Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Lost Girl: Dark Horse

"First things first, let's kill this mother lover."

Dark Horse! Dark Horse! Dark Horse! It's bad. Like really bad. I'm tempted to go as far as to say that this was not only the worst season finale Lost Girl has done so far, but one of the worst season finales I have ever seen. Parts of it reminded me of Buffy’s fifth season finale, 'The Gift,' just without all the really good bits.

First time I saw this episode I was outraged and heartbroken. Heartbroken that my beloved Kenzi had been killed and outraged by how it was done. How could they kill Kenzi? Why would they kill Kenzi? She is not just Bo’s heart she is the heart of all of us. She is the one character they were not allowed to kill off. And certainly not like this. If Kenzi had to die she deserved a better ending than this. Not only did her need to sacrifice herself just appear out of the blue, there were plenty of hints that it wouldn’t be permanent so there was really no reason for her to die anyway.

I’m not a big fan of the false sacrifice trope, where writers kill off a popular character simply for shock value and resurrect them not long after thus rendering the death completely redundant. Because they often deal with magic, supernatural shows tend to treat death as being the equivalent of having a bad back. It might keep you on your back for a few days, but you’re soon over it. Especially if that show happens to be called Supernatural and the dead character’s name is Sam, Dean or Castiel. Those three have died and come back so many times now it just isn’t funny anymore.

If you want the death of a character to have any kind of meaning then it has to be permanent. If not, then the resurrection has to come with dire consequences for those involved. Death should not be something that can be easily fixed with a simple wave of plot magic. For example, Bobby Ewing stepping out of the shower created a fracture in the space-time continuum that erased an entire year of people's lives and created a new timeline where the devil was real and able to torment J.R.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I shouldn't really be criticising the show for how it brings Kenzi back before it has even brought her back. I just hope they really are bringing her back. The press release for season 5 may not have Ksenia Solo listed as returning, but I’m convinced this is misdirect. No one has officially said that she has left the show and won't be back. There have been no after show interviews to say goodbye and thank all the fans for their support. Bo made it perfectly clear at the end that she was going to find a way to bring Kenzi back. But just because she's determined to save Kenzi doesn't automatically mean that she will. If Kenzi is really dead then I’m not sure I want to keep watching. Lost Girl without Kenzi is not a show I want to watch.

Along with the mishandling of Kenzi’s death, the episode also suffered from having two season finales storylines competing for attention. One saw mummy’s boy Massimo gaining superpowers and going after Bo. The other saw the door to Hel being opened and the dead pouring out. Normally a zombie apocalypses would be a big issue and the focus of everyone’s attention. Bizarrely though, this is pushed to the side-lines in favour of dealing with Massimo. The epic battle to save the world is treated like an afterthought. Well, epic isn't exactly the right word for it. Without the money to do this well the struggle to save the world just ended up looking absolutely pathetic. The Massimo storyline ended up being the stronger of the two story threads, not because it was that great, it wasn't, but because it made some sense and wasn't trying to bite off more than it could chew. Seriously, that final battle was beyond naff.

Rainer is now dead, killed by Massimo in what he no doubt considered to be an act of moving self-sacrifice for his beloved Bo, but I saw as the writers getting rid of the dead weight. Well done, Massimo, you’ve finally done something right. Your mother would be proud of you if she didn’t despise the very air you breath. It goes without saying that no one is going to miss Rainer. Even Bo didn’t seem to upset about his passing. I did wonder for a bit if he was going to be brought back as a zombie host for Bo’s father. That way all this conflicting information we’ve been given about him and the Wanderer would make some semblance of sense.

This episodes marks the end of Emily Andras’ time as showrunner. She’s standing down and passing the reins over to Michael Grassi for season five. Grassi wrote some of my favourite episodes this season (including ‘La Fae Époque’) so I’m confident he’ll do a good job. To be frank, I think the show needs a change in leadership. This season started well but quickly lost its way in the second half, becoming increasingly contrived and convoluted. A new boss will hopefully get the show back on track. And by back on track, I do mean resurrect Kenzi as quickly as possible. I’m not joking around here, people. If she’s not alive and well by the end of the season premiere there will be blood.

Notes and Quotes

-- Why didn’t Bo just take some of Dyson and Tamsin’s chi and revive Kenzi?

--Following Rainer's death and Tamsin's pep talk, it looks like the old Bo is finally back. Better late than never I suppose.

