Air Date: Sunday, July 8, 2012, 9/8C on HBO
RATING:
“I’m thinking maybe this was a not so great idea.” – Terry Bellefleur
I will give it to you, writers of True Blood, you made me laugh with the opening scene of “Let’s Boot and Rally.” I almost thought this would be another one of those episodes which makes me question my sanity, but I think I get it now. This is simply a watch-until-we-tell-you-otherwise-because-we-have-a-plan television series and I’m following along obligingly. Still, I have hope something good will come out of this season. The Authority seems promising albeit they’re unorganized buffoons, and we’re getting a shifter killing mystery thrown in on top of the other ridiculous storylines—a smoke monster, really? Here’s looking at you Terry (Todd Lowe), Luna (Janina Gavankar) and Sam (Sam Trammell).
It’s the Get-A-Long Gang folks!
Observations:
It’s nice to see the double standard right away when it comes to the unrequited love triangle featuring ‘The Get-A-Long Gang’—Sookie (Anna Paquin), Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill (Stephen Moyer). I mean, forget the fact that vampires have no qualms about sex and will do it with anyone, anywhere and anytime; that’s their thing. I get it. Now, let a human woman, who used to get down and dirty with two vamps, move on and try to have relations with someone else, let alone a werewolf (this is your queue, Alcide (Joe Manganiello)), and the attitude flies. When will the gentlemen accept responsibility for their indiscretions?
Moyer does an excellent job portraying Bill as a sneaky little weasel, and I realize I haven’t been giving him his due. I sort of loathe Bill (for obvious reasons) and it’s due in part to Moyer’s facial expressions and the way he makes Bill appear angelic while wearing a devious smirk. Moyer tends to use his eyes to express his feelings: looking away to hide something, widening his eyes to portray innocence or down casting his glance to appear hurt when… well, you get the point. But here’s the thing, you know Bill is anything but hurt or innocent when it comes to his feelings about Sookie. Let’s not forget when she went missing for a year, Bill was doing his employee and then moved on to his great-great-granddaughter(?) Portia (Courtney Ford). He can keep his judgmental thoughts to himself. Hypocrite!
These two make an interesting duo. I wonder who wins the fight.
Now Eric, on the other hand, shows us an emotion I didn’t think we’d see from him regarding Sookie’s sex life. He’s extremely jealous and doesn’t try to hide it. Why would he be jealous of Alcide, you may ask? Oh, that would take me some time to go into, but I’m sure it has a lot to do with the fact Alcide can be those things for Sookie that Eric can’t. We’ll have come back to that and go more in depth another time. I think Eric expresses something more like a human male would than a vampire since we know a vampire’s stance on sex. Sookie says (along with everyone else who knows them) she was worried about Eric and Bill, to which Eric retorts, “Clearly,” with such a look of scorn on his face Sookie actually looks ashamed. (Kudos to Skarsgård for always flawlessly executing a subtle look to put across more than words can say.) Why should Sookie feel bad for moving on to someone who wants her? Unlike Eric and Bill, Alcide hasn’t been screwing every woman in sight (let alone his pseudo family members—this means you, Eric), or consistently lying to her (pointing my finger at you, Bill). Alcide always manages to come to her rescue when she needs him. Although, I have to admit, I want Eric and Sookie back together. Forget this detour with a wolf, she belongs with the Viking Sheriff, and damn it, that’s what fans want to see! Am I right, or am I right?!
You cannot expect me to believe Nora (Lucy Griffiths) is the vampire who released Russell Edington (Denis O’Hare) from his cement grave. What’s her motive? I’m not that stupid to think the subterfuge is so in depth that Eric wouldn’t know she was hiding something that serious from him. It has to be Salome (Valentina Cervi) because she’s clearly hiding something from Roman (Christopher Meloni). I think Roman may have some idea what she’s up to but is waiting for her to come clean. Of course, I could be wrong. From the looks of things, Roman might be on his way to the final death because his agenda isn’t as popular as he seems to think. “I refuse to pander to fanatics.” These Sanguinistas might not go as quietly into that gentle night as Roman would like.
What has Sookie gotten herself into now? She’s handling herself pretty well though.
Russell holds the key to what’s going down this season. (I’m guessing the faeries, The Authority and the Sanguinista story arcs are connected to this.) He’s locked into something major that won’t be revealed too soon (probably because the writers took a while to figure out how to work it into the ever-changing plot). Viewers will be dragged along until very near the end of the season before the big to-do comes about and floors us with its *yawn* predictability. No matter how it happens, I’m excited to see O’Hare doing what he does best. He’s a scene stealer and I don’t think anyone else could pull off Russell quite the way he does. Now if only there was some way to bring back Franklin Mott (James Frain)… especially now that Tara (Rutina Wesley) is a vampire. Any thoughts on how that reunion would go down?
Funny lines:
Jason: “Fucking faeries.” (For those lovers of the Sookie Stackhouse Novels, this quote will be familiar to you.)
**
Tara to Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten): “If I wanted to look like a drag queen, I would have raided Lafayette’s closet.”
**
Jason (Ryan Kwanten) to Andy (Chris Bauer): “No, Andy. Those guys, and all those strippers, are faeries. Like Tinker Ball.”
**
I’m keeping my major negative thoughts to myself. There are numerous inconsistencies so blatantly obvious that I can’t even imagine they’re an oversight (there’s no frickin’ way Sookie could uncover glamoured thoughts; I didn’t think the shifters told the world about themselves). So, I’ll forgo the tedious recounting of them and will simply say, “I expect better, writers.” Now, let’s sit back and see if they listen.
Tune in to True Blood, Sundays at 9/8c on HBO. For more information on the show, visit: http://www.hbo.com/#/true-blood.
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Photo credit: John P. Johnson/HBO © 2012 Home Box Office, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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