Well, I finished my reviews of Lost Girl last week, so today I’m going to do a brief overall review of the series and a quick preview of the next series I’ll be reviewing on Wednesdays. I remember seeing ads for Lost Girl when it first came out and thinking it looked pretty cool, so I started watching and liked it immediately. The humour was great, I like the way they used mythology, and there was enough sex and violence to keep it interesting. My favourite character overall is Kenzi, because she always seems to get the best lines. Or maybe it’s easier to identify with her since she’s the human surrounded by Fae, so we can imagine ourselves in her place quite easily. It was often said that Kenzi was Bo’s heart, but I think she was the heart of the show too, and it definitely lost something when she left. It reminds me of Sabrina the Teenage Witch after the Aunts left; it just wasn’t the same show anymore.
As for other characters, I like them all to some degree. I always preferred Bo with Lauren over Dyson, so I’m glad things ended the way they did. Dyson was cool, but all his angst could sometimes get on my nerves. Lauren was usually steadier—plus she’s a geek, which I can appreciate—but her habit of breaking up with Bo for stupid reasons wasn’t her best feature. Same angst, different pile, I guess. Tamsin was cool; I liked her snark, but I think she was pushed into the forefront to fill the void left by Kenzi, which no one could really do, as Kenzi is one of a kind. Hale was fine, though the most interesting thing about him was his family. I wonder if he was doomed from the start, or if it was a later decision? Probably my favourite recurring character is the Morrigan. Emmanuelle Vaugier played her perfectly (and looked great while doing so); I just wish she’d gotten more to do.
The overall story arc was fine too. Having Bo turn out to be Hades’ daughter, and him trying to use her to destroy the world, makes sense as far as fantasy plots go. I’m not sure if that was the ending they had in mind right from the start, or if it was added later; I suspect the latter. But a lot of episodes are basically stand-alones, which is fine; not everything has to tie into the big picture. As I said before, I liked the way they wove mythology into the story, though they seemed to throw stuff in willy-nilly. The core mythos was Celtic at first, but they used Greek/Roman, Japanese, West African, Native American, Russian, and Norse elements too. It feels a bit strange sometimes with the mixture of myths, but I guess it makes sense not to limit themselves; if we accept that one set of myths is “real”, then that pretty much validates all of them.
So, I liked Lost Girl and I enjoyed watching it again and reviewing it. But I’m finished with that series, so … what next? I’ve been considering a number of different shows for my next Wednesday reviews. Obviously, I’m thinking mostly of genre shows, and I was thinking I’d like to do a show I haven’t seen before so I can look at it fresh, with no real preconceived notions. I sifted through a number of ideas: Freaks and Geeks (which isn’t really genre, but it’s a great show; but there are only a handful of episodes and I have seen them before); Xena (a show I always meant to watch, but never got around to; lots of episodes though, so it’d be a major commitment, and the image quality wouldn’t be spectacular since it wasn’t shot in HD); Veronica Mars (another show I’ve been meaning to check out but haven’t gotten to; it’s not exactly genre, but supposed to be pretty good); Dead Like Me (another show I’ve seen—and liked—but which has only a handful of episodes). I also thought about shows like Pretender (which I watched when it first aired and really liked), Clone Wars/Rebels (just finished, so maybe too soon, but it is Star Wars canon and I’ve only seen the first season of Clone Wars), the Librarians (another just ended series that I love, but maybe it’s too soon for that one as well). Sabrina the Teenage Witch was on the list too, as I loved it the first time around; those last couple seasons though …
There are non-genre shows that I considered reviewing too, like The L Word (which I liked) and China Beach (which I never saw, but have heard good things about). But ultimately I decided to go with Warehouse 13. Wikipedia says it’s like a cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark, X-Files, and Moonlighting, which sounds sufficiently interesting to whet my appetite. I like the idea of a secret organization investigating paranormal stuff (which is one reason why I like The Librarians), so I think I’ll be predisposed to like
Warehouse 13. I’ve heard good reviews overall, and there aren’t a ton of episodes, so if I hate it I won’t be tied to it forever; I think it’ll be a good fit for my next TV review. GURPS (the role-playing system) has a book called Warehouse 23 that’s all about the secret Illuminati-type stuff that goes on behind the scenes and in the shadows … I’m assuming Warehouse 13 is similar, and that sounds good to me. Of course, Gulliver is hoping the big reveal will be that gorillas actually run the world from behind the scenes … I think he’ll probably be disappointed. So I hope you’ll join me here next week to check out my review of the first episode (cleverly titled “Pilot”); hopefully, it’ll be a fun journey. See you there!