Lost Girl

Lost Girl:

"Welcome to the top of the food chain doll..."

I remember not long ago reading about a low key project that Showcase up in Canada was working on, something that'd take the supernatural genre that seems to the all the rage on television that last few years, and turn it sideways and shake it like a british nanny shaking a new england infant. Something that'd branch out from the traditional vampires, zombies, werewolves, that are so prevalent these days in supernatural themed properties, it would branch out in new directions and new ideas ad be made of complete and utter win. And after alot of whispers and speculation, that much talked about series is here, and thanks to the wonders of the internet, I'm able to watch it with out waiting for some watered down edited to hell "basic cable friendly" or worse, an american remake. The how I'm speaking of is called "Lost Girl" and is the story of a lone succubus named Bo who has no idea what she is, or why she is, or why for the last 10 years when she discovered she had a tendency to wake up next to dead bodies, as she tries to stay out of the way of the two groups of supernatural beings that live and thrive in Toronto.

The story starts in a bar, where a beautiful young bartender is being hit on by a guy who is drinking alone at the bar, but has two drinks infront of him, she refuses his offer of the drink he's not drinking, and he quickly moves on to a young blonde girl that walks in after this happens. After seeing that he offers her the same drink, she soon realizes what this guy is trying to do, and after seeing the blonde leave rather spooked out, and the guy following her, the bartender realizes that this could be trouble, and realizes she can save this girl from what could be coming soon for her. In the elevator the guy keeps getting way to close to the girl that left the bar, who starts to feel as if she'd been drugged, the guy admits he "put something in it that'll make her more friendly", and before he can make a move on her, the elevator opens on the next floor and the bartender walks in, she checks on the girl and then explains that she knows what the guy was doing, she then kisses him, and by doing so, drains the life from his body, the drugged girl videophones her doing this, because well thats what young people do, they record everything. She watches the bartender drain this guy's life and literally leave him with a smile on his face, as she gets to the parking garage to leave, the drugged girl yells out to her, she then comes back and picks her up, intending to drop her off at her home, however she discovers the drugged girl is a pickpocket and that none of the wallets on her is hers, so the bartender takes her to her home to sleep off what the guy gave her.

the next morning when the girl wakes up, she starts to remember and freaks out, after the bartender calms her down, she introduces herself as Bo, and sarcastically comments she saved her from a rapist, the girl introduces herself as Kenzie and thanks her, then she starts to remember what happened, that she'd been drugged, and then says "so I didn't see you totally eat a dude's face off last night" and as she reaches into her pocket and views the video she took, she again freaks out, Bo realizing she didn't notice the video gets all mad, Kenzi asks what she is, Bo tells her she doesn't know, and the two end up having milkshakes to talk about what did and didn't happen, as a sort of payment for the deleting of the video Kenzi took. From there, the body of the rapist is discovered and this puts Bo on the radar of the local supernatural underground, who were until this point unaware that she was even alive, let alone he was in their city. A leader orders that Bo be brought in for a conversation, believing she is either a rogue creature or a new threat of some sort. As Bo and Kenzi leave the cafe they had their talk at, and Kenzi tries to convince Bo to use her powers in some superhero way, and that she could be her sidekick, Bo is kidnapped and taken to the head of the supernatural underground, where she is examined and once they understand she doesn't know what she is, or who any of those people are, its explained to her what she is, and that there are many other supernatural beings out in the city and around the world, refered to as "faye" and told there are an infinite number of different types out there, and they are devided into two clans, the light and the dark, and that one must declare which they are, and all this other underground politics stuff, I make it sound boring but its really not, the whole sequence is pretty interesting.

From there she's "tested" in combat against two other faye, one a giant lizard tongued super strong one, and whats called a "paineater" who attacks on a mental level by creating a world inside your mind where he uses trickery to get you to kill yourself for him. After Bo beats them both and is asked to declare what side she's on, she yells "either, I choose the humans, I just want a normal life.." and is brought back to where she was taken. The elders discuss her and decide to let her be as she is for now, for some reaason she was kept hidden from them, and they'd like to know why, the pilot ends with Bo and Kenzi walking off deciding what they're going to do with their new friendship and partnership.

The series, though its possible it could fall into the same pitfalls that plague all the other shows in the supernatural genre, the whole romancing the concept thing, like making vampires dark and sexy loners that only wish to find love and happiness, and that they own werewolves and all that other tired tripe that so often clogs up the supernatural genre, though I do understand given the nature of what Bo is, there is a good chance they will have some degree of that sort of stuff, I guess in this day and age its only natural. I like the idea that there are many different types of creatures out there, and that they're all different, that its not all vampires sticking with vampires and the like, thats so done with and over thanks to horrible shit like Twilight and the last underworld movie. I kind of like the fact that its two groups made up of all different types, that leads to more creativity and different situations, though it could actually end up becoming a plot device too, and I guess that couldn't be that bad in the long run as long as its done right. And well, its canadian cable television, there is a good chance it will be done right or not at all.

So the big question, is it worth watching? Well so far, from what I've seen one episode in, yes, very much so, its well written, well acted, extremely well cast, all the things I look for in a series, and you don't really see any hint that the actors don't believe in what they're saying, which means they picked the right people for the roles, often in supernatural/sci fi series you'll find that, when you listen to their words and how they deliver lines, it always takes me out of the show, but not here, and thats refreshing for me. So if you have a chance, definitely give Lost Girl a look, you just might like it.

Its not a trailer for the show, but here is a promo...




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BC