Lost Girl – Girl power saves the day

Relationship drama turned into girl power in this Lost Girl episode, appropriately titled “Mirror, Mirror.” At first, I was worried that we were revisiting the Dyson angst after I thought last week that Bo was primed to move on. Bo and Kenzi were drinking heavily and discussing Russian “men suck!” curses, and Dyson was acting like a douche by parading his women around the Dal Riata–even Hale called him out on it. We’ve seen this scenario play out thousands of times so, well, ho hum. In real life, it would be totally realistic for Bo to still be mopey, especially since it is her first heartbreak, but since this is TV… move it along, already!

The show turned the scenario on its head a bit and made the episode into an interesting exploration of gender stereotypes, though. Women wanting vengeance on men who done them wrong is an idea as old as time, as the episode points out by Kenzi’s turning to the old Russian legend of Baba Yaga. “BY,” as Kenzi called her, was actually destructive rather than empowering to women, as shown by the poor girls she sucked into the mirror, all from “different times and places” than Kenzi. And none with a friend as determined as Bo to retrieve them.

To me, this is where the heart of the episode was, and it made me glad we’d gone back to the relationship angst territory. Anna Silk and Ksenia Solo really sold their bond in this episode, showing that even while Bo is fretting about Lauren and mooning and/or angry over Dyson, her real soul mate is her BFF. We see so many male bromances on TV now that I am excited that I have realized this show is going there. (Not that they weren’t tight before, but being willing to drown yourself to save someone is serous business.) We need more pop cultural models of women building each other up rather than tearing each other down. I don’t love that mooning over boys got us there, but it’s a start. I also love how both ladies faced deep fears tonight.

Now — will Bo start trying to figure out what’s going on with Lauren? There have been enough dire hints that this seems like the next move. Or it’s not, but either way, I am starting to trust in the show’s storytelling and to see it as a bit more than just a pleasant diversion.

Notes and Quotes:

• What have we learned tonight, ladies? Don’t drink and curse. Baba Yaga was almost as creepy as she was described to be, though not quite. I loved that even Trick was afraid of her. I liked the linking of Slavic myth to fae culture, as well as the fleshing out of Kenzi’s back story. Even though her aunt was kind of a gypsy cliché.
• Bo: “To his wang, may it rest in peace.”
• Hale: “You could talk nuns into a three-way.” Dyson: “Ah, the Crusades, good times!”
• Trick: “You should see our fae Sesame Street.” Kenzi: “Don’t tease-that would be awesome!”
• Bo: “Back off now. Or I will dropkick you into a Women’s Studies conference.” At least this quote indicates that the show knows what it’s doing with gender. I hope. Women are suddenly “chicks” throughout. But maybe that was to show Dyson being douchier than usual.
• Bo: “Mirror, mirror on the wall/ Time to bust this bitch’s balls.”
• The throne room is still awesome, and The Ash knows it.
• The last shot was very Buffy.

Clacked by Christina Furtado
on May 08, 2012 @ 13:45 EST5EDT