Welcome back my darling Faenatics!
Here there be SPOILERS….
Seriously people?! Y’all really need to quit your bitchin! I can’t believe the amount of anger being generated over 8 seconds! How is it you’ve forgotten all of the awesome that is ‘Lost Girl’? Why are you letting a bit of editing spoil the Faetastic fun?
Lost? Pissed?
Let’s look at the facts. Beginning in Season 2 Syfy requested that Showcase (the original network to air the program) slice some time off each episode to accommodate U.S. ad timing. All of a sudden Twitter explodes like a vicious angry mob! “Syfy is censoring out the lesbian scenes!” “Syfy can’t handle strong female characters having relationships!” “Syfy is editing artistic integrity!” WTH?! Where did all of this hate come from? Are people watching the same show as me? It all stems from the editing of 8 seconds. Really? 8 seconds?! Stop for a moment right now and count to 8. What can happen in 8 seconds? A kiss? Did they edit a kiss? No. Did they edit a profession of love? No. What is this 8 seconds? A touch. That’s it! Lauren lightly runs her hand down Bo’s arm and says, “Bo don’t. You’ll just make it worse. Look at me, please! I need you to stay out of this.” How is THAT a moment to get angry over? The networks didn’t even remove the entire scene. They cut it down to Lauren touching Bo and saying, “Bo don’t! I need you to stay out of this.” Was the meaning cut? No. Was the Lauren/Bo relationship censored? Absolutely not!
If my memory serves, there was one helluva hot bedroom scene between Bo and Lauren in Season 1. That wasn’t edited at all! If Syfy/Showcase was going to take affront to a lesbian scene you would think they would have cut that scene! Have any other Lauren/Bo scenes been edited in other episodes? Not one! They even aired the “oh my I really need a really cold shower” scenes in episode 6 of Season 2! That scene between Lauren and Bo was almost hotter than the Dyson shower scenes!
Yes the networks cut scenes here and there. They cut a bit of the Ash dialogue just before the 8 second moment and then again later in the episode. Was this a censoring issue? Not at all. The Ash’s point was still made even with these edits. Lauren is his property. The excess dialogue was just fat that could be trimmed. Other scenes that have been trimmed – Kenzi waking up with a hangover. Ok. We’ve already seen Kenzi wake up after a heavy night of drinking on a few occasions. Did we really need to see another? I’m totally fine with this edit.
Some folks are all up in arms that the artistry of the original writing is being stifled. Hogwash! I’m delighted and amazed at the brilliant writing and imagery of this show! Seldom in the scifi/fantasy/supernatural genre have you seen human relationships as deep as the ones portrayed on ‘Lost Girl’! Come on! How many times have you watched a show that has a lesbian couple? Very few (SGU is the last I can think of in the genre). Most of those are completely stereotypical, hollow, awkward and completely unbelievable. But then comes ‘Lost Girl’! Finally TV has a healthy gay relationship between two women! Women that flirt, touch and ultimately grow feelings for one another! Kudos to you ‘Lost Girl’!
In the end, networks have to edit. It’s a fact of the industry. Even before a show airs it’s edited. Then it’s edited again and again. U.S. networks run on ad money. Our shows get edited even more! Do I like it? Hell no! I’d pay anything to remove all ads but I can’t. But is editing for time really something to get so worked up about? Na. If Syfy/Showcase were censoring for content and blatantly removing story arcs then THAT is something to get mad about. But I truly believe they aren’t doing this. I feel they’ve been mindful with their editing. They’ve kept the main story going while getting it to fit standards. I’m so very proud of Syfy for taking a chance on this great show. I hope they’re able to work a contract to air more of the original Canadian version with the rest of Season 2 or at least in Season 3. As brilliant shows are being cancelled left and right on all networks I hope that Syfy will continue to bring new programming like ‘Lost Girl’ to the U.S. even if they edit it a bit.
I’m really interested to know what y’all think. This is a place for you to air your thoughts. Disagree with me. Add to my rant. Add to my kudos. Tell me to jump off a cliff. The only way to get the networks to know whether we’re happy or not is to get it out there in as many places as we can. We all aren’t Neilson households so we need to let it out where we can.
Stay Fae y’all!
