Guilty Pleasure--Syfy's LOST GIRL

I'm a huge fan of adult Urban Fantasy fiction.  I've devoured books by Kim Harrison, Kelly Armstrong, Charlaine Harris, Ilona Andrews, D.D. Barant, Seanan McGuire, and Gail Carringer, just to name a few.  And NO, Twilight does not count in this grouping.  I could barely get through 20 pages of that book.  Lost Girl is basically an Urban Fantasy woman-driven novel come to life, similar to True Blood (whose last season I found virtually unwatchable), with a dash of USA's La Femme Nikita thrown in for some action vibe.  The show is Canadian, and originally aired on Canadian TV before Syfy picked it up; they are showing seasons one and two in tandem right now.  It's part of "Powerful Mondays," along with shows such as Being Human and Eureka.

Those Canadians know a thing or two about putting together a solid urban fantasy series, with the great Blood Ties, and the slightly less so Forever Knight.  Lost Girl's is written and created by a woman, and is an adult series, rated "mature" and purposely full of sexual situations.  Thankfully, nobody goes to high school on this show.

The series centers on the supernatural walking among us, and stars Anna Silk as a voluptuous, ass-beating succubus whose main power comes from sex.  Now you might think, "Great, another show where a woman's strength comes from her sexual power!" but the show is not that simple or that cliched.  Here's a synopsis from an interview with creator, show-runner (for the first season) and writer Michelle Lovretta:

"Lost Girl is the story of Bo, a young woman who realizes she’s a succubus (a woman who uses sex to feed, heal… and kill) when she hits maturity and drains her high school boyfriend to death during her first sexual encounter. Oops. She tries to run from her past and her nature, until encountering others like her and learning she’s part of the Fae, an ancient race living amongst humans and feeding off of them in different ways. They pressure her to join their ranks, but she distrusts their motives and chooses to go it alone, navigating the terrain between the humans and the Fae while trying to figure out her origins and gain control of her predatory sexual hungers."

Lovretta goes on to explain what the series shares with other fantasy series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena, and Dollhouse, but the differences are what interest me.

• Bo is bisexual

The show is tailor-made for "shippers" to follow (if you're not clear what that phrase means, you should check out this EW article). Bo's two primary love interests are with a male werewolf, Dyson, who almost never has a shirt on, and a female scientist, Lauren, who is smart, gorgeous, witty, dependable--OK, you get whose team I'm on.  The show is littered with hot guys, and they are really fun to look at (although I'd be even more into it if they made out with each other); but the heart of the show, to me, seems to be the relationships between women.  AfterEllen.com is pretty devoted to the series, mostly because Bo's attraction to and desire for Lauren is never an "issue," but an understandable reaction to their friendship and Zoie Palmer's incredible brainy hotness.  Oh, and scenes like this:

Now some queer women might complain at how stereotypically femme and beautiful these women are, but A) it's still exciting to see these kinds of scenes on cable, and B) their sexual relationship is one based on friendship and trust, and has been carried through the show's series--it's not some titillating one off.  Now Dyson's a fine specimen and all, but now that *spoiler he gave his love for Bo to some ancient Fae in order to save Bo's life in the season one finale, she can get back to spending quality time with Lauren.  Lovretta praises Syfy for their interest in queer representations:

"They’ve been really supportive and their marketing campaign has been fabulous and they are pairing us with Being Human, which is a lovely show. Because I’ve had in development a couple of different projects there that had lesbians as leads and nobody there ever batted an eye – no one was saying ‘that’s going to marginalize your audience,’ there was nothing like that. Which is, I’m coming to appreciate, a great gift."

Read more: http://playbackonline.ca/2012/01/13/in-the-writers-room-with-not-so-lost-girl-michelle-lovretta/#ixzz1u79qbsx0

• Bo and Kenzi's platonic friendship is what drives the series

Ostensibly, the show is a private investigator series with some mythology aspects to explain the world of the Fae that Lovretta has gracefully built.  Bo and Kenzi are roommates, best friends, and have saved each other's butts multiple times.  The show makes clear that, even though Bo is bisexual, she doesn't desire or have sex with everyone.  Kenzi is her confidante and her support network, and Ksenia Solo is kind of the reason I watch the show.  She's full of snappy lines and awesome wigs and goth goodness.  Yes, she's technically a sidekick, but most of the time I think she's more interesting than Bo, and the Kenzi/ Detective Hale (played by K.C. Collins) ass-kicking team  is better than the Bo/Dyson pairing any day.  They have much better banter.

Fans can produce such amazing content.  I found this collage at this site.  While I'd clearly watch a show devoted to Kenzi, the show shines because of the close, platonic bond that she and Bo share with each other.  Sure, the sexual hijinks give the show it's kick, but the affection and trust that these women have are strong and unwavering.

• the hottest men on the show are Black Men

Following the (convenient) mythology of the Fae universe, many of the Fae are supernaturally gorgeous, and thankfully, the show isn't just a sea of white, although characters like the aforementioned Detective Hale, who is a Siren, and the Light Fae leaders "The Ash" and "The Black Thorn" (Light Fae name their leaders after trees) do not have the central roles I'd like them to have.  But they are beautiful, beautiful men, and if I'm devoting so much of this post to eye candy, it's only fair to show them off.

The guy the Black Thorn is about to fist bump is Trick, the proprietor of the Fae pub, The Blood King, and (supposedly revealed in a future episode), Bo's Grandad.  He's also a phenomenal actor, conveying pathos, strength, wit--and he happens to be a little person.  Granted, fantasy television will always be much more eager to give little actors their due, and Peter Dinklage's Game of Thrones powerhouse performance is just one example (although everything that man has EVER done, from Nip/Tuck, to Threshold, to The Station Agent is phenomenal).  Still, Richard Howland is wonderful, and his relationship with Kenzi is definitely one of the series' highlights.

• Michelle Lovretta is the creator, writer, co-show runner, and executive producer for the series

As Melissa Silverstein's remarkable and brilliant website has made endlessly apparent, women have a very small foothold in film and television, and that dang glass ceiling is still firmly in place.  In interviews, Lovretta plays down her role as a woman in the industry, suggesting that many male creators have produced shows that headline women. Okay, so there are television shows that are created and run by men that have strong female leads.  Big f*$#ing deal.  That's not good enough when one considers that those shows are still in the minority of stuff that's out there.  And Charlie Sheen is getting another show?!  Just saying.

Lovretta's involvement in creating a show that focuses on female friendships and diverse sexualities is exciting and crucial to the pantheon of stories from women's perspectives.  Those stories need to be heard in all their richness and diversity.  Yes, this show sometimes has really goofy dialogue, wooden acting, and extremely superficial storylines.  Still, Lost Girl is better than a certain show with five times the budget, that has become buried under far too many story arcs, and is focused on a whiny, southern blonde lady.  Although, thinking back to the embarrassing special effects used on the season four premiere of True Blood, what budget??  The only connection that show has to the books on which its based, at this point, is that it's making Charlaine Harris a ton of money.  She deserves it.  If Harris wrote some more queer characters into her world, Lovretta might be a little more interested.  And at least there are no hundreds-year-old vampires attending high school.