Contributor: Bronzethumb
What this latest episode delivers in great characterisation, it lacks in the solid case-of-the-week that most of the preceding episodes had. It’s not an unenjoyable episode, by any means, but unfortunately “Food for Thought” suffers from being mostly-forgettable aside from the fresh character beats.
This episode, Bo’s objective is to save Kenzi, who is dying after she accidentally eats a Fae soup made from human body-parts. It’s not the human bits that are killing her, it’s some kind of poison that’s also been killing a normally-hearty species of Fae. Putting Kenzi in danger is clearly supposed to drive up the tension, get us as involved in the case as Bo, but it’s the unfortunate paradox of putting one of the regular characters in danger. Even on the rare occasion the show is willing to go through with their threat, the audience never believes it, and it just doesn’t make for the kind of edge-of-your-seat nail-biting tension that the writers hope for. Without it, the whole narrative falls apart and makes for a very forgettable A-story.
Where the episode does shine, however, is in the nice character moments littered throughout the story. Chief among them is Lauren’s big return to the world of “Lost Girl”, after mostly sitting on the sidelines since her introduction. The sparks from the pilot have fanned into some serious romantic tension and given the show a love triangle that doesn’t feel gratuitous or melodramatic. It’s easy to see the attraction on both sides of the equation, especially since Bo was brutally kicked in the heart-crotch by Dyson a few episodes ago. Zoie Palmer does a great job of playing her character’s emotions in a subtle way, from concern about her patients to her attraction to Bo, and she’s got great chemistry with Anna Silk – this, “Twilight”, is how one sets up a great ongoing love triangle. And the medical-mystery nature of the A-story means that Lauren gets to be an integral part of solving the case as well.
Dyson and Kenzi get great showings as well, spending most of the episode dealing with one another in a very personal way, a huge change to how these two characters normally operate. It’s nice to see that Bo isn’t the only one to crack Dyson’s cool exterior, and that Kenzi is bringing far more to the table than comic relief. Knesia Solo gives a very different performance, foregoing wisecracks in favour of trying to hide a very deep vulnerability, while Kris Holden-Reid continued to be fantastic at the subtle performance. The most well-acted scene of the entire episode is these two characters sitting on a bench, showing genuine emotion, culminating in dialogue-free moments that tug at the heartstrings. Trick also got to be a little more than a dispenser of drinks and knowledge as he takes care of Kenzi and makes a personal sacrifice to do so, colouring in his personality a little more while dropping more fun hints and details about the Fae world.
The only real value of the A-story in “Food for Thought” is that is put the characters together in new combinations: Bo with Lauren, and Kenzi with Dyson and Trick. These new twists on the regulars are fantastic, but they’re scattered within a forgettable main case and are only barely enough to save it from complete mediocrity.
Rating: 6/10