Lost Girl Recap Fae Day: It's Good to Be King

Lost Girl Season 1 Episode 9: Fae Day

After last week’s “Vexed,” it is hard to come back down to earth, especially for Bo. Last week her entire fae world was flipped upside down and shaken like a snow globe. But here we are. At the clubhouse, Bo has sword in hand and is working the pre-dawn calisthenics.  What better way to shake off the dust, huh? Turns out Bo has decided that the whole Lou Ann/Vex incident never happened. Oh yeah, and she needs a break from “the fae and their shit.” Kenzi agrees, but since Bo’s fae pals are blowing up her voice mail, she thinks Bo should at least make an appearance at the Dal to get them off her back.

Cue the Fae and Their Shit

There’s a party going on at the Dal. Trick is all dressed up, there are garlands on the bar and a happy harpist is plucking away in the corner. Okay, “it’s not a party.” It’s La Shoshain: a spiritual fae holiday to commemorate the Blood King and the rule of law, and oh yeah, it’s the one time of the year light and dark fae can get up close and personal.  Bow chicka wow wow. Trick is glad to finally see Bo again, but still a bit concerned about her. She thanks him for his help, but says what she really needs is a vacation. “Fae-cation,” quips Kenzi. I love the fae flavor Kenzi adds to the episode. Trick’s not sure what he thinks about Bo stepping away from the Fae, but he hopes that the Fae Day (thank you, Kenzi) festival will help. His hopes are dashed, however, when the harpist banshee wails and promptly runs for the hills. Banshees predict death and they don’t take it back. Uh oh. “Someone in here is going to die, and soon.” Cue titles and dramatic tension.

When we come back, jolly old Trick is gone. He is herding the last of the revelers out of the Dal and he is not happy—he even snarks a little at Bo. Only the noble families (5 fae and 5 human) can stay, but don’t worry the first round is on the house. With the banshee to find, Trick calls in his main lieutenant to handle the crisis. Dyson ambles in and for once doesn’t dominate the entire room just with this presence. He is very subdued this episode, mainly quiet, watching and waiting.

“Haven’t seen you in a while.” Dyson meets Bo softly. “I needed some space.” As the episode progresses, we see all his walls are down. He’s reaching out to Bo, subtly: watching in her in off moments, standing too close, giving her “you’re the only thing in the room” smiles. After admitting that he cared last episode, it seems like Dyson is accepting that he wants Bo despite Trick’s objections and now is trying to figure out how to act around her.

Trick hands Dyson information on how to find the harpist banshee, so that he and Bo can make she tell them who is going to die. Dyson tells Bo he can’t feed, use his gifts, or use violence on La Shoshain, so secular Bo has to come and do it for him. Bo hasn’t forgotten the last time she asked Dyson for a favor and he made her “ask nice,” although she does seem to be conveniently forgetting that he saved her life sometime after that.  “Ah, ask nicely. Say please.” Dyson doesn’t give her the satisfaction though, “You don’t know who your family is. Maybe you have noble blood. Maybe the banshee wailed for you.” “Close enough.” Bo agrees to help. Kenzi declines to come in favor of eating everything in sight, and Trick storms off. Before they leave, Dyson goes to check on Trick.

Down in Trick’s lair, Trick is bagging up clothes and linens from an overnight guest: Lou Ann. She just left to go into hiding. Dyson is perplexed that Trick would help the dark, but Trick tells Dyson that she was the midwife at Bo’s birth. Apparently, Dyson doesn’t know that much after all, these are all Trick’s secrets. Secrets that Dyson wants Trick to start sharing. Now that he’s dropped the pretense of not caring about Bo, he wants to stop lying to her as well. Trick fired back, “You chose to get emotionally involved.” “Maybe you should too.” And then we get a name: Aoife. Dyson wants to know what they will do if she comes. Trick says it’s not an “if” but a “when,” and when she comes, “there will be a reckoning.”

Dyson and Bo are off to find the banshee and Bo is baiting Dyson pretty consistently. “I thought you couldn’t use electricity on La Shoshain.” He doesn’t bite down though. “Rules are specific: no powers, no fae-on-fae violence, no feeding on humans. It’s all about sacrifice.” Bo thinks the Blood King’s sacrifice sounds bloody, heavy, and nonspecific. She’s looking for Dyson to tell her the story. “Bo, read a book.” Dyson’s not usually much with the comic timing, mainly he’s here to look pretty and beat people up (because he is just sooooo good at it), but he nails our Cosmo girl with that one. They get to the agent’s office and the banshee harpist is hiding the agent’s closet, but a poorly timed sneeze gives her away.  Dyson magically pulls out a blender and slice of meat to use to get the banshee to talk—really those pants are pretty tight, where was he keeping that stuff?

