Summer TV Rewind: Lost Girl 1.02: "Where there's a Will, There's a Fae"

“This is a new level of freaky. You sure this job is worth it?”
-Kenzi

Second episodes of any new series are always a challenge. The creative team has to cement what they think the show is going to be like on a week-to-week basis while still trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t about the premise and characters. “Where there’s a Will, There’s a Fae” largely succeeds on that front. We see the true beginnings of Bo and Kenzi’s sort-of supernatural PI business, the first “case of the week,” learn more about Fae culture, and get our first parceling out of Bo’s family history. All of these elements, for the most part, come into play in every episode for the rest of the season. I think the show gets more interesting when the balance is a little less on the case of the week and a little more on the mythology, but I think this episode is a valiant effort at getting past the episode two hump. The case of the week has interesting guest characters and a good twist at the end which makes it watchable.

We can see from the very beginning of this episode that Bo and Kenzi are really trying to settle into their new life as roommates and business partners. They’re shopping at the hardware store for stuff for their apartment, and they have a little disagreement over whether they should buy some of those outdoor decorative lights that you usually see in campgrounds. I’ve got to agree with Kenzi on this one. Campground lights are pretty awesome. When they arrive back home (sans campground lights, unfortunately), they have an uninvited guest. A woodland fae called Will (short for Will O’ the Wisp). Will is upset because this guy who has been harassing him for quite a while stole the treasure Will had hidden in his woods. Bo offers to help with the situation in exchange for some information about her biological parents. Kenzi tries to make sure they get paid in cash, too, but Bo derails that because she really, really wants the information about her parents.

Bo’s first step in her investigation is to stop by the police station to see what help she can get from Dyson. She manages to get into the station by telling everyone she’s Dyson’s girlfriend, and he doesn’t seem to mind. Dyson decides to start helping Bo by teaching her a bit about Fae culture. He takes her to a fae bar called the Dell, where the bartender is elder fae Trick. Everyone in the bar is kind of unnerved by Bo’s unaffiliated with either the Light or the Dark status. The Dell is a fae waystation, so Trick collects a little information about Bo so she’s properly registered. Trick explains that because she has fae powers, both her parents must have been fae. Folks with one fae and one human parent don’t have powers. Hale joins the party with some info on a gun that was left in Will’s woods at the time of the jewel theft. Bo immediately leaves the Dell to follow this lead, and Trick tells Dyson that he thinks he might know who Bo is.

Bo and Kenzi start to investigate the gun owner/probable jewel thief’s trailer, but it turns out to be booby trapped. A gun shot goes off as they try to open the door. Once that danger has passed, Bo and Kenzi start searching the trailer until a Barbie-like neighbor comes over and tries to stop them. Bo starts feeding on her, and is only stopped by Kenzi’s screaming. Bo is pissed off at being interrupted and almost strangles Kenzi before regaining her composure. I think this is the first time that Kenzi realizes that hanging out with a succubus isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Dyson and Hale, of course, are stuck cleaning up that little mess. Hale is already sick of having to clean up after Bo all the time, but Dyson tries to defend her. Because he really wants in her pants, obviously.

Bo’s next stop in the investigation (Kenzi goes home to make sure Will hasn’t set the apartment on fire…long story) is a jewelry shop. She thinks that their suspect, a guy named Connell, may have sold Will’s gems to this particular jeweler, because there was an ad for the jeweler circled in a phone book in the trailer. Bo at first tries to pretend that her husband is letting her pick out an anniversary present, but she doesn’t do well with pretense. She ends up just flat out asking the jeweler for information about Connell and the jewels. The jeweler is suitably threatened and tells Bo where to find Connell. Bo and Kenzi head to this location, which is a skeezy motel. Bo dresses as a maid to get into Connell’s room, but Connell knows that Will sent her, and he also says that Will is his father. They’re just starting to argue when they have bigger problems. An assassin sent by Will arrives on the scene too. He’s a really creepy kind of fae who leaves his head on the housekeeping cart outside the room before busting in for a fight. Kenzi ends up saving the day, fighting the headless fae off with a mop.

Bo and Kenzie then head back to the Dell, where there’s a bit of a disturbance over the presence of a human in the bar until Bo claims Kenzi as “hers.” They show Dyson the body of the headless fae in the trunk, and Dyson tells them it’s a Dullahan, a type of fae mercenary. Bo also asks Dyson for Lauren’s phone number. She thinks Lauren can help her with the whole killing people when she kisses them thing. Dyson would rather be the person to help, but he begrudgingly gives Bo the phone number. Bo does go visit Lauren, who is a little reluctant at first because Bo isn’t officially Light fae. Lauren does have an injection that may help Bo, but the catch is that Bo won’t have her crazy libido anymore, she won’t have her super healing powers either.

Back at the apartment, Bo and Kenzi give Will the news that he’s a father. He’s a little surprised at first, but ultimately, he’s happy. Bo then goes to meet Connell at the storage facility where he has hidden the jewels, and she tells Connell that Will does indeed want to meet him. Bo makes a call to Will, then she asks to see the jewels to verify good faith. Connell complies, but just as Bo is looking at the merchandise, Connell pulls out the gun. He doesn’t just want to see his father, after all. He wants the world to know that his mother wasn’t crazy when she told stories of the woodland fae she loved. Connell locks Bo in the storage unit just as Kenzi and Will arrive. Will and Connell have a heart-to-heart and come to some sort of an understanding, but the peace is short lived, as another Dullahan shows up. Apparently once they take a job, you can’t call it off.

Will and Kenzi quickly work to free Bo from the storage unit, and as soon as she is free, Bo starts fighting the Dullahan. Her luck isn’t quite as good this time, though, and she’s pretty seriously injured. Kenzi ends up saving the day by burning the Dullahan’s head. Bo’s in bad shape, but Will, as promised, tells her the story of the day he saw her in the forest as a baby. The woman carrying her was a nurse or nanny of some sort, so the information wasn’t as good as Bo hoped. She’s got bigger problems, though. Thanks to the shot from Lauren, her wounds aren’t healing like they should. Bo asks Kenzi to find Dyson, and Dyson, of course knows just how to help Bo. It turns out that sex will let Bo feed enough to heal in spite of the shot. They really do have great chemistry.