This is the Lost Girl episode I've been waiting for all season. Tamsin returns, Bo is a hot badass, there's a mystery to solve, we get a sex scene in a boxing ring, and a Spice Girls song. Wait, what?
Before we dive into the episode, I want to mention the interesting discussion in the comments from last week. When I was talking about Lost Girl's tendency to linger over woman-on-woman sex scenes, I underestimated the show's appeal to lesbian viewers. A few readers who describe themselves as "super gay" women contributed to the discussion, which is awesome. I obviously have my own particular narrow point of view, and what I'd seen as male gaze turns out can also be lesbian gaze. It goes without saying that io9's comments are always a safe place to have discussions, but it would be particularly excellent if Lost Girl fans of all sorts continue coming to the comments and help fill in my blind spots.
This episode, "Turn to Stone," was great in several ways, but mostly because the writing was just stronger. Better dialog and a more focused plot. Notice we never saw Hale or Trick. There was the main plot of Bo and Kenzi dealing with Massimo, which intersected with the "Tamsin is growing up so fast" plot. The only side plot was Lauren, and that was handled very nicely too. I can only hope this is a sign of things to come this season.
We also got good old randy Bo back. The episode starts right off with a training session in a boxing ring giving Bo a totally contrived excuse to screw Dyson to the sounds of Deap Vally's "Baby I Call Hell." And later when they're flirting in the police station, Bo tells Dyson that if he's good he can, "go in all the stores" on their shopping trip. So we learned some new things about Dyson's anatomy ("You seem to like it…in a huge way.") and what Bo is interested in doing with that anatomy. There's a even a classic succubus semi-threesome when Bo starts dancing and the hot couple she's with just starts stripping down. Talk about getting your mojo back.
There were loads of great one-liners this week, too. "It's like occupied France in here." "Three – nothing Bo." And my favorite, Massimo referring to Bo and Kenz as, "the ambiguously fae duo." Genuine guffaws there.
Tamsin morphs from a teenager into her real form pretty quickly. She likes the X-Files and donuts. Having her act like a little kid certainly puts the kibosh on Valkubus shippers. Although there was a glimmer of hope there when Bo told Tamsin she thought she was amazing in her previous life. It was funny when Tamsin asks, "Was I a good cop?" No Tamsin. You were not.
Massimo the Druid made for a good villain for a little while there, one step ahead of the Scooby gang, super smarmy, yet they can't just kick his ass because he provides Kenzi's fake fae powers. Then he gets extra creepy when he shows up at the apartment to kidnap Tamsin. She's still acting like a little kid, and he totally plays the child molester role, winning her trust and playing on her insecurities.
Of course, before all that happens, he sends Bo and Kenzi on a quest to find some herbs in Lauren's old apartment. He's set up an ignus rim, a magical barrier that blocks fae of a certain alignment from entering or exiting, depending on how it's set up. It also lends itself to a wide variety of "rim job" jokes, but I'll leave that to the reader. Notice that Kenzi's anti-dark fae ignus rim at the apartment kept out Bo early in the episode. The one in Lauren's apartment was apparently keyed to light fae, and it also blocked Bo. Interesting, in light of what went on later.
The most important aspect of this scene is that Kenzi finally comes clean about her desire for fae powers, her insecurity living among fae, and her fear that Bo might leave again. Oh, and that she made out with Dyson. Bo is pissed, but later they make up, writing off as a fight between family members. I was really impressed with how vulnerable Ksenia Solo made Kenzi in this scene, a far cry from her usual brash confidence. The ignus barrier special effects were pretty excellent too!
When Bo shows up to confront Massimo, who was only distracting them so he could get to Tamsin, we learn that he wants "young Valkyrie hair." He somehow gets the drop on Bo and has a razor to her neck, but Tamsin then transforms, sprouting wings. Massimo is stunned, and we learn that this is Tamsin's "last life" – if she dies again, no more resurrection. I love how Tamsin looked with the wings – that avenging angel, harbinger of doom thing is like catnip to me. Bo and Tam hug it out, then Bo browbeats Massimo, gives him a succubus job, and is surprised to learn that he's human (we've known this all along, right?).
Then Massimo completely undoes whatever "cool villain" cred he had, whimpering about his mommy and eventually hopping into a molten fire thing he had at some point thrown together. So no more Massimo I guess.
Lauren and Crystal are imprisoned – Lauren confesses to being an eco-terrorist in her past, but then realizes the light fae have nabbed them. Crystal tells her she slept her as part of the plan to stay close and learn about her, which is exactly what Lauren did to Bo once upon a time. "Spy banged." Lauren does some research, revealing that some elder fae thing has Mad Cow Disease. She assumes Hale is behind this, but the door opens and it isn't Hale. Looking forward to the big reveal there. Also looking forward to a newer, more badass Lauren. After years of moping, she picks a bunch of locks and barks out demands to her captors. A welcome change!
At the very end, Bo just shows up at the Una Mens abode. Some kind of drippy cave. Earlier, Massimo observed that the gargoyle that had been vexing Bo wasn't his doing, as they only serve elder fae. That gargoyle was hilarious. It looked like something I bought at Spencer Gifts in the mall in 1996. But it was great seeing Bo just straight up not give a shit about the Una Mens and all their cryptic fae nonsense. Her cool faltered a bit when they revealed they had no interest in her, since she was no longer unaligned. I guess the gargoyle did a blood test, and it came back positive for dark faeness.