Lost Girl and Debate vs. Hate. Uh... Hello?
I wasn’t intending on doing a review for the season 5 premiere of Lost Girl yet because it was one of two parts, but I was perusing fan reaction to the opener and boy oh boy is there a fiery argument raging over the exchange between Lauren and Tamsin near the beginning of the episode. It’s not even a debate really as it’s slid into vitriol and just general nastiness. Having an opinion is awesome. Seeing things from one characters point of view more than another is perfectly acceptable. Being a jerk about it… When is that ever ok?
The main crux of the controversy seems to be over the word “sacrifice” in the scene after Lauren watches Bo disappear right in front of her and has no idea where she is or what she is likely to run up against. So she goes to Tamsin and demands to know anything Tamsin can tell her. (BTW, why didn’t ANYONE do this BEFORE Bo found the other shoe? Like, for example, Bo herself?) So there is urgency for Lauren. Need. And Fear. Yet Tamsin can’t tell her anything, as in physically can’t tell her anything. Although Lauren doesn’t know this she also doesn’t really have any reason to like Tamsin so there conversation isn’t going to be civil regardless. Nor does Lauren care if it is. She is there to push Tamsin’s buttons and so she tells her that they’ve all “sacrificed for Bo” yet Tamsin hasn’t been pulling her weight. It was a tactic. It doesn’t have to be accurate.
Does that mean I didn’t also say in my head at the time, “WTF, Lauren?!” No it doesn’t. Because I so did. But I know that Lauren isn’t actually aware of everything Tamsin has done to help Bo, and even if she did know she needs information that she believes Tamsin doesn’t want to give and she doesn’t really care if she pisses Tamsin off to get it. Would I have loved it if after Lauren said they’ve all sacrificed that Tamsin retorted with a list of things she’s done that Lauren wasn’t aware of? Sure. But that’s not Tamsin. Also, she knows what Lauren is after and she knows she wants to give it to her so she isn’t about to really get into an argument over who is more awesome. She’ll take the hit and wait for Lauren to get to the point so she can give her the journals. The moment between them is multi layered and was true to both Lauren and Tamsin and could be fodder for so much discussion from all of the fans of the show, even if it isn’t what we would have wanted for either character, but that can’t happen if everyone devolves into nastiness about it. Regardless of which “ship” you are rooting for, is it really that hard to look at that scene from the perspective of both characters and appreciate their positions?
Not that I am immune. For example, I was annoyed at Bo’s snippy-ness towards Dyson at the Dal and I think it was because it didn’t feel true to either Bo or Dyson and the reason for that exchange was just to reiterate events from last season. I didn’t think that was fair to either of them and seeing Bo be, in a way, cruel to Dyson rankled. But in retrospect I can see it for what it was and also have decided it was Bo actually being angry at all of them, including herself. She is snarky towards Dyson, she pulls that “prank” on Lauren at the clinic, and she’s short with Tamsin in Valhalla. She’s fed up. So just so done with all of it and just wants her best friend back and be left alone. Does that mean I didn’t wish in that moment that I was magically transported to the Dal to give Bo hard time about her attitude towards Dyson though? Nope. Because I so did that too. Yet I realize that the scene is open to interpretation and it would be nice to be able to talk about everyone’s thoughts on this or the scene between Tamsin and Lauren or any of the rest of the episode with fans, but if people only watch for proof of a preferred ship and disregard a character as a person because of “endgame” crap, then… I don’t know. That just seems like watching the show with only one eye open. Is it really all that fulfilling? It’s possible to both like other characters while still hoping your preferred character is “endgame”.
BTW, no show has an “endgame”. Writers who say that are full of shit.
But, come on, we all know it’s going to be Ryan though, right? Just admit it.