Even when you know who you are, life is never easy.
What They Say:
In the wake of the battle with the Garuda, Bo finds herself experiencing strange new appetites – and increasingly evil urges. Ever-loyal Lauren and the Succubus get serious about their relationship, but keeping up with Bo proves to be no easy task.
Meanwhile, Kenzi continues to struggle with being human in a Fae world, Hale is named the acting Ash, and Dyson’s new partner – a Valkyrie vixen known as Tamsin – has her sights set on Bo. To make matters worse, Trick reveals that Bo’s strange behavior is a result of The Dawning, a clandestine rite of passage that determines the fate of the each and every Fae.
As Bo rushes to prepare for the ritual that will decide her future, a mysterious being known as the Wanderer makes his powerful presence felt. Should Bo survive long enough to decipher the riddle of this enigmatic visitor, she may unlock the long-sought secrets of her own dark past!
Contains episodes 36-48.
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release comes with the original English language track with a 5.1 mix using the lossless Dolby TrueHD codec. Like most broadcast shows that have an original 5.1 mix, it doesn’t utilize the rear channels all that much overall and is primarily focused on making an engaging forward soundstage experience. The series has a decent mix of action and dialogue material with a few scenes really delving into ambiance as that’s not really it’s thing. It either wants to be full of action or it wants to have a lot of fast paced talking going on. Both of these are rather well handled across the front channels with some good placement and decent depth where appropriate. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout and we didn’t have any problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.
Video:
Originally airing in 2013 in the US, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The show has thirteen episodes spread across three discs with five on each and just one on the third one it has the final three as well as the extras. The show has a pretty good look about it and definitely is sharper and clearer than the first season that we saw on DVD, having better color definition and the darker scenes are stronger in general. The series has a pretty natural look to it for a TV series and there’s just a bit of grain here and there in some of the backgrounds that is mildly distracting once in awhile. The show deals with a number of dark sequences and shadows, but they’re generally well handled and without noteworthy problems. Detail is decent but what you’d expected for a standard definition release. This isn’t a show that’s radically different from the broadcast version in HD since it’s not a bright and colorful work, but it’s definitely better compressed and handled here with more room to work with and far better tools.
Packaging:
The packaging for this release comes in a standard size Blu-ray case with an O-Card slipcover to it that uses the same design for both. The front cover does a good black and white piece that’s certainly mood and atmospheric as it presents Bo, Dyson and Tamson together with a dash of blue light filtering around them to give it that little extra oomph while tying to the logo itself. The logo is the standard one used for the series and it looks good here with its mix of black and white and the nod towards the lead characters curves. The back cover is an all black affair for the background where the left side has a good strip of colorful shots from the slow going from top to bottom and the rest of it is given over the general concept of the series. It covers the episode count, and that they’re uncut, as well as the extras that are on it in a very clean fashion. The technical grid is tiny and very hard to read unfortunately but it does list everything accurately. The keepcase is clear and has artwork on the reverse side, with the left showing a black and white shot of the title character alongside a breakdown of episodes by title and number for each disc. The right panel has a good full length shot of Bo in the same black, white and blue style. No show related inserts are included with this release.
Menu:
The menu design for this release is a little unusual and it’s the same across all three discs as we get a couple of brief clips from the show that involves various characters drinking, but it’s done with a forward motion and then reversed briefly, which is just jarring. The navigation is kept to the lower left and it has some of the wisps from the logo there while blue smoke plays through it to give it some motion. With most of the discs the only real option is turning on the subtitles or choosing the episodes, so navigation is a breeze. The final disc has the extras and those are laid out cleanly and without problem.
Extras:
The extras for this release are pretty good across the board as we get a lot of material that will definitely please fans. The first is a series of clips that has interviews with the actors that vary in length with an average of around ten minutes that has them talking about the show. We also get a good selection of behind the scenes images in a gallery that shows how some parts of the series is made. The big extra is the panel from Comic Con 2012 that runs about 44 minutes. While I would have preferred to just have the whole panel uncut, we get a good piece here with the producers and three of the principal cast talking about the series and just having a great time with the big audience there.
Lost Girl is a series that definitely has a bit of an uneven feel about it just in how the seasons are presented, though that’s not a surprise considering the renewal pattern and production schedules. The first season smartly used a thirteen episode run to tell a story that introduced the setting and characters and some of the mysteries while also highlighting the sexuality and romantic relationships. The second season went for a twenty-two episode run that felt like it was less focused and rambled more, causing a loss of interest for me at times because it seemed like it went nowhere. The third season doesn’t do that but rather has a few smaller stories tied together with a larger one that comes together far, far too quickly towards the end, giving it a truncated feeling. I did find myself once again enjoying the show more in this marathon form over a couple of days rather than when I watched this season live during its airing on the Syfy channel as the show simply didn’t hold my attention.
