“The underworld has a new hero,” it says in the ads for Lost Girl, which premieres Sunday night at 9 p.m. on Showcase. The Gothic, supernatural series stars Anna Silk (middle right, with co-stars Zoie Palmer and Kris Holden-Reid) as a kick-ass Succubus named Bo who stays young and pert by draining the life fluids from humans during sex. Yum! In the opening scene in the pilot, she practically sucks a creepy guy’s face off. Double yum!
She seemed less threatening when I visited the set in a converted Etobicoke warehouse last Spring. Read that full story here.
The pilot seems tailor-made to appeal to fans of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or even Xena. Everything hinges on how much you buy into the legend of the “Fae.” They’re mythological creatures who feed off human emotion and energy. There are Banshee Faes, Goblin Faes, everything but Tina Faes.
They seem to hang out at a Fae Bar. It’s run by bartender Trick (played by veteran character actor Rick Howland, who was in “Bon Cop Bad Cop”). Trick’s bar seems to be a check in point for any Faes floating through town.
The series quickly sets up romantic triangles and rectangles. Bo swings Bo ways, getting jiggy with her new cop partner Dyson (Holden-Reid) and the blond scientist who is trying to keep Bo’s horniness in check (Palmer). Then there’s Bo’s little human crime-fighting sidekick, street punk Kenzi (Ksenia Solo, who steals every scene she’s in). Kenzi’s is a fearless little scamp, but can easily be gobbled up by Faes, so Bo has her back.
In order to appeal beyond the fan boys, Lost Girl is also a bit of a cop show. Dyson is a Fae but works as a human police detective. Don’t these departments have to run background checks? Bo helps him solve crimes, sort of like The Mentalist or Castle if those guys wore high leather boots and could suck the life right out of you.
The first season seems to point toward a search for Bo’s real mom (she was raised by humans. No wonder she’s so screwed up!).
Lost Girl looks good, with cool sets and costumes and plenty of action. The whole witchy genre thing is not my cup of tea, but I can see it going over big with the Comic-Con crowd.