While they force-feed the harpist a liver shake to make her give them the name, Kenzi is making new friends back at the Dal. There’s nothing like gambling and death to bring people together. Kenzi’s new friend is teaching her a game that involves dice, Roman numerals, and wedding gifts that not even lucky pigs can steal. They are cute together, he is uptight and Kenzi is irreverent. “Joking about accounting fraud is like joking about a bomb on a plane.” And on that note, Dyson and Bo return to announce the name of the nobleman for whom the banshee wailed. Seann Cavanagh, aka, Kenzi’s new little friend. Sad. Trick is more than sad, he is definitely upset about something, he’s even snipping at Bo, but he gives her a book on La Shoshain to catch her up and keep her from bugging him.

Kenzi suggests Seann make a bucket list. Item number one on the list is to reconcile with his dark fae brother, Liam, who turned his back on the light fae family more than 80 years ago. Where Seann attracts wealth and does the books for various charities in town, Liam feeds on human greed and runs stock market scams. Bo agrees to help, but Kenzi decides to stay with Seann, leaving Bo backup-less. She turns to Dyson and flashes a bit of cleavage. After a downing a shot, Dyson agrees, giving Bo an “I’d do anything you ever asked of me” smile. No one can withstand a succubus in a v-neck t-shirt and push-up bra. They find the brother, Liam, at the offices of his latest toppling pyramid scheme. There are bags of shredded paper and a human being dragged away by security as he yells that Liam ruined his life. Liam doesn’t care. When Bo meets him, he’s slimy and not at all interested in reconciliation. From his POV, it was all Seann’s fault and Bo doesn’t know the whole story. So back to the Dal, she goes to get it.

At the Dal, Kenzi is watching Seann play darts as he has the band play the same song over and over again. “When does the lame-o-go-round stop. I wanna get off before I puke!” She implores Seann to think “big.” Big for Seann is hitting on the nearest waitress. It doesn’t go well, but he takes it with a smile. This guy is just too nice and resigned. I feel like I would be a lot more bitter if I just found out I was going to die. Seann is obviously a better “human” being than I am. Bo and Dyson return to get the whole story. Liam was the screw-up younger brother, “parties, stealing, getting into scraps.” Eighty years ago, Liam was given the responsibility for keeping the books at the investment office. One weekend $30,000 went missing. Seann turned his little brother in for stealing it. Liam rebelled by running off and joining the dark fae. Seann just wants his brother to know he still loves him. Kenzi hopes that maybe the banshee was wrong, but the odds don’t look good for Seann when a giant chandelier falls from the ceiling and narrowly misses squashing the whole lot.

After the quick brush with the chandelier, Kenzi decides that Seann has some “gonzo” living to do and the Dal is not the place for that. A Mercedes is the place for that. Okay, for the record you cannot hotwire that car that easily, but it plays nicely on screen as Kenzi and Seann drive off to temp fiery mangled death.
 

Bo and Dyson go to stake out Liam’s building to see if they can get him to change his mind. Dyson sips from a silver flask. The drunker he gets, the more pensive he becomes. By this time, he has almost worked up the courage to say what he means. But don’t hold your breath, he never quite gets there. “Bo—“ She interrupts saying she knows this isn’t his ideal La Shoshain. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.” He replies out the window and Bo completely misses the sincerity. He tries again, more explicit this time, “Bo, I want you to know. I do what I can to protect you.” “I know. I trust you without a second thought.” Good enough for wolf boy.

Kenzi and Seann have reached their next destination: his father’s house, aka mansion. Being noble rocks. Dad is outside on a gorgeous patio surrounded by hydrangeas, reading the paper, and drinking a very fun looking blue liquor. He immediately asks Seann if they had an appointment and you realize what kind of family Seann came from. That this sweetie of a guy has a dad and brother like these two is either highly improbable or his mother was a saint. Seann says that a banshee wailed for him and that he just wanted to say goodbye. The dad asks him to get his affairs in order, and Seann sorta tells him off saying he’s got some crazy living to get in before sundown. But you get the impression that his affairs are already in order, because Seann is nothing if not organized. Seann leaves, the dad tries some half-assed explanation that his sons are too sensitive, and Kenzi takes up the fight. She noticed the “important work” the dad thought was worth more than talking to his soon-to-be-dead son. He’s betting on the fights. “Bobby Bell, he’s a long-shot loser. He’s old and tired, and has no heart whatsoever.” Cross “telling off dad” off the list and move on. Kenzi and Seann head back to the clubhouse.

