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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Featured, Lost Girl

Review: Lost Girl visits Valhalla

While I’m all for movies wrapping up a series that came to an unexpected end, I’m happy to see Lost Girl joining the ranks of Canadian series that have known the end was nigh and been able to plan accordingly. And maybe especially for a show like Lost Girl, that has such a deep, complicated mythology that—at times—felt like it was getting murkier as the story went on. Knowing that the answers are (hopefully) all going to come out in the next 16 episodes is, in its own way, a relief.

Or at least, that’s the upshot I’m going with now that I have to say goodbye to yet another Canadian series this year.

Lost Girl didn’t waste any time getting to some of those answers—even if it technically has the extra time to play with—and Bo managed to find the missing Hell Shoe in the first minutes of the opening episode (and take out a trio of creepers along the way). Although, I don’t know that just letting herself drop from an eagle’s nest was the best idea unless she was already counting on sucking the life energy out of some hikers. And I would have liked an idea of how she found the mythical other shoe after such a big deal had been made about reuniting the pair to at least explain why this only happened now.

Though perhaps in the long run managing to locate the shoe (and re-find the other one) were minor details in an episode that had to explain the inner-workings of Valhalla to us, and with minimal help from Tamsin. Or rather, and far more to the point of any fan that’s been waiting in agony for Lost Girl to return ever since Season 4’s harrowing finale, the story of the shoe was really about getting Bo and Kenzi back together again—and once that happened I don’t think anyone cared if the devil (or mistress) wore Prada or hemp because the girls were eating Chunky Monkey.

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach as Bo approached Kenzi’s room thanks to the ominous and not to hopeful comments the showrunner and producers have been making all summer that she was going to find something terrible there instead. But then it started to look like last season’s double death was going to end up being a fake out—or at least looked like a partial fake out when Kenzi was returned unceremoniously to her body, which happened to be inconveniently located in a coffin, underground. I was torn between wanting Kenzi and Hale to head off into the Bifröst together—as heartbreaking as that would be for the friends—if only to give the girl the happy ending Bo was right in saying she deserved, and having the friends live out this last season together on Earth. Since the series has been given its chance to say goodbye, it was good that Bo and Kenzi got that chance too, even if it looked like that might not have been necessary.

But with Ksenia Solo listed as a special guest in the end credits, I don’t know that the goodbyes were entirely pre-emptive. Now that Kenzi knows Hale is there and their marriage something Freyja (Michelle Nolden, Saving Hope) was more than happy to arrange, I can see her opting—now that she’s gotten out of her deal with Bo’s father—to return to Valhalla and the wedding (and, I assume, put the kibosh on Freyja’s plan to take another soul from someone close to Bo). I just can’t help but wonder if Bo is going to get out of wherever that elevator shaft is taking her before Kenzi makes that decision, or what would happen if Kenzi leaves for a second time without telling Bo.

And while it didn’t seem like Dyson and Lauren had too much going on in comparison to Bo heading off to meet her father, I feel like the episode did a great job raising the stakes for everyone. Whether it’s potential fallout from Dyson and Lauren trespassing in Valhalla as Freyja ordered Stacy to take another soul, or Tamsin’s bout of Valkyrie resting face leading to Bo doubting her again, or even Lauren turning to Tamsin and Trick to help Bo, there’s a sense they’re all ready to start making sacrifices to settle things once and for all. Which should mean plenty of answers and fun for us.

Lost items:

  • I’m not one to judge how someone snacks, but why did Tamsin have the world’s sharpest knife next to her while chowing on a sandwich?
  • Did anyone else get confused by all that white light and think for a second that Hale might be an angel?
  • “Please tell me that’s your resting Valhalla face.” This is why we need Kenzi for the final season.
  • And I’m calling it now: the answer to the Bo/Lauren/Dyson love triangle is her being with both of them. Digging Kenzi up is bonding time.

Lost Girl airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Showcase.

