Summer TV Rewind: Lost Girl 1.03: "Oh Kappa, My Kappa"

“Yeah, it’s part of Kenzi’s grand plan to commodify my freakhood.”
-Bo

“Oh Kappa, My Kappa” was another good mix of case of the week and mythology, although it was a little heavier on case of the week than last week’s episode. We also got our first dose of real soapiness from “Lost Girl,” with some significant Bo and Dyson drama. The only thing that would have made it soapier would have been if Lauren had been involved, too. I also thought this episode did a decent job of portraying college without being too hokey, especially since this is a Canadian show. Something sinister connected to a fraternity or sorority just seems to be a theme that supernatural shows like “Lost Girl” and “Buffy” have to use at least once. Other than Bo’s rather ridiculous “SECURITY” tight t-shirt, I liked this episode’s take on it. It was a way to introduce us as viewers to the potential for a somewhat lighter side to what Bo and Kenzi do. Granted, a sorority pledge chained in a pit with a monster isn’t exactly light, but Bo and Kenzi’s adventures on the way to saving her were.

Early in this episode, we see that Kenzi has stepped up her game in trying to build a supernatural private investigator business for herself and Bo. She’s got pamphlets and everything. The pamphlet’s exaggerate Bo’s credentials, which embarrasses Bo a bit, but Kenzi reminds her that they really do need some money. Kenzi’s move pays off, as they quickly are contacted by a potential client. The client is a woman whose daughter, Gina, is a student at Locksley College and has gone missing. Locksley administration isn’t taking the case seriously, but the woman swears that Gina must be in trouble, because she has wanted to be in a sorority since she was a little girl, and she is close to being initiated into Kappa Theta Xi. Full disclosure, both Sarah and I were Greek in college, but I really don’t think either of us had that dream since childhood. It’s a little weird. Bo’s first move on the case is, of course, talking to Dyson. Dyson sets up Bo and Kenzi with their undercover identities. Bo is going to be a campus security guard, and Kenzi is going to be a Kappa Theta Xi pledge.

Even though she’s completely dreading it, and she’s rather Goth in “real” life, Kenzi fits in as a sorority pledge surprisingly well. All she needs is a blonde wig, and she’s in character. The Kappa girls seem happy to have her. They’re taking Gina’s disappearance personally (they think she didn’t want to become a Kappa), so they’re excited about having a legacy (Kenzi says her grandmother was a Kappa) to take her spot. Kenzi grins through being shown her bed in a very girly room, and she uses some quick thinking in volunteering to take Gina’s box of stuff on the bed to Locksley administration. This gives her a chance to snoop, obviously. Kenzi starts to fit in with sorority life even more during a Kappa “girl’s night” which is really just an opportunity for the sisters to use a beer bong to get really, really drunk. Kenzi sees that the door to the basement is blocked off as for “Actives only,” so she figures Gina must be down there. She tries to snoop, but she gets caught, so she has to go back to the party.

Bo, meanwhile, is using her Security status and her succubus powers to do some snooping of her own. While walking some of the trails on campus, Bo discovers a sinkhole, which makes her wonder if there are tunnels around campus. Consultation of some very old looking maps confirms that there are indeed, and Gina is likely in one of them. We know, and Bo doesn’t, that Gina is indeed underground in a chamber with a lake. In the lake is this really ugly looking creature that is chained up. Gina’s chained up too, just out of reach of the creature. She’s not at all happy about it, either. Which is completely understandable. At this pont, it’s reasonable to think that this is the work of the Kappas, and that’s exactly the conclusion that Bo and Kenzi reach. They snoop around the Dean’s office, and Kenzi recognizes that a photo she saw in the Kappa house was of the Dean. Apparently she (the Dean) was a big time Kappa back in the day. This makes Bo and Kenzi even more convinced that the Dean and the Kappas are behind Gina’s disappearance. Even more damning is that Bo and Kenzi found a list of numbers in the Dean’s office that just happen to correspond to the university IDs of a bunch of Locksley students who have gone missing over the years.

The Kappas really want Kenzi to come to an event the next night, and Kenzi is convinced it’s going to be some mass sacrifice to the underground creature. The plan is that Kenzi is going to enter the underground lair from the Kappa house during the party, and Bo is going to use another entrance that she found in the woods. There’s a rather obvious attempt to subvert expectations here, as Kenzi is greeted by an initiation party at the Kappa house, not some crazy sacrifice ritual. Bo is the one who is in trouble. As she reaches the entrance in the woods, the head security guard (her boss) tasers her and drags her down to the underground lake with Gina. Kenzi senses something is wrong when Bo doesn’t answer her phone, so she calls Dyson for back-up. Things then go from bad to worse when they discover the Dean murdered in her office. It’s obvious at that point that the head security guard is the culprit here. Eventually, with a little help from Bo, they are, however, able to mount a daring rescue and kill the lake creature and the head security guard. Oh, and to accomplish this, Dyson wolfed out (guess he’s a werewolf?), which Kenzi thinks is the greatest thing ever.

Running through all this plot of the week is some Dyson/Bo relationship drama. They’re pretty happy and smitten at the beginning of the episode when they’re post-coital, and even for a while after that. They’re pretty cutesy with each other at the Dal, and Trick takes notice. So does a rather slutty waitress, who promptly tries to hit on Dyson. Dyson brushes the waitress off, but Trick most definitely notices Dyson and Bo kissing (Dyson wanted to give Bo a little extra strength before the big rescue attempt). Trick takes Dyson aside after Bo leaves the Dal. It turns out that Dyson and Trick know more about Bo’s origins than they are willing to tell Bo, and Trick warns Dyson that it could get ugly once Bo learns this. Trick thinks it’s best if Dyson remain emotionally unattached right now. Dyson heeds Trick’s advice, and when Bo goes to see him at the Dal once all the Kappa excitement is over, she finds him making out with the slutty waitress. Dyson mumbles about how they had both agreed they weren’t serious, and Bo looks shocked, because she knows for darn sure that Dyson is lying.