Lost Boys and Fairies Season 1 Review – A funny, emotional, and occasionally heart-wrenching series

Episode Guide

Episode 1 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3.5/5

Get your hankies ready because you’re definitely going to need them when watching this new British series. This isn’t to say it is a total blub fest but some scenes are so raw and so painful, that you’ll need something to soak up your tears as you experience the turbulent journies that the characters in this 3-part drama go through.

Lost Boys and Fairies centres on a gay couple – Gabriel (Sion Daniel Young) and Andy (Fra Fee)  – who in the first episode meet with a social worker named Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington) to discuss adoption. Neither of them is sure they’ll be allowed to adopt due to their sexuality and (in Gabriel’s case) troubled past, but Jackie is confident they’ll win over the adoption panel. 

After filling out the requisite forms, Gabriel and Andy are invited to an activity day where they meet some of the children awaiting adoption. It’s a bit of a free-for-all, with other prospective parents pushing their way into the gathering of kids. But when the two guys take time out to reflect on how the day is going, they meet a young boy named Jake who is hiding under a table. He steals their hearts and becomes the kid they want to adopt. But unfortunately for all of them, the road to adoption proves to be anything but smooth. 

As the series progresses, we learn more about Jake’s upbringing, which is upsetting to say the least. We also learn more about Gabriel, the struggles he has experienced with his father, and his anxieties about becoming a parent. There comes a point when his relationship with Andy is thrown into question but thankfully, the two men are able to talk things out and share their insecurities. But just as all seems to be going well for them, there is a gut punch of a moment at the end of the second episode that may leave you reeling. 

Lost Boys and Fairies is a powerfully written drama about family trauma and how the effects of a person’s past can impinge on their future. It’s also a story about love and compassion and how we can all be considered “lost boys” until we find somebody who can fill the hole in our broken lives. 

But while the series is certainly dramatic, it’s not without a sense of humour. There is one scene in the first episode, for example, that is stunningly shot and gloriously funny. It’s an imagined scene that takes place at the activity day where the prospective parents fight their way to get to the kids they hope to adopt. It’s comically violent and in stark contrast to the series’ more emotional scenes, including one extended sequence when Gabriel is given cause to reflect on his personal traumas. 

It’s fair to say that the series did not pan out as I expected. Initially, I expected a story about two gay men and the ups and downs of their family life after adopting a child. The first episode gives this impression but as the series plays out across the remaining episodes, the plotting takes an unexpected change in direction. It would be remiss of me to reveal major plot details so I won’t say much about the story’s twists and turns here. Just be prepared for a change in tone and character focus around the midway point of the series. 

Lost Boys and Fairies is possibly the most heart-wrenching piece of television I have seen this year. It’s not perfect – some of the plot turns are a little contrived and underexplored – but with excellent performances from the core cast and a handful of some very powerful scenes, this is a series that you won’t be able to forget in a hurry after the end credits have rolled. 

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