Lost Girl: It's a Fae, Fae, Fae, Fae World First Watch
September 25, 2014 5:08 PM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Is this worth pursuing? I'm not in love with the main character, (is it the actress?) but I'm liking most of the rest of the characters, even the annoying Russian sidekick.
I'd love to hear people's thoughts about it.
I'd love to hear people's thoughts about it.
Probably it doesn't help that I don't find her particularly sexy. I mean, yes, she's pretty, but it's super girl-next-door generic! Couldn't they find a Sophie Marceau or something?
posted by small_ruminant at 6:30 PM on September 25, 2014
posted by small_ruminant at 6:30 PM on September 25, 2014
KENZI rocks! The friendship between Bo (who can be whiny, but does kick ass and come through for her friends when she's not whacked out) and Kenzi is lovely. The show veers between dumb and campy fun, but there are some great moments and clever twists to fae stories.
posted by viggorlijah at 6:34 PM on September 25, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by viggorlijah at 6:34 PM on September 25, 2014 [3 favorites]
I'm partway into the second season so I can't speak to overall, but I nearly gave up after the first episode, then watched a few more and was glad I did. I think it's worth sticking with for a few eoisodes even if Bo is sort of meh as a character. Kenzi makes up for her and then some.
posted by Stacey at 7:39 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Stacey at 7:39 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ok I will carry on, then!
posted by small_ruminant at 9:13 PM on September 25, 2014
posted by small_ruminant at 9:13 PM on September 25, 2014
I love, love, LOVE Lost Girl. This is a first watch post, so I will shut up now, but Kenzi is the best!!
posted by Pendragon at 12:20 AM on September 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 12:20 AM on September 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
I watched the first two seasons and then gave up at the beginning of the third. There's things I really liked about it and things I really didn't.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:42 AM on September 26, 2014
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:42 AM on September 26, 2014
I wanted to love this but gave up in season 1.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 5:03 AM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 5:03 AM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
I sortof lost interest near the end of the first season but then noticed that a third season was on netflix and that tweaked my curiosity so have started up again. Then I saw that it made it to five seasons so they are doing something right for some demographic. It's pretty clear it's on a very tight budget and the woodeness of some scenes are more to do with production pressures than the actors and writers talent. It does veer into interpersonal topics enough that I was expecting to see a post on the blue, but I guess I shouldn't elucidate due to thread spoilers level.
posted by sammyo at 5:21 AM on September 26, 2014
posted by sammyo at 5:21 AM on September 26, 2014
I heard a lot of good things about the show, but have only just seen this one episode and haven't felt the urge to watch the next (or maybe I saw the second episode?) Anyways, thank you for starting this series of posts. I shall use it as momentum to give the show a try again. My initial thoughts for the pilot episode was that it set up a lot of interesting things, but not necessarily with very interesting people.
posted by Atreides at 7:35 AM on September 26, 2014
posted by Atreides at 7:35 AM on September 26, 2014
P.S. How often do are we going to be throwing up episode posts? Weekly? Bi-weekly?
posted by Atreides at 7:36 AM on September 26, 2014
posted by Atreides at 7:36 AM on September 26, 2014
I don't know. I just cranked through two more episodes and it's starting to get a Buffy Season One feel, which isn't a bad thing. (Does it generally do a Monster of the Week thing?) I was a little annoyed at the stereotype of the sorority. Not that I <3 Greek life, but stereotypes for no good reason just annoy me in general.
Also, can I just say that "Greek" had an entirely different and more sexual meaning to me before I went to grad school? (My undergrad didn't have much in the way of sororities/fraternities.) It's so weird when things change meanings. CBT as a therapy type still throws me, too.
posted by small_ruminant at 8:31 AM on September 26, 2014
Also, can I just say that "Greek" had an entirely different and more sexual meaning to me before I went to grad school? (My undergrad didn't have much in the way of sororities/fraternities.) It's so weird when things change meanings. CBT as a therapy type still throws me, too.
posted by small_ruminant at 8:31 AM on September 26, 2014
Oh wait- I just noticed this thread is for only Episode One. I suggest we just call it the Season One thread instead?
posted by small_ruminant at 8:41 AM on September 26, 2014
posted by small_ruminant at 8:41 AM on September 26, 2014
I may give this another shot, too. I watched the first six or seven episodes when they appeared on Netflix; it was good, but it didn't hook me. (Like everyone else, I liked Kenzi more than Bo, and more than most of the rest of the show.) I felt like it needed to be smarter (like Orphan Black), or more lurid (like True Blood), or smarter and more lurid (like American Horror Story). Lost Girl seemed to me like just a solid TV show, which would have been fine ten years ago, but now...I mean, there's just a lot on.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:44 AM on September 27, 2014
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:44 AM on September 27, 2014
Yeah, Kenzi is the best thing about the show (at least as far as I watched). What I really liked was the whole premise that sex isn't shameful -- that's still sort of in the background of most television and there's almost always a lot of implicit moralization about sex, even still these days. I liked Bo's omnisexuality. I don't dislike the actor playing Bo. I like the interpersonal stuff. I really dislike the male love interest.