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Featured, Heartland

Review: Heartland ends with double cliffhanger

The mark of a good cliffhanger episode leaves a viewer stunned, shocked–and in the best of cases–yelling “No!” at the television screen. Sunday’s episode of Heartland was certainly that in a couple of cases, especially when it came to Ty and Amy being arrested. I was a little surprised by the kiss they shared moments after liberating the wild horses from the corral Matt constructed, but I didn’t expect them to be collared by the local RCMP.

I think part of the reason for my surprise was that they were nabbed so quickly. It seemed like they’d only just minutes before stopped riding and suddenly the local police were there. I was glad to see the show’s fave couple reunited–there has been a great slow burn between Amy and Ty over the last several weeks–in the spot that meant so much to the couple: Pike River.

“The Pike River Cull,” written by Heather Conkie, brought back the show’s second-best curmudgeon–after Jack– in Will (Nicholas Campbell) and his daughter, Joanna (Hélène Joy). With business on the wane and wanting to move closer to her son, Joanna put the restaurant and hotel up for sale and was hoping Will would move closer to Calgary with her. No dice; he was staying put and close to the wild horses last seen in “A Heartland Christmas.” The fact that a local farmer named Matt was plotting to cull some of those wonderful beasts only cemented Will’s resolve.

Jack, Tim, Ty and Amy all headed to Pike River to try to talk some sense into Will, and it didn’t take long for the former lovebirds to recall their time in front of the hotel fireplace, snuggled under a blanket (and Ty’s shocking long mane of hair). Ty may have started out that first night sleeping in Tim’s truck to avoid Amy, but once he saw her in that tank top, his emotions had come rushing back. Good thing too, because they certainly made for a great team by calling out Matt on his evil plans to kill off some of the horses and then loosing the proud animals from his trap.

The cliffhanger, of course, is whether or not Amy and Ty are actually going to be arrested or whether they’re able to talk themselves out of it. I can see this going either way within the first few minutes of the first episode back in January. Will the RCMP officer stuff the two into the back seat of his truck? Will the two explain that Will is hurt and needs attention back at the corral? We’ll have to see.

The other cliffhanger on Sunday was the state of Lou and Peter’s marriage. He’d spent so much time away from the family on business that Lou finally blew her top when she found out he’d delayed his return to Heartland because he wanted one night to relax. (Raise your hand if you thought perhaps he’d had a dalliance.) Their bitter back and forth certainly put a damper on their staycation at the dude ranch, though there was a nice moment when Georgie caught that fish. But that wasn’t enough to solve the couple’s deep problems, and it appeared Peter was about to ask for a trial separation on the road to divorce when a lawyer showed up to present them with papers: Georgie’s aunt Crystal had made a complaint that her niece wasn’t growing up in a safe environment. I knew Crystal was up to no good when she left Heartland!

Heartland returns Sunday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. on CBC.

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Heartland, Lost Girl

Tonight: Lost Girl, Heartland

Lost Girl, Showcase – season premiere
Lost Girl follows supernatural seductress Bo (Anna Silk), a tough yet loveable Succubus who feeds off sexual energy. Since realizing she is part of the Fae, creatures of legend and folklore who live among humans, Bo has forged her own path between the human and Fae worlds, while embarking on a mission to unlock the secrets of her origin. In the blow-out final season, Bo goes to hell and back to try to save the people she loves, triggering an explosive chain of events that play out over the exhilarating final episodes.

Heartland, CBC – “The Pike River Cull”
When a threat of a cull looms over a herd of wild horses, Jack and Amy go to the aid of an old friend in Pike River.

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Featured, Lost Girl

Set Visit: Lost Girl cast gears up to say goodbye

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Through many emotional deaths, a few showrunner changes, and one Doccubus later, it’s certainly been a wild ride for the fans of and actors on Showcase’s Lost Girl. The hit series has ridden a successful ratings wave—all fuelled by a devoted fan base—headed by the multiple creative hands of M.A. Lovretta, Peter Mohan, Jeremy Boxen, Grant Rosenberg, Emily Andras, and finally Michael Grassi, the showrunner most recently tasked with Lost Girl‘s fifth and final season.