The themes of this season revolve in a lot of ways around the nature of the characters in how they’re not exactly paying attention to each other with what’s going on in their lives. A lot of that comes from the simple fact that Bo, as the glue that holds the group together, is so strung out on doing so many things and having so many people wanting her attention that it’s not a surprise that she’s unable to really see what’s going on. Her life is complicated enough in general with that part of it when you have Lauren, Kenzi and some of Dyson all having different kinds of needs with her, but this season also puts some background pressure on her to do things for the new Ash since he’s trying to define and change things in a more forward-looking way. That tends to work well but it’s just one more piece of the puzzle that makes it more complicated than it needs to be.
Bo’s relationship with Kenzi is one of the earliest things that’s dealt with and rightly so as Kenzi and Bo have been together from nearly the first frame of the series. Kenzi went pretty far in the previous season with how she looked out for Bo by taking a chainsaw to the Norn and that has put a real problem in her life, one that she hasn’t talked about with Bo in the slightest. I had hopes that it would come to light in this season, but it’s almost touched upon once by the pair but it doesn’t go anywhere. If anything, it’s others that start learning about it and Kenzi isn’t interested in talking about it with anyone but Bo. But with Bo doing so much for the new Ash, she’s finding herself stressed out and also being accused of things she’s not doing, which causes her to be pretty distracted since she’s hauled in a fair bit for those crimes that have bodies slowly piling up. What makes it worse is that for several episodes early on, the Kenzi we do see isn’t even the real Kenzi as she’s swapped out by a Kitsune (Japanese original trickster fox) that is looking for friends of its own and is hoping to take over for Kenzi. That adds its own wrinkles, but it’s the first main moment where Bo realizes that her attentions are strained and she really needs to refocus.
Unfortunately, because of her being an unaligned Fae that gets drawn into far too many situations, the other object of her attentions doesn’t get the attention she needs. Lauren and Bo really came together after the events of the second season and there’s a lot of passion here early on, but it wasn’t a surprise to see that the strain of the relationship is getting to Lauren. She’s wanting to do the right thing and even tries her best in helping Bo go after some additional snacking because of her succubus needs, but it’s a hard thing for someone of her own nature to handle, especially since she’s still acutely aware of the relationship between Bo and Dyson. Bo, for her part, does try to do things right, but she’s missing the signs and is still struggling with her own nature and everything else that’s going on. It’s not that anyone really does anything wrong, but the relationship just finds itself in a phase where it’s not working and just gets further strained until everything breaks down. While I’m not a fan of the relationship in general as I don’t see Lauren and Bo as a match, I wasn’t happy to see it collapse like this. And no, this does not mean I’m not in favor of same-gender relationships. I’m very much in favor of all loving relationships. I just haven’t connected with Lauren as a character since the start of the series and that’s not changed here.
Another of the changes thrown into the season is the arrival of a new supporting character that has a fairly large role across the season with Tamsin. She’s the first valkyrie I think we’ve seen in the show and she’s been assigned as Dyson’s partner from the Dark Fae side of the equation. She’s got a mission to take down Bo for a variety of reasons and she pushes hard against her, which frustrates both Bo and Dyson since they’ve had a decent working relationship across the first two seasons. You can appreciate the dynamic change here and Tamsin adds a strong female action component that’s not Bo but she also brings some decent character material as she’s slowly explored and we see her making some key contributions to the season. She’s a rough character though because of how she interacts with everyone but that does work as it goes on and we know more of her and the real struggles she’s coping with.
There’s a lot of changes going on with this season but the one that worked the best for me involved Bo going through the natural change/evolution phase that happens to all Fae. It’s happening to her far, far earlier than it normally would for an undisclosed reason and the time that it will be dealt with also quickens. While most Fae have decades to prepare for it, she essentially gets days. That doesn’t always work for the best as it all feels rushed since so many other things are going on in the midst of it, but I like this aspect of the Fae as it shows how they can lead to UnderFae being created and adds an element of danger to just being a Fae, which we haven’t always seen. With the long lives they live, it’s good to see there is an evolution/adolescence of some sort that they have to cope with.
In Summary:
Having watched the show during its broadcast and having problems with it and then going through it in marathon form here, Lost Girl is a mixed bag for me once more. I like the concept but have issues with its execution at times and some of the characters that just don’t click for me. This season works through all the ways the characters attentions are stretched and strained and how it’s causing so many problems with each other. There are great small moments though, mostly involving Trick with how he deals with Kenzi and a certain woman who comes into his life and I really had fun with Vex in the early episodes as he copes with being an outcast. But largely, the show still feels like a work that would have been a lot more popular ten years ago. Serialized storytelling has changed a good bit in the past decade but there’s a simplicity here that keeps me from being fully engaged with it. It’s light, fun and kind of silly at times but it has good concepts to work with. The release here is pretty much all a fan could want from it in terms of quality, packaging and extras, so it’s easy to recommend as a good piece to add to the collection if you liked the first two season.
Features:
English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Language, English Subtitles, Cast & Crew Interviews, Lost Girl 2012 San Diego Comic Con Panel, Behind the Scenes Image Gallery
Content Grade: B
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: B-
Released By: FUNimation
Release Date: November 19th, 2012
MSRP: $49.98
Running Time: 572 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
