This is a no-brainer. The whole reason I watched Lost Girl, besides the fact that it conveniently aired after Being Human, is because it looked so much like some Urban Fantasy series brought to life. A chick in leather with magic powers and quick wit who kills a bad guy within the first ten minutes? I even Googled it to make sure it wasn’t based on something I’ve read or could read.
Main character Bo (played by Anna Silk) is the primary draw for me. She embodies the quintessential UF heroine with her tough girl leather outfits and contrasting lighthearted humor. Yet she is humanized by an obvious sense of loneliness and a longing to belong (which tells me to look forward to some ultra-fun angst). Also magnetic is her elfin-looking but fully human side-kick, Kenzi (actress Ksenia Solo), who is rescued by Bo in the beginning but manages to rescue Bo right back by the end of the premiere. You just know she’ll be kicking ass at some point.
A possible problem for UF fans is the way this show warps mythology for the sake of its world-building. My first problem was the Morrigan (played by Emmanuelle Vaugier), whom you might identify correctly as an Irish goddess of battle, yet here she wears heels with shiny jewelry and a ton of makeup. She is no one’s idea of a warrior queen. She looks like one of those Real Housewives—the Real Housewives of Unseelie Court.
Of course they don’t use that word, they just say dark court, and it’s versus the light court, not Seelie. Recognizable wins over accurate, especially in TV.
The succubus mythology has also been seriously messed with. Bo may remind you of Richelle Mead’s UF heroine, Georgina Kincaid, but they’ve stuffed her in with fae mythology and left out anything about demons or hell or immortality. Instead, she’s a changeling, a fae baby given to humans to raise, or at least that’s the way that I’ve interpreted her story.
I’ll give Lost Girl a chance, because it still reminds me too much of the typical UF universe. It’s up to the writers and actors to provide suspension of disbelief, despite a mythological background that’s out of whack. But we know it can be done. After all, Being Human just proved it the hour before.
Otto the Fangirl 