Grimm Meets True Blood In Syfy's Underrated 5-Season Urban Fantasy Series

There's just something about the otherworldly lurking right beyond the edges of humanity's perception that appeals. Perhaps it's a hangover from childhood, when the media promised an exciting, unexplored world right around the corner if we only looked hard enough. Or maybe it's just fun to inject a little fantasy into our lives without having to delve into a fully fantastical world.

Urban fantasy, where the supernatural or the magical meets a contemporary urban setting, has always done well on television. Buffy the Vampire Slayer successfully blended monsters with high school, then college. Grimm gained popularity with its mix of police procedural and fairy tales, and True Blood became a hit when it threw everything from vampires to the fae into Louisiana, plunked a waitress into the midst, and topped it all off with sex.

However, there are plenty of underrated urban fantasy shows out there that some might have missed, including Lost Girl, which ran on Syfy for five seasons. Premiering in 2010, the show not only featured a wealth of supernatural creatures, but also blended in procedural elements and political drama, built an intriguing mythology, and was one of the sexiest shows on television.

Lost Girl Featured An Underground Society Of Quirky Fae Characters

Lost Girl's protagonist, Bo (Anna Silk), is a succubus. Except at the beginning of the show, she has absolutely no idea that's what she is. All she knows is she accidentally killed her high school boyfriend by consuming his life energy during sex. After that, she ran. Then she learns about the underground society of Fae, divided between Light and Dark, and the Fae learn about her. They try to force her to pick a side in the Fae world, but she refuses and remains neutral.

One of the more interesting aspects of the show was that the Light and Dark Fae didn't necessarily represent good and evil. Rather, the difference between the clans was more of order versus chaos. All the Fae in this world feed on humans in some way, whether it's their emotions, blood, or life force. The Light Fae, though, mostly feed out of hunger rather than sport, as the Dark Fae do. But being part of the Light clan doesn't make a Fae good. In fact, one of the only humans in the series, Lauren, is in servitude to the head of the Light Fae after being manipulated.

As such, Bo was willing to work with either side as needed in her private-investigation work and in her search for her true origins, which meant she met a wealth of quirky Fae. The show pulled from all kinds of mythologies, making the Fae creatures a pretty well-rounded bunch. One of the main characters, Dyson (also one of Bo's main love interests), was a wolf-shifter. Recurring comic relief, Vex, is a Mesmer, which meant he could puppeteer people's bodies. Over the course of the show, everything from Sirens to Valkyries shows up.

This mix of the supernatural made things more interesting, as all the Fae had varying ways of interacting with different kinds of Fae. Some creatures might instantly dislike each other due to a long history of conflict, while others might be willing to look past each other's histories. This led to intriguing relationships among characters, almost always colored by the past of Fae society, and sparked plenty of conflict at times, adding to the drama of the show.

Why Lost Girl Is Underrated More Than 10 Years After Ending

Lost Girl never became as well-known as shows like Supernatural or Angel, which was a shame. As one of the few (and best) female-driven fantasy shows at the time, the show's characters had some of the best female friendships around, with Bo and her human best friend Kenzi's relationship rivaling even Buffy and Willow's.

Plus, every female on the show was a badass in her own way, especially the humans. Like with most urban fantasies, the Fae could easily overpower any human, but Kenzi and Lauren never backed down from any conflict, despite knowing it was highly possible they would die at any moment. (And frankly, Kenzi was simply one of the best characters on TV, period.)

Lost Girl also had some of the best LGBTQ+ representation on television at the time. Bo, as a succubus, was bisexual and had no trouble embracing that part of herself (nor did anyone else). Lauren was a lesbian who became another of Bo's main love interests, alongside Dyson, which created a bit of a love triangle, but a more low-key one than would normally be found on television.

The show was incredibly sex-positive, in general, which fans and critics alike praised. Not only was there no judgment from the characters about who was sleeping with whom, but because Bo was a succubus, there was plenty of sex happening and with a multitude of people (sometimes in pairs, sometimes in threesomes).

Sex and sexuality were presented as natural parts of life that didn't define a character but were simply a small aspect of who they were. In an interview with GayCalgary Magazine, Rachel Skarsten, who played Tasmin, stated:

"One of the things we pride ourselves in with Lost Girl is, it's not about this heterosexual couple, this homosexual couple – it's just about the relationship; about two people who love each other, and I think that is one of the things that makes our show really special."

Lost Girl might have only had five seasons, but fans would have loved to see more. Luckily, fans can always enjoy a rewatch, as the show is available on Amazon and Google Play.