Lost Girl

SyFy’s latest international acquisition (if you consider Canada international) is Lost Girl, a popular Canadian series about a girl who has lived her life on the run because of her…condition. When she sleeps with someone they die. When she runs into others with unique abilities of their own, she learns that she is not human. She is a succubus and there is a complex world of Dark and Light “fae.”

The show has a few unique aspects to it that make it particularly interesting:

First and foremost, Bo, the main character, is bisexual. Considering how rare this is on television, especially in America, this makes for a particularly unique story. There are only two such characters I can think of offhand who are not simply gay or experimenting (Captain Jack Harkness of the recently imported Torchwood and Max of Make It or Break It).

Secondly, the world of the fae is interesting because although the two sides are Light fae and Dark fae, Bo is aligned to neither side and despite these the seemingly obvious division of good and bad, it is quickly clear that things are not divided so simply as that.

Finally, a succubus is not a common fantasy character on TV. The only other fleshed out succubus character I can think of offhand is Andie Bates on The Gates, who was only just beginning to discover her abilities. More often, a succubus is the bad guy in a single episode of a series.

The acting is probably not the best acting I’ve seen, but the story lines make up for this.

Alphas

Syfy’s newest show, Alphas, is basically Mutant X or X-Men. There are select people in the world who have special abilities such as super strength, mind control, enhanced senses, etc. They are known as Alphas. Five Alphas work together to stop other Alphas from wreaking havoc and injustice throughout the country.

The strongest element to the special abilities story is that each one has limitations and downsides to them. The girl who can enhance her senses can only do them one at a time and always at the expense of the others. The super strong guy only has strength for shorts bursts of time and then is left exhausted. Though we have not learned all there is to know about these downsides, we know that more is coming. Nina in particular, the attractive mind controlling rebel, obviously has a past. They have hinted to it in different ways but there will obviously a lot more revealed as the show continues.

There are also hints of something bigger and more nefarious going on. For me this is the most exciting part of a series. I have always been a sucker for the bigger mythology. I find it adds another element to the story that makes it more complex and attention-grabbing. The question is how well a show can balance the big picture with the rest of the show. As long as the development of the characters don’t suffer, I’m game.

At this point, I’m excited about the show but not sold that it will be able to hold on. (See Heroes…)

Being Human UK vs US

When Syfy announced that it was making an American version of the British show Being Human, there were a range of reactions from “Great I like the idea but it’s too British” to “Why remake it when it’s current and good?” I have now caught up with all episodes of both versions (which is eight episodes in the US version and three seasons in the UK) and it’s interesting to see the differences.

There are a lot of similarities to the two version, especially when it comes to the basic storylines and the characters’ general back stories. The American producers say the stories will diverge further as the series continues (which makes sense particularly when you consider that an American season is about double the number of episodes as the British version–they did not even watch the second season of the UK version to ensure this), but for now there aren’t any real differences worth noting plot-wise. Instead, it is the smaller things that are different.

The names of all the characters were changed Mitchell became Aidan, Annie became Sally, George became Josh, etc. I am not entirely clear why they made the change other than to be able to say “They can’t be the same, they don’t even have the same names!” It’s not like they’ve Americanized the names more or something.

The real changes are more specific:

• Where Annie could touch objects and had a measure of control over her surroundings (she was dead for about two years prior to meeting George and Mitchell), Sally cannot interact with anything beyond the ability to sit down (she was dead for only about six months). This change, though seemingly small, allows for much more leeway when it comes to telling the story. It provides the American writers with more material for Sally’s journey, which is necessary to fill the episodes. Sally also does not choose not to go through her door, she misses it.
• Where Mitchell was born in the late 1800s and was only about a hundred years old, Aidan is over double his age. (Where Mitchell looks like a greasy mess, Aidan is clean and comparatively more attractive.) The important vampiric details that change are a vampire’s ability to be caught on film and have a reflection (in the UK they cannot, in the US they can). In both versions I find this character to be the least interesting.
• Where George/Josh are changed the most is the presence of his family. It is a long time before we meet George’s family, specifically his parents. In the US version, we meet Emily, Josh’s sister, right away. She has quickly become one of my favorite guest characters. Her presence really highlights why Josh needed to runaway from home (it is easy to think “He only transforms once a month, why can’t he be home for the rest?”) and gives his difficult journey a clearer point of comparison. Josh also did not turn Nora his girlfriend where George accidentally turned Nina.

One other difference, which is more of a America vs Britain (as opposed to the shows themselves) is the nudity and gruesomeness that they’re willing to show. In the American version there is more of a suggestion of nudity than actual nudity. This is neither good nor bad, but it is interesting to see. It makes the British version a bit darker and grittier because it feels like there are no boundaries.

I can’t say that one show is much better than another. Both are quite good in their own ways. I like having more episodes, which makes me happy for the American version. I like the changes they have made and I can’t think of any change that I have disliked. But at the same time it doesn’t feel like the British one was lacking and therefore needed the changes. I am excited to see where both shows go, especially as they split off into different worlds.

What do you think? Any preference?

Alice

Syfy mini-series Alice is meant to be a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, though in truth, I’d say it’s more of a sequel to the two with a bunch of reimagining thrown in. No one is the way you pictured it. Caterpillar, while still a pipe smoking druggie, is not actually a caterpillar for one and the White Rabbit is disappointingly not a rabbit either. No cards as guards either. Though they sort of are I guess.

Hundreds of years after the original Alice went to Wonderland (in Wonderland time since it’s like Narnia in that time moves faster there), there is a new Alice. She is a black belt and has a hard time committing to a guy because when she was ten her father walked out on her and her mother. She is just beginning to get serious with her boyfriend Jack but when he gives her an expensive ring she freaks out and pushes him away. But when she sees him being kidnapped, she runs after him only to be attacked by someone who wants the ring he gave her. She follows her attacker only to fall through a mirror, the looking glass, and find herself in Wonderland. Though she insists that she is Just Plain Alice and not The Alice of Legends, she finds herself in a much bigger struggle. The Queen of Hearts has risen again and now she kidnaps people from Alice’s world, called Oysters, to drain them of their emotion and sell it to the people of Wonderland as a drug. Alice is dragged into a battle much greater than simply saving her boyfriend and she finds out that nothing is as she knew it to be and she might be the key to everything.

As always with retellings and reimaginings, I really enjoyed this one. This one was done by the same people who remade the Wizard of Oz for Syfy (what was then Sci Fi). Which I also enjoyed. Zoey Deschannel was in that one I believe. My biggest complaint: for a black belt, Alice runs like a stereotypical girl. I mean arms flailing wildly, legs bent outward at awkward angles. I know this is such a random thing to nitpick on but it just seems so silly and unlikely to me. The main actress leaves a little to be desired since she sometimes goes a little over the top, but she was good enough. And the Hatter was so sweet.

Anyway, I’d recommend this two part, four hour mini series for anyone who enjoys modern reimaginings.