If you’re feeling like the past four years of Lost Girl have flown by, you’re not alone. TV, Eh? had the chance to visit the show’s Toronto set, and although it hadn’t officially been announced that the show was ending at the time, stars Anna Silk (Bo), Kris Holden-Ried (Dyson) and Zoie Palmer (Lauren) still reflected on making it to the big five season mark–a not so easy feat for any television series.

“It’s weird because I feel like we started yesterday, and it feels like it’s become so engrained in our lives that it’s been here forever now too,” said Palmer.

“When you’re in it things are happening so fast that you actually lose sense of time,” added Holden-Ried. “But now that we’re coming towards the end of Season 5 as far as filming goes, we’re getting emotional about it. You know, you can really feel the sense of being involved in something special and there’s a lot of love in the air.”

The lovefest kicks off on Sunday with the two-part series premiere, virtually a “direct carry over” from Season 4’s jarring end that saw the death of Hale (K.C. Collins) and the speculative passing of fan favourite Kenzi (Ksenia Solo), according to Holden-Ried. Although the cast kept mum on any specific details about the new season, Silk said to expect more scenes with the core group together, as well as the theme of family to encompass her own character’s storyline.

“For Bo in particular, her actual roots will really come into play this season. And that’s been something she’s been searching for since she was a lost girl way back when,” she said, adding that the theme will include answers about Bo’s father. As for relationships, Palmer said to expect the series to explore the dynamic between Lauren and Bo, one of the show’s biggest romantic supporters by fans, as well as the dynamic with Bo and Dyson.

“It’s still tense and there’s still a huge connection between the two of them, as there is between her and Dyson,” Palmer said. “There’ll definitely be an exploration of that throughout the season as well.”

Holden-Ried also touched upon the recently-announced guest roles played by Eric Roberts (Suits, The Dark Knight) and Noam Jenkins (Rookie Blue, Longmire).

“It’s great. You know, the richer the cast the better the show,” he said. “They both bring a lot of experience and history and poise in their characters.”

As they gear up to say goodbye to the roles they’ve played for the past four years, the three actors did admit a few things they’d like to see from their characters before the series ultimately comes to an end.

“I’d like to see more of Dyson’s past. I really enjoy some of the flashback episodes we’ve done,” Holden-Ried mused. “[Dyson] and Trick have been together since the 1500s, so it would be great to explore some other eras.”

“They’re really covering a lot of bases this season,” added Palmer. “I don’t know, I’m always curious about what Lauren does when she’s not doing science, like when she’s not fixing a Fae or figuring out a cocktail in her lab, I always wonder what she does to chill out. So far we’ve seen her bake, but I feel like I’d like to see what else she does when she’s not baking and creating lab cocktails.”

As for Bo, it seems that the few things Silk was hoping to see have actually made their way into the season, a parting to her character due to a conversation between Silk and Grassi long before filming began.

“I sort of I mentioned a few things, like maybe three or four things, and some of them were kind of light-hearted—not a joke, but just in conversation–and they’ve all been in this season,” Silk said. “I can’t tell you what they are, but it’s really cool that he’s encompassed all these tiny snippets that I wanted or that I saw into the season and built episodes or scenes about it. I feel really grateful to him.”

The season premiere of Lost Girl airs Sunday, Dec. 7, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Showcase.

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Link: Saying goodbye to Lost Girl

From Eleni Armenakis:

The stakes were certainly raised by Lost Girl‘s fourth season with the loss of two very important members of Bo’s family, including her best friend and “heart” Kenzi (Ksenia Solo is thankfully living on with Orphan Black), setting the series up for a stunning fifth and final season. The TV Junkieswas lucky enough to meet up with the cast as they were filming the expanded season this summer in Toronto, and got to check out a super-cool location while getting the low down on some of the big, massively huge answers coming for Bo before the end, which we’ll be sharing with you throughout the season. Continue reading:

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