Lost Girl 3.01 Caged Fae REVIEW

Lost Girl 3.01 “Caged Fae” TV REVIEW

Episode 3.01
Writer: Emily Andras
Director: Paolo Barzman

THE ONE WHERE Bo goes on a crime spree so that she can be thrown into an intimidating fae jail to investigate what happened to Lauren’s doctor friend. The jail is run by men-hating Amazon women (“No wangs allowed,” as Kenzi observes) and Bo discovers a baby-selling ring being run by their strangely stubbly leader.

VERDICT First off, can we just say an almighty “welcome back” to Lost Girl ? It's so good to see Bo, Kenzi, Dyson and the gang again – a team quite unlike anybody else on TV. In fact, Lost Girl exists in a cosy corner of television that's half paranormal romance novel and half fan fiction (with neither of those terms applied in a derogatory way, mind you), and boy, when it works, it really works. And this is a great example of an episode that hits every button square on: utilising every member of the cast, furthering relationships, titillating both male and female viewers and providing several belly laughs in the process (check out the “Best Lines” at the end of this review). If the ending feels a little forced and some of the plot twists predictable – particularly concerning Bo's cellmate Sylvie – it doesn't really matter because the ride was so much fun.

The episode assumes you remember exactly where the show left off last season and doesn't waste a second bringing you up to scratch (speaking of scratching, Bo asks Kenzi how her rash is doing – that'll be causing mischief soon, no doubt). The set-up is mildly hilarious: Bo going undercover in a brilliantly over-the-top prison that's staffed by Prisoner: Cell Block H- style screws. All prison clichés are present and correct, from Bo being beaten by the guards for protecting an innocent, to her being forced to scrub floors with a toothbrush. None of it fazes her for an instant, nor do we expect it to. Even the fake-out at the beginning, which sees her feeding on a nightclub bouncer and distributing stolen money, is pure Bo – and who else guessed she was only pretending to be bad? Well, until the final scene, at least, when the darkness appears to take her over... (Cue dramatic music!)

As a season opener, “Caged Fae” is bold, brassy, confident and absolutely sure of itself... rather like Bo, come to think of it.

INFLUENCES Your average “women behind bars” movie with a good dollop of Sucker Punch thrown in.

BUZZ WORDS Bo's possessions are handed over to the prison guards. They include a vibrator. “That one's all mine,” says Bo proudly. We're pretty sure they guessed that already.

FLIRT ALERT! A show about a succubus isn't going to be subtle when it comes to people eyeing each other up, but this episode's scene featuring Vex flirting with an unimpressed Dyson reminds us that in Lost Girl there seems to be no such thing as “straight”. The boundaries are so blurred it's actually shocking when someone's heterosexual. Also, Vex in S&M gear is both hysterical and disturbing...

EMPATHY FAIL Bo gets the crap kicked out of her by the guards for helping Sylvie. The minute she arrives back in her cell, visibly bruised and sore, Sylvie jumps up and hugs her like an octopus. Have a care, luv, she's hurting! Thankfully Bo doesn't seem to mind.

LOVE TRIANGLE LATEST... Dyson's got his love mojo back but hasn't managed to tell Bo that he's ready to adore her again, much to Kenzi's dismay. Meanwhile Lauren is making googly eyes at Bo. At episode's end, Bo finally responds... and cue Dyson walking in on them snogging. Oww, the man-pain ! It's nice to see Lauren and Bo finally make a go of it, though. And Zoie Palmer's plaintive, wonderfully-delivered “Really?” when she realises that Bo has finally caved in is very endearing

KISS COUNT Bo snogs the warden (twice), Kenzi (to pretend they're girlfriends) and Lauren (twice).

EH? Bo and Sylvie somehow manage to travel from the secret room under the warden's office to the infirmary without being seen or stopped. This is a really rubbish prison.

BEYOND THUNDERDOME The warden, played by Sarain Boylan (definitely a woman, despite her character's unexpected revelation), is a brilliantly bizarre cross between Tina Turner in Mad Max 3 and Galadriel from The Lord Of The Rings .

CRAZY KENZI-WEAR Ksenia Solo gets to show off two memorable outfits this week: a stunning S&M-themed goth-look at the start of the episode (albeit briefly), and her wonderfully trashy “jailbait” outfit when visiting Bo in the prison.

Incidentally, the way she deliberately scrunches her boobs against the bars while teasing the guard is fantastic. And we thought Bo was the one oozing all the sex appeal on this show!

BOOB-TASTIC It's not often a show comes along with a female character who can show off this much cleavage without it seeming sexist. On the contrary, the wonderful thing about the character of Bo (and Anna Silk's performance) is that she's proud of her boobs, thank you, and she'd punch you in the throat if you even dared to ask her to cover up. This explains why her prison jumpsuit is so amusingly revealing – why hide the good stuff? And there's also a scene with her scrubbing a floor that seems to exist for no other reason than to show off her lady-bumps. Got a complaint? Take it up with Bo.

BEST LINE
How the hell can we choose? As always, Lost Girl is a goldmine of witty dialogue. Perhaps we’ll just list the best bits:

Bo: “Well, I barely know my mom. Although this one time, she did sleep with my boyfriend and try to kill me.”

Or…

Kenzi: “Your stupid-ass plan means that my best friend is tits-deep in enemy territory!”

Or…

Hale: “The Amazons won't listen to me.”
Kenzi: “Because of your stupid penis?”

Jayne Nelson

• Anna Silk interview