Lost Girl this season has certainly been one puzzle piece after another, but this episode we finally got the flashback we’ve all been waiting for. We finally learn what happened during Bo’s month long stay with Rayner (The Wanderer) – or did we? So let’s get ready to recap this episode, spot the problems with the flashback, and the problems to come.

Mermaids . . . . Why’d It Have To Be Mermaids?:

Having been locked out by Bo – literally – Dyson, Lauren and Kenzi decide to take their mind off things by doing some good and taking a case. The crew goes undercover at a corporation after one of the employees ends up legless. After some snooping around, they discover that mermaids are behind it.

Unlike Ariel and the other Disney-like versions of them, real mermaids are horrific creatures that scare even the unshakable Dyson – apparently him and Trick had some problem with them on their ship to the new world. Besides the usual mermaid abilities (fast swim, breath underwater, etc), their most devastating power is their ability to fill their victim’s lungs with water – making them drown or at least crippling them.

It turns out that the whole scenario was a brother and sister mermaid who left the sea for good by getting leg transplants, and refused to return when their younger sister came looking for them. At first against them, the sister then decided to join her siblings in attempting to kill Kenzi, Dyson and Lauren and take their legs. Thanks to some quick thinking from Doctor Lauren she realized that fresh water is highly poisonous to mermaids. After a quick spray of the tap water, the mermaids dematerialized into sea-foam.

Bo’s “Memory”:

Apparently now that Rayner has returned, so have Bo’s memories of her time on the train. It more or less goes like this:

• Bo meets The Wanderer who doesn’t really seem all to interested in her and says she should either get off at the next stop or stick around so he can pretend to court her until he gets bored. Either way he has no idea what she’s talking about
• Bo learns from the handmaiden that his name is Rayner and that if she leaves the train she is basically dead either way. She is then invited to dinner with Rayner.
• Rayner comes into Bo’s room and begins talking about how he fought to end Light and Dark, and then says ‘he cant remember’ why he’s on the train or who he was fighting.
• Bo stumbles upon some strange dead butterfly that she apparently knew when she was 7. After this Bo seems much more romantically driven towards Rayner. He still tells her to go but – as the maiden said –  if you leave the train without an elemental you’ll die.
• Bo and Rayner spend a lot of time together, apparently have Ianka sing for them at some point, and Bo makes up this plan to break his curse. All of this was put in place because apparently Rayner can see what is happening in the real world (ie: Dyson and Kenzi close to the compass)

There were several points of this flashback that were interesting and/or didn’t make sense.  The first of which is when Bo first walks in and Rayner says “Be still my heart, another brunette.” Who did he mean? Aife? Also, with knowing that leaving the train would kill her, all Rayner’s times telling Bo to leave weren’t really that selfless. She had to stay around.

The biggest problem with these flashbacks – besides why couldn’t Bo break Rayner’s curse on her first visit – was that this version of the events in no way take into account Bo’s other flashbacks that Ianka gave her. Her ‘actual’ memories. In “Of all the Gin Joints” we find Bo horrified and scared at the mark Rayner has left on her. We also see her refusing the dark crown with Isabeau inscribed on it. We see her saying that she can’t do this.

This is a very different picture than the Beauty and the Beast-esque romance we saw in this episode’s flashbacks.  So either all of these flashbacks were implanted by Rayner in Bo’s new la-la land state, or the writers don’t remember the facts they gave us a few episodes ago and there’s huge continuity errors. Personally, I hope this is all Rayner’s doing because I can’t see him being taken seriously as her destiny after 3 seasons of developing love triangles.

Rayner’s Powers:

In Bo’s flashback – as well as in the fight with the Una Mens – we learn that Rayner’s Fae power is ‘the power of Foresight in battle’. With it, he is able to discern his opponent’s moves before they make them – clearly a powerful and handy ability -, but is this his only one?

I’m still not entirely convinced about Rayner and this Beauty and the Beast-like story. As we learned from Bo, Fae can be more than one species. I still believe him to be part Incubus, but what else. Bo’s memory is clearly a manipulation – at least hopefully it is for the sake of the writing – so he must have some way of swaying minds. Unless his powers were around on the train and he is able to foresee Bo’s reactions, thus knowing how to make her fall for him.

Attack on the Una Mens:

After some coaxing from Rayner, Bo decides to take down the Una Mens – their threats didn’t help either. First of all, we finally have confirmation on the Una Mens powers. Whatever power is used against them in an offensive matter, can be reversed against the attacked. In other words:

• Bo drains chi – they drain her chi instead
• Dyson uses wolf ability – they have wolf ability to counter
• Rayner attacks them while using foresight – they foresee him
• Bo fights hand to hand while Rayner watches from a far and coaches her – NO COUNTER

Beyond this, we also see how all the member of the council are connected to each other – or at least to The Keeper – as they all double over in pain when The Keeper is kicked by Bo.

After killing all the others, Bo drives her blade into The Keeper killing her after her final words of warning to Bo about what her fate would be if she followed The Wanderer. But is The Keeper really dead?

The Origin Seed:

A little late to the party, Trick arrives and pleads with his granddaughter to not listen to Rayner when he asks her to slay the Una Mens. They might be horrible, but if they are killed then their power will be pooled inside a single see, the same seed that was stolen from Trick a few episodes ago.

As the episode closes we seed the powers flow into the seed as a bloodied hand reaches for it, but whose?  At first I figured The Morrigan, but this is a bloodied bandaged hand. Maybe Vex but he wouldn’t have stolen it. Maybe the Druid, but I think jumping into a pit of lava would leave more than a few bloodied scars. I then looked at The Keeper’s final moments and realized she had a tight-knit, long-sleeve white shirt on, which could easily have been mistaken for bandages. This would make the most sense since she’s the only Una Mens that seemed to have a personality.

This also makes sense since the Una Mens story still has a missing point – that black slime box from the first episode. In looking even closer, the floor surrounding the box looks like the now destroyed Una Mens lair.

This has certainly been an up and down season, and I know a lot of people have been very disappointed with the direction. I still have faith, but it’s sadly no longer in Bo. Much like how I no longer watch How I Met Your Mother for Ted – the title character – but instead for Barney, I have been enjoying this season by seeing every character except Bo. Whatever’s going on with Bo, I hope is explained rationally soon and is all tied up. Until then, I will keep enjoying Trick’s past, Vex’s inner demons, and seeing Dyson and Lauren get closer.