--It also looks like Bo and Lauren are going to be back together next season.

--Kenzi's full name is (I refuse to use past tense) Mackenzie Malikov and she was born in 1991.

--What did Tamsin see in Valhalla that made her so scared? Why doesn’t she want Bo to find the other Hel shoe? It was said that they were meant to be worn by a hero. Is that hero Bo?

--We're still no closer to knowing who Bo's father is. Is this guy ever going to show up?

Lauren: “Now your only chance to be immortal is for someone to write a shitty pop song about you. About a villain who cries about his mommy whose hair goes prematurely grey.”

Tamsin: “Why don't you suck it up and get your shit together?”

Bo: “Daddy Darko waited thirty years to show up, he can wait another hour.”

Bo: “You ready for a threesome?”
Dyson: “And you're saying I need new material?”

Lauren: “You are a psycho loser with a brain full of shit that you don't even know how to use.”

Bo: "You really are Dark.”
Lauren: "No, Bo, I'm yours.

One out of four bad zombie extras.
---
Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011. More Mark Greig.

7 comments:

  1. WTF? Omigod, this was awful. And it wasn't just that they killed the best character in the show in a way that didn't even tug on my heartstrings. Massimo was a big nothing. Rainer was a zero of a character. The zombie thing was very poorly done, as you said, Mark. The best scene in the episode was Trick and the Morrigan trading insults.

    I really love the characters on this show and I often enjoy what they do with the LostGirlVerse, but the arcs tend to leave a lot to be desired. I didn't know they were changing show runners for the next season, but frankly, I'm relieved.

    And if Ksenia Solo isn't back by the end of next season's premiere, I'm with you, Mark. No more Lost Girl for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah. It wasn't just that final battle that was beyond naff. This whole last run of episodes has been pretty messed up. I mostly just let the last two wash over me with very little engagement. "Oh, so that's happening now. Okay. Whatever. Next!"

    This season suffered from far too much convoluted plotting, with stuff constantly dropping in out of left field and making no sense at all. They really lost the thread on the characters and their relationships, too. Especially in the back half.

    Maybe in the Season 5 premiere, Bo will wake up and Kenzi will pop out of shower, and we'll learn this whole season was just a terrible dream. You invoked Dallas, Mark. Let's make it work for us!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a terrible idea..to kill off the most beloved character of the show just for cheap drama. Boo. We all know she'll be back. Well she'd better be.
    Rainer was just a waste of time wasn't he?
    If they go Dallas and forgot all about this season I wont mind.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I binge watched the first three seasons. Season 4 sucked so unbelievably bad. I'm not sure I want to watch season 5. At the moment, I'm leaning towards ditching it. There are plenty of good shows out there - I don't need to suffer through an offer of garbled crappery.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I did not enjoy this season as much as the others. Besides the fact that we lost two characters that I loved (Kenzi & Hale), most of the episodes were confusing to me.
    All this build up for the Wanderer and it was such a let down. I felt the actor did as well as he could with the storyline they gave the character. Everyone was so fearful of him and he just seemed so meek.
    I always enjoy the banter between Dyson & Kenzi. I liked the scenes of Dyson & Lauren working together. I am glad the show was given a 5th season and I hope the writers use this opportunity well or else they will lose many viewers. And BRING BACK KENZI!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This season was such a total failure that only got worse as it went on. I won't dwell on killing Kenzi in such a dumb, contrived way since others already covered it, but I agree the whole Rainer thing became a total waste. It was already silly that they were oh so in love, though I think Kyle Schmid (been a fan of his since Blood Ties) did the best he could with what they gave him for Rainer.

    I thought Rainer's death was so dumb too. The guy's power is he can see his opponents moves before they do them, but he couldn't move away from one of the slowest killing blows ever? Why do shows somehow think it's more dramatic to let a character sit there and wait for the last blow without even trying to get away? Any main character would be rolling away or something. It's so contrived it's nauseating (just like Kenzi's sudden decision that she MUST be Bo's heart and her blocking the portal would magically close it. You're that certain Kenz? Really?)

    Whoops, there I go again about Kenzi. It really was the dumbest move they could make though. I too am glad they have a new showrunner. Fix this mess!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kenzi was 23. Trick and Dyson and Tamsin have lived like 1000 years but Kenzi just gets 23 years? That's so screwed up. Badly done, Lost Girl. Really and truly badly done.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.