn’t respawned with the time shift. They rush to trick who is passed out drunk in the bathtub to get his advice – and the time resets.
Meanwhile Kenzi and Hale have been making out through all this time resets meaning Hale has a chance to try out his AWFUL lines over and over and over again. But he is CHANGING the lines – which means he knows about the loop. Bo and Tamsin go to talk to him after it becomes clear Trick is far too drunk to help, and Hale laughs – Krampus has them too. But he thinks Krampus is harmless – he feeds on regret and puts people in the loop until they get into all kinds of trouble
Downstairs, an uninvited guest is ranting about how terribly the party is celebrating Yule (much like Trick did). Bo confronts him and he rants about them desecrating the Yule lord and drags Tamsin into the wallpaper which bewilders Hale because this is so not what Krampus is supposed to do – he’s harmless (well except for child beating and kidnapping). To catch him they need to go back to when they caught his attention (the garage – we know this because Bo has clumsily mentioned Tamsin going to the garage as well). Oh, and Hale entered the loop voluntarily so he could perfect his skills with Kenzi – much to Kenzi’s anger
But this time,
the time doesn’t reset. Hale thinks that means Krampus has found someone full
enough of regret to tide him over. That means Bo heads off to the garage with a
special knife Bo gives her.
Back at the
house, Hale apologises to Kenzi for the loop thing and she tells him to accept
that, with her being human and him fae, it’s never going to be perfect. But that’s
not a bad thing
Bo, meanwhile,
enters a secret underground lair through the car bonnet where there’s a giant
machine turning people into sweets. She finds Tamsin and Bruce wanding around,
brainwashed into wanting to be turned into candy. She rescues Tamsin, but she
is convinced she’s naughty and she needs to become nice again – and Krampus
taunts Bo that she won’t be able to get Tamsin to leave. Bo protests that she
likes Tamsin and Tamsin confesses to being the reason why the Wanderer found
her – that she used to hunt fugitives for money – and he hired her to find Bo.
And he was so powerful and evil she dare not refuse.
Bo hurriedly
forgives her and the Krampus again rants on about her eating the candy at the
petrol station and not respecting the
season – when the old man Bo was unloading to at the party appears – the real
Krampus. He prances around randomly while Krampus junior whines that there
needs to be a sacrifice.
Krampus senior sends everyone away but Bo – because she is super special and dark and repressed and guilty so will turn into the best treats (typical, Bo has to be the most special at everything!). Bo is teleported onto the conveyor belt and the prancing Krampus tells her only the truth will set her free – so Bo confesses how afraid she is of making the wring choice, losing her family, becoming evil etc etc grim anti-hero cliché cliché cliché, yadda yadda – which frees her to teleport to Tamsin so she can confess she’s scared to her as well.
Before Kenzi
arrives, Bo asks Tamsin if the Wanderer is her father and Tamsin semi-dodges,
the Wanderer will do anything to have his ideal mate, including creating her
himself. Ew uckies uckies uckies. And Kenzi brings the news that Dark fae can’t
enter a house where the Light are celebrating Yule after midnight – and Tamsin
leaves; Bo pushes Kenzi to go back inside to the party and give Bo time to
think. She does – but first she gives Bo the box that she found next to the
passed out Dyson.
Bo opens it,
inside is a bottle full of shadow.
Lost Girl
continues to have lots of unhesitating sensuous physicality between women –
though I still think a Dyson/Bo forever is constantly lurking in the
background. Bo likes women and she isn’t shy about it, this is of the good
considering the paucity of GBLT protagonists out there
But this
episode, along with Lost Girl in general, also uses that sensuality for a whole
lotta eye candy. And don’t tell me Bo cleaning the car like she’s in an advert
from crappy American beer wasn’t blatantly gratuitous. Then look at the past
episode with Lauren and Kenzi in their frilly, non-arse-covering French lingerie.
So we have an issue – is Bo/Tamsin/Lauren unfettered sexuality between women
shown without flinching –or is it part of the escalating cheesecake eyecandy
the show is presenting?
And yes, the sensuality is partly because Bo is a succubus who is defined by sensuality – but the sex-mad swashbuckling bisexual is also a trope.
Also I liked
Tamsin better when she was an edgy, kick-ass Valkyrie, not another member of
the Bo fanclub with a side order of weepiness.
This episode
was pretty bad, full of isn’t Bo special moments with no advancement of the
plot I complained about last week. But, hey, Lauren, Dyson and Vex were pretty
good.