The show is very much in the urban fantasy / paranormal romance genre, a genre that I've read an unbelievable and unhealthy number of books within the last few years. I'm deeply, intensely sick of the love triangle thing and especially the possessive boyfriend thing. Christ, I hate that trope so much.
The thing is, though -- and I know I've written about this before -- is that UF/PR is a genre primarily aimed at and read by women. And for lack of a better way to put it, that audience is the middle of the demographic and isn't, for example, particularly progressive or feminist. So there's quite a bit of regressive stuff in there. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, sociologically, because I think it is sort of a snapshot of contemporary (North American, I guess) women's concerns. The basic theme is the intersection and conflicts of trying to be empowered and responsible, what society expects of women, and romance. Often, it's about the conflict. There's a lot of stuff that makes me uncomfortable, like this whole thing about both wanting and being infuriated by (over)protective, dominating boyfriends -- but I'm not the intended audience. And the fantastical stuff functions the way that the fantastical, heroic narrative usually works, except in the context of a young adult woman going on a hero's quest that is one part saving the world and one part finding and being madly in love with the ideal partner.
So this show and True Blood are about as true television translations of this genre as I can think of. It's weird that there's not more of them given that the category has been huge in SFF for a while ... though I think maybe it's slowing down a bit.
It's perhaps revealing that these two shows are so flawed. There's a lot of potential for a really good, interesting and intelligent show in this genre. The only way that works, though, is if you conceive of it the way that Whedon did Buffy -- as layered, with the thoughtful, serious stuff done in metaphor and in regular interpersonal drama while also having fun with the fantastical, genre silliness. I think that TV people, especially, have a lot of trouble seeing those two things together and for them it's one or the other.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 7:48 AM on September 28, 2014 [3 favorites]
The show is very much in the urban fantasy / paranormal romance genre, a genre that I've read an unbelievable and unhealthy number of books within the last few years. I'm deeply, intensely sick of the love triangle thing and especially the possessive boyfriend thing. Christ, I hate that trope so much.
The thing is, though -- and I know I've written about this before -- is that UF/PR is a genre primarily aimed at and read by women. And for lack of a better way to put it, that audience is the middle of the demographic and isn't, for example, particularly progressive or feminist. So there's quite a bit of regressive stuff in there. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, sociologically, because I think it is sort of a snapshot of contemporary (North American, I guess) women's concerns. The basic theme is the intersection and conflicts of trying to be empowered and responsible, what society expects of women, and romance. Often, it's about the conflict. There's a lot of stuff that makes me uncomfortable, like this whole thing about both wanting and being infuriated by (over)protective, dominating boyfriends -- but I'm not the intended audience. And the fantastical stuff functions the way that the fantastical, heroic narrative usually works, except in the context of a young adult woman going on a hero's quest that is one part saving the world and one part finding and being madly in love with the ideal partner.
So this show and True Blood are about as true television translations of this genre as I can think of. It's weird that there's not more of them given that the category has been huge in SFF for a while ... though I think maybe it's slowing down a bit.
It's perhaps revealing that these two shows are so flawed. There's a lot of potential for a really good, interesting and intelligent show in this genre. The only way that works, though, is if you conceive of it the way that Whedon did Buffy -- as layered, with the thoughtful, serious stuff done in metaphor and in regular interpersonal drama while also having fun with the fantastical, genre silliness. I think that TV people, especially, have a lot of trouble seeing those two things together and for them it's one or the other.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 7:48 AM on September 28, 2014 [3 favorites]
I've overall enjoyed the show. Kenzi is a spitfire and I adore her, and Bo is pretty charming on her own. Their friendship is adorable. And I'm cool with both of Bo's love interests. Yeah, plots are silly and so are the titles, but....ah well.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:37 PM on September 29, 2014
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:37 PM on September 29, 2014
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The show has some ups and downs, but it's the definitely interesting side-characters that create the best bits and finer moments. I also like the annoying Russian sidekick. She's so peppy!
Lost Girl never really changes its basic formula, so if you're OK with it now you'll likely be OK with the rest of it so far. Dog Police dude was in The Tudors and we have a hard time taking him seriously as a result, which helps when he gets overly po-faced.
posted by Sparx at 6:04 PM on September 25, 2014