Contributor: Bronzethumb
(Note: It has come to our attention that the Syfy version of this episode may be altered from the Canadian original cut. Reviews for “Lost Girl” have been, and will continue to be, based on the Canadian originals. However, the reviews are written immediately following first viewing of the episodes, and therefore do not reflect any substantial knowledge of future episodes or storylines.)
It was always going to be tough to top last episode’s fantastic installment, but “BrotherFae of the Wolves” doesn’t seem to be trying that hard. This Dyson-centric episode should’ve been a perfect opportunity to explore the angst and the shift in status quo that this character has gone through over the past few episodes, and yet it’s glossed over in favour of weak plots that recall the lesser aspects of other genre shows.
The new arrival in town is Cayden, a fellow shifter and very old friend of Dyson’s from their days of being part of a pack in medieval Scottish. Centuries later, Cayden is trying to track down a Mongolian Death Worm, the Fae equivalent of a WMD, and enlists the help of Bo and Kenzi to follow the trail into Dark Fae territory. Meanwhile, Lachlan is continuing the exercise his muscle as the new Ash and imposes strict rules on the humans under his dominion, leading to a surprise appearance from Lauren.
Both of these stories had a lot of promise, for completely different reasons, but all the potential was squandered by lazy plotting. Lauren’s return was a perfect opportunity to follow up on the dangling character threads of her last appearance, yet despite showing up within the first few scenes all she does is scientifically bake cupcakes and make googly-eyes at Bo. This strong character is wasted, as is the chance to dig further into Lachlan’s reign as Ash from the perspective of a subjugated serf. By the end of the episode, it was easy to forget she was around at all until the scene blatantly reminding the audience that hey, there was once a very strong, dramatically compelling love triangle at the heart of the character stories.
Similarly, the Dyson storyline wound up coming to a whole lot of nothing in the short term and some hints (though unwelcome ones, for Boson fans) about what his character will be up to in future episodes. The biggest mistake was trying to tell intertwined stories in the present day and in flashbacks, because they didn’t seem intertwined in the slightest until the very forced ending. The flashbacks were intermittent, showing up just enough to jar the audience and make them miss the days of David Boreanaz and his terrible Irish lilt – because as much as Kris Holden-Reid is one of the better, subtler actors on the show, accents and Xena-esque hijinks are not his forte.
Meanwhile, in the present day plotline, there were no twists or curveballs, nothing to surprise the audience except for a few chuckles at the identity of the Death Worm and the familiar name of the Dark Fae warehouse proprietor (which MUST be a shout out). Cayden was a blatantly cliché character, very familiar to anyone who’s ever watched television, and the only thing that felt weaker than his characterisation was the writing of his integration into the team. What could’ve been an different and interesting way of expressing how much Bo wants Dyson back to the way things used to be comes across very forced. Even the fights, which are usually well-done and fun to watch, felt stagey and badly choreographed.
It’s five episodes into the second season of “Lost Girl” and so far, the weak episodes outweigh the strong. “BrotherFae of the Wolves” was a waste of an opportunity to tell good character stories and move the season arc forward, instead getting bogged down in too many weak plots with too little in the way of redeeming factors. Hopefully it won’t be long before this sophomore slump – or sophomore hurdle – settles out and the show can get back to the solid, consistent storytelling of season one.
Rating: 6.5/10