“Lauren was part of the game” Theory
Aka “How I’m over-thinking this episode to hell and back” Theory
I never play on Tumblr, but I have to get this out, because certain “Fae-ge Against the Machine” inconsistencies and hints make little sense to me otherwise. The episode was like a funhouse, smoke and mirrors, illusion/reality and nothing is what it seems, including one Dr. Lauren Lewis.
Opening scene (cricket scene):
Stella (to Bo): “You need to be able to distinguish the original cricket sound from the echo of its sound”.
It’s one of the themes of the episode. Real or fake? Can Bo tell the difference?
First Bo and Lauren phone call: perfectly normal and in character. Longest nap ever, popcorn and a movie, it sounds like a plan for the day. Bo tells Lauren: “I’ll call you later”. It’s all good, it’s the Doccubus I am used to.
During the phone call, Bo turns the dial and activates the machine. The Game is on from that point forward and Bo’s reality begins to be altered.
Immediately after, Lauren unexpectedly shows up at the Dal:
Bo (to Lauren): “If you are a cricket I will totally kill you” - anvil alert
To me, Lauren is acting out of character and weird, very different from the usual Lauren (and yes, even after-hours Lauren), jumpy and rapid-fire talk. Bo senses something is wrong but doesn’t quite know what it is. She’s bad at reading people (thanks, Tamsin).
Bo: “Are you on crack?”
Lauren received a letter out of nowhere, for an award that she wasn’t even supposed to get (she wasn’t “their first choice”), with a banquet that is on that same night.
Bo: “That’s radical” - another anvil alert
First Trick/Stella scene with the Machine. Worth noting that Trick didn’t recognize the machine and Stella has hundreds of years of experience and yet this is different:
Stella: “I’ve seen something like this before, but never so complex”
She repeats this later in the episode (“I’ve never seen an invitation do this before”). Stella explains that Bo must have activated the machine earlier and that “the game has begun”. That would therefore include the above Bo/Lauren scene.
Stella: “Wherever she is, whatever she’s doing, the game will affect her”
Third Bo/Lauren phone call of the episode, Lauren is drunk and opening her second bottle for the day (how is this in character?). Immediately after they hang up, Bo snaps out of her drunken state and is sober again (if hungover), suggesting there is some connection between Lauren and the machine/game.
Lauren also said: “It’s just a stupid human thing” which means the award is human. It goes against canon that Lauren is publishing anything in human medical journals. She is the Light Fae doctor and her research, everything she does, is as a Fae doctor. Since when is she working on human science? Quote from Lauren(1x08): “humans are a little pedestrian now”. She would not have anything to do with any human awards. And the dude who showed up at her door, presumably also human, has no business in the Light Fae compound, poking around Lauren’s apartment which is filled with Fae items.
Dyson in the 3x09 Sneak Peek is acting very similar to Lauren this episode. He also seems giddy/hyper and a bit crazy. Just like Lauren.
Perhaps whatever is happening with the dream-scape/alternate reality started in this episode, subtly, with Lauren, and will continue and become more obvious in the next episode, when it’s Dyson’s turn.
At least that’s my headcanon right now. And I hope they are going with some kind of similar AU explanation for the episode. As adorable as Zoie Palmer was (Team Lauren all the way, always) and as cute as it all was, it was not the Lauren I’ve known for 3 seasons. Something was off. She was acting weird and the award subplot did not fit in with what we know of the Fae world and of Lauren’s work.
Aka “How I’m over-thinking this episode to hell and back” Theory
I never play on Tumblr, but I have to get this out, because certain “Fae-ge Against the Machine” inconsistencies and hints make little sense to me otherwise. The episode was like a funhouse, smoke and mirrors, illusion/reality and nothing is what it seems, including one Dr. Lauren Lewis.
Opening scene (cricket scene):
Stella (to Bo): “You need to be able to distinguish the original cricket sound from the echo of its sound”.
It’s one of the themes of the episode. Real or fake? Can Bo tell the difference?
First Bo and Lauren phone call: perfectly normal and in character. Longest nap ever, popcorn and a movie, it sounds like a plan for the day. Bo tells Lauren: “I’ll call you later”. It’s all good, it’s the Doccubus I am used to.
During the phone call, Bo turns the dial and activates the machine. The Game is on from that point forward and Bo’s reality begins to be altered.
Immediately after, Lauren unexpectedly shows up at the Dal:
Bo (to Lauren): “If you are a cricket I will totally kill you” - anvil alert
To me, Lauren is acting out of character and weird, very different from the usual Lauren (and yes, even after-hours Lauren), jumpy and rapid-fire talk. Bo senses something is wrong but doesn’t quite know what it is. She’s bad at reading people (thanks, Tamsin).
Bo: “Are you on crack?”
Lauren received a letter out of nowhere, for an award that she wasn’t even supposed to get (she wasn’t “their first choice”), with a banquet that is on that same night.
Bo: “That’s radical” - another anvil alert
First Trick/Stella scene with the Machine. Worth noting that Trick didn’t recognize the machine and Stella has hundreds of years of experience and yet this is different:
Stella: “I’ve seen something like this before, but never so complex”
She repeats this later in the episode (“I’ve never seen an invitation do this before”). Stella explains that Bo must have activated the machine earlier and that “the game has begun”. That would therefore include the above Bo/Lauren scene.
Stella: “Wherever she is, whatever she’s doing, the game will affect her”
Third Bo/Lauren phone call of the episode, Lauren is drunk and opening her second bottle for the day (how is this in character?). Immediately after they hang up, Bo snaps out of her drunken state and is sober again (if hungover), suggesting there is some connection between Lauren and the machine/game.
Lauren also said: “It’s just a stupid human thing” which means the award is human. It goes against canon that Lauren is publishing anything in human medical journals. She is the Light Fae doctor and her research, everything she does, is as a Fae doctor. Since when is she working on human science? Quote from Lauren(1x08): “humans are a little pedestrian now”. She would not have anything to do with any human awards. And the dude who showed up at her door, presumably also human, has no business in the Light Fae compound, poking around Lauren’s apartment which is filled with Fae items.
Dyson in the 3x09 Sneak Peek is acting very similar to Lauren this episode. He also seems giddy/hyper and a bit crazy. Just like Lauren.
Perhaps whatever is happening with the dream-scape/alternate reality started in this episode, subtly, with Lauren, and will continue and become more obvious in the next episode, when it’s Dyson’s turn.
At least that’s my headcanon right now. And I hope they are going with some kind of similar AU explanation for the episode. As adorable as Zoie Palmer was (Team Lauren all the way, always) and as cute as it all was, it was not the Lauren I’ve known for 3 seasons. Something was off. She was acting weird and the award subplot did not fit in with what we know of the Fae world and of Lauren’s work.
