Contributor: Bronzethumb
Written by Alan McCullough
Directed by Steven DiMarco
This is the way the season ends: not with a tiny whimper, yet lacking the kind of epic bang that “Lost Girl” has been promising for some time. Viewers have been waiting patiently (or not-so-patiently) for a showdown between the heroes and the Big Bad, but what this episode ultimately amounted to was lots and lots of characters explaining things, with the occasional burst of good writing, action or performance.
As both sides prepare for the big showdown, Trick is kidnapped by the Garuda’s servants so he can be coerced into rewriting the peace laws. To stop this, Bo reveals her plan to enslave the rest of Team Bo using her succubus abilities so they’ll function as a team during the battle. Right here, in the premise, we encounter a number of staggering leaps in logic or plot-ruining questions. For starters, if the Garuda was capable of kidnapping Trick and manipulating him, why did he not do that half a season earlier, before there was anyone capable of stopping him? And though it’s been established that the Garuda feeds on discord, Bo’s plan comes off as a ridiculously harsh way to combat this. From minute one, the audience isn’t engaging with the story, which only makes the problems seem worse.
For the epic battle to decide the fate of the Fae, it didn’t feel particularly epic. Or like a battle. In fact, it didn’t feel much like anything — the tone was so flat and lifeless throughout the episode that this could’ve been the table read. The team never felt like they were in danger, between their status as main characters and the fact the baddies only ever seemed to attack two at a time. Trying to up the tension with injuries failed miserably, not just because these baddies seemed pathetically inept, but because every single time it was staged in a really awkward, choppy way. What are clearly supposed to be big moments lacked any kind of impact. And between these downright boring excuses for a battle came boatloads of exposition, from every single character, explaining again and again how this character could survive, or why that character is actually wrong. It went on forever, and a season finale is not the place for that kind of infodump.
There were some positive moments. Rick Howland gives his best performance yet, not only bringing new layers of emotion to Trick but getting in on some of the body-swap action he missed out on in ‘Original Skin’. Bo’s big fight with the Garuda was fun an impressive, though perhaps that was just a reaction to all the other action scenes that fell flat. The final confrontation came close to being engaging as, for the most part, the characters stopped talking and started doing things. But it was too little too late, and couldn’t save the episode from the mediocrity that weighed it down to that point.
On the plus side, many little things were introduced over this episode that look like they’ll play into season three, so the viewers who are still hanging in there after “Flesh and Blood” will have something to look forward to. But this was an utterly, utterly disappointing season finale. It lacked drama, emotion, and connection with the audience of any kind. It was a chore to watch, and anyone who’s just glad to have the episode over and done with won’t be alone in that opinion.
Score: 5/10
(Season 2 Final Average: )
