Contributor: Bronzethumb
“Lost Girl” is slipping. It’s sad, given the high quality of the first season was and the very strong premiere of the second, but “Scream a Little Dream” manages to dip below the previous episode with fumbling, unengaging stories that distract from what could and should be the interesting focus of it all.
Bo is put to work by a Light Fae who works as a doorman in a building where the elderly residents are suffering from lethal night terrors. The investigation puts Bo in the crosshairs of the Fae responsible, leading to many bluntly obvious dream sequences as she tries to fight off the effects and stop the creature from killing any more humans. Meanwhile, Kenzi makes a deal with a Brownie, an undemanding Fae that cleans their apartment and takes care of the BFFs, but when she ignores Trick’s warnings not to take it for granted, the Brownie starts acting up and making things difficult for Kenzi and Bo. As subplots go, it’s pretty weak. Most “Lost Girl” episodes strike a good balance of goofy fun and more serious fare, but the antics of Kenzi and the Brownie felt really out of place and didn’t tickle the funnybone. The subplot’s only worth was how it tied into the climax of the episode, but even that doesn’t merit forgiveness.
By the same token, the A-story felt two-dimensional and unengaging. The case presented little mystery, little drama, and came across as a big excuse to get to Bo’s dreamscape scenes. Dreams are an effective narrative tool, but the writer on this episode simply used them as a tool for blunt and often pointless exposition. The audience doesn’t need to see her dream about Dyson ripping her heart out: it’s too much of a literalisation to be interesting or feel like a revelation, especially after two episodes of Bo pretty much saying exactly that to Kenzi and everyone else. Similarly, the dream scene with her older self reflects an aspect of her characterisation that’s been present and obvious from the very beginning of the show: she feels lonely and doesn’t like it. “Restless” this ain’t, not by a long shot, and the big focus on Bo’s dreams as an even bigger weight around the neck of an already-weak episode.
The real meat, such as it was, came from the few scenes where our other regulars and recurring characters popped in. The revised situation with Dyson is giving the Doccubus fans on the writing staff a chance to focus on the other big corner of the love triangle, and being the Light Fae’s chief medical honcho gives her, like Dyson, good reason to be involved in the A-stories. This episode also saw the return of Lachlan, the new Ash of the Light Fae, throwing his newfound weight around and making things difficult for Bo. While the previous episode did a lot to establish his character, here the audience gets to see what kind of role he’ll be playing within the show, and it’s one of obstruction and general smarminess, an even bigger obstacle than the previous Ash and one of the more interesting antagonists that “Lost Girl” has produced yet. His decisions with regard to Bo and Lauren also set up what will hopefully be an interesting dramatic arc for the season as it unfolds.
Unfortunately, some interesting nuggets with the rest of the cast don’t make up for the fact that both Bo and Kenzi had weak stories this time around. A dream focus was well and truly squandered, and a comic relief subplot provided very little comedy or relief. “Scream a Little Dream” easily takes the cake as the show’s weakest installment to date, and hopefully it’s not the beginning of a sophomore slump.
Rating: 5/10
