Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Lost Girl: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Lost show.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 13, 2013

When the lead character of a television series suddenly undergoes a personality metamorphosis, changing overnight from squeaky clean (or at least moderately heroic) to downright evil and scheming, you can bet one of two things is about to be revealed. Either a long unknown twin or look alike has shown up (think of those silly antics that showed up in later seasons of both Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie), or there’s some sort of gambit going on. Perhaps the central piece of good news that comes out of Lost Girl’s increasingly improbable third season is that the writers have at least not scraped the bottom of the storytelling barrel by positing a doppelganger for mysterious succubus Bo (Anna Silk). But the bad news is these selfsame writers don’t exactly aim for the bleachers, either, with a pretty rote opening conceit that initially has Bo wreaking havoc all over the city and getting jailed for her trouble, with the completely predictable reveal divulged mere moments later that she’s actually gone uncover to investigate malfeasance at the local “faerie jail”. The ironic thing about this tack is that for the first few minutes of the opening episode of the third season, this hyperkinetic and devious Bo is incredibly compelling, in fact probably more so than the character has been for quite some time, despite Lost Girl’s attempts to flesh out her back story and to simultaneously develop a rather involved mythology for a subculture that involves all sorts of supposedly mythical creatures culled from folklore and yarns of yore. Perhaps even worse, the writers don’t stop at Bo, either—for the third season also includes a somewhat similar storyline involving Bo’s BFF Kenzi (Ksenia Solo). Though the series is already broadcasting its fourth season, these developments don’t augur all that well for any major innovations other than patently contrived story arcs like these, and Lost Girl, while still fitfully interesting in dribs and drabs, has started to become too silly for its own good (and let’s face it, the series was never a model of thought provoking drama). For those not up to speed with the Lost Story saga thus far, there’s information available in our reviews of the series’ previous seasons:

Lost Girl: Season 1 Blu-ray review

Lost Girl: Season 2 Blu-ray review

There might be a doctoral thesis in the offing as to the sociological reasons for the relatively recent upsurge in television series which traffic in lore from the dim mists of time, usually wrapped up with fantasy trappings that have more than their fair share of supernatural elements. ABC has Once Upon a Time (though the bloom seems to be off the poisoned rose) as well as its lackluster spinoff Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and NBC is milking the daylights (and/or nightlights) out of Grimm . Both NBC and Fox have branched out, if only slightly, by including more recent literary efforts as the source bases for new supernaturally themed series, including Sleepy Hollow and Dracula. Obviously, there’s an immense hunger for these kinds of often dark stories, but Lost Girl seems increasingly to be searching for its own identity, a rather ironic turn of events considering that’s exactly what informed much of the first two seasons’ arcs involving the enigmatic background of Bo herself.

The series does best with regard to its focal gaggle of characters, especially the interplay between Bo, her sidekick Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) and doctor Lauren (Zoie Palmer). There’s an intermittent but none too subtle lesbian subtext running through quite a few episodes, as has been the series’ standard operating procedure in previous seasons, and that may provide some salacious allure for some viewers. But the bantering between Kenzi and Bo actually provides a lot of the series’ comedic kick. A nearly season long arc also finds Bo experiencing something akin to what Spock went through in the famous Star Trek episode “Amok Time”, with all sorts of aberrant behavior popping up and causing consternation among her cohorts (and this is after her “pretend” behavior aberrations).

Lost Girl continues to mine the “freak of the week” approach that informs so many other supernaturally themed shows, while slowly but surely developing Bo’s personal mythology. If the second season started to really deal with Bo’s “mommy issues”, this third season seems to be moving more in the direction of Bo’s father. But the mythology is simply not enough to get the show over some significant hurdles, including an increasing reliance on what can only be termed puerile writing. In one late episode Bo reaches out to Dyson (Kris Holden-Ried) telepathically, but Dyson is being held prisoner by the ever popular mad scientist. Dyson turns to a fellow prisoner and screams that there must be a way out. The woman turns back to him and says portentously, “There is—it’s called death!” It’s hard to be frightened when you’re laughing uproariously.

Lost Girl: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lost Girl: Season 3 follows the generally excellent tradition of the series' first two seasons on Blu-ray, with a nicely sharp and well defined AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 (courtesy of Funimation Entertainment, a label more associated with anime than with supernatural live action dramas). This season takes a bit more liberty with some filtering and other effects added in post, sometimes to denote flashbacks, at other times to highlight (literally and figuratively) Bo's various powers (see the first screenshot accompanying this review for a good example). A lot of the interiors bask in a kind of amber hue, while the series shies away, at least a little, from the ice cold blue tint that was featured in some previous seasons. Fine detail is quite commendable throughout this presentation, especially in close-ups, which the series' directors continue to favor. The special effects continue to be fairly well done, though some of the CGI is just slightly soft looking at times.

Lost Girl: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Lost Girl: Season 3's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is a reasonably immersive affair, at least when some of the more exciting action or special effects elements are being exploited. The series does very well in detailing the various differences in ambient environments (there are noticeable differences, for example, between the sound of the interior of the faerie jail and the bar where the Fae tend to hang out). Dialogue is occasionally minimally directional, but where this series tends to do very well is in some of the Fae effects sequences, where some of the foley effects are quite immersive and inventively rendered. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is quite wide.

Lost Girl: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Staff and Cast Interviews include:

  Jay Firestone - Executive Producer and Owner of Prodigy Pictures (1080i; 5:36)

  Emily Andras - Executive Producer and Writer (1080i; 11:53)

  Kris Holden-Ried, Portrays Dyson (1080i; 7:57)

• San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Panel (1080i; 44:26) includes Kris Holden-Ried, Anna Silk, Ksenia Solo, Jay Firestone and Emily Andras.


• Behind the Scenes Image Gallery (1080p)

Lost Girl: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lost Girl has, well, lost some of its mojo this season. The show has obviously always strained credulity, but it's tended to coast along on the considerable charms of its cast and a fairly well developed mythology. But more and more the series seems to be delving into silly and trite storylines without adequately furthering the elements that gave the series its distinctive air in its first two seasons. The major allure here continues to be that charismatic cast, which ambles along as effectively as possible in this somewhat lackluster season. Anna Silk is as compelling as ever, and the large supporting cast has ample opportunity to strut their stuff in various episodes along the way, but this series seems to be in need of a major creative shot in the arm to regain its momentum. Are there faerie sharks? If there are, one might have been jumped. Despite this season's disappointments, this Blu-ray offers nice video and audio and fans of the series should be quite pleased with it.