By John Keegan and Paul Pearson

A weak A-story has unfortunately become par for the course when it comes to "Lost Girl", and the episodes subsequently live or die based on the sideplots and character threads woven around them. Pleasantly, this episode was very strong in the latter category, creating an unusually strong feeling that what happened to the characters in this episode would have profound effects on the show as it unfolds in the future.

Continuing on from "Midnight Lamp", "Table for Fae" sees the two newly-minted couples of Bo and Ryan and Kenzi and Nate getting to meet and hang out for the first time, which winds up being more contentious than it sounds. Amidst this, Bo investigates when a backpacker is found dead after having aged sixty years overnight. It's not the strongest of A-stories by a long shot, mostly being an excuse for Bo and Ryan to deal with Dark Fae morality, but it's notable for a fun villainous turn by Genelle Williams of "Warehouse 13" fame.

And deal with Dark Fae morality they do, because the episode uses this budding new relationship between Bo and Ryan to shine a spotlight on things the fans have been clamouring for the show to deal with. Ryan clearly cares about Bo, but at the same time, being Dark, he's operating on a whole other set of ethics that directly conflicts with Bo's helping the helpless schtick, and the show doesn't shy away from that. And he's just as upfront about how the supposedly-unaligned Bo spends all her time with the Light. It's nice for the audience to have this kind of mouthpiece because it shows the writers are thinking of the same things we are. And on top of that, there's still that same fun chemistry between the pair, though arguments turn serious just as often as not. Whether this relationship lasts is up in the air, but it's a fun watch in the meantime.

Those same Dark Fae ethics come into play in an incredibly interesting way as Kenzi's new beau intersects violently with the Fae world. Earlier in the season, the audience learnt that the Morrigan's day job was as a talent agent, yet it was still a shock when Ryan arranges for Nate to meet with an agent and it's the Morrigan who walks in. Those scenes had a great intensity to them as Nate thinks his dreams are coming true while Kenzi and the Morrigan have a non-verbal tete-a-tete across the table. It all builds to a great character-driven climax that will have lasting repercussions and throws suspicion onto both the Morrigan and Ryan's motives.

There's also a little subplot with Dyson and Hale threaded through the episode that feels very aimless and doesn't go anywhere from a plot standpoint; rather, it feels like a stop-gap to show how Dyson isn't dealing very well with the events of the second season, so that all this set-up doesn't have to be done next time the writers decide to make him the centre of an episode. It does, however, provide a good opportunity for Kris Holden-Reid and K.C. Collins to play antagonistic at one another and sews even more seeds of doubt, mistrust and conflict among the main cast -- which is bad for trying to fight an apocalyptic evil, but great for the audience.

There's a clever and intelligent approach to the "Lost Girl" mythology at work here, as the episode picks up on events and characters from episodes past and the obvious questions of the audience and addresses things in direct and smart ways. It all hangs on a weak A-story but the great character beats and groundwork for future episodes makes up for the shortcomings and delivers a very solid episode.

John Keegan is Editor-in-Chief for Critical Myth, a partner site of SciFi Vision.  Paul Pearson is Critical Myth's reviewer for Lost Girl.