Bo is reading Trick’s book about La Shoshain and giving Dyson all the details that he already knows because a) he’s fae and b) he lived through it. Liam comes out the building and goes to his car. Bo intercedes and succubuses him to get him to tell her why he doesn’t want to see his brother. Turns out Liam put out a hit on Seann for ruining his life. With this revelation, enter goblin. They have no respect for human or fae laws, but they do like inflicting pain, and they’ll work on La Shoshain. It’s like Chinese takeout on Christmas. The goblin is pretty cool, it disappears and appears randomly around the clubhouse busting through doors and seeming pretty menacing. Seann is willing to give himself up to a gruesome death to protect Kenzi, but she wants to fight. She gives the little nerd-nik a kiss for courage, but it’s not needed because Bo and Dyson show up. The goblin catches both unawares and takes Dyson out with a swift punch to his drunken throat. Bo gets a couple of hits in before the goblin pulls out a sword and goes to beat her with it. Dyson shoots him. I love that the mythology here allows firearms and that apparently Dyson’s aim is pretty good. “I thought you weren’t allowed to use violence today,” Bo wonders when she gets over to him. “Only to protect a life.” The goblin gets up for a second and Dyson drops him with a fourth bullet. Bo thinks this is all too complicated for words, but for Dyson, “it’s pretty intuitive.” Awww.

Seems Liam was way out of line calling an unsanctioned hit against the light on the most sacred of fae holidays, so Dyson tells Bo to play it by the book and the Ash take care of the politics and the goblin corpse. But who is going to take care of Seann? He’s run off. With Bo’s crossbow.

Seann catches up to Liam at his office and they spar about collateral damage and following the rules and valuing people long enough for Bo to get there in invoke Agallamh: special fae peace talks. Everybody keeps looking at her like she’s crazy. “I read it in Trick’s book. I can get the book!” Dyson steps in, “we know what it is.” Apparently nobody has invoked Agallamh in forever. “Want to know why?” Dyson asks. “Probably not.” “Because the person who calls for the talks forfeits her life if they fail.” Uh oh, silly La Shoshain and sacrifice. “Really should’ve skipped to the end, huh?”

The Agallamh

Trick has hit a new level of mad. Not only is Bo probably going to get herself killed, but she’s not respecting the traditions and values of the fae. “It’s a distillation of everything the Blood King stood for!” “That’s why I need your help to do it right.” Trick relents and they start the ceremony, but not before we realize that Bo needs an executioner if the talks fail (or sundown hits and Seann dies). Dyson steps forward and the music tells us that this is a heavy emotional moment. The Agallamh opens and the brothers proceed to argue about whether or not Liam took the money. “Dad gave the combination of the safe to nobody but us!” Liam calls for closure, but Kenzi has the big book of ritual and that street smart brain of hers. She asks Bo to stall for time, she’s got a plan. Bo calls for a recess, “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.” Tension is high, might Dyson really kill our Bo? Trick stalks away, but Dyson stops him, “You could save her,” he whispers. Trick goes to his lair and opens up the roll of pens and knives that we last saw when Kenzi was sick and nosing around. Trick looks serious and pained, but unsure. The Agallamh reconvenes and Bo stalls for time. Kenzi returns in the nick of time with Papa Cavanagh. Kenzi put two and two together pretty quickly. If neither of the brothers took the money, the gambling dad probably did. He let Liam take the fall to save face in front of his wife. He didn’t think that Liam would run off an join the dark. Seann relents that he was mistaken to accuse his brother and offers the symbol of the birthright to his younger brother as a sacrifice. Liam acknowledges it m, promises to return the money he ripped off, and says if Papa Cavanagh will move the mother’s grave to neutral ground he’ll call of the hit. The brothers reconcile. Dyson and Trick look proud. Kenzi runs and gives Seann a big hug. The group leaves the Dal happy to have beaten the banshee. Bo is cozy with the fae again. And the brothers are, well, brothers. Until the human from Liam’s office rounds the corner screaming about his money and shoots at Liam. Seann steps in the way and is killed.  

Wrapping It All Up

There is a sweet moment back at the clubhouse with Kenzi missing her new friend. She has the game they were playing in front of her and she rolls the dice. “Lucky pig wins everything but the wedding gifts.” Then she breaks down in tears. Poor, Kenzi. You really feel for her. She tried to reach out and connect with someone and now they are dead and she’s too hurt to pretend to be blasé about this time. She is more fragile than she acts.

In Trick’s lair, Trick and Dyson are having a drink and Dyson is trying to convince Trick that Bo is special and she can handle what he needs to tell her. We also see that Dyson isn’t the only one who has become emotionally connected to Bo. “Would you have killed her?” “Would you have used your blood to save her?” “She’s strong.” “I’m not ready.” Dyson thinks she could amount to something. Trick hopes not because those who rise to prominence tends to bring a great deal of pain on themselves. Dyson offers one last toast, “To the Blood King, and all you’ve sacrificed.” Secrets, secrets Trickster.  Given that Trick is lying to the world about who he is, I feel like he’s playing a long game here that has fate and the greater good all tied up in it, so if that mean he can’t tell Bo everything she might want to know, so be it. Trick’s got more secrets than start and end with Bo.

On another note, I can never figure out with this show whether they were thinking about going down the “prophesied savior/uniter/future ruler” route with Bo and then dropped it leaving behind echoes of the old plan, or if it is more of a family mystery that will be slowly unfolded as Bo discovers her roots and all these clues will again meet up, just on a personal scale. But that is a question for another week.